Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “‘Rural By Choice’ is a new seven-part documentary series that reveals how rural communities in Western Minnesota have experienced surprising population growth — from surprising demographics — in recent years. The story of this rural America rebound is told through the eyes of WCCO radio host Cory Hepola (a native of Otter Tail County), who returns to his ...

EXCERPT: “Successful businesses are eminently salable at a multiple of revenue or profits; restaurants are a notable exception. Most go up for sale when an owner or founding chef departs. Unproven new ownership may lack the ability to maintain the customer experience, which is closely tied to a chef/owner’s vision, and new owners are often ...

EXCERPT: “I have driven 381 miles for a beer. Revelation Ale Works is a small, seven-barrel taproom in Minnesota’s northwesternmost corner, in a blip of corn silos and grain elevators called Hallock (pop. 981). The landscape is practically featureless, a flowchart of sugar beets and soybeans broken by farmhouses and the odd cottonwood. The soil is ...

EXCERPT: “Natalie Saldana would love to put her 1.5-year-old daughter in a quality child care program while she works and goes to school, but the $700 monthly price tag makes it impossible. ‘Seven-hundred dollars is almost my rent,’ Saldana said. Saldana, 22, is a full-time student, single mom and health insurance agent in South Carolina. She’s ...

EXCERPT: “In early September, Pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and three large pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc, decided to proceed with a $26 billion settlement to resolve the claims in over 3,000 opioid crisis-related suits across the U.S. Forty-two states joined the settlement, including Minnesota. Participating states are due to ...

EXCERPT: “COVID-19 case rates increased in 59 of 87 Minnesota counties in the weekly statewide report released Thursday by the health department. County case rates are based on the number of confirmed cases in a week per 10,000 people, with the latest report representing case rates for Sept. 19-25. For context, anything over 10 is a ...

EXCERPT: “Minnesota communities, schools and their partners are invited to apply for funding on local projects that enhance transportation goals, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The $6.2 million in federal funding is available through the Transportation Alternatives program in Greater Minnesota (each region has a sub-targeted fund). This program offers a competitive grant for ...

EXCERPT: “Rural Americans are dying of covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts — a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated. While the initial surge of covid-19 deaths skipped ...

EXCERPT: “Mergers and acquisitions improved patient care outcomes for rural hospitals, a new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests. For the case-control study, researchers affiliated with IBM Watson Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, analyzed data from 172 merged hospitals and 266 comparison hospitals that remained independent from 2009 to 2016. The researchers sought ...