Year: 2017

EXCERPT: “This fall, 98 school districts in Minnesota asked voters to approve referendums to support everything from reducing class sizes and avoiding staff cuts to investing in building upgrades, construction projects, safety improvements and technology . . . Despite the success that many districts celebrated last week, (the Minnesota School Boards Association’s Greg) Abbott took note ...

EXCERPT: “When most transportation wonks predict how self-driving vehicles will be used in the not-too-distant future, it sounds a lot like how people currently get a ride through Uber or Lyft — just without the driver . . . But that model is designed primarily for cities or suburbs where lots of people live relatively ...

Reed Anfinson joins us again to talk some more about the headwinds local newspapers compete against and why they’re so important to our communities.

EXCERPT: “The story is that greater Minnesota loses population because there are not enough jobs. However, many greater Minnesota communities actually have plenty of jobs, leaving areas short of housing for workers that businesses and industries need. Some industries have resorted to busing in workers and some have helped finance housing in an effort to ...

EXCERPT: “Just as it took an extra taxpayer push to get electricity to rural areas, so too will rural internet service be delivered on the backs of the collective. Thousands more rural Minnesotans and businesses will soon have access to high-speed internet with the help of $26 million in state grants for 39 projects around ...

Local newspaper owner and CRPD board member Reed Anfinson talks with us this week about the the importance of local newspapers, the impact of the Internet and why this matters to communities.

EXCERPT: “U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced that USDA provided more than $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2017 to help improve access to health care services for 2.5 million people in rural communities in 41 states. ‘USDA invests in a wide range of health care facilities – such as hospitals, clinics and treatment centers – ...

EXCERPT: “When Ajit Pai became chair of the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year, he pledged to make bridging the digital divide a top priority. Thursday, the commission took several steps that could worsen the divide, by making it harder for poor and rural Americans to access telecom services. In particular, the agency said it is considering ...

EXCERPT: “The Mayo Clinic, which sprawls across this Midwestern city, is the nation’s top-ranked hospital, according to U.S. News & World Report. But that might undersell its prominence: The clinic is arguably the best-regarded health care system on the entire planet…Patients from nearly 150 countries travel to Mayo Clinic sites in Minnesota, Arizona, Florida and beyond. ...