Locally sourced, collaborative reporting from and for rural America.
Featured Story
Whitney Bryen for InvestigateWest
She brought fentanyl to the hospital to save her son. Idaho treated him as a trafficker.
As fentanyl reshapes the nation’s overdose crisis, the case raises questions about where treatment ends and criminalization begins.
LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Citizen-led lawsuit challenges zoning for OpenAI Georgia data center
Effingham plaintiffs say public hearing skipped in process to update allowed uses.
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Texas food banks feel the squeeze of federal cuts, drop in donations
More Texans have become food insecure due to a rise in natural disasters and less qualifying for SNAP benefits. Rural food banks in particular face additional pressures.
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Claiming ‘utter fear,’ Rick Silanskas admits he authored religious emails to Gene Bicknell
The admission adds a new twist to a long-running dispute over the proposed American Heartland theme park and the people behind it.
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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How organized labor is faring in Athens County
September 03, 2026
Most of the largest groupings of unionized employees in the county are at educational institutions, according to records available.
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State recommends ‘danger’ advisory at Lake Pillsbury as toxic algae warnings spread across Lake and Mendocino counties
September 03, 2026
The reservoir sits behind PG&E’s Scott Dam on the upper Eel River and is the largest lake in the Mendocino National Forest.
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Are there maternity care deserts in Oklahoma?
September 03, 2026
Maternity health care deserts exist in nearly every state in the U.S.
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NC to withhold struggling town’s sales tax distribution
September 02, 2026
Littleton working to fix financial woes, but with audits in arrears, NC Local Government Commission to withhold town’s sales tax distribution.
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Illinois, Midwest saw large reduction in conservation staff in 2025, study shows
September 02, 2026
The cuts to Natural Resources Conservation Service staff and other direct, producer support staff stemmed from department reorganizations and workforce cuts in the USDA under President Trump.
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As Hill Country waits for FEMA money after July flood, Trump announces $50 million for storm recovery
September 02, 2026
The announced funding was still only a fraction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s initial estimate of $489.7 million in costs in his first request for federal help.
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‘Cult-like’ church ordered to pay $24M in Serah Bellar case
September 02, 2026
The order resolves a civil lawsuit filed in 2022 by the woman formerly known as Serah Bellar.
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American badger, a ‘species of special concern,’ prevalent in San Benito County
September 02, 2026
Studies on genetic diversity underway, nocturnal species vulnerable to vehicles.
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Stitt’s Tenure Ban Is Costing Oklahoma’s Rural Universities Their Top Candidates
September 02, 2026
Following in the footsteps of President Donald Trump’s second-term shakeup of higher education through funding cuts, bans on diversity programs and litigation, Gov Kevin Stitt issued his own crackdown on Oklahoma colleges in February.