The Daily Yonder

The Daily Yonder

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News about, and for, rural America.

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Jared Ewy’s old home receives a breath of new life and purpose with a philanthropic gift to turn it into an education center for its community. It’s a real estate comeback story you don’t want to miss.

dailyyonder.comCommentary: Old Bones, New Purpose When the Daily Yonder let me write about my abandoned childhood home in the Never Summer Mountains of Gould, Colorado, they were probably hoping for something a little more journalistic than what I sent them. I crashed pretty hard. I delivered an emotional torpedo that caused some confusion in the editorial department and consternation with the readers. The editors of this site had to wrestle with the question: Was this journalism?
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By supporting employees already in the hospital system and helping them get nursing degrees, some hospital systems try to reduce staffing shortages by hiring from within.

dailyyonder.comLooking Local Could Be a Solution to Rural Nursing ShortageAt the same time that rural hospitals are finding it difficult to hire enough nurses, rural nursing students, who are more likely to work in their communities, are facing challenges getting into training programs. Chrissy Curcio, chief nursing officer at A.O. Fox Hospital in Oneonta, New York, leads the teaching at Maria College’s LPN program. She said in some rural hospitals, about a quarter of nursing positions are unfilled.
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The bluegrass and country band on life in the fjords and making music on The Last Frontier.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Alaskan Music Group Blackwater RailroadEditor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? Join the mailing list and receive more conversations like this in your inbox. Tyson Davis and Braden Rollins are two members of Blackwater Railroad…
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Yonder Radio: Midterm Elections, Bull Riding, and Youth Journalism Tune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about the role of the rural vote in upcoming midterm elections, how the Gay Rodeo… https://dailyyonder.com/yonder-radio-midterm-elections-bull-riding-and-youth-journalism/2026/10/23/

dailyyonder.comYonder Radio: Midterm Elections, Bull Riding, and Youth JournalismTune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about the role of the rural vote in upcoming midterm elections, how the Gay Rodeo builds community, and about the future of rural youth journalism.
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With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program changed, making it harder for people to qualify for federal support.

dailyyonder.comOzarks Notebook: Changing SNAP The story of food insecurity isn’t just written through black-and-white facts and figures. The story is lived through the people for whom food soon may be harder to reach. Missouri, like other states across the country, is changing guidelines for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding. The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law on July 4, 2025, will make it harder for many people to access SNAP.
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A proposed federal rule could dramatically reduce access to remote patient monitoring programs for people on Medicare. The services aim to keep patients out of the hospital by giving them devices to monitor their health at home, but critics say there isn’t enough oversight.

dailyyonder.comMany Medicare Patients Could Lose Access to Remote Monitoring DevicesThis story is co-published with KFF Health News. Dianne Williams said she lost weight and lowered her blood pressure thanks to quarterly doctor appointments, monthly phone calls with a nurse, and a blood pressure cuff she uses at home that transmits data to her care team. “It's good to have somebody talk to you and tell you what your progress is like.
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The Trump Administration’s “Rural Health Transformation Program” (RHTP) grants are supposed to help rural healthcare organizations, but now some hospitals are hesitant to apply for the funding.

dailyyonder.comSome Rural Hospitals Are Turning Away from the RHTP GrantsPart of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress in 2025, the RHTP was promoted as a way to stabilize the rural healthcare crisis. As part of the legislation, federal health care funding faces a cut of between $1.4 trillion and $1.5 trillion over the next decade. To offset the cuts, Congress inserted into the legislation the RHTP initiative that would inject $50 billion back into rural American communities over the next five years to address rural healthcare needs, according to…
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The disease has long been a risk of coal mining, an industry the Trump administration is trying to reinvigorate.

dailyyonder.comBlack Lung Disease Remains a Threat, but Federal Officials Delay Effort To Address ItThis story was originally published by KFF Health News. Each day at New River Health in Oak Hill, West Virginia, Lisa Emery finds disheartening signs of what she describes as a slow-motion repeat of the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster. Emery is director of New River’s Breathing Center and chair of the National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Disease Clinics…
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Four Michigan students share what has worked for them and what they want to see change in the future.

dailyyonder.comWhat Does Transformative Support for Rural College Students Look Like?Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox. One student is studying astrophysics after being awestruck at a planetarium as a little girl.
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From practicing harmonica in a bathroom, "it's an irritating instrument when you're just learning it," to accepting awards in Vegas with his all-Native band Blue Mountain Tribe, Native rocker Robin Hairston has stories to tell.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Native Musician Robin Hairston on Setting Indigenous Experiences to Blues-Rock MelodiesEditor’s Note: This Q&A originally published in our Path Finders newsletter on August 16, 2021. Today, we’re republishing it in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  If you want to hear more from Robin, he appeared on the very first episode of Yonder Radio, which aired on March 19, 2026. Listen to the episode here Robin Hairston is a Native American harmonica player, vocalist, and lyricist whose all-Native blues-rock band, …
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Yonder Radio: Flock Cameras, PBS’ “American Creed”, and Fall Leaves Tune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about how rural communities are pushing back about Flock cameras, a tribe seeking to manage a bird sanctuary on the… https://dailyyonder.com/yonder-radio-episode-131-2/2026/10/16/

dailyyonder.comYonder Radio: Flock Cameras, PBS’ “American Creed”, and Fall LeavesTune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about how rural communities are pushing back about Flock cameras, a tribe seeking to manage a bird sanctuary on the Olympic Peninsula and how climate change is affecting fall colors in New England.
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4-H clubs across the country go far beyond the livestock clubs many know. They play a major role in leadership and career development for young people, especially in rural areas.

dailyyonder.com4-H Clubs Can Make a Difference for Post-High School Success. Here’s How It’s Happening in ColoradoEditor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice-monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox. For me, growing up as a 4-H kid meant summers walking sheep around a makeshift ring in the barn, spending evenings in a brightly-lit meeting room learning about everything from animal nutrition to how to deliver a lamb from inside a cardboard box meant to resemble the backside of a ewe, and then of course that day of the county fair when sawdust lingered in the air, and we awaited the hour we finished showing sheep and could run to order a black raspberry ice cream cone.
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“It's very freeing to be able to come to a rodeo, and you can take and leave whatever you want.”

dailyyonder.comFor Fifty Years Gay Rodeos Have Celebrated ‘Rodeo Without Expectations’ On a hot morning in late August of 2026, 18-year-old Kenzie Garcia climbed into a metal chute containing a steer, or castrated bull. She was nervous but determined to improve her skills as a chute dogger, or steer wrestler, one of the rough stock events common to pro and amateur rodeos. And she was getting plenty of advice. “Remember, you’ve got to keep your feet,” explained one rodeo veteran.
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In small communities where places to get work done in the evening are scarce, some libraries are offering extended access to their “third space.”

dailyyonder.comSome Rural Libraries Are Letting Their Users Visit During Unstaffed HoursFor Michael Sayen, visiting the local library after hours is a great way to get work done, or seek respite from the weather, regardless of what day it is. “We just had Labor Day, the library is closed all day. But if you have extended hours, you can come in and do the work, or cool down from a hot day or whatever you need to do,” Sayen said the day after Labor Day while working on a novel at the Wyoming, Minnesota branch of the East Central Regional Library (ECRL) in Chisago County.
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Telehealth has been pushed as a way for rural communities to access healthcare professionals, but a new study shows that, since the Covid-19 pandemic, its use has dropped precipitously.

dailyyonder.comReport: Telehealth Use in Rural Communities Is No Better Than in Urban OnesTelehealth use has been consistently lower since 2020 in rural areas compared to non-rural areas, according to the report, from Elevance Health Public Policy Foundation — an American health benefits and insurance company, formerly known as Anthem, Inc.  The study looked at 11.5 million of its members with chronic conditions, and found that regardless of insurance types — commercial, Medicare or Medicaid — rural areas had lower telehealth uptake overall: 4.6% of chronic condition visits in rural areas compared to 7.5% of visits among members in non-rural areas.
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Yonder Radio: Revenge Plots, Wild Clay, and Texas Community Care Tune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about wild clay in North Carolina, new rural pop culture, and a new film about acequia culture in New Mexico.... https://dailyyonder.com/yonder-radio-episode-131/2026/10/09/

dailyyonder.comYonder Radio: Revenge Plots, Wild Clay, and Texas Community CareTune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about wild clay in North Carolina, new rural pop culture, and a new film about acequia culture in New Mexico.
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On riding the gay rodeo circuit and doing things that scare you.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Bull Rider Emma TreuEditor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? Join the mailing list and receive more conversations like this in your inbox. Emma Treu rode her first bull three years ago. Now, she’s one of the leading female bull riders on the gay rodeo circuit, where men and women compete equally in all events.
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On November 3, 2026, we will hire the next cohort of legislators to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Isn't it time to tune out the politicking and start checking references?

dailyyonder.com45 Degrees North: The Hiring Committee Every two years, every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for re-election. That's right: It's a limited term job, albeit one with enviable benefits. Candidates sometimes forget who's on the selection committee for that employment. Incumbents sometimes forget who conducts the performance reviews that determine whether their employment is extended. Who decides? It isn't the party or the pundits or the donors.
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Waking up the inner activist who’s been there forever.

dailyyonder.comA Rural Calling: Yesica RamirezFrom March to May of 2006, millions of people took to the streets across the nation in protest of proposed changes to immigration policy, including making it a felony to be in the U.S. without legal immigration status. On May 1, International Workers’ Day, some 30,000 people turned out in Orlando for what was called “A Day Without Immigrants.” Yesica Ramirez was among them.
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Following a ‘do not drink’ order in 2025, a water treatment plant in Mattoon, Illinois is using solar powered technology to fight harmful algae while minimizing the use of harsh chemicals.

dailyyonder.comIn Rural Illinois, Solar Powered Ultrasound Helps Kill Toxic Algal Blooms On a warm spring day in mid-April 2026, Heather McFarland was casting small vessels topped with solar panels out into a reservoir in Mattoon, Illinois, a small town south of Springfield. These yellow buoys that McFarland was sending out to their “summer home” on the reservoir are called Solarafts. They kill cyanobacteria through ultrasonic waves, keeping bacteria in the reservoir, also known as blue-green algae, from becoming toxic to humans and animals.
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A slate of legislative initiatives aims to address some of the most dire risks to rural hospitals. The question remains if they will be enough to stem the financial bleeding caused by the One Big Beautiful Bill cuts.

dailyyonder.comCongress Members Move to Offset Coming Cuts to Rural Hospital FundingWhen the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed in July 2025, officials warned some of the cuts within the bill could devastate rural hospitals. Those cuts are set to hit after the midterm election this fall, and some members of Congress are working to offset them. A total of about $1.3 trillion is set to be cut from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to the…
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Thompson’s feature-length documentary “The Last Picture Shows” is a love letter to small movie theaters across the American West.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Filmmaker Rustin Thompson on Cinema Deserts in Rural America“Ten states. 10,825 miles. 123 theaters. An elegy for small-town cinemas.” This is the tagline for Rustin Thompson's feature-length documentary, “The Last Picture Shows.” Thompson served as the director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor of this love letter to movie theaters that journeys into the American West. The film visits rural theaters that have closed their doors, those fighting to stay open, and a few that are thriving.
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Where tick-borne illnesses are common, it may be just a matter of time before you're wondering: Could it be Lyme? Or could it be something else?

dailyyonder.com45 Degrees North: Tick Tick TickHere at 45 degrees north, tick season is practically year round. Any time the ground isn't frozen, ticks may be present and looking for a host to feed on. One found me in May. This is not unusual. Nor is it unusual to be faced with conflicting choices about what to do when that happens. But this time, I learned some things that may change my approach to tick bites in the future – just in time for the surge in tick activity we expect every autumn.
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The Billings Community Fair has been in its current form for six decades, supported by years of close-to-home commitment.

dailyyonder.comOzarks Notebook: Missouri Fair Carries on Generations of TraditionAs in most rural regions, fairs and festivals are a core part of Ozarks culture. What they recognize differs depending on the place, but regardless of whether it’s about apples or apple butter or pumpkins or old-time music, they share a common factor: People who make them possible in support of community good. That’s true in rural southwest Missouri, where Pat and Peggy Napper were recently chosen as grand marshals of the 2026 Billings Community Fair. 
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The town of Sugar Tit, South Carolina, was named after a local rumor. But quirky place names don’t always tell the whole story.

dailyyonder.comA Brief History of Anatomical Place NamesEditor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox. There is a place called Sugar Tit in the county where I grew up. On the west side of Spartanburg County in the South Carolina upcountry is an unincorporated community colloquially (and proudly) referred to as Sugar Tit, although its official government name is Pelham.
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Rural hospitals brace for cuts to Medicare and strategize how to best use whatever funds from the RHTP might come their way.

dailyyonder.comRural Hospital Administrators: The Rural Health Transformation Program Isn’t Helping, YetThe Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) was supposed to help rural hospitals deal with cuts to federal funding as a result of H.R. 1, or the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but so far, those in rural health care say they’re not seeing any results. While some said it’s too early to see results, others said the program isn’t helping what really needs to be helped — rural hospitals.
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Tech and finance firms are cashing in on rural America at an alarming pace.

dailyyonder.comCommentary: Data Centers Aren’t the Only Threat to FarmlandProtests against data centers have exploded across the US, with communities revolting against a multitude of proven damaging effects on energy prices, clean air and water – and the devastation of tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land. Recent headlines in national publications report that farmers and rural communities are rejecting multimillion-dollar bids from institutional investors and tech companies to buy their farmland to build data centers.
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Rural voters rank the cost of living and cost of healthcare as top issues they want to hear about from midterm candidates as they face a tightening pocketbook pinch.

dailyyonder.comEconomic Frustration Tests Trump’s Standing With Rural Voters, New KFF-AP Poll FindsThis story was originally published by KFF Health News. About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that points to economic frustration among a key group that has backed Trump and other Republicans in recent elections. The poll of more than 2,000 rural registered voters by The Associated Press in partnership with KFF found broadly negative views on the national and local economies, including from many Republicans.
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Yonder Radio: Rural Healthcare Affordability, Colorado Tarantula Festival, and ‘What is Rural?,’ Tune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about the state of rural journalism, access to abortion in Appalachia, and a Tarantula… https://dailyyonder.com/yonder-radio-episode-128/2026/09/25/

dailyyonder.comYonder Radio: Rural Healthcare Affordability, Colorado Tarantula Festival, and ‘What is Rural?,’Tune in to Yonder Radio to hear conversations about the state of rural journalism, access to abortion in Appalachia, and a Tarantula Festival in Colorado.
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Norma Mercado is the executive director of Bastrop County Cares, an organization dedicated to creating a thriving Bastrop County and its surrounding communities.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Community Advocate Harnesses Local SolutionsEditor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week. For Norma Mercado, community work starts with listening to the people who call Bastrop County, Texas home.
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What Happened in Rural News This Month? How closely have you been following the latest stories from rural communities across the country? From tarantulas and square dancing to data centers and midterms, this month’s news… https://dailyyonder.com/what-happened-in-rural-news-this-month-5/2026/09/25/

dailyyonder.comWhat Happened in Rural News This Month?How closely have you been following the latest stories from rural communities across the country? From tarantulas and square dancing to data centers and midterms, this month’s news highlights the challenges, celebrations, and resistance shaping rural life. Take this short quiz to see what you know.
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Documentary filmmaker Emma Dessau shares inspiration and historical context behind her latest documentary on reproductive healthcare access in Appalachia, made with support from @economichardship.bsky.social. dailyyonder.com/documentary-...

dailyyonder.comDocumentary: Roe Was Never Enough | The Daily YonderLike many millennial daughters of second-wave feminists, I grew up with an explicit understanding of Roe v. Wade’s almost sacred importance to women born
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Rural people who don't feel directly connected to agriculture may wonder: Why go to a farm show? Maybe this will help explain.

dailyyonder.com45 Degrees North: Why Go To A Farm Show?A farm show is not the same as a state fair. No midway rides. No demolition derby. No grandstand entertainment. So what's the draw? My husband and I don't farm. We don't even raise backyard chickens. Still, in July we drove 160 miles round trip to attend Wisconsin’s 2026 Farm Technology Days. Here's why. The water test. Farm Tech wasn't even on my radar until I saw a social media post from Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources.
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The tradition had been dwindling for generations, but the Taney Center in Forsyth, Missouri, is bringing new dancers into the fold.

dailyyonder.comOzarks Notebook: A Revived Home for a Centuries-Old Square DanceIt’d been years — decades, perhaps — since Jim Stuart had been to a square dance at the Taney Center. The small community hub in rural Missouri was built for neighbors to gather, and, at its start, square dancing was one of those draws. “There were a lot of the old-time square dancers that played here,” he told me recently. …
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The gap between urban and rural hospitals adopting and updating electronic health records remains wide.

dailyyonder.comStudy: Rural Hospitals Struggle with Increased Data DemandsAs health care systems move toward more and more electronic record keeping, the labor it takes to manage that data threatens to cripple rural hospitals, according to industry insiders. The data transfer between hospitals and other entities can negatively affect rural hospitals. The problem centers around the digital divide where rural healthcare facilities struggle to securely share or receive electronic health records, …
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Hurricane Helene revealed the crucial character of childcare facilities in rural communities and their key role in providing them with the ability to bounce back after a disaster.

dailyyonder.comChildcare Is Key to Disaster ResilienceThe day before Hurricane Helene blew into Western North Carolina, Jeneal Hensley, a licensed family child care provider, was taking care of five children in her Swannanoa home. She’d been in business as The Little People’s Place in her house by the river for more than a decade and had cared for dozens of the town’s preschool-age children, along with some of her own grandchildren.
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On capturing small-town newsrooms in decline and celebrating rural reporters.

dailyyonder.comQ&A: Photographer Jeremiah AriazJeremiah Ariaz is a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow whose photography explores the decline of small-town U.S. newsrooms, and celebrates the rural reporters who are fighting long odds to keep local media coverage alive in their communities. Born and raised in small Kansas towns, Ariaz has focused his photographic efforts on his home state. Between 2022 and 2026, he criss-crossed Kansas to document the state’s 151 operating newsrooms.
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Yonder Radio Special Report – Power Dynamics: The Rural Data Center Boom This week on Yonder Radio, we're taking a deep dive into the rapid expansion of data centers across rural America.... https://dailyyonder.com/yonder-radio-special-report-power-dynamics-the-rural-data-center-boom/2026/09/18/

dailyyonder.comYonder Radio Special Report – Power Dynamics: The Rural Data Center BoomThis week on Yonder Radio, we're taking a deep dive into the rapid expansion of data centers across rural America.
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Google struck a deal with Broadwing Energy and Big Ag processor ADM. With recent carbon leaks still fresh, locals oppose the project.

dailyyonder.comIn Rural Illinois, Residents Protest a First-of-its-kind Agreement To Power Data Centers with Natural Gas + Carbon Capture and SequestrationVerlyn Rosenberger, 88, got involved with the progressive grassroots community organization Illinois People’s Action (IPA) 20 years ago. Over the decades, the retired schoolteacher’s causes have ranged from protesting predatory payday lending to regional oil pipelines. Recently, however, the focus of Rosenberger’s activism has been close to home: opposing expansion at the nation’s first commercial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) plant in Decatur, Illinois.
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Originally launched to bridge federal expertise and local leadership, independent Resource Conservation and Development councils have quietly doubled their collective revenue over five years to anchor critical rural infrastructure.

dailyyonder.comThe $116 Million Network – How an Elite Tier of Rural Nonprofits Rebuilt a Legacy Federal FrameworkIn the landscape of rural development, structural longevity is often tied to the unpredictable cycles of federal appropriations. But a quiet economic acceleration across America’s working lands is challenging the idea that rural conservation requires a constant federal administrative safety net. A decentralized network of regional nonprofits, born out of the legacy Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) program, is experiencing an unprecedented period of growth.
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The Supreme Court recently rejected certain aspects of an executive order meant to restrict voting by mail, but confusion and chaos still surrounds the upcoming November midterms. dailyyonder.com/trumps-attem...

dailyyonder.comTrump’s Attempt to Restrict Mail Ballots Sowed Chaos Ahead of November Midterms | The Daily YonderEditor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a
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For the first time, students returned to Georgia’s public colleges and universities this year with a state-funded, need-based scholarship.

dailyyonder.comGeorgia’s First Need-Based Aid Comes to Campus this Fall — But Is It Enough?The Georgia General Assembly just allocated millions of dollars to establish a new need-based scholarship. But experts warn that it won’t cover the cost of attendance for low-income and rural students. The state’s DREAMS (Dedicating Resources to Educationally Advance More Students) scholarship ends Georgia's designation as one of two states without state-funded need-based aid for higher education. “It takes us off the naughty list of not having a program like that,” said Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University System of Georgia (USG), which oversees the state’s public colleges and universities.
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Some residents oppose renewables. Others see property rights — and the chance to benefit from energy developments on their land — as fundamental. This fall, county leaders will decide.

dailyyonder.comA Rural Idaho County Banned Renewables. It’s Having Second Thoughts.This article was copublished with Canary Media, a newsroom covering clean energy. Jeff Hough did not pull any punches. What his fellow Republican county commissioners were about to do, he said to the packed courthouse, would violate America’s founding ideals. He quoted the Declaration of Independence to make his case. The three-person commission was about to vote on an ordinance that would ban utility-scale solar and wind development in Bannock County, Idaho.
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Rural voters shaped key elections in contests across the country.

dailyyonder.comRural Voters Showed Up in the 2026 Primaries Rural voters turned out in force across the 2026 primaries, shaping key races, and emerging as an electorate candidates cannot afford to overlook. In Texas, rural voters turned out at the highest rate of any geographic voter group. In North Carolina, more rural voters participated in the Democratic primary than they did four years ago. In Wisconsin, rural turnout approached 36% in a primary race that drew the state's highest midterm primary turnout in decades.
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If we are going to stop changing the clocks, standard time makes more sense.

dailyyonder.comCommentary: Permanent Daylight Saving Time Is Bad for Rural – and All – AmericansA funny thing happened on the way to changing the clocks: Farmers got blamed for Daylight Saving Time (DST). “Not only is that not true, but it is 100% not true. It is as far from true as one could get,” David Prerau, author of Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time, told Nebraska Public Media…