Locally sourced, collaborative reporting from and for rural America.
Featured Story
Elise Giordano for Mat-Su Sentinel
In Mat-Su, neighborhood schools double as community hubs. Closing them has sweeping impacts.
With nearly 17% of Mat-Su children experiencing food insecurity, school-based meal programs and volunteer food pantries help fill gaps while also connecting families with broader community support.
LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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What does the federal farm bill delay mean for Delaware farmers?
Local farmers say the continued delay in Congressional approval of new federal farm subsidies has made the situation more challenging, as the future of crop insurance and other support programs remains unclear.
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For early grade reading gains, states look to Mississippi and consider holding students back
Years later, as education officials across the country have taken notice of Mississippi’s literacy gains, more states have adopted their own retention policies.
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A judge told Xcel it couldn’t condemn a farmer’s land. Now the utility is headed to the state Supreme Court.
Case challenging Colorado’s largest utility’s condemnation powers could resolve conflict over 550 feet of right of way on an Eastern Plains farm.
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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Nitrate Is Poisoning the Corn Belt
August 20, 2026
Farm pollution goes largely unaddressed despite grievous risks.
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Drone shows, food and a waterskiing squirrel: Here’s what to expect at the Alaska State Fair
August 20, 2026
Fair officials say no major security changes are planned this year despite several high-profile incidents last year, though they are seeking funding for entrance metal detectors and could prohibit weapons on the fairgrounds next year.
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Inside the Groton Hotel: A historic property gets new life
August 20, 2026
From the early-1900s tin ceiling to the wood flooring underfoot, the new management of the historic Groton Hotel hopes to keep it just that — historic.
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How bison ranchers in one Colorado community are producing quality protein for people in need
August 20, 2026
As drought shrinks the food supply and federal budget cuts shrink benefits, the Cortez community comes up with a local solution.
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Who’s most at risk in the cyclospora outbreak? The farmworkers on the front lines.
August 20, 2026
An expert on migrant farmworker health describes how this population has been blamed and put at risk, but seldom understood.
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Sanders rallies at St. Albans dairy processing plant, calling its closure ‘devastating’
August 19, 2026
Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied support Wednesday for unionized Dairy Farmers of America workers and called for the co-op’s milk processing plant to remain open.
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Wyoming’s primary election drew a 55% turnout among registered voters
August 19, 2026
Registered voter turnout was much less than in 2022 when Hageman challenged Cheney, but otherwise tracked primary elections going back to about 2016.
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Trump administration advances plan to open national forests to development
August 19, 2026
The proposal would repeal the roadless rule, opening up nearly 45 million acres of national land to roadbuilding and logging, despite widespread opposition from scientists and the public.
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As state water law threatens Valley farms, farmers say they are ‘preaching the gospel of agave’
August 19, 2026
As California’s groundwater law increases restrictions for farmers across the state, some growers in the San Joaquin Valley are switching to agave for its heat tolerance and low water usage.