Kirk Siegler
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Some businesses are protesting COVID-19 closures, saying the economic toll will be worse than the deaths from the virus. But health experts warn a premature opening could make everything worse.
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Some businesses and activists want to end prolonged closures that were imposed to block the spread of the coronavirus. Health experts warn a premature opening could create another surge of the virus.
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In the rural Northwest, far-right elected officials, and the militias they're aligned with, are calling for defiance of statewide stay-at-home orders, including one issued by Idaho's GOP governor.
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There's still a serious shortage of testing for COVID-19 across the country. Many people who are sick and showing likely symptoms say they still can't get tested.
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There was already a shortage of medical personnel in rural America before the coronavirus. Medical staffing firms are now trying to send health workers to underserved small towns.
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Small-town hospitals are under-equipped to deal with the coronavirus, and administrators warn it's a misperception that people in isolated rural areas are safer from exposure.
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A new generation of family physicians wants a work-life balance. But practicing in a small town is a 24/7 job, which is worsening the ongoing doctor shortage in rural America.
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Despite public health warnings about benzene contamination in the town's water supply, some Paradise residents say they have no choice but to return.
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Last month's deadly Camp Fire has become a turning point in the debate over how western forests should be managed.
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Eight of the top 10 states with the highest suicide rates are in the Mountain West. Grand Junction, Colo., has launched an ambitious effort starting in the schools to try to address the problem.