Locally sourced, collaborative reporting from and for rural America.
Featured Story
Dee J. Hall for Floodlight
Farmers in Trump Country Were Counting on Clean Energy Grants. Then the Government Changed the Rules.
Thousands of farmers and small rural businesses now in limbo as USDA demands grant rewrites that favor fossil fuels over renewables.
LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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3 dead, more than 200 rescued in South Texas after severe storms cause flooding
Homes were inundated with water and cars were abandoned across the Rio Grande Valley region.
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‘I’m devastated.’ Trump administration guts millions from health programs in Fresno County
Across Fresno County, a nascent network of about 120 community health workers for rural communities, farmworkers, and some of Fresno’s poorest neighborhoods took direct hits.
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Rural Letter Carriers Gather in Washington, D.C. to Oppose Privatization of the U.S. Postal Service
According to rural letter carriers rallying in Washington, D.C., privatizing USPS would mean degradation of postal services and an increase in costs for those living in rural and remote areas.
RNN Highlights
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Eric J. Shelton for Mississippi Today
Rural Realities
People are growing more skeptical about the value of higher education. This five-part series explores how institutions and students are meeting their educational needs and the demands of today’s rural workforce.
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Winik Sartwell for Carolina Public Press
Deserting Women
Rural North Carolina counties are seeing growing deserts of health services for women at local hospitals, with serious health implications. Multiple pressures are driving this trend. But solutions may be available.
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Jerry L Mennenga for the Flatwater Free Press
Nebraska Evolving
The perception is that Nebraska’s smaller communities are dying. The reality is that many rural Nebraska counties are now growing for one reason. Immigration.
MORE NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Gianforte signs bathroom, trans athlete restrictions into law
March 27, 2025
The bills, which sparked legal action Thursday, are part of national wave of legislation advancing strict ideas of gender identity.
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MDI Hospital announced plans to close its birthing unit, making it the tenth Maine hospital to do so in the past decade
March 27, 2025
The hospital president said the choice to close the unit follows a steep decline in births, calling it a “devastating decision.” The Maine State Nurses Association called it an “abject failure.”
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Trump halts historic orphaned well-plugging program
March 27, 2025
Western states were using funds from the Infrastructure Act to clean up pollution left behind by industry.
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Oviedo changes protocols after long fluoride system shutdowns
March 26, 2025
Protocol changes follow after OCN investigation revealed pattern of repeated, unpublished Oviedo fluoride system shutdowns.
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Educators, state officials adopt a ‘wait and see’ toward DOE dismantling
March 26, 2025
Connecticut’s public schools, which serve more than half a million students, could lose $321 million.
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Federal judge rules prison heat conditions are unconstitutional, but doesn’t require air conditioning
March 26, 2025
About two-thirds of Texas prisons are not fully air conditioned, and dozens of inmates have died in the sweltering heat.
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Trump administration’s cuts cancel food deliveries to Harvesters
March 26, 2025
The food bank, which provides food to pantries and other hunger outreach groups in Missouri and Kansas, will not get scheduled shipments of milk, eggs, chicken and canned goods.
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Hageman cancels in-person town halls, opts for virtual events citing safety concerns
March 25, 2025
Wyoming’s lone congressional Rep. Harriet Hageman will no longer appear at town halls set for later this week in Cheyenne and Torrington. Wyoming Democrats say she is attempting to distract from widespread frustration sparked by Trump administration’s cuts and firings.
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USDA upheaval brings uncertainty to farmers, rural communities
March 25, 2025
Funding terminations, freezes, layoffs all have follow-on impacts.