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RCAC's Network News October 2011

Volume XXIX, Number 5

In this issue:

Environmental News 

RCAC staff member will serve on advisory board to EPA

RCAC is proud to announce that Blanca Surgeon, New Mexico environmental staff member, has been nominated to the Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) for a two-year term. Read more>>

EPA and USDA create a partnership to improve drinking water systems and develop workforce in rural communities

From U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a national partnership to protect Americans’ health by improving rural drinking water and wastewater systems. Nationwide, small water and sewage treatment facilities with limited funding and resources face challenges due to rising costs and aging equipment and pipes. Read More>>

Climate change hurts Indian tribes disproportionately, report finds

By Aileo Weinmann, National Wildlife Federation

The National Wildlife Federation released a report entitled Indian Tribes, Climate-Induced Weather Extremes, and the Future for Indian Country. The report details how climate change is adversely and disproportionately affecting Indian Tribes in North America. Read More>>

Investigation begins to track suspected pollution from the Lahaina wastewater facility

From U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The University of Hawaii (UH) will measure how long it takes for wastewater from the Lahaina, Hawaii, sewage treatment facility to flow to the near-shore ocean water. UH scientists will inject a tracer dye into the facility’s underground injection wells and monitor areas where fresh water seeps into the ocean for signs of the dye. Read More>>

Water storage: The next generation

By Ed Ritchie, Water Efficiency

There are many water tanks throughout the U.S. that have seen their 100th birthday and continue working for their water districts. The owners of those Centenarians have found that restoration and maintenance pay great dividends, but before we explore the options, let’s examine some unique designs and methods employed on the newest generation of water tanks. Read More>> 

Energized efficiency

By Lyn Corum, Water Efficiency

The opportunities and challenges the water industry is facing have not been recognized by many in the industry, says Terry Brueck, President and CEO of EMA, Inc., a consulting firm for water utility operations and management. Many utilities are not able to get a good handle on their baseline energy use and what it foretells for their future. Read More>>

EPA gets poor grade on keeping drinking water clean

By Kimberly Hirai, High Country News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was recently reprimanded for its regulation of drinking water and the selection process it uses to select candidates for contaminant regulation. On the bright side, the agency is trying to ensure rural water systems pass muster. Read more >>

Housing News

FY12 Rural Development budget and appropriations

From Housing Assistance Council

The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up a bill to fund U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in fiscal year 2012 (FY12). Almost every program would receive more funding than provided in the House bill passed in June, but less than the final FY11 appropriated amounts. For more information on funding cuts click here >>

Senate committee acts on HUD spending.

From Housing Assistance Council

On September 21 the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a FY12 Transportation-HUD spending bill with substantial differences from the House subcommittee bill. The Senate funded and the House did not fund housing counseling, Sustainable Communities, and Choice Neighborhoods. Read more on HUD funding >>

Central Oregon youth program fights for survival

'Heart of Oregon Corps' seeks help from representatives, community partners
By Alicia Inns and Barney Lerten, KTVZ.com

BEND, Ore. - Rafael and Marisol Escobar, like many, have been hit by tough times -- but fortunately, they've been living in a "Tutor house" from Housing Works in Redmond. It's in the process of being transformed from rags to riches, thanks to Heart of Oregon's YouthBuild program Read more>>

Solar homes will make affordable development even more economical

By Alex Breitler, Recordnet.com

A new development of affordable homes in east Stockton, California will include one feature that most folks do not think of as "affordable." Solar panels: Visionary Home Builders of California, based in Stockton, plans in the coming months to install 22 prefabricated homes on a cul-de-sac off Farmington Road, just east of Highway 99. Read more >>

Number of LEED-certified commercial projects hits 10,000 mark

By Barbra Murray, Multihousingnews.com

The green building revolution reaches a milestone as the Green Building Certification Institute, the third-party entity charged with administering the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED building certification program, has given the LEED stamp of approval to the 10,000th property. The achievement comes just over one decade after USGBC established the sustainable building rating system. Read more >> 

Families move into Somerton homes they helped build

By Cesar Neyoy – Bajo El Sol, YumaSun.com

Adrian and Heidi Cabrera knocked on several doors in hopes one would open on the opportunity of home ownership. But none, the couple said, proved so advantageous as the self-help housing program administered by Housing America Corp. Read more >>

Loan Fund News

The Gateway Palms

By Kollin Kosmicki, Hollister Free Lance

The Gateway Palms affordable housing project off Fourth Street, Hollister, California is about 10 weeks from completion, while the waiting list is growing for those hoping to rent an apartment. [RCAC’s Loan Fund provided a $2 million construction loan for Gateway Palms.] Read more>>

Residents, officials celebrate 25 new self-help homes

By Kollin Kosmicki, Hollister Free Lance

Kim Wilson was among the 25 families who recently finished building their own homes with financial help from South County Housing and other partners and had a chance Friday to finally relax and celebrate their new lives. They had accomplished what many speakers at a ceremony Friday called the "American Dream" as they officially received their keys. Read more >>

RCAC-backed affordable housing unit opens in Utah

An affordable housing complex in Tooele County, Utah, recently opened after receiving a Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) loan.

The 24-unit Clark Cove Cottages complex in Grantsville was completed in August, and will house low- and very low-income residents. Read more >>

Eye on Policy

Senator Barbara Boxer’s response to new measures to slow down foreclosures

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer reacted favorably to press reports that the Obama Administration is considering new measures to slow down foreclosures and boost the economy by taking steps similar to S.170, the Helping Responsible Homeowners Act. This bipartisan bill will help up to two million Americans to refinance their mortgages at historically low interest rates, keeping them in their homes and boosting economic growth. Read more >>

General News

Insights: Leading nonprofits in 2011

By Elizabeth Ytell Kang, EYK Associates, principal

Experienced nonprofit organization leaders are accustomed to navigating uncharted territory. To fill important social needs, vision, political savvy and innovation are necessary to fuel social change. Read more >>

Rural papers doing better than their city counterparts

By Geoff McGhee, Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University, High Country News

Walk in to a town council meeting in Pinedale, Wyoming, and you're likely to find as many as three local reporters scribbling notes and asking questions. That news in a town of 2,030 residents is covered by two newspapers and a website is partly explained by the abundance of mineral wealth in surrounding Sublette County, which produced $3.6 billion in natural gas last year. Add to that the urgent concern about breaching a local dam threatened by record snowmelt coming from the Wind River Range, and you've got a recipe for a small-town media frenzy. Read more >>

U.S. poverty rate tops 15 percent

From Philanthropy News Digest

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the nation's poverty rate increased to 15.1 percent in 2010, the highest level since 1993, and that some 46.2 million Americans are living in poverty, a year-over-year increase of 2.6 million people and the fourth consecutive annual increase. Read more >>

For two decades neither the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office nor the Internal Revenue Service has been willing to take serious action to remedy the abuses that have plagued one of the wealthiest nonprofits in America, the Milton Hershey School for poor children. It is one of the longest lingering scandals in the modern nonprofit world and one of the most glaring examples of the abuses of the public trust that can happen when regulators fail to keep a close eye on a charity’s governance. Read more >>

Oddz and Ends

Conference and Workshop Calendar