The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission turned down an application Wednesday for a wind-energy complex proposed for Clark County.The regulatory panel voted 3-0 to reject Crocker Wind Farm. The project called for up to 200 turbines spread across more than 29,000 acres north of Clark.State law gave the commission six months to decide whether to grant a wind facility permit. The commission received the Crocker application July 25 and held a public input hearing Sept. [node:read-more:link]

More than 130 organizations representing ranchers, farmers, foresters, conservationists, sportsmen and women, and businesses have endorsed a set of unifying principles to achieve rural economic health, a productive agricultural sector, provide for human needs, and protect the landscapes in which we live and work. While people will always find differences, it is our innate ability to work together that enables us to survive, raise families and create prosperous communities. [node:read-more:link]

Large manufacturing firms in rural America are at least as likely as similar urban firms to use innovative methods that can contribute to job creation and increased earnings, a new report says. Though preliminary, the study may indicate that there are exceptions to the oft-repeated rule that economic innovation is the nearly exclusive purview of urban-based businesses.“The findings in this report regarding the prevalence of rural innovation challenge the conventional wisdom that rural nonfarm innovation is relatively rare and idiosyncratic,” the report says. [node:read-more:link]

Of the 122 hospitals that have closed since 2005, 60% have been in the South. The hospitals that have closed are more likely to serve people of color and lower-income communities.“To conclude, from this study, communities served by hospitals at high risk of financial distress had significantly higher percentages of residents who were black, who did not graduate high school, and are unemployed, again high-needs communities,” Dr. Pink reported. [node:read-more:link]

Boulder County commissioners have scrapped a plan for a sustainable agriculture research program that would help it transition away from the use of GMOs after the hunt to find someone to run the program became mired in controversy. County open space staff placed the blame for the failure squarely on area farmers who fiercely opposed the county's RFP process, alleging it was unethical and biased toward organic farming. Last year, the county decided it would begin phasing out GMO crops on its open space farms and issued a request for proposals to create a transition program. [node:read-more:link]

A group of Hispanic ranchers has been dealt a blow in their yearslong feud with the federal government over grazing rights on land in New Mexico that has been used by their families for centuries.Attorneys for the ranchers argued that the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

A new regional group hopes to help western Kennebec County municipalities help farmers in the face of development pressures and their own mortality. Members of Kennebec West, which so far includes residents from the towns of Manchester, Winthrop and Monmouth, plan to start their effort to help farmers by going directly to their subjects and talking to and surveying farmers, to learn their needs and what the group could do to help. [node:read-more:link]

Judge Tonya Parker of the 116th District Court in Dallas has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the State Fair of Texas by the Austin law firm Riggs & Ray, P.C., which appeared to be acting to further the political agenda of a party that does not want the State Fair at Fair Park in Dallas. The lawsuit alleged that the State Fair is a “governmental body” subject to the Texas Public Information Act. [node:read-more:link]

If Congress spent more money to prevent fires, it wouldn’t have to spend so much to fight them. Advocates and politicians from both parties agree. But that doesn’t appear to result in any action. We’ve grown accustomed to disagreement creating political impasse. But is political division so bad that there’s no progress even when folks agree on a solution? That’s the question Western conservation groups are asking as they push Congress to reform the way the government allocates funding to fight wildfires. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dylan Kruse of Sustainable Northwest. [node:read-more:link]

House Bill 5099 would prohibit counties and cities from putting any public funds into a government-owned or -managed network. The tight restrictions would replace Michigan’s current municipal-network limitations. [node:read-more:link]