Locally sourced, collaborative reporting from and for rural America.
Featured Story
Halter for Columbia Insight
This technology is being called the ‘future of grazing in the West’
Barbed-wire fences changed the western US in the 1800s. Can virtual fences change it back?
LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Mendocino County farmers were paid to grow produce for food banks
The federal money that paid Mendocino County farmers to grow food for their hungry neighbors ran out at the end of May.
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‘There’s nowhere for them to go’: Newcap closure leaves northeast Wisconsin counties scrambling to prevent more homelessness
The nonprofit’s closure reveals how the loss of a single agency can have a staggering effect, especially in rural areas where resources for the unhoused are already few and far between.
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Despite rent control defeat, tenants continue organizing
Last month, Massachusetts’ highest court tossed out a rent-control ballot measure. But tenant organizers say the setback won’t stop their work fighting against climbing rents.
RNN Highlights
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Rachel Livinal for The Merced FOCUS
Young Brains, Huge Stakes: How transitional kindergarten is shaping San Joaquin Valley’s youth
As California expands transitional kindergarten statewide, this four-part series examines whether San Joaquin Valley schools can meet the needs of young learners.
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Courtesy of U.S. Senate
Cardinal News 250: Virginia’s stories. A nation’s birth.
The project spotlights Virginia’s overlooked contributions to America’s march to independence ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, or semiquincentennial.
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Gordon Hodges for Door County Knock
Locked Out: Door County’s affordable housing shortage
An in-depth series on Door County’s affordable housing shortage, examining its causes, shrinking availability and the roadblocks to building more.
MORE NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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‘Nobody Did Anything’: Flood Control Long Went Ignored On Oʻahu’s Westside
July 16, 2026
Māʻili residents were stuck after an emergency evacuation road was inundated during Kona lows.
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This county lost its hospital. Bringing it back is easier said than done
July 16, 2026
The deaths of Harmony Ball-Stribling and her unborn daughter five years ago have galvanized local leaders in Humphreys County determined to reopen a Mississippi Delta hospital. But once a rural community loses a hospital, bringing it back can be nearly impossible.
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Audit: One-third of Oklahoma town’s expenditures fraudulent or unauthorized
July 16, 2026
A new state audit found massive fraud and unauthorized spending in the central Oklahoma community of Washington.
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Stocked lakes shine as Mat-Su salmon wait
July 16, 2026
Looking for good fishing? Hit one of Mat-Su’s many stoked lakes.
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Inspection of Danville animal shelter found incorrect drug dosages, lack of veterinary care, contaminated food
July 16, 2026
The shelter received seven citations after a November report by state inspectors, but there was no monetary penalty.
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The Chinese immigrants trafficked on New Mexico’s weed farms
July 16, 2026
Migrant workers were trapped in the Southwest’s illicit cannabis boom and treated as criminals — until investigators began chasing their bosses.
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Former ‘Taco Bell dog’ finds forever home
July 16, 2026
For seven months last summer, rescuers tried to capture a stray the public was calling “the Taco Bell dog.”
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DNR lanza alerta por la calidad del aire en Wisconsin
July 16, 2026
Varios eventos al aire libre han sido cancelados por el humo de los incendios.
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Appalachia News Exchange announced to increase access to local news
July 16, 2026
Despite a reliance on local news sources for everything from emergency services to investigative reporting to community calendars, rural areas across Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee are widely recognized as having limited access to local news.