News from rural America.

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

TRANSCRIPT

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, this is the news from rural America.

The health gap between urban and rural America is getting worse, and research shows a primary reason is rural women dying from preventable or treatable diseases.

Lameka Samuel with South Carolina's Office of Rural Health says women often lose trust in the medical system after spending hours just trying to get an appointment.

Frustration may set in for that person, and it's like, if this is how I'm gonna be treated after all of this, then I'm just not gonna come back.

Data from the Department of Agriculture found that in the decade before the pandemic, the rural-urban gap in deaths from natural causes for ages 25 to 54 grew more than seven times wider, and the more rural the region, the greater the increase.

Janice Probst, a former health services professor at the University of South Carolina, says funding for rural health and hospitals can't be optional.

We treat them the way we treat electricity, which is that it goes to every house, even though it costs a lot more to send it some places than other places.

A North Carolina county is still debating a move to withdraw their library from a regional system after a year of controversy stemming from a LGBTQ book display.

Ilana Newman has more.

In Yancey County, North Carolina, residents are organizing to prevent the withdrawal, a move that would leave residents without resources and critical state funding for the library.

Daily Underdata reporter Sarah Mallott lives in the region and says an attempt to break away was defeated before resurfacing.

Commissioners threatened to withdraw from the regional system last summer, but they ultimately decided not to after telling the public that it wasn't financially feasible.

The regional system provides a large book selection, traveling bookmobiles, technology services, and mobile hotspots, which the library would have trouble paying for on its own.

Residents have until July of 2025 to try to negotiate with the commissioners to reverse the decision.

I'm Ilana Newman.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's rural policies are in the spotlight since Vice President Kamala Harris picked him for her running mate.

Former Bridgewater Township Supervisor Kathleen Doran Norton says Walz's universal school lunches and bigger child tax credit might seem unrelated, but they both help poor families.

All of these, what we might think of as separate issues, are interconnected.

Some have criticized Walz for setting aside millions for a new paid family and medical leave program launching in 2026.

But Doran Norton believes more childcare would help rural businesses keep employees, and healthcare access is a huge issue.

We're seeing rural clinics and hospitals close.

In Northern Minnesota, the area the size of Massachusetts does not have OB/GYN care.

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, I'm Roz Brown.

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