Every summer, families across America fire up grills, toss fresh salads, and trust that the food on their tables is safe. That trust depends on systems most people never think about — until those systems disappear.

Ken Paxton skipped America's 250th birthday celebrations back home, spotted instead in London with his alleged mistress, Tracy Duhon — his second overseas trip with her in as many weeks.

A $14 million makeover of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turned green within days, and now the cleanup, the dead ducks, and the president's vandalism claims are all under scrutiny.

For years, rural America has been the political foundation that Republican candidates — and Donald Trump in particular — have counted on when election results start rolling in. But a new round of polling data suggests that foundation is developing some serious cracks, and the reasons why matter for anyone who lives in or depends on small-town and farming communities across the country.