Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “A full quarter of rural hospitals in the U.S. are at a high risk of closing unless their financial situations improve, according to an annual Guidehouse analysis of publicly available data. The data examined by Guidehouse – formerly Navigant – was collected prior to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, meaning the situation is likely to get ...

EXCERPT: “The request has gotten caught up in a larger debate over the conversion of forests to potato fields in Minnesota’s Pineland Sands region, which covers Wadena, Cass, Becker and Hubbard counties. Nolte’s request came at a time of heightened concern over how widespread land use changes in the region — clearing forest to make ...

EXCERPT: “Martin County on the state’s southern border has more than its share of coronavirus cases. At just 20,000 residents, the agricultural region has 24 confirmed cases of the virus and two deaths, according to Martin County Sheriff Jeffrey Markquart. (The Minnesota Department of Health website posts 23 cases.) That’s more than the 22 cases ...

EXCERPT: “The six Minnesota Initiative Foundations have created an EmergencyChild Care Grant Program to provide immediate financial support to licensed child care providers in Greater Minnesota in response to the coronavirus pandemic or COVID-19. All six foundations have committed $50,000 – for a total of $300,000 dedicated for Greater Minnesota child care providers right away – ...

EXCERPT: “Rural communities are bracing for a looming recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, expecting that it could devastate already shaky economies. As the virus shuts down schools, factories, restaurants and other businesses, rural towns contend with a smaller tax base, less access to high-speed internet and growing strain among lenders. Both farming and manufacturing ...

EXCERPT: “A fierce wind of acronyms is blowing across rural America: WINDCOWS (Wisconsin Independent Citizens Opposing Windturbine Sites), River RATS (River Residents Against Turbines), SOUL (Save Our Unspoilt Landscape). The UK’s not immune, what with England’s STINC (Stop Turbines in North Cornwall) and STEMM (Stop the Exploitation of Mynydd Mynyllod) in Wales. All are grassroots groups ...

EXCERPT: “Internet providers in Minnesota are honoring a call made by the Federal Communications Commission to take action to assure that residents and businesses can stay online during the COVID-19 crisis. What is called the Keep Americans Connected Pledge promises to not terminate internet service to residential or small business customers because of failure to pay for reasons ...

EXCERPT: “Louis Parenteau often jokes with his children, saying they are ‘living like hillbillies’ in their northern Minnesota home. The family lives 10 minutes from Mountain Iron, along a two-lane highway, but has no access to the internet. ‘We basically have to use a hotspot from our [cellphone] service and it is limited,’ Parenteau said. ...

EXCERPT: “While there are struggles to function around a severe workforce shortage, the current state of rural mental health care is all the more concerning with a deepening crisis of mental illness that afflicts small towns, remote communities and agricultural hubs throughout Greater Minnesota. In an effort to chip away at the issue, nurses, psychiatrists ...