Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “David Usher is sitting on $1.7 million he’s scared to spend. The money lent from the federal government is meant to help hospitals and other health care providers weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet some hospital administrators have called it a payday loan program that is now, brutally, due for repayment at a time when they ...

EXCERPT: “As the push for electric cars continues, with policymakers counting on their increasing use to curb greenhouse gas emissions, one question continues to bedevil would-be electric-vehicle drivers: ‘How far can I drive before I need a charge?’ Late last month, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency took a step toward alleviating that concern by announcing that it ...

EXCERPT: “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services today released a notice of funding opportunity for rural communities across the country. Under the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Model Community Transformation Track, CMS will award grants to up to 15 rural communities to work with healthcare providers and payers. The goal of this initiative is to ...

EXCERPT: “State health and safety officials are stepping up efforts to ensure all bars and restaurants are safe for customers and employees. Compliance teams from the Minnesota Departments of Public Safety (DPS), Health (MDH), Labor and Industry (DLI) and Agriculture (MDA) visited more than 150 bars and restaurants in several communities over the past two ...

EXCERPT: “The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on the Rural Telehealth Initiative, a joint effort to collaborate and share information to address health disparities, resolve service provider challenges, and ...

EXCERPT: “White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Deborah Birx traveled through rural Minnesota on her way to St. Paul to meet with Governor Walz and other local health and policy leaders. And she says she noticed a difference in who’s wearing masks and taking other COVID-19 precautions. ‘There is a real attention to these mitigation efforts ...

EXCERPT: “Don Tschida grows corn, beans and small grain on land that his father and grandfather farmed before him. On his central Minnesota farm, he also raises a small herd of beef cattle and two barns of broiler chickens . . . Starting this week, farmers in parts of Minnesota, including in Morrison County, will face ...

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says it will fund 38 new electric vehicle charging stations along four corridors in the state. The 38 new stations will expand the electric vehicle charging network by more than 2,500 miles in greater Minnesota, the MPCA says. Between 2018 and 2019, the number of electric vehicle registrations nearly doubled, ...

EXCERPT: “As COVID-19 spread in Minnesota and Gov. Tim Walz shut down public life, the child care industry struggled from lack of income as children stayed home with their parents. But even during rocky economic times, which have led businesses of all stripes to close their doors over the last five months, some Minnesotans have managed a ...