Year: 2017

Last year’s report, “A Quiet Crisis: Minnesota’s Child Care Shortage,” raised a major conversation on the child care shortage facing all of Minnesota and the impact it is having on just not families but also on employers and the economy. A year later, we’re revisiting the issue with a two-page update, “Child Care’s Quiet Crisis: ...

EXCERPT: “The Lismore Cooperative Telephone Co. (LCTC) project to deliver broadband internet to much of Nobles County is well underway, and Bigelow residents don’t need to be reminded that it won’t be coming to them. The undertaking, which will bring fiber-optic internet directly to hundreds of homes and speedy wireless internet to most of the county, ...

EXCERPT: “Why are so few police departments in Greater Minnesota buying body cameras? Cost and data storage requirements top the list, according to a recent survey by the association. Of the roughly 200 police chiefs who responded to the survey, 60 percent said their biggest concern with body cameras was ‘burdensome retention and data practices ...

We continue our conversation with Scott Cutcher, chief public defender for the Fifth Judicial District, which includes south central and southwestern Minnesota, and get his interesting views on driving offenses and jail space.

EXCERPT: “Like many towns its size, Marine on St. Croix, Minn. – population 694 – is all too familiar with the challenge of keeping a small rural school alive. A years-long battle to stop the town’s only public school from closing came to an end earlier this year, with the district citing low enrollment rates as ...

EXCERPT: “Every region in Minnesota is expected to see continued economic expansion over the next several months, according to new economic reviews and forecasts released today by Secretary of State Steve Simon and the St. Cloud State University School of Public Affairs Research Institute. The 2017 second quarter Minnesota Regional Economic and Business Conditions Reports predict ...

EXCERPT: “Chris Hernstrom was brewing in the craft beer mecca of Bend, Ore., when an ad caught his eye: Want to live somewhere gorgeous and make beer for a small community? ‘It just seemed like an interesting challenge to come out to basically the exact opposite of Bend, some place where the brewing industry is ...

EXCERPT: “A new Farm & Rural Helpline is now available to Minnesota farmers and rural residents. The service, funded by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), is free, confidential, and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The toll free number is (833) 600-2670. Farmers and rural communities face unique stresses and emotional ...

This week we talk with Scott Cutcher, chief public defender for the Fifth Judicial District, which takes in the fifteen counties of southwestern Minnesota.