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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Proposed Regulation Could Expand Internet Access in Rural Arizona

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Thursday, February 5, 2015   

PHOENIX - Internet use in Arizona and across the nation may soon be regulated as a utility.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler announced Wednesday he will seek to have the Internet regulated under Title II of the Communications Act.

Whitney Kimball Coe, program associate with the Center for Rural Strategies, says regulation should help ensure the Internet remains a level playing field.

"The ability to communicate and have access to places where you can contribute knowledge and also gain knowledge, that just seems to be a basic human right at this point," says Kimball Coe.

Under the proposed FCC regulations, broadband providers couldn't block or degrade access to legal online content, applications, or services. They also wouldn't be allowed to favor some Internet traffic over others - in other words, no "fast lanes."

Kimball Coe says regulating the Internet will also benefit rural residents by expanding broadband access.

"This move to Title Two, or classifying broadband or Internet as a utility, would really close that digital divide that exists between rural and urban," she says. "It would also allow the FCC to regulate the Internet in a way that would make sure that rural areas have service."

Opponents argue the proposal is overreaching and would stifle investment and customer choice. The five-member commission is scheduled to vote on the proposed rules Feb. 26.


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