Nearly $128 Million Available for Telemedicine and Distance Education in Rural Communities. Will the funds actually go to rural communities? Sen. Baucus thinks it’s outrageous when they don’t.

Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas C. Dorr announced Thursday that USDA is making available $62.9 million in distance learning and telemedicine loans, $50 million in loan and grant combinations, and $15 million in grants.

Full Story: http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=104817

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Rural Aid Goes to Urban Areas
USDA Development Program Helps Suburbs, Resort Cities

By Gilbert M. Gaul and Sarah Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. — In a few weeks, artists, lawyers and bankers will begin arriving here for the busy summer season on high-speed ferries that take 90 minutes to make the trip from Boston. They will land at a recently refurbished municipal dock that was built with the help of a $1.95 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040502033.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

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Keep rural funds — but for those who need it

After the ravages of the Dust Bowl years, President Franklin D. Roosevelt resurrected rural America with programs to bring electricity, telephones and new businesses to small towns.

His efforts were the foundation for today’s USDA Rural Development program, which last year brought $106 million to Montana.

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"To the extent that they’re diverting those funds to non-rural communities … that is a real concern for us because that’s taking monies away from true rural development issues," Cole said.

Montana’s U.S. Sen. Max Baucus agreed Friday, vowing to tackle the problem.

"I think it’s outrageous," Baucus said.

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070409/OPINION01/704090306/1014/OPINION