Will the Iran war turn midwest swing states against Trump after his ‘America first’ promise? Trump failing to keep his word could be important ahead of primaries and midterm elections for independents

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Trump tells Kentucky rally Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities degraded While offering no details to hundreds of supporters, US president seemed to suggest conflict would not end soon

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Immigrant truck drivers are vital to the economy. ICE crackdown is forcing them off roads Targeting of foreign-born truckers risks ‘deepening severe labor shortages’ as thousands of drivers have been taken off roads for failing English proficiency requirements

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Somali Americans hounded by ICE and rightwing ‘influencers’ on edge in Ohio: ‘I’m scared to go outside’ ICE launched ‘Operation Buckeye’ and ‘influencers’ claimed Somalis are running fraudulent businesses after Trump repeatedly used racist language against group in December

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘The digital colonization of flyover states’: how datacenters are tearing small-town America apart The rapid rollout of datacenters across the US is creating a divide between municipal governments and residents

Data centers & the entities behind them are creating serious fissures in small American communities:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Detentions and disappearances: how ICE has driven fear into Michigan’s Arab communities Arab Americans in Dearborn and beyond are being swept up by ICE at places of worship and work, with devastating consequences

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

How ‘neglectful or absentee’ investors fuel Toledo, Ohio’s post-pandemic housing crisis Out-of-state investors buy cheap homes in the city, leaving working residents struggling with substandard housing

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘My bill keeps escalating’: how Toledo, Ohio, became the epicenter of the US housing crisis As LLCs snap up thousands of homes, tenants face rising rents, fees and deteriorating living conditions

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Questions swirl over Ohio billionaire Les Wexner’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein Retail mogul’s name was this week unredacted from trove of files – how did he and his model town fuel Epstein’s rise?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Trump cuts have fueled ‘rage-giving’ to US rural public radio. Will it be enough? Across the US, federal public media cuts have galvanized many communities to donate to their local radio stations

www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Venezuelan immigrants enliven midwest food and culture – now DHS wants to send them home From food stalls to revitalised downtowns, Venezuelans have shaped midwestern towns, but new US policy threatens their future

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Veteran fights to save emotional support chickens An Iraq War veteran fights to keep his emotional support chickens who help him cope with PTSD at his Dayton, Ohio home.

thewarhorse.org/veteran-figh...

Despite TPS stay, thousands of Haitians in Ohio face uncertainty and fear of ICE Springfield businesses are closing and families are making contingency plans for their children

Bomb threats, school shutdowns & a community in fear. My latest for @theguardian.com from Springfield, Ohio

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Infectious diseases are killing deer and risking rural US economies: ‘You smell the dead everywhere’ Climate crisis contributing to spread of diseases as hunting industry takes a hit from growing number of dead deer

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

JD Vance exploited a brawl to paint Cincinnati as crime-ridden. The fallout has divided the city National spotlight, after video of violent fight went viral, has led residents to question just how safe their city is or isn’t – and who is responsible for sparking the debate

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US police involved in fatal incidents use victims privacy law to hide their identity In dozen of cases officers have used Marsy’s Law, which gives victims of crime anonymity, to shield their names

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

How progressives are taking over swing states – and driving fear into Democratic elites Left-leaning challengers in the Rust belt are throwing chaos into a divided party struggling to rebuild after Trump’s win

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Water levels across the Great Lakes are falling – just as US data centers move in Region struggling with drought now threatened by energy-hungry facilities – but some residents are fighting back

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Trump’s tariffs are choking small US manufacturers – even those making music magic EarthQuaker Devices has served Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey and Radiohead but says tariffs add costs up to 30%

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Mauritanian immigrants in Ohio face deportations home, where abuses persist A growing group has found community around Cincinnati. Trump’s ICE crackdown threatens to send them back to Mauritania, rife with human rights problems

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump cuts have fueled ‘rage-giving’ to US rural public radio. Will it be enough? Across the US, federal public media cuts have galvanized many communities to donate to their local radio stations

www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Dayton Journalism Summit The Journalism Lab is excited to announce a two-day community journalism summit in Dayton on Thursday, January 22, and Friday, January 23, 2026. Join us for two days of workshops and panel discussions...

Sign ups here: thejournalismlab.org/dayton-journ...

How Buffalo, New York has adapted to and embraced an influx of climate migrants | Great Lakes Now For the first time in 70 years, Buffalo’s population is rising, partly due to Puerto Ricans relocating after the devastation of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The last in a three-story series for @greatlakesnow.bsky.social on climate change and the Great Lakes:

www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/10/how-...

‘I don’t feel safe any more’: Dearborn’s Arab Americans on rising Islamophobia Residents in Michigan city on edge as threats against their community rise, and some are reassessing their support for Trump

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

When Amirah moved it away, she saw a long, deep cut across her daughter’s neck. A man had approached her on the playground, grabbed her head and slit her throat with a knife.

Boom or burden? Climate migration’s impact on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula | Great Lakes Now Could climate migration bring new life to shrinking towns in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, or will rising costs and lagging infrastructure get in the way of population growth?

www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/09/clim...

How Great Lakes cities are preparing for climate migration | Great Lakes Now Cleveland hopes to thrive as a climate refuge, but some fear gentrification and extractive development will leave longtime residents behind.

Latest for @greatlakesnow.bsky.social

www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/09/how-...

Ohio requires buses for private school kids. Public school students have to find their own ride School districts are responsible for transporting private and charter school kids, leaving thousands of public school students behind

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘Families are dying’: an Ohio town suffering from fallout years after nuclear plant’s closure As Trump calls for more nuclear power, Piketon, the site of an enrichment facility, knows first hand its ill effects

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘I was reborn’: Cincinnati imam reflects on 10 weeks in Ice custody after release Ayman Soliman recalls isolation, abuse and fear of deportation and the community that fought for his release

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...