County Highway, County Highway PO Box 53, Franklin, NY (2026)

12/29/2025

The joy of dog with stick is hard to beat. Though finishing our coming issue while snowed in comes pretty close.

12/17/2025

“Every few days, Robert prepared the ravens a new meal. Robert had been in the food industry and was a really great cook. Chicken Milanese, Southern fried chicken, chicken duxelles, vol-au-vents — creations not so simple to make! The ravens appreciated this as much as the burnt chicken, at least in my opinion.
They soon learned that even a slight creak of our front door meant Robert might be bringing them their meal, which he served twice a day. The ravens came flying home quickly, sometimes from miles away, when their names were called. And they learned their names with haste, whether we yelled ‘Arturo!’ or ‘Horatio!’ or whatever we preferred that day. If the ravens’ meal wasn’t promptly served, the male lingered outside our bedroom window, no longer looking nor sounding so friendly. It was more of a statement: He knew where we lived.
It made me nervous.”

In our current issue, Tama Janowitz tames the ravens on her lonely mesa with the help of fusion cuisine.

Art: Edouard Manet

12/08/2025

“Scamming the State of Minnesota — and the Federal government, which provides funding to state-administered Medicaid programs — was almost comically easy. One autism clinic received $13 million from Medicaid while also claiming it fed 500 children a day through Feeding Our Future. One health clinic made 250 Medicaid claims — for transportation, language interpretation, and other services — for one patient. Another billed Medicaid for over 21 hours of daily work by a single therapist.”

Armin Rosen’s latest, covering the story that every mainstream media outlet in America is too scared to touch: Minnesota’s multi-billion dollar Medicaid fraud. Seems like the whole state is in on it. A blockbuster report, out now in our holiday issue.

Art: Thomas Nast

12/03/2025

“Jack insists things are different now. He says he doesn’t want to ever go back to that place. With everything he’s got going for him, there’s a promising future out there. There’s his trade — it’s good work, it pays well, it’s always in demand. And he’s never earned the kind of criminal record that’s really hard to come back from. He’s acutely aware that he’s better positioned than some of the other guys in his program. His friend — the one who worked in the camping area with him — tells me that, before today, he didn’t know if he’d ever had sober fun. He says he wanted to know what it felt like, so while one of the bands was playing, he went up to the front of the stage, closed his eyes, and let the music move him.
‘How was it?” I ask.
‘It felt like… forever,’ he says.”

In our latest issue, Farahn Morgan attends Healing Appalachia — a music festival by and for addicts, and the people who love them.

Photo: Neon Jack Rabbit

12/01/2025

“If you believe that the God of the universe sent his son to be born on this day 2,000 years ago, to complete a mission that would save humanity from eternal perdition, then how could you possibly justify any celebration of this moment that does not strive to match the splendor of its significance? If God illuminated the night skies over Bethlehem with armies of angels to announce the birth of Christ, then isn’t flying a few from the rafters, if anything, selling it short?”

Chandler Fritz is welcomed into the world of Prestonwood, one of the largest evangelical congregations in the country, where he journeys into the heart of American religion during its most festive Christmas pageant. Only in County Highway.

Art: Sam Vanallemeersch

11/28/2025

“After a trip to the ER during which the couple was assured that squirrels only rarely carry rabies (contrary to deeply-rooted, wildly bigoted assumptions which do not appear to be adequately addressed in state-mandated California educational curricula), the Ayoobs were surprised the following day to encounter the needy rodent chewing on the handle of a mop. It was around this time that hateful posters were distributed throughout the neighborhood. ‘Attack squirrel beware!!!!,’ the posters read, adding absurdly that ‘the squirrel comes out of nowhere.’ It was further alleged that the squirrel had claimed five victims in an area called ‘Diablo Circle.’ That naming a residential area after the Prince of Darkness invites attacks from the farther realms went conveniently unmentioned.”

In our latest case of When Animals Attack, Walter Kirn brings us to San Rafael, California, where a mutiny of squirrels arose against the unjust murder of their fallen comrade, P’Nut.

Photo: District of Cook County Records, Special Collections, University of Illinois at Chicago

11/27/2025

Thanksgiving is unique among American holidays as it has become the one that’s most adaptable to whichever customs we prefer. There are traditions to be honored — like considering what we’re thankful for, opening our homes to one another with kindness and warmth, and having a “safety meeting” in the garage before dinner — but it’s no longer a dogmatic holiday. Some folks do turkey, others ham or ribs. Some begin their meal with grace, or a land acknowledgement, or a cheeky toast before inviting everyone to dig in. Some consider Thanksgiving strictly a family affair, while many others now invite their friends and coworkers to join them for plates and cocktails aplenty. And no matter your celebratory preferences, there’s no way to do it wrong, insofar as you’re fortunate enough to eat and drink well, share laughs in good company, the dishes get done without too much of a struggle, and there’s plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.

From all of us here at County Highway, we wish you a restful and connected start to this holiday season. We’re thankful for you, our readers and supporters, and we look forward to continuing to deliver America’s only newspapers to your doorstep for many years to come.

11/26/2025

“The events preceding his come-to-Jesus moment include, but are not limited to: Crockett narrowly avoiding prison time as a 19-year-old after getting wrapped up in a high-profile pump-and-dump stock market scheme orchestrated by his older half-brother; busking for a decade through New Orleans, Dallas, Northern California, New York City, Paris, Morocco, Copenhagen, you name it; turning down a major-label deal after being discovered on the R train in NYC by a Sony Music executive who wanted to mold him into a mainstream act; spending a month in jail after getting busted with six pounds of w**d in his car that he was muling from Mendocino without a driver’s license in order to fund his first album; hawking CDs of his early albums in parking lots and on street corners; the sudden death of his half-sister; and a handful of album cycles that barely seemed to inch him forward.“

Millan Verma sits down with the intrepid bigmouth Charley Crockett, son of the Rio Grande Valley, who pens his songs in sweat and blood so they’ll outlive even his own timeless spirit. Crockett’s not only a cowboy but is literally part cow, the exact extent being up for debate.

Photo: Bobby Cochran

11/24/2025

For those of you love one-stop shopping for everyone on your holiday list, we are pleased to offer a limited number of County Highway merch baskets for $200. Each basket will include a County Highway Shield Hat, a Tour Poster, Volumes 1 and 2 of the paper, the County Highway Election Night in America puzzle (or equivalent item), and a bag of our Harpooner’s Friend blend from Black Mountain coffee — plus a non-recurring one-year County Highway gift subscription to a person of your choice.

That’s a $300 value or thereabouts, for $200. We’ll let you do the math on that one. But we only have a handful of these baskets available, so order now or else go out and buy seven or eight different gifts for all those hard-to-please County Highway-type people on your own.

11/21/2025

“Now, look: I’m not complaining about the price. New York City’s expensive, and I’m just a visitor. Nor am I lamenting the ascent of the hipster, that soft-spined subspecies of taradiddlers of whom my bartender — or mixologist, as the menu helpfully informed me — was one, complete with a leather apron and a handlebar mustache. As an American, I believe that you are free to live your life as you see fit, and if your idea of fun is dressing and acting as if you commute to work by Zeppelin, go right ahead. But as a drunk, I will not tolerate this senseless assault on the cocktail, which, along with freedom, fi****ms, and Hank Williams, is America’s greatest gift to the world.
Pineapple gomme does not belong in my drink. I’ll have nothing to do with lavender. And if I wanted a dash of cacao, I’d go hunting and then reward myself with a hot cup of the sweet stuff by the fireplace. Cocktails were invented for a reason, and that reason sure wasn’t seeing how close you can get your whiskey to smell and taste like potpourri.”

In our latest jeremiad, Liel Leibovitz regales us with the rollicking history of the cocktail — a spirited art form which has devolved into an assault on the senses. Subscribe today, thank us tomorrow.

Photo: Boston Public Library

11/19/2025

“Halfway through ‘Not Gonna Lie,’ Kingfish walked off the stage seemingly displeased with his equipment, or the sound, or something. A few minutes later, though, the sound of his guitar rang out again, from nowhere. Kingfish then reappeared — not onstage but in the crowd, followed by a security guard who lit a path for him to follow as he played. The stroll seemed to be an invitation: Would you like to see this sorcery up close?”

To lead our music section, Gus O’Connor finds himself gobsmacked by the sonic flossing of Grammy-winning Blues-boy Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, who stands on the shoulders of giants to keep the Delta spirit alive. The show was also in New Jersey, a setting which Gus suffices to describe as “nice.”

Photo: Robert Knight Archive

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