Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: ” In Sherburn, Minnesota the first light of day comes from the Cup N’ Saucer Café. ‘It’s our morning stop, 6:30 morning stop,’ Brian Steen says. Steen sits among the other farmers and retirees at a corner table by the café’s front window. Their table. As coffee is poured, the conversation shifts easily from ...

EXCERPT: “Minnesota startups now have a new source of state funding. Launch Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s new statewide effort to accelerate startups, is taking applications for Innovation Grants. Launch said in a release that these grants are designed to ‘advance the most promising, innovative and scalable technology startups in Minnesota’ ‘These grants will ...

EXCERPT: “John Paul Coonrod had a banana problem. The only grocery store in his 1,500-person hometown in central Illinois had shut its doors, and Mr. Coonrod, a local lawyer, was racing to get a community-run market off the ground. He had found space in an old shoe store, raised $85,000 from neighbors and even secured a ...

EXCERPT: “Cortney Zukauska doesn’t let herself get too comfortable. Ask her what she seeks five years in the future and her answer is simple. ‘Surviving,’ she said. ‘And raising my babies the best I can.’ Pictures of her six children line the walls of the house she’s renting here. Being a mother is Zakauska’s first priority, ...

EXCERPT: “Dozens of school districts across the state are asking their residents to take on additional property taxes to pay for things like upgraded facilities, new school buildings, pools and technology. Most of those requests, which will come in the form of referenda on Election Day ballots Tuesday — are in rural districts . . . The Minnesota Rural ...

EXCERPT: “Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove recently announced the recipients of Child Care Economic Development Grants. A total of $727,500 was awarded to 11 organizations throughout Minnesota to increase families’ access to quality child care. The Northwest Minnesota Foundation, based in Bemidji, received $85,000. ‘Too ...

EXCERPT: “Backers of a second Fargo-Moorhead passenger train to and from the Twin Cities are headed to Moorhead to promote the proposal. The concept has the second train leaving Fargo-Moorhead in the morning, returning in the early evening on the current Amtrak route. It’s part of the development of a passenger rail service network, involving the ...

EXCERPT: “The problems facing farmers today seem ceaseless. Adverse conditions during planting season, an early frost that has begun to hit crops, and President Trump’s ongoing trade war are just a few of the factors weighing on American agriculture these days. Beth Ford, President and CEO of Land O’Lakes, and Denise Johnson, Resource Industries Group President ...

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is now accepting grant applications for organizations offering technical assistance to improve access to fresh, affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods for underserved communities. The funding is available through the Good Food Access Program (GFAP). These grants will help organizations provide needs-based technical assistance to eligible food retailers, such ...