Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “Spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, federal policy makers are pushing to spend billions of dollars to close gaps in America’s high-speed internet network. There is one big obstacle: Government officials say they don’t have a clear picture of where service gaps exist, meaning parts of the country will be left out when it is ...

EXCERPT: “If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has done consistently, it has been to highlight weaknesses in various areas, whether that be hospital supplies, food processing businesses or, more locally, broadband access. There have been warnings about all of these weaknesses for years. Local governments and chambers of commerce, for example, have been brainstorming ...

EXCERPT: “For Minnesota rural grocers, finding new ways to operate in the face of COVID-19 is not just a business matter. It’s personal. ‘We know every person that walks through the door here. We are related to many of them and friends with all of them. We want to keep them safe.’ These are the ...

EXCERPT: “Almost 70% of the nation’s more than 1,100 prisons are located outside of metropolitan areas, according to 2017 research by John M. Eason, an associate professor in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A building boom occurred from 1980 through 1999 as struggling towns eyed prisons as economic salvations. But in many of those same ...

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded $681,000 in grants to Alexandria, the Duluth Airport Authority and Elbow Lake. ‘These grants will create jobs and expand economic development opportunities in the Greater Minnesota communities receiving these grants,’ said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. ‘This is an important investment as Minnesota’s economy ...

EXCERPT: “Another round of Minnesota National Guard flyovers to honor essential workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic is scheduled for Wednesday. Last week, the Guard performed flyovers over hospitals in the Twin Cities metro area. Now, they are planning to share their appreciation across locations throughout greater Minnesota and even parts of northern Wisconsin and the Upper ...

EXCERPT: “Like a lot of people, Andrew Storjohann was frustrated when he tried to shop for groceries in Mankato in March. Customers were flocking to stores buying whatever they could get, from toilet paper to bread to canned food and pasta. ‘People are (acting) stupid,’ Storjohann said of the stockpiling. ‘People are just, I think, ...

EXCERPT: “When people in the little farm town of Winthrop, Minnesota, grew tired of slow internet service, they approached the local telephone and internet provider and asked for something faster. The company couldn’t help. Next they went to the county board. They proposed that Sibley County, in the corn and soybean flatland west of the ...

EXCERPT: “The House Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division last week approved legislation authored by Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL – International Falls) to increase funding for high-speed broadband internet across the state. Additionally, the bill, HF 3029, strengthens both distance learning and telemedicine under the COVID-19 pandemic with new investments. ‘Working, learning, and ...