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Rural trend shifts in latest election
According to this article in the Daily Yonder, rural voters favored republicans. The article states, “Before the election almost half (61) of the 125 most rural districts were held by democrats.” The number of rural democrats in office fell from 61 to just 22 after the election.
Election dumps out rural supporters
Many of the democrats who lost in the recent November election were long-time rural health advocates. There were 37 House Rural Health Care Coalition democrat members who lost in this election. Meanwhile, democrats maintained majority in the Senate.
USDA reports ARRA impacts
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009 funds have been allocated to help an estimated seven million people, many of them located in extremely remote areas, gain access to improved broadband services. Also, according to the report, more than $18 million in ARRA loan and grant funds will be added to finances provided by other federal and state agencies and the North American Development Bank to help Yuma County, Arizona residents end chronic sewage problems. “The project will connect residents to a nearby municipal treatment system. The community will abandon individual septic systems and cesspools, reduce contamination of the groundwater table from failing septic systems, improve public health and safety, and improve the water quality of the nearby Colorado River.”
Another story in the full report takes place in Port Angeles, Washington and documents the reopening of a plywood mill that had been forced to close due to economic hardship. The closing of the mill in 2007 resulted in the loss of 132 jobs, a very devastating effect on the small, rural community. With the help of ARRA funds, the mill was reopened and as of the publication, 147 jobs were created.
Data on Western counties population and land use and resources available
While growth rates in the West were slower than anticipated for 2009, the West still grew faster than the rest of the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Between 2006 and 2009 the number of residents in the 13 Western states increased to 71.6 million. The fastest growing Western states during this period were Utah (9.2 percent), Colorado (7.1 percent) and Arizona (7.0 percent).
The Western Rural Development Center (WRDC) has compiled data on population and land use and resources for all 435 counties in the Western U.S.
Debt could prove beneficial to nonprofit organizations
In this Chronicle of Philanthropy article, author Dione Alexander argues that nonprofit organizations should not avoid carrying debt. Alexander suggests that carrying debt has been unfairly and dramatically characterized as taboo for nonprofit organizations when in fact, credit might serve nonprofit organizations well in various situations.
U.S. farm land defies economic crisis
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cropland values rose slightly in 2010 over 2009 prices to an average of $2,700 per acre. In some areas, good farm land sold for between $6,000 and $7,000. Though the value has risen, farm land sales have declined over the past year.
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