Rural Affairs

An interior view of House of Sight and Sound

Feedback: Bygone Record Store Still Echoes in Heart of Kansas

By Cami Koons | September 17, 2021

House of Sight and Sound left a lasting legacy in the Salina, Kansas, music scene.

Jason and Keri Medows during a recording for Illinois Farm Bureau Women in Ag. Jason launched the "Ag State of Mind" podcast to discuss mental health issues in rural America.

Mental Health Assistance Hard to Find in Rural America

By Marissa Plescia, Cami Koons | August 25, 2021

A shortage of professionals, bad broadband and lingering stigma make it hard for people in rural America seeking mental health help. By at least one measure, Missouri is the worst state in the country in terms of rural mental health access.

Rosalie Gilbert says her husband Charles Gilbert has been a member of the State Historical Society of Missouri since his college years, and he was excited to come see its bicentennial exhibit in Columbia.

Missouri’s Bicentennial Quilt Stitches Together a State With Many Splits

By Cami Koons | August 11, 2021

The Missouri bicentennial quilt seeks to bring together an often divided state by collecting local stories from each of 114 counties.

Longtime employees at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and Machinists Union members are protesting proposed budget cuts that could threaten their jobs. From left to right: Scott Brown, Ryan Waddell and Diana Dierking.

Lake City Ammo Plant in Cross Hairs of Proposed Budget Cuts

By Cami Koons | August 5, 2021

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is facing deep cuts in U.S. Army spending on small caliber ammunition, threatening hundreds of jobs in Independence.

Natalie Eddings plays with her daughter, Noelle (2), and dog, Ginger, in their large, Odessa backyard. The space they gained from the move makes Eddings' commute to the city twice a week well worth it.

On the Edge: More Suburbanites Embrace Rural Life

By Cami Koons | July 14, 2021

Soaring home prices and expanding remote work options are prompting more suburbanites to opt for rural communities to live.

In 2019, Missouri had more than 500 CAFOs, according to the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

Some of Missouri’s Largest CAFOs are Seeking Less Stringent State Regulation

By Allison Kite | June 23, 2021

Eleven of Missouri’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations are working to reduce the state’s oversight of their hog facilities, despite a record of manure spills and clean water violations.

Bert Wire's farm sits behind the "Farms Not Factories" sign near Chillicothe, Missouri,

Missouri Eases Rules for Building CAFOs Despite Outcry About Potential Pollution

By Allison Kite | May 19, 2021

Missouri regulators on Tuesday eased the rules governing design of massive industrial hog facilities in a move critics claim was meant to help one controversial facility.

A grain elevator in Turney, Missouri, looms large over the small community. An elevator in neighboring Stewartsville will be the location of the intelligent router sending broadband signals to the village.

It Takes A Village to Reach Rural Broadband Fringe

By Jacob Douglas | May 6, 2021

U.S. Ignite broadband experiment finds a host in a tiny Missouri village.

Jenni Koch shows other residents the parcels of land up for rezoning at The Coffee Bean Co. in Spring Hill, Kansas, on Feb. 9, 2021.

Rural Johnson Countians Pay the Price of Progress at the Edge(rton)

By Jacob Douglas | April 21, 2021

Edgerton, Kansas, is on track to approve Northpoint Development’s proposal to expand Logistics Park Kansas City, despite resistance from nearby rural residents.