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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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1,100 Pieces Of Testimony Against A Bill Went Missing For Days. The Bill Passed And Then The Opponents’ Letters Showed Up
April 10, 2024
Hundreds of Lahaina fire victims came out strongly against a bill that could allow HECO to impose a new fee on customers to help prevent wildfires.
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‘The stepchildren:’ Community colleges struggle to fund buildings for growing workforce programs
April 05, 2024
For colleges tasked with shepherding the state’s ambitious workforce development programs, meager funding means they’re educating students in facilities that are falling behind the conditions of private industry.
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Maine to open two public defender offices in rural counties
March 22, 2024
The new law is the latest effort to address the state’s ongoing failure to provide lawyers to poor defendants.
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Oklahoma lawmakers weigh a lasting daylight savings time
February 28, 2024
Oklahoma could join 19 other states in having a permanent daylight saving time “trigger law.” The state’s Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee advanced the measure Tuesday.
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Environmentalists mixed over new bill targeting mining near Okefenokee
February 21, 2024
A new bill would restrict some new mining near the Okefenokee for 3 years; some environmental groups say it protects the mining company more than the swamp.
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Fishing rights bill heads to full House for vote
February 17, 2024
The legislation would guarantee Georgians the right to fish in navigable rivers and streams. It narrowly advanced out of committee over the objections of representatives of recreational boating interests who complained the bill is overly restrictive.
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Majority of bills related to gender identity fail introduction, three remain
February 17, 2024
Bills have been wide-ranging this year, including limits on gender-affirming care for minors, preferred pronoun usage, as well as obscenity laws.
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Funds sought for more rural patrol officers
January 20, 2024
Maine has underfunded state police rural patrol for 40 years, with no increase in funding for patrol troopers since 1977.
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Hawaii Lawmakers Want To Make Fish Farming A Bigger Industry. But How?
January 19, 2024
Some senators say moving aquaculture to another state agency is the answer. Others say it’s about providing the necessary resources.
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Hawaii Hemp Growers Don’t Want To Be Regulated Like Marijuana
January 08, 2024
The Legislature is expected to consider a bill this session to create a new state entity that would oversee recreational and medicinal cannabis as well as industrial hemp.
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Long term care leaders urge more funding to prevent more closures of nursing homes
January 03, 2024
Some 23 nursing homes have closed in the past decade in Maine.
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Oklahoma behavioral care access is expanding with new laws in effect
November 07, 2023
One measure would create easier points of entry for access to mental health care, especially in rural areas by allowing medical health providers to be reimbursed for consulting on cases with primary care doctors.
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WA spent $500M to help small, minority businesses. Did it work?
October 21, 2023
Restaurants were eligible for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a $28 billion federal program created in 2021. But that money disappeared quickly, offering up to $10 million to some restaurants while leaving many smaller and more rural establishments with nothing, as Crosscut reported last year.
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15 months after a flash flood devastated parts of Southwest Virginia, state aid is on the way
October 13, 2023
Dozens of homes in Buchanan and Tazewell counties were damaged or destroyed in July 2022. The General Assembly approved $18 million in funding to help residents rebuild; Del. Will Morefield said he hopes residents will get the money before the end of the year.
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Post-Roe, North Dakota puts resources into alternatives to abortion
August 28, 2023
After a near-total abortion ban became law in North Dakota, legislators and religious ministries are trying to find ways to support pregnant people and new mothers as abortion providers move to other states.
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