By Kristi Eaton for The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service Service for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

An unexpected volunteer, a geographic information system (GIS) mapping expert helped a rural community in Texas establish its broadband connection.

Bernie South is the GIS volunteer who mapped the data using information from the Census, school district hotpost addresses and areas of growth in the county. A former U.S. Navy electronics technician and geoscientist at Exxon Mobil, South has been retired for about a decade.

South began volunteering with Bastrop County Cares during the pandemic to vaccinate people, he said. Since the pandemic in 2020, Bastrop County Cares, a nonprofit organization, has been working to bring broadband to more individuals and families in rural Texas.

"I've been doing things for broadband - to support that," he told the Daily Yonder in a Zoom interview. "I was sort of a recognized company expert at Exxon Mobil in the use of GIS. And I kind of bring that level of expertise to this project that I've been working on."

Using the data and maps, the task force has been convening different stakeholders to identify areas of need to help develop solutions to address the broadband shortage, Bastrop County Cares Executive Director Norma Mercado told the Daily Yonder in Zoom and email interviews.

"Bernie South's expertise in data science and geospatial analysis has been instrumental in pinpointing the areas with the greatest need for broadband access in Bastrop County..." she said, "...significantly advancing the mission of Bastrop County Cares to bring people together to collaboratively tackle large community challenges and improve the conditions where our neighbors live, work, pray and play."

Using data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Census data and other data sources, South provided detailed maps of where the highest need for broadband was located.

"Basically, I've been able to convert all that data together to give them a coherent picture of where the needs are, and where we need to focus the efforts. So a lot of the project has been driven by that data analysis," he said.

For example, South examined hotspots that students used during the pandemic. "That's kind of a direct indicator of where you have deficiencies in broadband coverage," he added.

Thanks to the assistance of South and others, Bastrop County Cares has been able to identify an antenna where S.O.S Communications will be able to provide broadband access to the 700-person community of McDade at a reasonable cost, Mercado said.

Debbie Bresette, the retired CEO of Bastrop County Cares and now a volunteer with the organization, said broadband will be a game-changer for the McDade community.

"They have four churches in this small town. They can hold their church services if need be, both online and in person," she told the Daily Yonder in a Zoom interview. "It means their kids can have access to better quality education. And if they have to be at home, they can do it at home. It means that the seniors in that community who are pretty far from doctors can do telehealth visits."

Bresette said the maps South has created will help the community in a multitude of ways.

"We now know where people who really struggled to make ends meet live. So we could do some small business development, help people do small business development in certain areas," she said. "We know where the majority of children under certain ages are. So we could do special programming in those communities so those kids start school ready to learn. The applications that we're using for broadband can be used for a wide variety of things."

Across the country, volunteers are helping to support efforts to bring broadband to their local communities. In Vermont, a community-based solution known as Communications Union Districts brings organizations of two or more towns together to build communication infrastructure together. Volunteers from electric co-ops have also brought supplies and line crews to the Navajo Nation.

South has not only focused on broadband-related maps but on maps related to other subjects as well. He has also mapped police calls to domestic disputes, which he said, showed a correlation between calls and economic stressors. Additionally, he has mapped rural hospital closures and the impact on low-income residents and other demographic data.

South said the biggest challenge to Bastrop County is people educating themselves as to how to think and work with a system like the one he worked with.

"That's always been the biggest challenge to me," he said. "People don't know what they don't know about what can be done."


Kristi Eaton wrote this article for The Daily Yonder.


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The Biden administration is proposing rules to protect workers from extreme heat.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said its proposed regulations would protect 36 million workers in outdoor and indoor settings.

Samantha Guerrero, community organizer for the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils, said protections are needed for the state's farmworkers.

"This would require worker access to clean drinking water and for access to shaded or indoor rest areas," Guerrero outlined. "And this would also allow the right to take regular rest breaks, which in Idaho law we currently don't have anything like that."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 479 workers died from heat exposure between 2011 and 2022 and there were more than 33,000 heat-related illnesses and injuries reported in the same time frame.

A poll from the Rural Democracy Initiative found such of protections are popular, with 77% of rural voters supporting workers right to organize for safe working conditions.

Guerrero argued it is important for the federal government to step up in this area to fill in gaps in Idaho laws.

"There are a lot of farmworkers who are in danger of losing their lives in this extreme temperatures," Guerrero observed. "So far, we have seen no urgency from the state to enact or create any protections."

Guerrero emphasized protection from the heat for outdoor workers is overdue and the proposed rules are simply the minimum of what can be done. She added farmworkers are among the most affected by extreme heat and yet they have the fewest safeguards.

"They are continuously left out of having protections and out of conversations of what are their needs and how can we better serve them and make sure that we are protecting their lives," Guerrero asserted. "Because farm work is some of the most dangerous work on the planet."


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The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning that rural America is in drastic need of volunteer drivers to help get vets to medical appointments.

The lack of available transportation can have a dramatic effect in states like Montana, where people often live far from their health care providers. Transportation is the top reason many people report for missing out on medical care and other important appointments.

Sabrina Clark, director of the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement, said people in the state are stepping up to join the administration's Volunteer Transportation Network.

"There are more than 100 volunteers across Montana who are already serving as volunteers," Clark noted. "We need more, we need more help. We need more volunteers."

Clark is calling on rural Montanans who want to help to join the transportation network. She pointed out drivers can volunteer for as many hours as they want and will have to go through a background check before they get behind the wheel.

Clark emphasized Montana's sheer size and the distance between vets and their care centers makes it difficult to be sure veterans who need medical and mental health services can get them.

"What that means to the veterans to have that transportation is their care, or no care, or limited care," Clark stressed. "And so, that's why we're here, to get more volunteers."

The latest VA data show almost 3,800 volunteers helped more than 222,000 vets get to their appointments nationwide last year. They drove more than 8.3 million miles in the process.


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Coloradans living in rural parts of the state tend to pay a lot more for their monthly energy bills than metropolitan customers but a new Biden administration program aims to bring costs down by helping homeowners and businesses replace older, inefficient heating and cooling systems.

Philip Fracica, policy advocate for the Rural Power Coalition, said if the average Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association connected ratepayer agrees to participate, they should see significantly lower monthly bills.

"You're going to be looking at a 20% energy savings, compared to what you are currently paying now," Fracica pointed out. "You will be getting a bill reduction immediately. And especially if you know you have a high utility bill, and your home is inefficient, you will get saving and benefits from enrolling in this program."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy Savings Program is investing $50 million in Tri-State's Electrify and Save repayment program. The money will be used as low-interest rate loans to pay for improvements up front. Customers will make small repayments in their monthly energy bills.

Fracica noted monthly bills should still be lower even with the repayments.

Homes and businesses can sign up for the program through their Tri-state distribution member co-op. Fracica added efficiency experts will be dispatched to conduct a comprehensive energy audit of your home or building to identify potential savings.

"For instance, looking at putting in a new HVAC system, putting in a new furnace, looking at insulation upgrades," Fracica outlined. "So really going to look top to bottom on where they can find energy savings and are going to have a customized plan."

Because the financing is backed by the federal government and tied to the service location, rather than the ratepayer, it will not affect credit scores or add debt for customers. Fracica acknowledged many people have called the program too good to be true but he believes it is an important opportunity.

"The co-op itself can benefit, as well as the members," Fracica emphasized. "It also can create jobs for local contractors in local communities to do the work as part of the program. So there's really multiple groups that can benefit."