Can a passenger train succeed -- and turn a profit -- in a region with low-population density? Lynchburg. Virginia, is a test case and passing with flying colors.
Rural fire departments are largely volunteer. They don't have as much money, equipment or training, and sometimes the roads are bad. But what they have in abundance is pride in their communities.
Activism that only calls on you to turn on your computer and mouse over to the "like" button has been called "clicktivism." It's a way to make you feel like you've done something when you haven't done a thing.
The steam trains roll again. And fanatic Jefferson Sinclair is on board,
rolling from Winston-Salem through the beautiful Blue Ridge to Roanoke,
Virginia.
An ambitious highway system through Appalachia hasn't lifted most of the region from economic distress. Have we hoped -- and invested -- too much in better roads?
Maybe sometime during the upcoming campaign both the Romney and Obama campaigns will release comprehensive rural platforms. In the meantime, however, the Obama administration offers a document outlining what it has done with rural…