The Yonder Report

America's news desert problem could get worse with massive funding cuts to public broadcasting, federal cuts to AmericaCorps will eliminate volunteers in rural Oregon and a 140-year old South Dakota church thrives by welcoming all. 

Cuts in money for clean energy could hit rural mom and-pop businesses hard, Alaska's effort to boost its power grid with wind and solar is threatened and a small Kansas school district is attracting new students with a focus on agriculture.  

Rural Americans are bracing for a disproportionate impact from federal funding cuts to mental health and substance use programs, and new federal policies have farmers from Ohio to Minnesota struggling to grow healthier foods and create sustainable food production programs.

Farmers embrace voluntary conservation programs but federal funding chaos is causing a rethink, a rural electric cooperative in Colorado hopes to reduce customer costs by going independent and LGBTQ+ teens say online support is a lifesaver.

A commissioner on the FCC contends the Trump Administration is weakening freedom of speech and the press, a New Mexico town is building an innovative green hydrogen plant and Texas could soon face even more rural hospital closures.

Hurricane Helene mobilized the community of Marshall, North Carolina in unexpected ways, giant data centers powering AI want cheap rural land but can face community pushback and ceramics made by Cherokee potters honor multiple generations.

Rural areas that could use more EV charging stations face a Catch-22, improving the mental health of children and teachers is the goal of a new partnership in seven states and a once segregated Mississippi movie theater is born again.

Citizens of a rural North Carolina town hit by Hurricane Helene fight to reopen their post office, the loss of a federal mining safety program could harm workers and wood-firing potters carry the torch in rural North Carolina.

Immigrants are driving rural population growth, especially in Texas, North Carolina, and Iowa, ICE agents are targeting immigrant labor groups along with their leaders and Louisiana's T-Rey's lures customers with hogshead cheese and boudin.

Despite lawmaker efforts, rural communities are still short of crucial broadband, new Trump administration priorities force USDA grant recipients to reapply and Appalachia's traditional broom-making craft is getting an economic boost from an international nonprofit.

The Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget would cut housing programs for millions of low-income Americans, from rural Maine to rural Iowa, independent medical practices and physicians are becoming rare and New Mexico maintains its democratic governance of acequias.  

DOGE is gutting a 30-year old national service program, cuts are likely but Head Start may be spared elimination in the next budget, moms are the most vulnerable when extreme weather hits and there's a croaking sound coming from rural California.

Rural students who face hurdles getting to college are getting noticed, Native Alaskans may want to live off the land but obstacles like climate change loom large and the Cherokee language is being preserved  by kids in North Carolina.

Migration to rural America increased for the fourth year, technological gaps handicap rural hospitals and erode patient care and doctors are needed to keep the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians healthy and align with spiritual principles.

Money meant for schools in timber country is uncertain as Congress fails to reauthorize a rural program, farmers and others will see federal dollars for energy projects unlocked and DOGE cuts threaten plant species needed for U.S. food security.

Rural Dems want the DNC to bring working class voters back into the fold, kids in Maine are losing a federal program that supplies local food to schools and Trump's tariffs are sowing doubt and stress for America's farmers.

Rural schools face budget woes even as the White House aims to dismantle the Department of Education, postal carriers argue against proposed USPS changes, fiber networks to improve rural internet may be supplanted by Musk's satellites and PLAY BALL! 

Rural folks face significant clean air and water risks due to EPA cutbacks, a group of policymakers is working to expand rural healthcare via mobile clinics and a new study maps Montana's news landscape.

Cuts to Medicaid and frozen funding for broadband are both likely to have a negative impact on rural healthcare, which is already struggling. Plus, lawsuits over the mass firing of federal workers have huge implications for public lands.

Many fear the Trump administration's effort to raise money fast could include the sale of public lands, thousands of farmers are waiting for payouts frozen by the USDA and a shortage has rural America's doctors coming out of retirement.

Activists work to protect immigrant communities as the reach of ICE expands, experts urge lawmakers to ramp-up elder abuse protections in rural America and a multi-state arts initiative crafts ways to close the urban-rural divide.

U.S. farmers in limbo due to the federal funding freeze worry their projects will go unrealized, mass firings could wreak havoc on tourists visiting public lands this summer, while money to fight wildfires in rural areas is also jeopardized.

A Taos, New Mexico sheriff won't comply with immigration enforcement that could erode public trust, New Hampshire worries a dearth of charging stations will force tourists driving EVs to vacation elsewhere and Southern states promote workarounds to improve education.

Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program and Americans have $90B in unpaid medical bills.