News from rural America.

Rural Appalachia is being eyed for massive AI centers, but locals are pushing back, some farmers say government payments meant to ease tariff burdens won't cover their losses and rural communities explore novel ways to support home-based childcare. 

TRANSCRIPT

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

The rush to build AI data centers has come to rural central Appalachia, where the demise of coal mining has flatlined the economy.

The tech industry, data center developers, and fossil fuel companies are eyeing the landscape with ambitious plans to power the growth of artificial intelligence. under contributor James Branscom says it sparked both hope and resistance.

Pro-development people are saying this is an awesome opportunity for us.

These data centers are going to pay property taxes, they're going to employ a lot of people.

It's going to finally bring prosperity.

Critics warn of environmental degradation, soaring utility bills, limited job creation and the loss of local control.

Branscom says community groups fear governments are railroading projects through in spite of their impacts.

These folks are objecting to the water usage, they're objecting to the electricity usage, they're objecting to the noise these things make. — Global trade wars from President Donald Trump's tariffs have driven down farm commodity prices.

Now, as Susanna Brown reports, farmers await a promised bailout. — A Chinese boycott of U.S. soybeans left farmers without a vital market for most of last year.

That was devastating for South Dakota row crop farmer Gene Staley. — Tariffs, regardless of who puts them on, are really hard on agriculture.

Any time they start using my commodity as some sort of leverage, some sort of weapon, I'm the one that suffers, and this time is no different.

To ease the pain, USDA is paying $12 billion to barley, corn, soybean, and wheat farmers.

They expect one-time payments between $30 and $45 per acre next month.

Staley says it won't cover his losses or fix the underlying problems.

It'll help, but it won't make me whole.

I'm Susanna Brown.

There's a child care shortage in rural America.

With no new federal funding or comprehensive reform on the horizon, states are trying novel solutions from cutting costs to voluntary donations.

Britain's Stites is city attorney for Junction City, Kansas.

He says conflicting state, city and county ordinances can hamstring potential providers.

You always want policy and practice to meet, but sometimes the policy has to change to meet the practice.

In Alaska, certified home-based providers are critical for rural communities, but getting a license can be challenging.

And in areas where homes lack reliable internet, many providers may have to travel hundreds of miles several times a year at their own expense to complete the necessary coursework.

Stephanie Bergland leads THREAD, Alaska's child care resource and referral network.

She says they're trying to speed up caregivers licensing.

More and more communities are using the satellite internet, opening up a lot of access, especially to professional development in rural and remote Alaska.

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

For more rural stories, visit dailyyonder.com.