In the days since Jan. 7, when Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, the public is getting a closer look at how many communities are resisting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Volunteer rapid-response teams and loosely organized patrols in Minneapolis and other cities are tracking and following federal immigration agents to disrupt operations and alert neighbors.

The work has become increasingly risky as tensions soar and confrontations between federal agents and volunteers escalate. Yet even after Good’s death, volunteers continue to mobilize in targeted neighborhoods.

In Minneapolis, a Minnesota Reformer reporter rode along on a recent patrol and spoke with several volunteers determined to keep up their work.

In Episode 11, you’ll also meet Carlos Ochoa. He is a volunteer for Vecindarios 901, a rapid response network reporting on Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.

They were established during the first Trump term. Now in Trump’s second term, Vecindarios 901 has kicked into high gear to document the activities of the Memphis Safe Task Force. The multi-agency law enforcement force launched September 15, 2025 by President Donald Trump.

Then, you’ll hear from Minnesota Reformer reporter Madison McVan who has been reporting on the ground in Minneapolis.

Finally, Evening Wrap newsletter author Danielle Gaines shares the top stories she’s watching.

Episode produced and edited by Mallory Cheng. Music for Stories From The States composed by David Singer.

Click here for the full transcript.

Relevant reading from States Newsroom outlets and partners:

• In the car with the Minneapolis community patrols working to disrupt ICE operations (Minnesota Reformer)
• These are the arrests you’re not seeing (Minnesota Reformer)
• In Memphis, volunteers document Task Force arrests and provide aid to those left behind (Tennessee Lookout)
• We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing (ProPublica)

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Photo: A masked ICE agent knocks on the window and tells observers in Minnesota to stop following ICE vehicles while on an early morning watch Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

With the rise of AI development, tech companies are investing billions to build massive data centers.

Virginia is home to over 500 data centers and counting. State officials there say their construction will boost local economies and create long-term jobs.

One former data center technician in South Carolina doesn’t agree.

And anxious residents are pushing back against the projects worried they could harm drinking water, spike electricity rates and bring noise pollution.

In Episode 10, you’ll meet Shannon Wait. She was a temporary worker at one of Google’s data centers in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

While there, Wait spoke out against the unfair labor practices, but was suspended. She filed a case with the National Labor Relations Board, and won.

Now she’s a senior organizer at Alphabet Workers Union-CWA and a data policy advisor at TechEquity speaking out against the working conditions inside the facilities.

Northern Virginia has especially been seeing a boom in construction, but as more buildings are planned for Southern Virginia, residents are growing concerned about how this will hurt their water and wallets.

There aren't any statewide data center regulations, so localities are putting their foot down.

You’ll hear from the Virginia Mercury’s Energy and Environment reporter Shannon Heckt who has been covering this.

Finally, Evening Wrap newsletter author Danielle Gaines shares the top stories she’s watching.

Episode produced and edited by Mallory Cheng. Music for Stories From The States composed by David Singer.

Click here for the full transcript.

Relevant reading from States Newsroom outlets and partners:

• Data center growth drives locals to fight for more say (Stateline)
• Virginia doesn’t have statewide data center regulations. Localities are making their own rules. (Virginia Mercury)
• Gigawatt data center proposal draws opposition from SC Lowcountry residents, politicians (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
• NJ lawmakers OK plan to charge data centers for spiking electric costs (New Jersey Monitor)
• Data center ‘gold rush’ pits local officials’ hunt for new revenue against residents’ concerns (Georgia Recorder)

Photo: Shannon Wait speaks at a Colleton County public hearing for a proposed 860-acre data center campus proposed for South Carolina’s Lowcountry. (Photo courtesy of Shannon Wait)

State lawmakers have taken the lead on regulating kratom. The controversial herbal supplement is often used for pain relief, anxiety and opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Last summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pushed to ban 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH, saying it posed serious health risks and should be classified as a controlled substance with heroin and LSD.

In Louisiana, legislators initiated a statewide ban on kratom because of that ingredient.

In Episode 9, we’ll hear from our States Newsroom colleagues at the Louisiana Illuminator. For their podcast called The Light Switch, they took a deep dive into kratom as Louisiana lawmakers debated the ban in 2025.

Louisiana Illuminator editor Greg LaRose will help us understand both sides of the kratom discussion. This was done in partnership with WWNO, New Orleans Public Radio station.

Episode produced and edited by Mallory Cheng. Music for Stories From The States composed by David Singer. A special thank you to Greg LaRose from the Louisiana Illuminator and WWNO, New Orleans Public Radio.

Got questions? An episode idea? Email us at podcast@statesnewsroom.com.

Click here for the full transcript:

Relevant reading from States Newsroom outlets and partners:

• Utah Legislature will consider a kratom ban next year (Utah News Dispatch)
• Ohio Board of Pharmacy issues emergency ruling banning most kratom products for 180 days (Ohio Capital Journal)
• Feds seize thousands of 7-OH products from Kansas City warehouses (Missouri Independent)
• Kratom faces increasing scrutiny from states and the feds (Stateline)

Photo: An advertisement for kratom at a shop in Phoenix, Arizona. (Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror)