Kirk Siegler

Some businesses and activists want to end prolonged closures that were imposed to block the spread of the coronavirus. Health experts warn a premature opening could create another surge of the virus.

In the rural Northwest, far-right elected officials and the militia movements they're aligned with are calling for defiance of stay-at-home orders like the one issued by Idaho's Republican governor.

In the rural Northwest, far-right elected officials, and the militias they're aligned with, are calling for defiance of statewide stay-at-home orders, including one issued by Idaho's GOP governor.

Small-town hospitals were already closing at an alarming rate before COVID-19, but now the trend appears to be accelerating just as the disease arrives in rural America.

There's still a serious shortage of testing for COVID-19 across the country. Many people who are sick and showing likely symptoms say they still can't get tested.

President Trump continues to falsely state that everyone who needs a COVID-19 test can get one. Health care providers and those who have been possibly sickened by the disease tell a different story.

Like many resort towns, Sun Valley, Idaho is full of global travelers and wealthy owners of second homes. It's now an epicenter for coronavirus infection, and local leaders want to restrict travel.

Now that testing capacity has increased, some states with low infection rates may still be able to contain COVID-19 outbreaks by tracing contacts of infected people and isolating them.

Some states in the rural West are still reporting very low numbers of COVID-19 cases. But there are pockets with high infection rates: wealthy resort towns with a lot of visitor traffic.

There was already a shortage of medical personnel in rural America before the coronavirus. Medical staffing firms are now trying to send health workers to underserved small towns.

Small-town hospitals are under-equipped to deal with the coronavirus, and administrators warn it's a misperception that people in isolated rural areas are safer from exposure.

Affordable housing is a top issue for voters in Pueblo, Colo. Workers from economically booming cities nearby drive home prices up, but most local jobs pay too little to support mortgages.

America's worsening homelessness crisis can feel like an intractable problem. But Spokane, Wash., may be having some early success trying some new tactics to help its most vulnerable.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's acting chief says the decision to relocate the agency's headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction, Colo., means "locals can come and see us."

The acting head of the Bureau of Land Management is defending the controversial relocation of the massive land agency's headquarters to a small western Colorado city 1,900 miles from Washington, D.C.

A prolific two weeks of avalanches in Western states closed major highways and ski resorts. It's putting pressure on avalanche forecasters and safety crews as mountains see larger-than-usual crowds.

The Trump administration announced management plans for public lands in Utah that were formerly part of national monuments declared by President Obama. Critics worry it means more drilling and mining.

Republican voters in Idaho are rallying behind president Trump during the impeachment trial, which some call a political distraction.

Some voters in the rural West say they're not tuning in to impeachment proceedings, calling them an overly partisan show trial. Conservative Idaho citizens say it may backfire against Democrats.

With Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead on the brink of extinction, there are new efforts being brokered to save the famed fish.