Friday, April 5, 2013

NPR now also sees Kaufman County as rural

Here's the latest report from NPR on the Kaufman County killings of the prosecuting attorney Mike McLelland and his wife.  Whereas prior reports had noted the place's proximity to Dallas, a matter I commented on here, this report follows the New York Times lead and refers to Kaufman County as rural.  Here's an excerpt from Wade Goodwyn's story, which ran yesterday:
"People are, I don't know that they're walking around in fear, but it's not the same county that we lived in two months ago. A lot has changed since that time," [Kaufman County Judge Bruce] Wood says.
Rural Texas prides itself as a place where people can take care of themselves, many are not only armed but well armed. And McLelland was a man among them.
Goodwyn notes that the Aryan Brotherhood, which apparently has a stronghold in Kaufman County, has come under early suspicion in the murders, but others speculate that Mexican drug cartels are responsible.  Goodwyn's story closes with this:
The murder of law enforcement officials has grown commonplace south of the Texas border. The question now is: Has a new front opened, the first shots fired in a rural county east of Dallas?
I do note that the reasons that seem to be the basis for Goodwyn characterizing Kaufman County as rural appear to be primarily cultural, not necessarily spatial or ecological.  I also note that Goodwyn is now doing the reporting on these events for NPR.  Though he seems to be based in Texas, Goodwyn reports on lots of rural issues across the nation.  I thus would expect him to pick up on the rural angle of any story that even arguably had one.

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