Last August the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah collapsed, killing six coal miners. Ten days later, three men sent to rescue the trapped miners died in a second cave-in. A Congressman has asked the U.S. Attorney for Utah to conduct a criminal investigation into whether the mine's general manager "willfully misled" federal officials.

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller of California asked prosecutors to determine if the general manager "covered up" conditions in the mine that could have warned federal inspectors of potential dangers. In particular, Miller said the mine manager did not report a significant damage from a mine collapse, or "bump," in March

Mine management at Crandall "may have purposefully misled MSHA about the severity of the March bump fearing MSHA would close the mine, and [they] continued to adhere to the mischaracterization after the August incidents in an effort to downplay the foreseeability of the August incident," Miller's report said.

How far are you from the nearest heart monitor or ultrasound machine or high-tech imaging equipment? Reach in your pocket. Soon, cell phones will be able to provide these and other medical diagnostics.

"The cell phone is going to solve rural health-care problems, whether it's rural India or rural Indiana," Kristin Tolle, Microsoft Research's program manager for external research in biomedical computing, told Business Week's Olga Kharif. Microsoft is funding 17 research efforts into using cell phones for an array of medical purposes.

Kharif writes that Apple's iPhone is being adapted for medical applications too. A new software program that works with the iPhone makes it possible to physicians far from a patient's bedside to review that patient's records -- even brain scans and X-rays -- with accuracy.

For those of you who haven't read our regular feature, Letter From Langdon, you don't know what you're missing. Check out the feature below and to the left — or just search for Langdon up above and start reading. You won't want to stop.

For those of you who are familiar with Richard Oswald's magical missives from his farm in the far northwest corner of Missouri but have wondered what the guy sounded like, here's your chance. Richard (above) was on the Marketplace radio show this morning with a commentary. Just click this sentence to go to the show for a listen.

Marketplace is running a series called "Food Fight." It's about the global rise in food prices and the food shortages that are causing havoc around the world. Richard talks about this from the perspective of a farmer who has waited a long time to earn a decent return on his labor and investment. Listen up.

Time Magazine has picked up on the raw milk movement that has been building among urban consumers. One woman drives two hours to upstate New York each month to pick up a supply of raw milk. Another has bought shares in a dairy farm to insure her raw milk take. "In Manhattan," the magazine reports, "some raw-milk drinkers hire a mule to bring the white stuff to an agreed-upon location in the city, where they stock up during a strictly enforced two-hour window."

The Food and Drug Administration since 1987 has required all milk sold across state lines to be pasteurized. Only six states allow raw milk to be sold at stores while 28 allow sales of raw milk straight off the farm. This is not meeting the demands of those who believe that regularly drinking raw milk can relieve asthma and eczema.

All the health experts contend drinking raw milk is not the greatest of ideas. But people want it and dairy farmers are finding it a lucrative product.

Buffalo from Monte Downare's ranch ran through the thin fence put up by Jeff Hawn, a newcomer to Park County, Colorado, and so Hawn allowed some hunters to kill 32 of the bison. The buffalo were left where they were shot, or where they eventually fell, and the community of Fairplay was thrown into an uproar, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.

Colorado is an open range state and so the ethic and the law is that property owners are responsible for keep animals off their property — and that you never kill a neighbor's stock. But Hawn came from Texas, buying 365 acres (at best, a "ranchette") next to the Downare's place. The buffalo would cross Hawn's fence and the Downare's would come bring them back. Hawn claimed they did damage to his property, including destroying a satellite dish. And then the strong-willed bison crossed again and the animals were shot.

The incident has spawned lawsuits and a letter to the editor calling the hunters "gang-land style killers." Police are investigating.

With diesel costing $4 per gallon, many rural fire departments are facing their own budgetary emergencies. The Northwest Arkansas Times reported that Round Mountain's Fire Department has already spent $900 on fuel this year, as compared with $500 it had spent on fuel by early May 2007. Last year, fire dues went up from $40 to $60, but more increases may be on the way.

In Arkansas, "Most rural departments can count on county money and Act 833, a law set up in 1991 promising state money to purchase equipment and trucks, to set up their budget." The Nob Hill fire chief said his department receives "around $ 36,000 a year from the county and an additional $10,000 to $12,000 from Act 833."

The Crescent News reported on the problem in the Buckeye State. For the fire department in Defiance, Ohio, "the budget for fuel has increased by more than $4,000 in the past three years." U.S. Rep. John Boehner, of West Chester, Ohio, has been speaking out about high fuel costs and their penalty on rural Americans. He noted that, "In Texas, volunteer fire departments are reducing their equipment budgets to be able to afford gas."

What kind of mileage does a fire truck get anyway? According to reporter Jenny Derringer, "there's no point in even trying to figure (it) out ... Upon arrival at a fire scene, a truck may be parked and running for several hours while firefighters tackle the emergency at hand." Water pumps and sprayers also consume fuel.

For the third straight year, a study of Hispanic representation in Washington state's politics finds Latinos are underrepresented. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports, "In towns such as Toppenish, Wapato and Walla Walla, Latinos have considerably less influence in local politics and policy-making although in some places Latinos outnumber whites. The study, "The State of the State for Washington Latinos," was carried out by researchers at Whitman University.

Latinos now account for 10% of the state's population, but only 2% of Washington's state legislators are Hispanic.

Latino Washingtonians are especially concentrated in the central part of the state, an agricultural region. Looking at local and countywide leadership there, the research team found "a 'pressing need' for changes in the way school boards are elected in Toppenish and Wapato, where at-large voting results in under-representation of Latinos." Students in Pasco, Washington, have challenged the lack of bilingual ballots as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Lisa Pruitt over at the always-interesting Legal Ruralism discusses the effects of the Supreme Court's decision this week that the state of Indiana can require people to show government-issued photo IDs before being allowed to vote. The Court acknowledged that there should be some appeal with such paperwork, and the justices approved a plan that would have citizens cast a provision ballot at the county clerk's office within 10 days of the election.

"While such a journey might seem 'no big deal' to city dwellers," Pruitt writes, "it will impose a hardship on many rural voters." During oral arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts, a Hoosier, said this made sense because "county seats aren't very far for people in Indiana." Fine, because Indiana has 92 counties. Kentucky has 120. Short trips.

But what about California, a huge state divided into just 58 counties? "Makes one wonder what distance would be considered 'excessive' in the eyes of our urban-dwelling Supreme Court Justices," Pruitt writes.

"Danville (above) is one of a handful of American communities where men and women are living shorter lives," begins a forthright editorial published in the Register Bee, the Virginia town's daily newspaper. "By almost every statistical measure, Danville has problems."

Danville has "old problems," says the editorial. Population has been stagnate for 50 years. People are living shorter lives because of AIDS and homicides and because too many people are without medical insurance. See this Yonder story on rural longevity.

"The best long-term solution is raising education levels and worker skills," the editorial says, but the underlying problem is the "long slumber that Danville has only recently started to awaken from. If we understand how we wound up with these problems, it's easier to get started on the solutions."

Jerry Guenther at the Norfolk (Nebraska) Daily News reminds us why people enjoy living in rural communities with his story, "Volunteers Help Local Red Cross Chapter Earn Honor." Guenther tells us that the local Red Cross in the northeast part of the state continues to lead the region in the way it carries out its work.

"Ask just about anyone living in Northeast Nebraska what they enjoy about living here and the willingness of people to help each other would rate high," Guenther writes. The local chapter only has two employees, but it's been so successful that the national Red Cross organization has been asking those in Norfolk for their secret sauce.

"What I shared with them is that in Northeast Nebraska, neighbor helps neighbor," said executive director Lori Carollo. (See photo above of fire in January.) "If there's a fire, the whole block is out (helping). It's neighbor helping neighbor, providing food and organizing a benefit."