Two groups coordinate rides, errands, and a 24-hour phone line to help immigrants navigate daily life and document encounters with federal immigration authorities.
Tulpehocken Township is challenging a state Office of Open Records decision requiring the release of a draft agriculture ordinance.
A $42 billion federal grant program was supposed to expand broadband to every home and business. But cuts and changed rules created new challenges.
Drawn by historic homes and a slower pace, these women moved to rural Pennsylvania and opened their own storefronts all while building a network of support and friendship.
Out of many, one people.
Kimisha Simpson says she’s confident that Jamaica’s national motto will rally the diaspora and others to help rebuild the island that was battered by Hurricane Melissa earlier this week.
“We like to say, ‘We’re the heartbeat of the Caribbean,’” Simpson said. “Jamaica is an island that has given so much to the world — entertainment, the arts, the culture, the food, the tourism, the hospitality. And so knowing the devastation is unlike anything they’ve ever seen in centuries, it’s definitely time for the world to give back to Jamaica.”
After Hurricane Melissa hammered Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, bringing 185 mph winds on Tuesday afternoon, it brought life-threatening storm surge and floods to Cuba and Haiti. It later turned towards the Bahamas and headed to Bermuda.
The storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the Atlantic, left Jamaica reeling before weakening slightly as it crossed warm Caribbean waters toward its next target.
In its wake, dozens have died amid widespread destruction across Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. More than two dozen people died in Jamaica and Haiti as of Thursday. The exact death toll will become clearer in coming days once aid workers are able to reach more remote and damaged areas.
Simpson is the founder and CEO of Ignite Jamaica Fund, a nonprofit based in Philadelphia that does educational advocacy work on the island. Ever since the hurricane touched down there, she’s been reaching out to friends and family in Manchester, a parish in the western region. She said she wanted to “get updates beyond the media and hearing from them what they were experiencing.”
As the storm pummeled Jamaica, it brought the strongest hurricane wind speed to make landfall in 90 years. With it came catastrophic floods, landslides, and a sea surge up to 13 feet along the island’s southern coast. The storm knocked out power and telecommunications for much of the country, with internet connectivity dropping to about 30% of normal levels by Tuesday night, according to NetBlocks, which monitors global outages.
Power lines, roads, and bridges were damaged across the island, and more than half a million people were left without electricity.
“The change in its trajectory really took the island by surprise,” said Simpson, who was a former principal and teacher. “When we heard about the landfall earlier this week, and we started to get the videos, the updates from those on the ground, we were really devastated, and the community across the diaspora, right away, started to galvanize, mobilize, and have calls about just how can we start to gather resources. Even before we knew what the outcome was going to be, we just saw it unfolding before us.”
The island is home to about 2.8 million people, about 90% of whom are Black. The diaspora of Jamaica — or the Jamaicans who have left and their descendants who live in the U.S. and all over the world — is estimated to be over 2 million people.
Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s science, energy, telecommunications and transport minister, told Sky News that initial reports from the hardest-hit western parishes were “catastrophic.” In Saint Elizabeth Parish, where Melissa made landfall, floodwaters and flying debris destroyed homes and farms in what officials described as a “complete disaster.”
“There are entire communities that seem to be marooned and also areas that have been flattened,” said Dana Dixon, Jamaica’s minister of education, skills, youth and information, on Thursday. “We are trying to get to the areas that have been marooned. We will get there … We are going to get to every single Jamaican and give them support.”
In Kingston and other eastern areas, where the eye of the storm did not pass directly overhead, damage was less severe. Still, critical infrastructure remained compromised. Most rural hospitals lost power, and major airports in Montego Bay and Kingston remained closed.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared a national disaster. At least three people died before Melissa’s arrival, with local officials warning that more fatalities could be confirmed once communication resumes with rural areas.
The storm’s intensity, fueled by unusually warm Caribbean waters, has underscored the growing climate threat to small island nations with fragile infrastructure. This is the fourth storm in the Atlantic this year to undergo rapid intensification of its wind speed and power, a feat made twice as likely because of climate change, according to studies.
Melissa made landfall early Wednesday in eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 120 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned residents late Tuesday of a “very difficult night,” urging them to stay sheltered. Officials said roughly 750,000 people were evacuated.
Melissa likely caused $7.7 billion of damage in Jamaica alone, according to catastrophe modeler Enki Research. But across the entire Northern Caribbean, recovery will be difficult.
“We have this saying in Jamaica: one coco, full basket,” Simpson said. “It’s a proverb that means that all small efforts will compound over time and make a large impact. So no donation, monetary or supplies are too small. Anything that you’re willing to give can make an impact in a difference.”
Simpson and other organizers said it is going to take time to rebuild from devastation that is unlike something Jamaicans have seen in centuries.
Aid experts fear that Jamaica and Cuba could face severe public health challenges in the days ahead — contaminated water, collapsed medical facilities, disease outbreaks, and growing mental health crises. The United Nations has warned that budget cuts and reduced global aid donations are expected to limit the amount of food and emergency support agencies like the World Food Program can provide this year.
Much of Jamaica’s southern coast, its agricultural “breadbasket,” remains underwater after more than 2 feet of rain.
In the area, which got its nickname because it is where most of the island’s food is grown, farmers were just recovering in areas like St. Elizabeth. Last year’s Hurricane Beryl damaged crops in June. And then came Hurricane Melissa.
This time is different. There was a direct hit.
“All the crops, I’m sure, are gone,” said Karen Shields, who lives in Westgate Hills in Montego Bay.
Shields is the island liaison for the Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans at Home (also known as JAHJAH) Foundation. As the director of operations, she helps coordinate aid to the island.
“The farmers are just getting back on foot,” she said. “And so it’s, I know it’s gonna take a very long time. But we have to see what we can do, just, you know, to make quick fixes and reach those low-hanging fruits to help to do what we can in the interim.”
The day after Melissa came ashore, the 48-year-old Shields said she and her family were wondering what they would eat for breakfast. There was no electricity and most means of communication are down on the island, so she and others cannot contact loved ones.
On Wednesday, a neighbor came to her gate with breadfruit from a tree. Her family roasted the starchy staple.
“We are very kind to each other. We help each other,” Shields said. “Like people have their disagreements, but I’m telling you, when it comes to times like this, we stand together as one, we are united as one.”
In Cuba, the storm threatens power grids already pushed to the brink by years of shortages and blackouts intensified by a United States-backed blockade against the country.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. is “prepared to move” to help Jamaica and neighboring countries recover. The State Department announced Wednesday that it had activated U.S.-based Urban Search and Rescue teams to assist Caribbean nations in Melissa’s path.
However, typically, foreign disaster aid comes in the form of USAID, which the Trump administration disbanded earlier this year. Jamaica lost $22 million in funding through those cuts. Additionally, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development projects that rich countries, including the U.S. and most of Europe, will reduce foreign disaster and recovery aid by around 15% this year.
Government officials across the region continue to warn that no Caribbean nation is truly prepared for a hurricane this powerful — or for the accelerating climate chaos fueling such storms.
Trevor Dixon, an emergency physician based in New York, is the founder and CEO of the JAHJAH Foundation. His organization focuses on health care and education advocacy, and he said he and others are already planning to head to the island as soon as they can to help.
Dixon said his organization provided aid during the last hurricane. “So once we got the call that Hurricane Melissa was coming, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, we’re gonna have to do this again,’ he said. “Hurricane Beryl was just a dress rehearsal for a more dynamic and more devastating hurricane.”
Dixon, whose family’s house in Mandeville in Manchester Parish was devastated during the storm, said he plans to collect supplies in multiple locations in New York and New Jersey to fill two shipping containers to take “home.”
About 4 million tourists visit Jamaica each year.
“They have given a lot to the world,” Dixon said. “They’ve given music, they’ve given food, they’ve given sports, they’ve given to other governments. They’ve given to health care, they’ve given to education.
“It’s time that we give back to the people in Jamaica.”
The government of Jamaica has set up an official website for updates on the storm as well as donations for emergency relief, housing reconstruction, and health care.
Relief agencies and others are beginning to set up some resources to help people impacted by the hurricane:
The Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans at Home Foundation assists public hospitals and health centers in Jamaica that are in need.
Ignite Jamaica Fund is a nonprofit organization that works to enhance the education of children and youth in Jamaica and across the Diaspora.
Jamaican Americans For A Better Jamaica Inc. is a nonprofit organization that was founded with the mission of providing Jamaican Americans diverse and feasible opportunities to stay connected and give back to Jamaica.
The American Friends of Jamaica Disaster Relief Fund provides “critical support when natural or humanitarian disasters impact communities across Jamaica.”
The International Medical Corps has deployed an emergency response team to provide critical supplies, medical workers, and support.
Mercy Chefs provides hot, chef-prepared meals and clean drinking water to people impacted by natural disasters and emergencies.
World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit founded by chef and humanitarian José Andrés, mobilizes after disaster strikes to provide food and water for first responders and victims in the affected areas.
Food For The Poor, the largest charitable organization in Jamaica, provides food, housing, clean water, and educational supplies to impoverished families.
The post Jamaican Americans Mobilize After the Island’s Worst Hurricane in a Century appeared first on Capital B News.
BELLEFONTE — After years of debate, Pennsylvania’s near-total ban on Sunday hunting is off the books thanks to a bipartisan push, an unlikely political advocate, and a key policy shift from the state’s farm lobby.
The new law, signed last week by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, gives the Pennsylvania Game Commission the authority to decide which Sundays to include when setting hunting season dates. It also includes penalties for hunters who trespass on private property.
BELLEFONTE — President Donald Trump signed the “big, beautiful” budget bill into law last week, celebrating it as a win for taxpayers and a fulfillment of key campaign promises.
Supporters of the federal package say it reduces government spending and adds protections to programs. But in rural Pennsylvania — where hospitals operate on thin margins and Medicaid helps keep the lights on — critics warn the cuts and new requirements will burden states with paperwork, make it harder for patients to access care, and push health facilities to their breaking point.
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill could have a disastrous effect on the health of rural Pennsylvanians and the operations of the hospitals and other medical centers that care for them.
The federal budget proposal, which passed the U.S. House by a one-vote margin in May, calls for nearly $800 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade. It also includes a new 80-hour-per-month work or service requirement for Medicaid recipients between the ages of 19 and 64 who aren’t caregivers or who have disabilities. Among other changes, the bill would require verification of coverage eligibility every six months rather than annually.
Visit just about any downtown on a weekend and you will likely happen upon a farmers market. Or, you might grab lunch from a food truck outside a local brewpub or winery.
Very likely, there is a community-shared kitchen or food entrepreneur incubator initiative behind the scenes to support this growing foodie ecosystem.
As rural America gains younger residents, and grows more diverse and increasingly digitally connected, these dynamics are driving a renaissance in craft foods.
One food entrepreneur incubator, Hope & Main Kitchen, operates out of a school that sat vacant for over 10 years in the small Rhode Island town of Warren. Its business incubation program, with over 300 graduates to date, gives food and beverage entrepreneurs a way to test, scale and develop their products before investing in their own facilities. Its markets also give entrepreneurs a place to test their products on the public and buyers for stores, while providing the community with local goods.
Food has been central to culture, community and social connections for millennia. But food channels, social media food influencers and craft brews have paved the way for a renaissance of regional beverage and food industry startups across America.
In my work in agriculture economics, I see connections between this boom in food and agriculture innovation and the inflow of young residents who are helping revitalize rural America and reinvigorate its Main Streets.
An analysis of 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data found that more people have been moving to small towns and rural counties in recent years, and that the bulk of that population growth is driven by 25- to 44-year-olds.
This represents a stark contrast to the 2000s, when 90% of the growth for younger demographics was concentrated in the largest metro areas.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote work options it created, along with rising housing prices, were catalysts for the change, but other interesting dynamics may also be at play.
One is social connectedness. Sociologists have long believed that the community fabric of rural America contributes to economic efficiency, productive business activity, growth of communities and population health.
Maps show that rural areas of the U.S. with higher social capital – those with strong networks and relationships among residents – are some of the strongest draws for younger households today.
Another important dynamic for both rural communities and their new young residents is entrepreneurship, including food entrepreneurship.
Rural food startups may be leveraging the social capital aligned with the legacy of agriculture in rural America, resulting in a renewed interest in craft and local foods. This includes a renaissance in foods made with local ingredients or linked to regional cultures and tastes.
According to data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, U.S. local sales of edible farm products increased 33% from 2017 to 2022, reaching $14.2 billion.
A 2020 study I was involved in, led by agriculture economist Sarah Low, found a positive relationship between the availability of farm-based local and organic foods and complementary food startups. The study termed this new dynamic “AgriCulture.”
We found a tendency for these dynamics to occur in areas with higher natural amenities, such as hiking trails and streams, along with transportation and broadband infrastructure attractive to digital natives.
The same dynamic drawing young people to the outdoors offers digital natives a way to experience far-reaching regions of the country and, in some cases, move there.
A thriving food and beverage scene can be a pull for those who want to live in a vibrant community, or the new settlers and their diverse tastes may be what get food entrepreneurs started. Many urban necessities, such as shopping, can be done online, but eating and food shopping are local daily necessities.
When my colleagues and I talk to community leaders interested in attracting new industries and young families, or who seek to build community through revitalized downtowns and public spaces, the topic of food commonly arises.
We encourage them to think about ways they can help draw food entrepreneurs: Can they increase local growers’ and producers’ access to food markets? Would creating shared kitchens help support food trucks and small businesses? Does their area have a local advantage, such as a seashore, hiking trails or cultural heritage, that they can market in connection with local food?
Several federal, state and local economic development programs are framing strategies to bolster any momentum occurring at the crossroads of rural, social connections, resiliency, food and entrepreneurship.
For example, a recent study from a collaboration of shared kitchen experts found that there were over 600 shared-use food facilities across the U.S. in 2020, and over 20% were in rural areas. In a survey of owners, the report found that 50% of respondents identified assisting early-growth businesses as their primary goal.
The USDA Regional Food Business Centers, one of which I am fortunate to co-lead, have been bolstering the networking and technical assistance to support these types of rural food economy efforts.
Many rural counties are still facing shrinking workforces, commonly because of lagging legacy industries with declining employment, such as mining. However, recent data and studies suggest that in rural areas with strong social capital, community support and outdoor opportunities, younger populations are growing, and their food interests are helping boost rural economies.
Dawn Thilmany receives funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Development Administration, and Colorado state agencies focused on agriculture, economic development and food systems.