Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “Meeting the growing needs for public transit in Greater Minnesota over the next 20 years is the focus of a plan the Minnesota Department of Transportation released today. The Greater Minnesota Transit Investment Plan sets the 20-year strategic direction and investment priorities to increase mobility for transit users. It supports the state Legislature’s target of meeting 90 ...

EXCERPT: “Working parents in rural Minnesota are struggling to find day care. And the younger the child, the harder it is . . . Research from the Center for Rural Policy and Development shows a massive day care shortfall, especially in the northern and central parts of the state. In northwestern Minnesota alone, they estimate ...

EXCERPT: “The population of the Twin Cities and the state grew over the past year, but some rural Minnesota counties declined. The most recent census data covers July 2016 through July of last year. Minnesota’s population grew by just under one percent during that period, reaching about 5.6 million residents. The Twin Cities metropolitan area grew ...

EXCERPT: “Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to fund broadband infrastructure projects in unserved rural communities. ‘E-connectivity is essential to the economic vitality and quality of life in rural communities,’ Hazlett said. ‘Investing in broadband can strengthen rural economic growth and improve critical access ...

EXCERPT: “A group of statewide organizations have joined forces for a project they hope will increase the quality of life for rural Minnesotans. Growth and Justice, in a combined effort with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, the Greater Minnesota Partnership and the Minnesota Asset Building Coalition, are pushing the Minnesota Rural Equity Project. The ...

EXCERPT: “A coalition of local agriculture and nonprofit interests want to know what small towns and rural communities can immediately do to attract and maintain large-scale businesses. To find out, Greenseam and the Center for Rural Policy and Development are asking lawmakers for $250,000 for an economic development study . . . Similar studies have been ...

EXCERPT: “U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $276 million in rural electric infrastructure to improve system efficiency and reliability . . . USDA’s $276 million investment will build nearly 1,000 miles of line and improve 733 miles of line to meet current and future needs of rural ...

EXCERPT: “Many older adults love the sense of community and the slower pace of life in rural America. But would health challenges there make life difficult?” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2Fvrqvg

EXCERPT: “City leaders in Greater Minnesota are lauding legislation introduced today that would boost state funding for grant and loan programs that help cities pay for expensive wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects. The bill, SF 2668/HF 3122, spearheaded by chief authors Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) and Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City), allocates $167 million ...