, 8 Solo Road Trip Destinations, Rated, with an emoji ranking system based on adventure, affordability and cultural experiences.

 

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 USDA Partners to Improve Rural Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in 23 States

New Partnerships Support More Prosperous Futures for More than 73,000 People

POLAND, La., Aug. 14, 2018 – Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett visited the state today to announce that USDA is investing more than $124 million (PDF, 155.4 KB) to help rebuild and improve rural water infrastructure in 23 states. Five projects in Louisiana are receiving funding.

“Modern, reliable water infrastructure provides a foundation for economic growth and prosperity,” Hazlett said. “USDA’s partnerships with rural communities underscore Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s commitment to ensuring that rural places have the infrastructure needed to thrive.”

USDA is providing the funding through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program. It can be used to finance drinking water, stormwater drainage and waste disposal systems for rural communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.

Hazlett announced that the following projects in Louisiana will receive USDA funding:

• The Poland Water Association, Inc. is receiving a $1 million loan and a $161,000 grant to construct two water wells. The booster station will be restored to service with a new chlorination facility and a pad-mounted natural gas generator to provide emergency power. The office building will be brought into compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act accessibility standard. Radio-read water meters will be installed to improve billing efficiency. The Poland Water Association, Inc. serves 909 customers in Rapides Parish.
• The Alberta Water System, Inc. will use a $164,000 loan and a $1.5 million grant to construct an additional well. Water meters will be replaced with radio-read meters to reduce water loss. Carbon treatment systems will be added to both booster stations to mitigate disinfection byproducts. Generators will be added to both booster stations to provide emergency power supply. The Alberta Water System serves 1,858 customers in Bienville Parish. Additional funding includes a $30,000 Rural Development Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households grant and a $2,000 contribution from the water system.
• The Lena Water System, Inc. will receive a $3 million loan to adjust the discharge pressure for the booster stations, construct two water wells and a ground storage tank with booster pumps, and install radio-read meters. The improvements will provide additional production and storage capacity to meet the System's growing demand. Lena serves 1,185 customers in Rapides Parish.
• The town of Delcambre will use a $291,000 loan and a $183,000 grant to upgrade water distribution lines that service residents in Vermilion Parish. Funds will also be used to install meters to prevent water loss. Delcambre's water system serves approximately 762 residential customers and 70 commercial customers. In FY 2015, the project received a $1,722,000 USDA loan and a $1,179,220 USDA grant.
• The Waterworks District No. 3 - Parish of St. Landry will receive a $500,000 loan to extend water lines under Three Mile Lake to serve the North Wilderness subdivision. The Water District currently serves 154 customers. The project will enable it to extend services to 116 new customers within St. Landry Parish.

Below are examples of other infrastructure projects across the nation that USDA is helping to support.

• In Nettleton, Miss., the Cason Water District is receiving a $2.1 million loan and a $1.9 million grant to install surface water transmission lines from the Northeast Mississippi Water Supply District to the Cason Water District. A booster station, an elevated storage tank and larger distribution lines will also be installed. This project will correct water supply loss and accommodate future growth. The improvements will provide improved water service to 1,657 customers.
• McLouth, Kan., is receiving a $1.3 million loan to improve the city's water infrastructure. The project will replace approximately 9,400 feet of pipe and 4,100 feet of antiquated service line. In addition, 420 old water meters will be replaced with automatic meter readers and control panels at the water treatment facility. The upgrade will serve more than 860 residents.
• The town of Black Oak, Ark., will use a $687,000 loan and a $1.9 million grant to construct a wastewater collection system for the town and the surrounding rural area. The new collection system will serve 135 residents. Most of the individual septic systems are malfunctioning. A public wastewater system that meets current health and sanitary standards also will be constructed.

The funding that USDA is announcing today will benefit communities in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.

In FY 2018, Congress provided a historic level of funding for water and wastewater infrastructure. The 2018 Omnibus spending bill includes $5.2 billion for USDA loans and grants, up from $1.8 billion in FY 2017. The bill also directs Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to make investments in rural communities with the greatest infrastructure needs.

Eligible rural communities and water districts can apply online for funding to maintain, modernize or build water and wastewater systems. They can visit the interactive RD Apply tool, or they can apply through one of USDA Rural Development’s state or field offices.

In April 2017, President Donald J. Trump established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. In January 2018, Secretary Perdue presented the Task Force’s findings to President Trump. These findings included 31 recommendations to align the federal government with state, local and tribal governments to take advantage of opportunities that exist in rural America. Increasing investments in rural infrastructure is a key recommendation of the task force.

To view the report in its entirety, please view the Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB). In addition, to view the categories of the recommendations, please view the Rural Prosperity infographic (PDF, 190 KB).

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community services such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

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Leaders to hear report on first year of Operation Rio Grande

Additional opportunities available to focus on the three phases

 

What:

Leadership and partners of Operation Rio Grande will meet to hear a report on the first year of Operation Rio Grande, which launched Aug. 14, 2017. Agency leadership and staff will report on the three phases of the operation focused on 1) improving public safety, 2) drug and mental health treatment and 3) employment.

Who:

Lt. Governor Spencer Cox

House Speaker Greg Hughes

Senate President Wayne Niederhauser

Mayor Ben McAdams, Salt Lake County

Mayor Jackie Biskupski, Salt Lake City

Individual who experienced arrest and services related to Operation Rio Grande

Community partners

Where:

90 S. Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City

(Gateway Mall, former J. Crew space, across from the Children’s Museum)

When:

Aug. 14, 2018 from 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

 

Additional Media Availability

Specifics for each event will become available as they get closer

 

Phase 1 - Public Safety

What: Media ride-alongs with Salt Lake City Police Department and Utah Highway Patrol. Media will have the opportunity to ride-along and walk through the Rio Grande neighborhood with both law enforcement agencies.

Date & Time: Tuesday, Aug. 14, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location: Parking lot at 300 S. Rio Grande Street (450 West)

Contact: Christina Judd, Salt Lake City Police Department at 801-718-9911, or christina.judd@slcgov.com; Marissa Cote, Department of Public Safety at 801-793-8025, or mvillasenor@utah.gov

 

 

Phase 2 - Assessment and Treatment

What: Tour of the facility and interviews with individuals in recovery who can talk about their pathway through treatment and transition to sober living as part of Operation Rio Grande.

Date & Time: Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 10:00 a.m.

Location: Odyssey House Anchor East Sober Living, 218 E. 4500 S., Murray, UT

Contact: Michelle Schmitt, SL Co. Mayor’s Office, 801-414-0899, mschmitt@slco.org

 

Phase 3 - Dignity of Work

What: Visit a work site of an individual who gained employment through Dignity of Work

Date: Thursday, Aug. 16 (time and location TBD)

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BILLBOARD ADS: Center for Western Priorities Places Billboards to Bring Attention to Drilling Threat at Canyonlands National Park

‘Don’t Drill Our Parks’ campaign highlights threat of drilling to national parks

SALT LAKE CITY—Today, the Center for Western Priorities unveiled a billboard advertisement as a part of its “Don’t Drill Our Parks” campaign. The billboard—located on Minuteman Drive and visible going south on Interstate 15 en route to Canyonlands National Park—was spurred by Interior Department proposals to lease lands in close proximity to numerous national parks and monuments for oil and gas drilling, including oil and gas leases proposed by the Trump administration approximately one mile from the park’s Horseshoe Canyon Unit.

The campaign, which will continue into September 2018, includes billboard advertisements near Carlsbad Canyon National Park in New Mexico and Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, parks also threatened by proposed oil and gas leasing. The advertisements highlight the destructive impact of this administration’s energy dominance agenda on the crown jewels of our public lands and the communities and visitors who rely on them every day for their livelihoods and recreation.

“The Trump administration continues to endanger our national parks, selling off lands to industrial development right at their gateways,” said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities. “We need leaders who will put the people who live, work, and play on these lands ahead of oil and gas companies and special interests. This campaign sends a clear message to our leaders in Washington: We must stop President Trump from drilling the doorsteps of our national parks.”

Earlier this year the Bureau of Land Management, under Secretary Zinke’s guidance, proposed oil and gas leases near Great Basin National Park in Nevada, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Hovenweep National Monument in Utah, Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, and Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, just to name a few.

Now, more parks are being threatened by oil and gas development. Over the past few months, the Interior Department has proposed leases near Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and Canyonlands National Park and Hovenweep National Monument in Utah. After public backlash against many of the proposals, the agency announced several proposed leases—including Carlsbad Caverns, Chaco Canyon, and Great Sand Dunes—would be deferred, or put on hold.

These deferrals do not preclude the agency from putting the same controversial leases up for sale in the future.
 

For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 

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With only 17 percent of Americans reporting that they are “very confident” they will have enough money for retirement, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst Places to Retire as well as accompanying videos.

To help Americans plan for a comfortable retirement without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 46 key measures of affordability, quality of life, health care and availability of recreational activities. The data set ranges from cost of living to retired taxpayer-friendliness to share of the population aged 65 and older.
 

Best Cities to Retire

 

Worst Cities to Retire

1

Orlando, FL

 

173

Fresno, CA

2

Scottsdale, AZ

 

174

Modesto, CA

3

Tampa, FL

 

175

Jersey City, NJ

4

Denver, CO

 

176

Bakersfield, CA

5

Fort Lauderdale, FL

 

177

Providence, RI

6

Charleston, SC

 

178

Stockton, CA

7

Miami, FL

 

179

Baltimore, MD

8

Austin, TX

 

180

Warwick, RI

9

Cape Coral, FL

 

181

Bridgeport, CT

10

Tempe, AZ

 

182

Newark, NJ

 
Best vs. Worst

• Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of the population aged 65 and older, 22.4 percent, which is 3.3 times higher than in Fontana, California, the city with the lowest at 6.8 percent.
   
• Laredo, Texas, has the lowest adjusted cost-of-living index for retirees, 76.51, which is 2.5 times lower than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at 192.09.
   
• Columbia, Maryland, has the highest share of workers aged 65 and older, 26.86 percent, which is 2.9 times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest at 9.31 percent.
   
• St. Louis, Missouri has the most home health care facilities (per 100,000 residents), 45.25, which is 31 times more than in Fontana, California, the city with the fewest at 1.46.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit: 
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-places-to-retire/6165/