The Core

The Core news links are a great help for following global news and trends (thank you!).

Google news alerts work well for regional news for me. (region + covid)

But I also want to follow 'village' news in these times. Info that does not even make the local newspapers.

Many valid reasons not to be on Facebook so no discussion there .. but at this local level it works well for me at the moment.
By having many neighbours as friend connections and by following local shops and the local city council and local police etc.
For example to stay informed about modified opening times, local rules, available stock for local shops . Some local shops are closed but invite locals to place orders via email and arrange a pick up time. Some local farmers can not transport or find enough open shops or markets to sell their produce currently and offer to sell direct to local customers.
It should be a good platform when bartering ever becomes more important for a while.

I did not find any alternative sources for this type of news so thought I'd mention it for those who are not on Facebook.

As you may have seen, I have developed (crude, but effective) userscripts to filter news sites. But, you are right, they generally work best for world or populous cities where there is a lot of input.  Local requires a lot of curating and I'm always digging for sources.  Even with sources, the news is very thin for rural areas.  It's also FULL of non-news chatter --police blotters, fire reports, auto accidents, obituaries, etc. 

Louise has a FB account and, as you suggest, it is a good source for restaurant and local business info --usually sort of casual reviews. 

BTW, it is possible to filter FB, but it's a PITA.