January is National Poverty in America Awareness Month and in South Dakota, agencies assisting low-income individuals said access to affordable housing remains a pressing issue. The U.S. Census Bureau puts South Dakota s poverty rate at 12.5%. .
College students receiving extra aid to help pay for food, housing or transportation are more likely to stay in school, according to new research. Administrators at Southern New Hampshire University found students who received payments in one round of emergency pandemic grant funding were 15% more likely to remain enrolled through multiple terms, compared to their peers. Jamie Fasteau, executive director of the university s Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice, said students cannot learn when they are hungry. .
Pennsylvania s Appalachian region needs opportunities to bolster its economy, which will be the topic of a virtual summit in mid-January. The goal is to ignite Appalachia s revitalization by bringing together key advocates for two days of strategic discussions. Of Pennsylvania s 67 counties, 52 are nestled in Appalachia. .
A new survey of the nation s small business owners showed a major challenge to successful operations is trying to provide health care for their employees. The survey by the group Small Business for America s Future polled more than 1,000 small business owners, including 110 in Texas. Dr. .
Wyoming won the largest grant in the nation, $24 million, in a federal pilot program aiming to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and protect migration corridors. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department estimated 80 deer or antelope are killed by vehicles each year along a section of highway 189 south of Kemmerer. Josh Coursey, CEO and co-founder of the Muley Fanatics Foundation, said it is also a motorist safety issue. .