The Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Ala., in Dallas County: Glynn Wilson

Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Back during the height of news covering during the midterm election campaign, mainstream media pundits and commentators often blamed Democrats for ineffective messaging and failing to get the word out on how President Joe Biden’s legislative successes would help suffering people even in rural America, where working class people had largely sided with former President Donald Trump politically.

They did this even though they should have known that all the conservative news channels from Fox to Breitbart, Sinclair Broadcasting stations and Gatehouse Media newspapers were never going to cover the stories fairly, meaning half the people were never going to find out about the stories anyway.

Now that funding and grants are being announced from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, nobody is covering the stories at all. The stories are all focused on the sensational clickbait about Elon Musk’s Twitter and the incoming House Republicans’ plan to try focusing the nation’s attention on Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Hey, it may not be sexy and sensational and dominate the discussion on Facebook and Twitter, but here at the New American Journal, we are committed to covering some actual news now and then, whether it gets a massive amount of attention on social media or a bunch of traffic, or not.

Here’s an example.

In Tuesday’s inbox, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Secretary Tom Vilsack just announced an investment of $981 million to help create new and better market opportunities and expand essential services for rural Americans, businesses and entrepreneurs in 47 states.

“Rural people provide the everyday essentials our country depends on,” Vilsack said in the announcement. “Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, USDA is dedicated to helping people through job creation and expansion of entrepreneurial opportunities in the rural places they live. The partnerships we’re announcing today demonstrate USDA’s commitment to advocating for rural business owners and building brighter futures for everyone in rural America.”

The funding under the Inflation Reduction Act will help keep resources and wealth made by rural people right at home through affordable financing and technical assistance.

“It will help rural Americans start businesses and allow small business owners to grow,” Vilsack. “It will also open the door to new economic opportunities for communities and people who historically have lacked access to critical resources and financing.”

For starters, in a poor, rural area of Alabama’s Black Belt, the West Dallas Water Authority in Selma will use a $268,000 loan and a $788,000 grant through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan Guarantee Program to make improvements to the utility’s water system.

These improvements will provide clean and modern water service to 69 homes and one church, removing the need for residents to depend on individual water wells, Vilsack said, and the improvements will also add fire hydrants, increasing fire protection in the area. This project will benefit 3,488 rural residents in Dallas County.

In Iowa, Woodbury County REC will use a $1,500,000 loan and a $300,000 grant through the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program to construct a new medical clinic for Moville Area Medical Clinic Inc. in Woodbury County. This facility will increase patient access, assist medical professionals in delivering quality healthcare, and promote employment and economic development in this rural area. This investment will also create 12 new jobs.

In Idaho, Arsiero Air will use a $4,498,000 loan through the Rural Business and Industry Loan Guarantees Program to purchase a K-1200 heavy lifting helicopter to expand their timber harvesting operations. The project will play a critical role in allowing Arsiero Air to access timber in otherwise inaccessible locations, and thereby allowing the completion of new and existing timber harvesting contracts. The project will create 18 new jobs.

USDA is making 242 awards through eight programs specifically designed to create economic opportunities for people and businesses in rural areas. These programs are the Biofuel Producer Relief Payments Program, Business and Industry Loan Guarantees, Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan Program, Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program, the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program, Rural Innovation Stronger Economy Grants program, the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program and the Water and Waste Disposal Loan Guarantees.

Awards are being made in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming, Guam and the Virgin Islands.

“The USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways,” the agency says in the press release.

During just the Biden administration in the past two years, the USDA brags it is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean-energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.

Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas.

In case you were wondering how the administration was spending the money allocated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed just before the midterm elections in early November, the availability of $6 million in funds was announced Monday to support Tribal Nations across the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to reduce nutrient pollution in the third largest river basin in the world, after the Amazon and the Congo.

Related: Biden Administration Announces the Release of $6 Million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Support Tribal Nations in Reducing Nutrient Pollution in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin

So don’t say the people are not being told what’s going on. Perhaps it’s just that no one in traditional media are willing to tell the stories, and maybe people are unwilling to share the stories on social media.

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