Much of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accomplishes, whether cleaning up water, shoring up infrastructure or reducing climate change, is done through its grants program. To help track that spending, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox points reporters to an enhanced EPA grant database tool that lets you search by geography and across other databases. More on how to make the most of it.

When covering rural America, mainstream media often defaults to stereotypes steeped in politics and ignores the diversity that actually exists there, as expanding news deserts exacerbate the problem. Reporter Claire Carlson on why this matters — including in discouraging investment around climate change or resource industries urban dwellers depend on. Here’s how journalists can report richer, more nuanced stories about rural people and places.