Locally sourced, collaborative reporting from and for rural America.


Featured Story

A view of Acadia National Park. Photo by Stephanie McFeeters.

Stephanie McFeeters for The Maine Monitor

What the public lands fight means for Maine

Public lands, waters and wildlife are part of our birthright as American citizens, a public domain that we all collectively own, regardless of our proximity.

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RNN Highlights

  • Welders, such as this one shown on April 9, 2025, make up a significant portion of the workforce at Marmen Energy in Brandon, S.D., where wind towers are manufactured. (Photo: Bart Pfankuch / South Dakota News Watch)

    Bart Pfankuch for South Dakota News Watch

    Powering Rural Futures

    Clean energy is creating new jobs in rural America, generating opportunities for people who install solar panels, build wind turbines, weatherize homes, and more. This series led by Canary Media explores how industry, state governments, and education systems are training this growing workforce.

  • Martin General Hospital in Williamston shuttered in August 2023, four years after the facility tried to reduce financial pressures by eliminating labor and delivery services. Jane Winik Sartwell / Carolina Public Press

    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.

  • Former Coastal Watch Association Executive Director Cyndi Valdes holds “STOP ENBRIDGE NOW!” and “PROTECT OUR CHILDREN” cardboard signs stuffed in the trunk of the Coastal Watch Association’s mobile headquarters.  A white letter-sized sticker of children’s playgrounds and oil refineries is slapped on the right sliding door. (Alex Ip/The Xylom)

    Alex Ip for The Xylom

    “All Hell Breaks Loose”: How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town

    Three export terminals that captured half of the U.S. crude oil export industry have formed around Ingleside on the Bay, turning the Texas Coastal Bend town into an unlikely fenceline community. A playing field tilted towards regional officials, Texas Republicans, and foreign energy companies did residents in.

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