Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “Given these benefits, and the state support, the solar explosion in Minnesota is not surprising. But, as in any new market, there have been growing pains. Many installers complain that they can’t get enough labor for the demand. They cite a State Board of Electricity rule that solar construction is considered electrical work and must be ...

EXCERPT: “Sarah Smarsh reports on socioeconomic class, politics and more for national and international outlets, including The Guardian, The New Yorker and The Cut. Her forthcoming book, Heartland: A Daughter of the Working Class Reconciles an American Divide, delves into her experiences with class and place growing up on a working farm in Kansas. Smarsh spent the spring of 2018 at Harvard as a ...

EXCERPT: “Newspapers are sounding the alarm about a new tariff on newsprint that is having unexpected consequences. Following a complaint from a Washington state-based paper mill that Canadian paper producers were dumping product in the U.S., the Commerce Department imposed substantial new tariffs on Canadian newsprint. At the same time, the U.S. doesn’t have enough mills ...

EXCERPT: “The major hurdles facing child care providers, as well as those seeking care for their children, remain staffing and affordability. That’s led to a child care shortage across the state, and especially in Greater Minnesota. That was the main theme of a meeting Tuesday in Bemidji put on by the office of Democratic U.S. ...

EXCERPT: “University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler wants outstate residents to know the state’s largest institution of higher education is working for them, too. Kaler shared his commitment to the ‘Block M’ brand and what it represents to Minnesota residents Friday, May 4, at a Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce luncheon hosted at Cragun’s Resort ...

EXCERPT: “If Wadena’s downtown commercial district has the distinction of being added to the National Register of Historic Places in the future much of the credit will have to go to a route Denis Gardner chose to follow four years ago. Gardner was driving to his home in Deer River after being invited to Deer ...

EXCERPT: “State Rep. Paul Torkelson, the House Transportation Committee chair, is blasting the Department of Transportation for its newly released list of $417 million in highway projects, saying it fails to heed to outstate needs. ‘We have critical corridors like Hwy. 23 in western Minnesota, Hwy. 14 in southern Minnesota, and countless others in desperate need of ...

EXCERPT: “In 1998, when John Keller joined the St. Paul-based Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) as an immigration attorney, he would often drive to Worthington, where hundreds of low-income immigrants and refugees depended on the organization’s free legal services. ‘We would do workshops, answer a bunch of questions, do in-takes and represent whoever we could help,’ ...

EXCERPT: “Looking for the hottest economic region in Minnesota? Drive about an hour southwest of the Twin Cities and you’ll find it in Greater Mankato. With one of the fastest-growing economies in the state, a revitalized downtown and a growing mix of restaurants, retail, entertainment venues and everything else a big city offers—without the traffic jams—residents, ...