rural

Most states where more than 20% of the population is rural don't have laws requiring some kind of paid sick or general paid time off. A federal COVID relief package temporarily required a minimum of two weeks paid sick leave, but people in rural areas have been left in the lurch since that policy expired at the end of 2020.

A new report from the USDA shows that rural areas are continuing to see growth among people over 65 while the working age population continues to decline.

The national battle against abortion has reached small local governments. Towns in Nebraska and Texas have banned abortion within their borders, even if they don’t have a clinic. But in one community, that effort could interrupt abortion access for the entire region.

COVID relief money was supposed to be a lifeline for small towns recovering from the pandemic, but some found the paperwork too daunting and missed on on the funds.

Air pollution has traditionally been measured by the size of particles, which tend to be larger in urban areas than in rural ones. But a new study from the University of Illinois suggests that the toxicity of air in rural areas is just as bad as in urban ones.

The federal government is offering grant money to help address the problem, but small towns fear they lack the tech knowhow and resources to defend their systems and are daunted by grant applications.

Small towns far from big cities rely upon federal grants to help them, but numerous definitions of what the government considers rural make that complicated.

Millions of American consumers still rely on 3G devices and technology, and its phase-out is underway as 5G services expands across the country.

Communities across the Midwest are tempting new residents with cash and free land, with mixed success and some lessons learned.

Four decades ago, a town in Kansas and a town in Colorado competed to become home to a giant meatpacking plant that, at the time, was the largest of its kind in the world. Here’s what has happened to them since.