A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky.
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The USPS will have new leadership who may rethink recent plans. (Photo by Clay Leconey, Unsplash)
Over the past few decades, the United States Postal Service has struggled to stay financially afloat and transition from a letter-delivery service to more of a package-delivery service. USPS leadership has faced an uphill battle to maintain its mission — to accept and deliver mail to every address in the U.S., its territories, and possessions — while remaining solvent.
The last Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, retired after his 10-year plan, Delivering for America, floundered and repeatedly angered lawmakers. “As a new leader takes the helm of the U.S. Postal Service, a House panel debated the future of the independent entity,” reports Sean Michael Newhouse of Government Executive. “There was a near-universal consensus on pausing and even reversing" DeJoy's plans.
Mike Plunkett, the CEO and president of the Association for Postal Commerce, told the panel, “Under the Delivering for America plan, our members have suffered unprecedented rate increases and service degradation. . . . If the incoming PMG is to have any chance at success, the postal service must immediately pause implementation of Delivering for America.”
Plunkett suggested a “moratorium on rate increases, a pause in spending on building new facilities and halting any product changes while new leadership assesses what reforms to keep, modify or unwind,” Newhouse writes. “Jim Cochrane, the CEO of the Package Shippers Association, a trade organization, testified that USPS needs a ‘new vision’ to improve its finances.”
David Steiner, who previously served as the CEO of Waste Management and as a member of the FedEx board, was selected by the bipartisan USPS Board of Governors to become the next Postmaster General.
“DeJoy was pressured to resign [in March] due to conflicts with the Department of Government Efficiency," Newhouse reports. “President Donald Trump, who reportedly backed Steiner, has mused about privatizing USPS or folding it under the Commerce Department.”
A home, right, Rural Studio helped build on heirs’ property in Ala.(Photo by Timothy Hursley, Auburn University, CC BY-SA)
Imagine being born into a family that had settled land and passed it down from generation to generation for the past few decades. “Several of your relatives already live on the land, and you’d like to do the same, but you can’t get a loan to build or renovate a home without permission from all the relatives who also share ownership,” write Jennifer Pindyck, Christian Ayala Lopez and Rusty Smith for The Conversation. “At any moment, another heir could sell their share, triggering a court-ordered sale that could force you off the land.”
This shared ownership is an example of “heirs’ property: land passed down informally, without clear wills or deeds, which results in a ‘tangled’ or ‘clouded’ title,” researchers Pindyck, Lopez and Smith explain. “It’s more common than you might think in the U.S., especially in rural areas, and it presents significant challenges to long-term housing stability.”
Historically, property owners would leave their lands without “clear will or deed” because their region lacked legal services or the original owners didn’t trust the legal system. “Once the land is passed down to the next generation, the heirs are known as ‘tenants in common,’ meaning they own an undivided interest in the entire property,” they write, “As the property continues to pass down from generation to generation, the number of tenants in common increases exponentially.”
When a couple passes down land to
their children – and then those people pass it down to their kids – the
number of heirs dramatically increases.(Illustration by Auburn University, CC BY-SA)
After decades of sharing, property ownership can become a complex arrangement that opens all its tenants to potential homelessness. “Any tenant in common can sell their share to an outside party. These outside parties – either individuals or companies – can then request a court to order what’s called a partition by sale, which can push every other owner off the land,” Pindyck, Lopez and Smith explain. Some family members have sold their share of a property to real estate developers, unaware that their sale could trigger the loss of the entire estate.
Several organizations are working on heirs’ property resolutions, which can include “clearing titles, establishing shared land agreements and teaching landowners how to avoid having their property fall into a tangled title situation,” Pindyck, Lopez and Smith write. “The Florida Housing Coalition, Housing Assistance Council and the Alabama Heirs Property Alliance are actively engaged in community education, legal support, data mapping and policy advocacy.”
The Rural Studio assists heirs’ property tenants by using a “build first strategy,” they write. “Using funds from research grants and donations, we simply start building on heirs’ properties with the permission of families. In the process, we show that if tangled titles were no longer an obstacle, much more housing could be built. . . . One of our recent Rural Studio projects is the 18x18 House, a compact, multistory home built for a young man living on heirs’ property in Alabama.”
Pindyck, Lopez and Smith are Auburn University researchers and Rural
Studio collaborators who study heirs’ property and “its role in shaping
housing access. Based in Hale County, Alabama, Rural Studio has
completed more than 200 projects – many of them homes built on heirs’
property – providing critical housing for families facing complex land
ownership challenges.”
Navajo Nation leaders took turns hiking alongside Kennedy to detail the tribal nation’s priorities. (Photo by Katheryn Houghton, KFF)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to make Native American health a priority, but federal cuts have already sliced into plans and services tribal members need.
While Kennedy’s intervention saved the Indian Health Service from some government cuts, "health officials across tribal nations say those overtures are overshadowed by the collateral harm from massive cuts to federal health programs," report Katheryn Houghton, Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Arielle Zionts of KFF Health News.
Tribal members living in more remote areas will have the most difficulty accessing medical services not affiliated with the Indian Health Service. "Many tribal members don’t live near an agency clinic or hospital. And those who do may face limited services, chronic underfunding, and staffing shortages,” KFF reports. “To work around those gaps, health organizations lean on other federally funded programs.”
"Tribes have lost more than $6 million in grants from other HHS agencies, the National Indian Health Board wrote in a May letter to Kennedy," Houghton, Rodriguez and Zionts write. Across many Native American communities, HHS staffing and grant cuts have chipped away at overdose prevention programs, heat and cooling assistance, and vaccination initiatives.
Native Tribal leaders continue to voice deep concerns over the GOP’s “proposed cuts to Medicaid,” KFF reports. "About 30% of Native American and Alaska Native people younger than 65 are enrolled in Medicaid, and the program helps keep Indian Health Service and other tribal health facilities afloat.”
“Some tribal leaders say the recent cuts, and the way the
administration made them, violate treaties in which the U.S. promised to
provide for the health and welfare of tribes in return for taking their
land,” KFF reports. “Tribal consultation is legally required when
federal agencies pursue changes that would have a significant impact on
tribal nations."
For investigative reporters tracking lead pipes that still deliver drinking water, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s new Lead Pipe Data Map Tool is a smart place to start exploring.
“Whether you want the local or the national perspective, this data map looks to be the most current and detailed available,” reports Joseph A. Davis of the Society of Environmental Journalists. “We care about lead in drinking water because it is a neurotoxin that robs children of IQ points and causes a host of other health problems, even in adults.”
The news about lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan, may have sparked outrage, but “lead pipes in water systems are a serious problem in all 50 states,” Davis writes. “The Environmental Protection Agency updated its Lead and Copper Rule in October 2024. . . .The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of November 2021, committed $15 billion to fund the replacement of lead service lines that take water from mains to individual buildings (the main source of the problem).”
Under the new Lead and Copper Rule, all drinking water systems must inventory their lead service lines and report their findings to the EPA. “Much of the data comes from the EPA as utilities report in,” Davis explains. “The map not only tallies known lead service lines — but also service lines whose metal composition is unknown or estimated.”
To use the data efficiently, focus on the NRDC’s mapping tools and remember that utility service areas can differ from municipal boundaries. Davis reports, “One of the nifty features NRDC gives you is the ability to add multiple overlays to the map as you use it.”
Find the tiny icons in the top-left and top-right corners of the map to alter map layers. The mapping overlay feature can also show active lead pipes according to their congressional district.
While data and numbers don’t tell the full story, they provide a good foundation for a narrative to take shape. Davis also advises gathering information from your community:
Ask water customers about their awareness of lead pipes carrying drinking water. What's their ability to pay for service line replacement?
Talk to utilities about their plans and concerns regarding pipe replacement.
Discuss drinking water safety and remaining lead pipes with state and EPA/state regulators.
Ask your congressperson how budget cuts could affect funding for this critical work.
Many U.S. farmers still favor glyphosate as an effective and affordable herbicide. (Photo by Gabriel, Unsplash)
Many American farmers have favorable opinions on Roundup, a herbicide that remains a global favorite despite some studies linking its active ingredient, glyphosate, to human cancer. Many U.S. farmers say they still plan to use glyphosate, even if its current maker, Bayer, stops producing it. They shared their views on Roundup and weed-mitigation experiences with Lena Nargi of Offrange, formally known as Ambrook Research.
Brent Searle, an organic raspberry, tomato, garlic, and winter squash farmer in eastern Idaho, “expressed a strain of ‘meh.’ He uses OMRI-approved herbicides on his crops but glyphosate on his three acres of driveway,” Nargi writes. Organic chemicals, he said, ‘hit you with a six-times cost’ that is ‘astronomical’ for small-scale growers, ‘and honestly, they don’t work as well.’”
Rick Machado, who breeds seeds for experimental crops in California, despised Roundup and its original maker, Monsanto, but ended up using glyphosate when “he got hit with bindweed,” Nargi writes. He told her, “I used it [Roundup], I kicked myself, but there was nothing I could do."
Jeff Stoltzfus believes glyphosate is the key to his successful no-till farming practice. Nargi adds, “The conservation plan for his 45 acres connected to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which is plagued by sediment issues, requires that he use no-till practices." He told Nargi, “There’s no herbicide I’d rather use.”
Jimmy Tosh agrees with Stoltzfus. “On his 17,000-row crop and hog acres in Henry, Tennessee, the use of glyphosate is 100% a given,” Nargi writes. “It’s helped him control Johnson grass. . . . He believes claims that Roundup causes health issues are ‘ridiculous,’ he said. ‘Most studies show it to be a safe and effective chemical.’”
Mark Nussbaum will continue to use glyphosate “on his 800 acres of hardwood trees,” Nargi writes. “And he said he’ll continue to do so until ‘there becomes scientifically based, peer-reviewed evidence that glyphosate is harmful.’”
Many farmers agreed that while Bayer may stop making Roundup, they will purchase glyphosate from another producer. Nargi explains, “Since its patent expired in 2000 — and with it, Monsanto’s exclusive right to use it in products sold here — off-brand formulations for agricultural use, with names like Buccaneer and Killzall, have been widely available at the local farm supply."
The Sustainable Beef plant is the size of 10 football fields. (Sustainable Beef photo)
In a bid to oust the slaughterhouse industry's bad reputation and attract American workers, Sustainable Beef opened a brand new plant in rural North Platte, Neb.
The old rail town needed the financial lift and the "company believes the gleaming plant will appeal to locals who never would have considered doing such work," report Scott Calvert, Arian Campo-Flores and Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "Town officials are pinning their hopes on [the] slaughterhouse, which promises an economic jolt but represents a risky bet. . ."
A shiny building isn't the only benefit Sustainable Beef offers -- the company has upended some slaughterhouse mainstays to increase its appeal. "The facility’s single daytime shift lets employees attend their children’s sports games after work," the Journal reports. "The company touts ergonomic work stands and individual lockers — even the plentiful toilets are an upgrade from typical meat plants." Pay starts at $22 per hour, which is average for the area.
Even with its upgrades and no third shift, Sustainable Beef faces stiff competition, possible worker shortages and a tight beef market. The company is "taking on the Big Four meatpackers —JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef — that control 85% of the beef industry," according to the article. "Nebraska faces persistent labor shortages, as workers age out or leave. . . . Cattle herd sizes have hit a 75-year low."
Location of North Platte, Neb. (Wikipedia map)
But the company's investors have a shared goal of giving the industry's "Big Four" a run for their money. The new plant is "the size of 10 football fields, aims to process 1,500 head of cattle daily, with most of the beef going to Walmart, a minority stake investor in the project," the Journal reports. "The plant expects to hire about 850 workers by year’s end, which would make it the city’s third-largest private employer."
Fearing the possibility of crime brought on by immigrant workers, some North Platte residents pushed against the deal, but city leaders planned for predictable changes. Calvert, Campo-Flores and Thomas write, "The city is offering developers incentives to build housing, and up to 2,000 units are in the pipeline. Schools are boosting English as a Second Language instruction. The police department has outfitted officers with portable translation devices."
WSJ's full story includes Sustainable Beef's colorful beginnings in North Platte and details on how this plant is pushing competitors to upgrade their employment offerings.
Like many farmers, Roberts supports the tariffs as a trade tool. (Photo by Nick
Judin, Mississippi Free Press)
Part of the Trump administration's tariffs target U.S. agricultural goods, but many U.S. farmers support the levies despite any current economic pain. "A May survey of 400 U.S. producers found that 70% believe the tariffs will strengthen their industry in the long term," report Illan Ireland and Nick Judin of the Mississippi Free Press. "The same poll found that just 43% of respondents think the levies will hurt their earnings this year, down from 56% a month earlier."
Many American farmers who favor the tariffs are thinking about longer-term trade benefits. Ireland and Judin explain, "China is a top destination for U.S. agricultural exports like soybeans, and getting it to buy a set amount of crops each year would guarantee a market for producers without the threat of competition, one economist explained. That certainty, in turn, would stabilize commodity crop prices."
The tariffs also pose risks, including helping South American producers grab a bigger share of the Chinese soybean market. That risk, along with high input costs and possible labor shortages has spurred concerns among some farmers. The Free Press reports, "Trump’s trade war has proven divisive for American farmers — a group that overwhelmingly backed the president during last year’s election, according to a county-level analysis by Investigate Midwest."
At present the tariffs between the U.S. and China remain in play. Ireland and Judin write, "As of June 11, the U.S. and China have reportedly reached a tentative accord to de-escalate their trade dispute without inking a significant deal. According to The New York Times, some tariffs will remain in place on both sides. . . . China has canceled mass shipments of American farm products, and industry groups warn that a lengthy trade dispute could further reduce demand for U.S. exports."
Mississippi farmer Pepper Roberts says he's planning for an uncertain season. Ireland and Judin add, "Roberts steadfastly supports the tariffs. He also has some savings from past years to fall back on if things go south." Roberts told reporters, "You can’t hit a grand slam every year. We all want the biggest profit we can ever make, but when I cross (the) break-even point, I’m ready to lock something in.”
The Berkshire Mall in rural Lanesborough, Mass., once bustled with customers but has fallen into disrepair.
Rural communities that seemed lucky to have a big shopping mall two decades ago have watched the glory days of their mall fade. The communities are often left with a sprawling abandoned building, frustrated property owners and a town budget still reliant on mall property taxes.
The once-packed Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough, Mass. is a striking example of how small-town malls have declined and closed throughout the United States. "The 720,000-square-foot mall, which opened in 1988, has long been Lanesborough’s single largest taxpayer. . . . In its heyday, [it] was the place to go," reports Jim Zarroli of The New York Times. "Business had fallen off sharply by the mid-2010s. Big-box stores like JCPenney and Sears closed. . . . The movie theater went dark in 2019."
What to do with Berkshire Mall remains a problem. "As the mall sits unused, the town wants its owners, Boston-based JMJ Real Estate Holdings and its partners, to sell the property for redevelopment," Zarroli explains. "But the owners have refused, and the standoff has no end in sight."
The challenges of reinventing a mall space are more difficult and take longer in rural America. "In small towns like Lanesborough, malls are often the largest tax generator, and local officials can be reluctant to admit the big-revenue days are over, continuing to rely on that money," Zarroli writes. "They can also find themselves butting heads with mall owners, who may have different ideas about what should be done with the site."
Meanwhile, communities deal with a stretch of decaying buildings and an owner who often lives miles away. "In Maine, town officials sued the owner of the Bangor Mall, accusing it of failing to make basic repairs," Zarroli adds. "In Massachusetts, the parking lot is mostly empty. . . .Break-ins have been frequent, the police said."
The best bet is to have old mall properties repurposed or torn down, but there are obstacles. "It can take years for redevelopment to begin. In West Mifflin, Pa., near Pittsburgh, a sharp drop in business at the Century III Mall left schools, in particular, short of funds, and the owners refused to make even modest repairs, Mayor Chris Kelly said," Zarroli reports. "Century III closed in 2019 and is now being demolished. Kelly said the town was optimistic that it could redevelop the 50-acre site."
Illustration of a tick biting. (Art by Sebastian Kaulitzki, Adobe Stock)
What's to like about ticks? They are an important food source for wildlife, such as birds, lizards and bats. What's not to like? For humans, the list is long.
Ticks can carry and spread more than 12 different "disease-causing agents including toxins, allergens, bacteria, parasites and viruses," reports Pien Huang of NPR. Across the U.S., some 31 million people are bitten by ticks every year.
Although not every tick bite ends in disease, many do. "Most reported cases of vector-borne disease (including mosquitoes) come from ticks, which can carry pathogens with terrible consequences," Huang explains. "Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the U.S., estimated to affect more than 470,000 people each year."
When it comes to ticks, working to avoid contact is the first line of defense; however, knowing what to do if you find one attached or have suspicious symptoms such as a rash is just as important.
If you find a tick attached, remove it immediately, but place it in a plastic bag or container it can't escape. Huang writes, "Identifying some key information about the tick can help determine your risks. That includes what kind of tick it is, whether it's in the nymph or adult stage and how long it's been feeding on you."
The ever-growing list of diseases ticks carry often depends on geography, although warming temperatures have led some tick species to spread into new regions. "In the past 20 years, scientists have discovered at least seven new tick-borne pathogens in the U.S.," Huang reports. "The mid-Atlantic recently saw its first fatal case of Heartland Virus."
For people heading outdoors, Huang provides this tick-avoiding guidance from CDC experts:
Do careful and frequent tick checks on yourself and your family members and pets.
If you're hiking, it helps to stay in the middle of a well-maintained trail, since ticks tend to hang out in the shrubs and foliage around the edge.
Treat outdoor clothing with permethrin, a chemical similar to chrysanthemum extracts that stops ticks from biting.
Additionally, treat your exposed skin with EPA-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picardin, or other active ingredients that deter ticks. (Use the EPA's search tool to find one that works.)
Stamm suggests that younger farmers need a place at today's table.
In a world full of new looks and new technology, Samantha Stamm for Hoard's Dairyman gives voice to the old souls who love farming and cherish pieces from the past. She considers how the next generation of farmers can begin to fill the boots of today's farmers -- as costs are high and living off of the land can be filled with uncertainties.
"There’s a quiet pride in holding onto something meaningful – whether it’s the well-worn flannel or the values stitched into it," Stamm writes. "I feel that same kind of pride about my agricultural lifestyle, but sometimes, it’s hard not to feel like the odd one out."
Many young people leave their small towns, go to school and don't return. "Many of my peers seem eager to move on to bigger and better things," Stamm explains. "Maybe they don’t see the value in staying, or maybe no one ever took the time to show them what’s worth keeping, or maybe, and more likely, it’s just not feasible for them in that stage of life."
How will the legacy of American farming be shared? "That’s what’s really been on my mind. Our grandparents and mentors carry a lifetime of knowledge but passing it on takes more than just being around – it takes intention," Stamm writes. "If we want the next generation to care, we also must be willing to make room for them, to hand them a post driver and not just a lecture."
As the average age of U.S. farmers continues to climb, who will farm next should be a burning question. "There’s a gap once folks age out of 4-H or FFA but still aren’t yet landowners or legacy holders," Stamm adds. "That 'middle space' – the 20s, 30s, and even 40s – is where the real make-or-break moments happen. It’s when people are trying to find stability, maybe raise a family, lease their first pasture, or buy used equipment. But this age group often gets forgotten when it comes to support systems and resources."
Creating the changes newer farmers need to flourish is a work in progress. "It’s going to take intentional effort – from mentors to make room at the table, and from us middle-grounders to keep showing up, asking questions, and learning where we can," Stamm writes. "Because if we’re lucky, one day we’ll be the ones passing something down and we’ll need someone ready to listen."
Samantha Stamm
Samantha Stamm is the 2025 Hoard’s Dairyman editorial intern. She co-owns and manages an Angus seedstock and commercial cow-calf operation with her family in northeast Kentucky. Stamm earned a master's degree in agricultural communications from Oklahoma State University and a bachelor's degree in agribusiness with a dual major in animal science from Morehead State University.
Since last July when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Purdue Pharma opioid bankruptcy agreement, negotiation has continued. The latest offer from the Sackler family may have enough support from stakeholders to stick.
"OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s latest plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids could soon move forward after every U.S. state involved agreed to it," reports Geoff Mulvihill of The Associated Press. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane "is being asked to clear the way for local governments and individual victims to vote on it next."
If Lane moves the agreement forward, impacted parties have until Sept. 30 to vote "on whether to accept the deal, which calls for members of the Sackler family who own the company to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years," Mulvihill explains. Roughly $6.5 billion of the settlement will be taken from the Sackler's wealth, and "potentially more than $850 million would go directly to individual victims."
The biggest change the reworked plan offers is that it does not guard Sackler family members from civil liability suits related to the opioid crisis. Groups that reject this settlement can continue litigation against Sackler family members. Mulvihill adds, "Under the plan, the Sackler family members would give up ownership of Purdue."
The $7 billion the Sacklers have put on the table pales in comparison to their exposure. Mulvihill reports, "The settlement is a way to avoid trials with claims from states alone that total more than $2 trillion in damages. Thousands of local governments and other groups have also sued Purdue."
While the settlement is an attempt to hold the Sackler family accountable for its part in the prescription drug crisis, the family will remain exceptionally wealthy and will continue to run its global pharmaceutical company, Mundipharma, which operates in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Singapore.
A seasonal migrant worker carries fruit in Michigan. (Photo via The Conversation, CC)
In an abrupt about-face from last week's guidance that paused Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on farms, restaurants and meatpacking facilities, Trump officials reissued their call for ICE to enter any business where undocumented migrant workers might be found.
"Officials from ICE, including its Homeland Security Investigations division, told agency leaders in a call Monday that agents must continue conducting immigration raids at agricultural businesses, hotels and restaurants," report Carol D. Leonnig, Natalie Allison, Marianne LeVine, and Lauren Kaori Gurley of The Washington Post.
The see-sawing instructions reflect the tough reality of supporting American farmers and service workers all the while pushing ICE to arrest thousands of undocumented workers a day. Leonnig writes, "Some immigration experts say ICE would need to ramp up worksite enforcement to meet the administration’s ambitious arrest quotas. Past raids at meatpacking plants, for instance, have led to hundreds of arrests at once."
Even among President Trump's officials, the two sides pull against each other. "White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said last month that the administration wants ICE to make a minimum of 3,000 arrests a day," the Post reports. "Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, meanwhile was on the opposite side of the issue, stressing to Trump the concerns that those in the farming industry had raised about losing workers."
On Sunday evening, Trump pulled away from his farming and service worker exemption stance and "made a post on his Truth Social account that he said amounted to an order for ICE officials 'to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,'" Leonnig adds, "which he said would require them to 'expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities.'"
On Monday, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for DHS, told reporters, “There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s effort. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.”
At a time when U.S. consumers are getting squeezed from all sides, the idea that average Americans may pay higher electric bills so mega-companies such as Google and Meta can get special discounts for their energy-guzzling data centers may sound unfair, but it could be true, write Ari Peskoe and Eliza Martin in their story for The Conversation.
"In our paper Extracting Profits from the Public, we explain how utilities are forcing regular ratepayers to pay for the discounts enjoyed by some of the nation’s largest companies," they write. “And [we] identify ways policymakers can limit the costs to the public."
While most utilities are sanctioned monopolies, their foundation lies in shared costs. "Splitting the utility’s costs among all consumers made perfect sense when population growth and economic development across the economy stimulated the need for new infrastructure," Peskoe and Martin write. "But today, in many utility service territories, most of the projected growth in electricity demand is due to new data centers.
When data centers are the impetus for a utility having to build more supporting infrastructure, the normal way power utilities pay for their expansion no longer works. They explain, "If state regulators allow utilities to follow the standard approach of splitting the costs of new infrastructure among all consumers, the public will end up paying to supply data centers with all that power."
A Meta data center in Louisiana provides a good example. "By our calculations, [the center will use] twice as much energy as the city of New Orleans," Peskoe and Martin add. "Entergy, the regional monopoly utility, is proposing to build more than $3 billion worth of new gas-fired power plants to meet the data center’s energy demand. … Entergy is proposing to include the costs in rates paid by all customers."
Instead of billing Meta $3 billion for its infrastructure needs, Entergy is working on a separate contract with Meta, with rates the general public won't see. Peskoe and Martin write, "Entergy has asked state regulators to keep key terms of the contract secret, and only a redacted version of its application is available online."
The fact that there are many secret deals isn't much of a secret; however, what's in the deals remains protected. "Our research, reviewing nearly 50 public utility commission proceedings about data centers’ power needs across 10 states, uncovered dozens of secretive contracts between utilities and data centers," Peskoe and Martin explain. "Unlike Louisiana, most states require utilities to submit to the public utility commission their one-off deals with data centers, but they allow utilities to conceal the pricing terms from the public."
Is anything being done to address the issue? "Many state legislatures are noticing these problems and working to figure out how to address them," they add. "Severalrecentbills would set new terms and conditions for future data center deals that could help protect the public from data center energy costs."
Green and blue colors will be harder for the company to recreate. (Kraft Heinz image)
After decades of use, Kraft Heinz is "ditching artificial dyes," reports Jesse Newman of The Wall Street Journal. "The move comes as the Trump administration is pushing to strip artificial dyes from the U.S. food supply." Kraft Heinz aims to remove the dyes from products including Crystal Light, Heinz relish, Kool-Aid, Jell-O and Jet-Puffed products before the end of 2027.
Although the U.S. has been monitoring color additives in commercial products since the 1880s, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "has blamed artificial colors and other food additives for a litany of health problems, and said that they are poisoning American children," Newman writes. And while many food conglomerates have defended dyes as safe, "some are working to phase out or limit their use of dyes, including PepsiCo and cereal maker WK Kellogg."
Switching to natural dyes will be relatively easy in some Kraft Heinz products, but recreating greens and blues will be more difficult. "The company said it would replace those with other colors," Newman explains. "In products where color isn’t critical, Kraft Heinz will remove them entirely."
Pedro Navio, who heads the company's North American sector, told the Journal, "The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of [artificial] colors across the remainder of our portfolio."
The Food and Drug Administration, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, said this spring "that it aimed to work with the food industry to remove six synthetic dyes by the end of next year," Newman adds. "Kraft Heinz also said it would no longer use artificial colors in new products in the U.S."
The Star Wars franchise might begin and end in "a galaxy far, far away," but its newest series 'Andor' serves up some close-to-home conflicts. "Migrant farm workers sweating visa status amid amped-up immigration enforcement. Aggressive strip mining of the land without consideration of local communities. … Rising disregard for due process and human rights," writes Adam B. Giorgi for The Daily Yonder. "Various installments in the franchise have been associated with or said to draw inspiration from then-contemporary concerns, including the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. But it’s arguably never been more timely or effective than it is in 'Andor.'"
Keen moved part of its production back to the U.S. (Keen photo via BBC North America)
High tariffs are one tool the Trump administration has put in place to try to stimulate American manufacturing growth, but even as those costs hit the U.S. market, the question remains, "How can the U.S. reinvent its manufacturing sector in today's global economy?" While U.S. factories look different now than they did in the 1970s, it can be done. Family-owned Keen Footwear located outside of Louisville, Ky., is showing the way, reports Michelle Fleury of BBC North America. "With just 24 employees on site, the factory relies heavily on automation — sophisticated robots that fuse soles and trim materials — underscoring a transformation in how goods are made today."
If it feels like life needs a reset or even an "undo" button, heading outside may be the answer. "Nature can save us from a world gone mad," writes Dana Milbank of The Washington Post. "I hiked the Appalachian Trail, and it fixed my brain. … I wandered happily along the trail spotting the colors of the forest in spring: the red columbine, the lavender wild geranium, the lacy maple-leaf viburnum. … I found myself talking back to the birds that seemed to be following us."
Pharmacist Jan Brandenburg shares her Appalachian roots in her new cookbook.
Sometimes sharing recipes from home is the best way to showcase what your region is all about. For Jan Brandenburg of Kentucky, home is Appalachia, where she learned to love cooking, baking and science. "Today, after nearly 40 years as a practicing pharmacist, Brandenburg has published The Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia, a tribute to her Eastern Kentucky roots and a vibrant exploration of how food — like medicine — can nourish, heal and connect," report Dana Cox and Rosa Mejia-Cruz for UKnow. "Brandenburg often finds herself offering guidance to patients … not just on medications, but on food choices, too. And she's just as happy to share recipes."
Seeing and smelling my mom's homemade yeast rolls rising in a warm oven, getting a nose-full of Grandma's mildewy basement where I used to fetch canned tomatoes, hearing the old Gordon Lightfoot song my dad played until everyone had it memorized. Those are all distinct experiences with memories and feelings attached to them. According to social psychologist and researcher Chelsea Reid, that feeling — nostalgia — is good for us. Reid explains in her story for The Conversation, that "sentimental longing for treasured moments in our personal pasts is linked to our well-being and feelings of connection with others … triggered by sensory stimuli such as music, scents and foods, nostalgia has the power to mentally transport us back in time."
A line of ARC-supported firefighters head off to battle a blaze. (ARC photo via Civil Eats)
When people think of firefighters, they don't also think about prisoners, but that's what some firefighters are, and just like non-incarcerated firefighters, they need care, too. "As hurricane-force winds caused wildfires to raze entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, more than 7,500 firefighters risked their lives. … Among them were an estimated 1,100 inmates from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation," reports Nadra Nittle of Civil Eats. "Sam Lewis of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition discusses why good meals, better pay, and post-release support could transform the future for incarcerated firefighters — and why society should see their humanity."
Strawberry pickers in Plant City, FL. (Adobe Stock photo)
Some immigrants who have continued work at farms, restaurants, hotels and meatpacking plants have been swept up during Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, report Ted Hesson and Marisa Taylor of Reuters. A senior Trump official familiar with the situation said President Donald Trump "was not aware of the extent of the enforcement push and 'once it hit him, he pulled it back.'"
"Trump's administration has directed immigration officials to largely pause raids," Hesson and Taylor write. "The order to scale back came from Trump himself … and appears to rein in a late-May demand by top White House aide Stephen Miller for more aggressive sweeps."
Last week's instructions limiting raids "still allows for investigations into serious crimes such as human trafficking," Reuters reports. Democrats called on the White House to pull back on ICE's "aggressive tactics. … Some Republican lawmakers have called on the administration to focus on criminal offenders."
Most American agriculture, including dairy and farm animal care, is supported by migrant workers. Hesson and Taylor add, "U.S. farm industry groups have long wanted Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain dependent on immigrants."
The United Farm Workers union remains "skeptical the new directive will help workers without legal status," Reuters reports. "The group said it had calls from members about immigration arrests even after the new directive was issued."
On Friday, UFW issued a stern response to Trump's Thursday order to pause farm raids: "Many companies stayed closed today due to the presence of roving federal agents, especially Border Patrol. … As long as Border Patrol and ICE are allowed to sweep through farm worker communities making chaotic arrests … they are still hunting down farm workers."
Reporting on Addiction, a collaborative movement staffed by media professionals working to address addiction, is extending its deadline to apply for 2025 microgrants for journalists reporting on opioid settlement funds in Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey or New York.
As billions in opioid settlement funds enter the U.S. economy, how that money will be spent is unclear. Especially for individuals, families and communities touched by the opioid and fentanyl crisis, having journalists who use their investigative skills to follow who spends the money and on what is of vital importance. Watchdog reporters are needed as a primary, trustworthy source for people who want to hold public officials accountable for how these funds are used to address the addiction crisis.
To support this vital journalistic effort, Open Society Foundations is partnering with Reporting on Addiction to offer four microgrants ($500–$1,000 each) for journalists reporting in Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey and New York to investigate how opioid settlement funds are being allocated and spent.
Grants will support long-term reporting that help your audience understand the opioid settlements and show them where and how funds are being spent. Priority will be given to submissions focused on:
Spending (or a lack of spending) related to evidence-based prevention, addiction, harm reduction, treatment and/or recovery.
Issues with waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement of opioid settlement funds.
Incorporating the perspectives of impacted community members.
Helping communities understand the spending decision-making process (or lack of process).
Story pitch requirements: Pitches can be for any platform, print, digital, radio, television, podcast, etc. Freelancer submissions are welcome, but must have a letter of support from a publisher.
Grant awardees will receive free training: Awardees must agree to attend two virtual Reporting on Addiction trainings, share their final story, and have a commitment from a newsroom editor to publish their reporting by Feb. 1, 2026. Freelancers should secure a publication commitment before applying and supply supporting documentation.
USFS Chief Tom Schultz talk with Region 4 employees in Utah. (USFS photo via Route Fifty)
Despite shedding 5,000 employees in early 2025, the United States Forest Service leadership feels sufficiently staffed for this year's wildfire season, which started near the beginning of June, peaks in mid-summer and trickles down in late October. "USFS says it’s ready for fire season after asking separated employees to come back," reports Eric Katz for Route Fifty. "But employees say the losses have been 'crippling.'"
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz admitted that staffing cuts and retirements had left shortages "though he said efforts to bring some of those employees back to work and shift others around to fill 'critical positions' will ensure its readiness," Katz explains. At a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, Schultz reassured lawmakers that USFS is prepared.
While 2025 USFS staffing levels for firefighters and some deployment teams are comparable to those from 2024, they are just two parts of the operation. An entire team of fire experts, or "red card" holders, support firefighters behind the scenes, and both firefighters and red card holders "depend on support personnel who have left the agency in large numbers," Katz reports. USFS employees who actively fight fires rely on support staff for paychecks, supply purchases and contract management.
Schultz told Senate members that 1,400 [red card] employees will return for the upcoming fire season. He added that the USFS had "reassigned between 600 and 700 employees to move laterally to serve in critical areas," Katz writes. Schultz didn't comment on which areas would supply staff for the lateral move.
Even with the return of experienced key personnel, some active USFS firefighters don't think it will be enough. One firefighter told Katz, "We are not ready. The institutional knowledge of older people who left and the numbers of skilled people who left from all disciplines is crippling.”
Steve Guitierrez, a long-time federal firefighter who represents his colleagues through the National Federation of Federal Employees, told Katz, "I find it difficult to make that without all those employees that we will be fully staffed for this fire season. We were already low on numbers to begin with.”
A hose may be the cheapest way to cool off this summer. (Photo by J. Tyson, Unsplash)
Summer sun and heat might be good for beachgoers, but climbing summer temperatures will mean spiking power bills for U.S. consumers. Reasons for ballooning energy costs include higher natural gas prices, grid upgrade costs passed on to utility customers and increased domestic demand.
"Electricity prices across the country have increased 4.5% in the past year, topping the 2.2% jump in the price of groceries," reports Jennifer Hiller of The Wall Street Journal. "Consumer prices rose 2.4% in May from a year earlier."
Whether U.S. consumers flip on fans or crank the air, most will pay roughly 4% more "because of a jump in natural gas prices, the largest source of power generation," Hiller explains. "Natural gas deliveries to power plants will cost about 50% more from June through September than last year."
That's painful. "The higher bills are putting a strain on the wallets of consumers who are already stretched thin by rising costs for food, shelter and insurance," Hiller writes. "The average household power bill will reach $784 for the combined period from June to September."
Many Americans started the summer months already behind on their electrical bills. "Mark Wolfe, the executive director at the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, said one of every six U.S. households is behind on their electricity or natural gas bills," Hiller reports. "Customers owed gas and electric utilities more than $24 billion in late payments as of March."
Despite the pinch consumers are bound to feel, several utility companies are asking regulators to approve rate increases. "In Florida, NextEra Energy’s Florida Power & Light is asking regulators to let it increase rates between 1% and 5% a year through 2029," Hiller adds. "About $9.3 billion in additional electricity costs will begin trickling down to customers in the PJM Interconnection, the country’s largest grid operator and wholesale electricity market."
In some markets, AI data centers are "stressing the grid." In other places, increased demand is partially driven by electric vehicles. "Across the U.S., the growing pains are sparking fights over how to pay for upgrades and costs," Hiller reports. "The power industry also warns that a rollback of the clean-energy tax credits offered under the Inflation Reduction Act would push electricity prices higher, too."
Paige Pence, middle, with her parents Brent and Christine (Photo by Matthew J. Grassi, Farm Journal)
Some people were born to be wild, some were born to run, and others were born to farm. Paige Pence from New Carlisle, Ohio, falls in the latter category.
This summer the Western Illinois graduate will get an "entirely new learning experience," reports Matthew J. Grassi for Farm Journal. Her parents plan to "turn her loose" on their 4,500-acre farm to see what managing agriculture is all about.
Pence, 22, just graduated with a bachelor's degree in agricultural science partnered with a minor in animal science, which gives her a leg up on farming book smarts. But at her family's farm, she'll be hands-on. "Paige [will] get her feet wet running the farm’s fleet of equipment and pitching in wherever she can leave her mark," Grassi writes. "She’ll be shouldering a healthy load of farm duties, with her parents guiding her along the way."
While some farm families struggle to find a way to keep their farms in the family, the Pences have a plan. "Meeting with the family, you can tell right from the jump Brent and Christine are thrilled to get their daughter back," Grassi adds. "Through sheer perseverance and with some help from friends, neighbors and family, they've built an impressive operation to one day pass down to their only child."
As Paige finished her final year at college, she felt ready to head back to the farm. She told Grassi, "During my senior year it started to hit me that I was ready to go home … and start making the changes that were going to help our family.”
Even though Brent and Christine aren't planning to retire anytime soon, Paige is content to be on the farm learning how to manage it. She told Grassi, “I have always grown up around farming, so I don’t see myself ever leaving. There are always different things that need to be done, and aside from showing [livestock] over the last decade, I’ve always been around helping out. I don’t see myself moving anywhere else. I feel like everything I need is right here.”
