Locally sourced, collaborative reporting from and for rural America.
Our biggest stories in 2025
A year of power, policy and the people caught in between.
LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
-
Here’s What We Know About What’s at Stake for 2SLGBTQ+ Rights Across Indian Country
As the first year of Trump’s second turn comes to a close and 2SLGBTQ+ rights remain under attack, Native leaders urge communities to support their trans and Two-Spirit relatives.
-
Mental health care clinic for underserved opens in Hollister
Maintaining a desire to reach underserved communities, North American Mental Health Services now has clinics near or in several rural regions, where mental health services are scarce.
-
The one issue South Dakota towns agree is holding them back
One overarching local challenge hovers above all else: a need for more and better housing to accommodate new residents who will create the backbone of any economic development initiative.
RNN Highlights
-
Justin Hardiman for Capital B
Sowing Resilience
Rural communities across the country are grappling with food insecurity. Nine stories reveal how communities are navigating — and reimagining — the systems that have left them hungry.
-
Illustration by Hrisanthi Pickett
Operation Timeline
What is the Trump administration’s impact on veterans and the military? We are tracking the developments day by day. Explore our timeline.
-
John Stember for Montana Free Press
The Shelter Gap
A three-part series examining barriers to buying, renting and building homes on reservation land in Montana — and highlighting the community benefits of secure housing.
MORE NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
-
A group of community members are hoping to start a new medical school in Shasta. Here’s what we know
December 23, 2025
The Rural Northern California Medical Education Consortium, made up of eight physicians, educators, health care leaders and community partners, is working to develop ideas for a North State medical school.
-
A look back at Almanack stories in 2025
December 23, 2025
The Almanack wraps up the year with the stories that garnered the most attention, plus a few staff favorites.
-
These 17 charts tell the story of the US food system in 2025
December 23, 2025
A highlight of our most important data visualizations and what they say about the state of agriculture.
-
BLM deletes contested, off-limits ‘Golden Triangle’ parcels from upcoming Wyoming oil and gas auction
December 22, 2025
Comments show significant opposition to leasing Wyoming wildlife habitat, including in migration corridors and near valuable sage grouse habitat.
-
Why Women Now Lead 6 of 8 Pulpits in Red Hook, Defying a Male-Dominated National Trend
December 22, 2025
Bucking national trends, Red Hook has become a rare place where women lead six of eight Christian congregations. In this six-part series, The Daily Catch explores not only how that happened what brought them to ministry.
-
Nicaraguan dead after detention in Mississippi ICE facility
December 22, 2025
Delvin Francisco Rodriguez, a 39-year old Nicaraguan man being detained by immigration authorities, has died in a Natchez, Mississippi hospital.
-
Can the Montana State Hospital regain federal standing without electronic health records?
December 22, 2025
The state psychiatric facility still doesn’t have an electronic system for tracking medical records. Health officials say they’re reapplying for federal certification anyway.
-
ICE’s year in SD, from small towns to Operation: Prairie Thunder
December 22, 2025
Most recent ICE arrestees in South Dakota are citizens of Mexico and Central America, with the majority coming from Mexico and Honduras, and 98% are male, according to government data obtained via a FOIA request from the Deportation Data Project.
-
The mysterious death of a teen at Pillen Family Farms
December 19, 2025
A 17-year-old worker died at a Nebraska hog farm run by the governor’s family. Two investigations later, the boy’s mother is still searching for answers.