Rural Issues

Department of Rural Affairs

July 9, 2007

A couple of weeks ago Senator Hillary Clinton addressed the National Rural Assembly via a video link-up. This gathering of 400-people, part of the Kellogg Foundation’s Rural People, Rural Policy initiative, was an effort to highlight the issues facing rural areas, and to broaden the discussion beyond agriculture policy, which has generally been the focus [...]

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Tornado Alley

June 27, 2007

Growing up in southwest Wisconsin, tornado watches and warnings were a constant feature of summer life. As a little kid, I can remember trips to the basement to wait out the storm, and when I got a little older I got to join Dad on tornado watch for the local volunteer fire department. I can [...]

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Public Policy CAN Change Behavior

June 26, 2007

One of the things we had to adjust to when we moved to Ireland was taking our own cloth shopping bags to the grocery store. Why? Well, Ireland levies a €0.15 tax on plastic grocery bags, so every time we forgot to take our own (a lot, at first), we had to spend 30 or [...]

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Wisconsin’s Historic Pics Available Online

June 22, 2007

The Wisconsin Historical Society has long held sales of photos from their archives, generally in a once- or twice-a-year sale in Madison. I’ve gotten several gems from these sales in the past. But now they’ve moved their sales online, and in the process greatly expanded the items available. The pic to the right is the [...]

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The Arts Make Money

June 15, 2007

The Wisconsin Arts Board has come out with a new study showing the impact the arts have on local economies. According to the report, “in 2005, Wisconsin’s non-profit arts industry generated over 15,000 full-time jobs and $61,840,000 in state and local government revenue. Cumulatively, the arts contributed $418,055,786 in total economic activity.” The Wisconsin Arts [...]

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Meal in a Wheat Field

June 12, 2007

Our good friend Laura has been busy helping to organize a meal in a wheat field on Washington Island. The meal was held to launch a summer of culinary events at the Washington Hotel. The Hotel was involved in the return of wheat-growing to Washington Island, which has been a fantastic rural development initiative. I [...]

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Flahavan’s Oats Mill

May 30, 2007

Last night we were treated to a tour of one of three working oats mills in Ireland, Flahavan’s in Kilmacthomas, about 20 miles from Tramore. The mill has been in the same location, owned by the same family, for over 200 years, though none of the original buildings survive. Flahavan’s own about 56% of the [...]

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A New, Urban World

May 25, 2007

According to researchers at North Carolina State University and University of Georgia, as of May 23 the earth’s population is now more urban than rural. As the imbalance shifts even more towards urban, it’s going to become incredibly difficult for rural areas and people to bring their issues to the forefront. Story

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Caregiving Co-ops

January 16, 2007

My good friend Margaret Bau is doing some innovative work for USDA in Wisconsin helping groups to set up cooperatives for the purpose of providing home care to seniors. She’s currently got a great write-up on the Agri-View web site describing some of her projects.

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Ceifin 2006

December 18, 2006

Shortly after we got to Ireland, we of course began haunting the local library. On my first trip there, I found a great book called Working Towards Balance that explored the changes in Irish society due to the booming economy. Reading the book, I learned that it was actually a collection of the papers presented [...]

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