Critical to rural development are a regional approach, greater flexibility among federal programs, and more investment, from government, lenders and foundations.

Rural transportation leaders are speaking out against a proposal before Congress that would cut funding for needed public transit programs.

Arkansas could lose more than a third of its post offices under a plan proposed by the U.S. Postal Service. A photo essay looks at the towns and people these offices serve.

The White House has added "rural issues" and "Native American issues" to a list of nearly a score of items administration officials will talk about (via Twitter) in the days after the President's State of the Union Address. Earlier Monday, these were not part of the White House schedule.