Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “On a windswept hill near the town of Slayton in southwest Minnesota, Terry Nelson nods toward a steel communications tower. He points to a spot high above the ground. ‘We have our equipment about 250 feet up on top the tower,’ he said. That equipment is part of the area’s fixed wireless internet service. Here’s ...

EXCERPT: “At a time when many Minnesota regions are growing slowly, or projected to lose population in the future, expansion is something that sets Central Minnesota apart…This region, which encompasses Benton, Cass, Chisago, Crow Wing, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, Wadena and Wright counties, added nearly 140,000 residents between 2000 and 2016, ...

EXCERPT: “The divide between America’s haves and have nots is increasingly marked by technology. A broadband connection is a portal to jobs, to education, to consumer goods, to information and to other people. Yet huge swaths of the United States are still unconnected, particularly in rural areas. Some areas lack access to an internet connection ...

The Center, along with the Minnesota Newspaper Association and Compeer Financial, hosted its first gubernatorial candidates’ forum on January 26 during MNA’s annual convention. Our moderator Mary Lahammer led the candidates in one-on-one conversations about just rural issues, ranging from workforce and housing to broadband and water. All nine candidates participated, giving the 150 or ...

EXCERPT: “Infrastructure was a significant topic of discussion during the president’s 2018 State of the Union address. The administration has been teasing an infrastructure plan for over a year, but this year’s SOTU, as well as documents released and leaked from the White House, add some meat to the bone, and begin to tell us ...

EXCERPT: “The majority of hospitals, 85 percent, will see net payment increases from recent Medicare Part B outpatient payment changes, with rural hospitals seeing much greater-than-average overall payment increases for 2018. The findings are included in new research from Avalere Health commissioned by the Community Oncology Alliance. The study investigates the net financial impact of a restructuring of ...

EXCERPT: “‘Overall, the biggest opportunity for Greater Minnesota is the additional exposure to not only those here for the game, but those watching from around the world who may have never visited or thought of visiting Minnesota before,’ said Explore Minnesota spokeswoman Erica Wacker. ‘They will see what a cool state it is, and may be ...

EXCERPT: “The 2017-18 MinnPost Social season continued Wednesday evening, when more than 100 people gathered at the Happy Gnome in St. Paul to discuss the urban/rural divide in Minnesota . . . MinnPost editor Andy Putz moderated the conversation, which touched on the degree to which metro and Greater Minnesota have similar — or different ...

EXCERPT: “Since the George W. Bush administration, the federal government has doled out millions of dollars with the promise to expedite access to broadband service in remote parts of the country. President Donald Trump is no exception, having signed an executive order earlier this month directing the government to use ‘all viable tools’ to speed up the process ...