Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “The Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program has a new strategy in delivering workforce services: bringing the program to the people. Over the past year, the nonprofit has implemented a mobile workforce program to offer services to job seekers in Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard and Lake of the Woods counties. The mobile office concept includes ...

EXCERPT: “Our state’s demographic center published a report that helps clarify the complex relationships among Greater Minnesota counties, cities and towns of all sizes. Remarkably innovative, they studied not just where people live but the relationships among cities and towns — how people live and work across city and county boundaries. They group us as living ...

EXCERPT: “(Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Ed) Ehlinger spoke with members of the Southwest Health and Human Services board on Wednesday morning, before meeting with a group of community members in the park. Ehlinger said Minnesota is the fourth healthiest state in the nation, and it has had some positive traits — like a willingness to invest ...

EXCERPT: “Rural America continues to be a topic of political conversation. For many journalists and pundits, this focus comes out of a belief that rural America is the primary driver behind President Donald Trump’s political base. ‘Rural Resentment,’ for example, is the title of an article last week at Slate that, in its own words, ‘discussed ...

EXCERPT: “For the past 150 years, the number of rural schools has fallen precipitously. Since the late 1800s, policymakers and school bureaucrats have responded to rapid urbanization, innovations in transportation, and a desire to reform ‘backwards’ rural communities by consolidating and closing rural schools throughout the country, drastically reducing the number of schools. In 1930, ...

EXCERPT: “It’s a booming market for wind energy, and Minnesota is one of the states leading the charge. The U.S. Department of Energy released several reports on the wind energy industry this week, which combined depict a fast-growing market driven by explosive technological growth. As of last year, there are enough turbines in operation around ...

EXCERPT: “According to Blue Cross data*, diabetes accounts for 6.3 percent of loss of good health in Minnesota. The Twin Cities area has the lowest diabetes impact, at 5.2 percent, while northwestern counties are hit the hardest with an impact of 8.1 percent. Minnesota’s northwestern counties also demonstrate a significant disparity in the impact of ...

EXCERPT: “According to Minnesota State Demographic Center data, Houston County saw a 4.8 percent decline in population from 2000 to 2015. More than 1,400 people left the county during those years. The smallest towns in the county have been the hardest hit, with Brownsville and Hokah reporting about a 10 percent drop in population. Rural Houston ...

EXCERPT: “Human Services Assistant Commissioner Jim Koppel visited Cedar Mountain Cougar Childcare Center in Franklin, Minn., to emphasize the importance of quality child care, and highlight businesses and communities coming together to address the need for child care. ‘Without consistent, quality child care, children often struggle and are not prepared to enter kindergarten, and parents ...