The Gray Lady observes rural America

Regular followers of Legal Ruralism will know I am an avid New York Times reader. Of course, I don't just read it for the rural news--or to see what person or place the paper may be willy nilly labeling "rural" today. (Followers will also know I'm a bit sensitive about the use of this term for places with populations in excess of, oh, say, 50,000!). No, for me the Times is the newspaper of record, a daily "must read," or at least "must scan," even on vacation.

Sometimes, it seems that weeks pass with nary a mention of the rural. At other times, I find a surfeit of rural stories. This week has been one of the latter. Here are some of my finds from the past week or so:

As the Mountaintops Fall, a Coal Town Vanishes, dateline Lindytown, West Virginia, not a Census Designated Place, but in Boone County, population 25,000.

An Appalachian Radio Voice Threatened from Afar, dateline Whitesburg, Kentucky, population 1,649.

Indians Join Fight for an Oklahoma Lake's Flow, dateline Tuskahoma, Oklahoma, not a Census Designated Place

High Prices Sow Seeds of Erosion, out of Portsmouth, Iowa, population 192

Recognition to the Specks on the Map, from near Hobbs, New Mexico, population 29,777 (discussed in this post)

Moving to the City, but Clinging to Native Ways, from Anchorage and Kongiganak, Alaska, population 399.

Kudos to the New York Times for this coverage ... or maybe we should just attribute it to a slow news week.