Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “Not all that long ago, the central Minnesota community of Long Prairie was in a period of decline. The town, anchored for years by agriculture and local employers like Long Prairie Packing, and Dan’s Prize, was struggling. Many downtown businesses were closed, homes were up for sale and, at the local school district, always a bellwether of the economy, ...

EXCERPT: “For women in rural areas, having a baby has become more complicated than it used to be. For years, more rural hospitals have been shutting down maternity units, forcing expectant mothers in small rural and farming communities to travel longer distances to deliver their babies. It didn’t used to be this way. ‘Virtually every ...

EXCERPT: “With a number of regional highway projects — like U.S. Highway 71 north of Willmar — just finishing up, and funding approved for the state Highway 23 four-lane project between Willmar and St. Cloud, transportation officials say there’s much to be thankful for. ‘But there are ongoing needs,’ said Margaret Donahoe, executive director of ...

EXCERPT: “The National Quality Forum (NQF) today released the rural health report: A Core Set of Rural-Relevant Measures. Currently, more than 59 million people live in rural areas. Rural residents are more likely to be in poor health and have higher mortality rates for chronic conditions. These disadvantages are exacerbated by poor access to care compared ...

EXCERPT: “Rural areas have not quite kept pace with metro areas following the recession, according to a new report from Trulia. According to Trulia, many metros have seen robust growth in jobs and home prices, while rural areas have stagnated. The report explains that this trend began even before the recession, but the divergence between rural and ...

EXCERPT: “Access to high-speed internet is still a struggle in rural communities. Fifty-eight percent of rural Americans said it’s difficult to access fast internet in their communities, according to a blog post published by the Pew Research Center on Monday. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of rural adults see this as a major problem, while 34 percent see ...

EXCERPT: “The problem of finding affordable housing in rural Minnesota has hit home for the mayor of Montevideo. Mayor Debra Lee Fader has decided to withdraw as a candidate for re-election. She hasn’t been able to find an affordable home to buy or an apartment to rent since she and her husband, Bradley, sold the ...

EXCERPT: “‘The future of the 21st century exists in the space between rural and urban,’ according to Matthew Fluharty. Fluharty is the founder of Art of the Rural, a non-profit dedicated to supporting rural culture. “Plenty of people out there have questions about the connections between rural and urban cultures, because in their own lives, ...

EXCERPT: “U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today unveiled a new webpage featuring information about the importance of rural e-Connectivity and the ways the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing to help deploy high-speed broadband infrastructure in rural America. ‘Rural high-speed broadband e-Connectivity is as important for economic development as rail, roads, bridges and airports – ...