EXCERPT: “Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Thursday made a $1.8 million ask of state lawmakers that he said would help his office bring on additional prosecutors and yield more criminal convictions in greater Minnesota. Ellison, a first-term Democrat, said he has proposed additional funding for his office’s criminal division three years in a row with ...

EXCERPT: “By day, Martin Healey teaches science classes at Waseca High School. At home, his pager stays on for 12-hour stretches two nights each week and on occasional weekends, alerting him to calls for the Wells Community Ambulance Service, with which the 48-year-old has served over the last dozen years. Such is the life of an EMT ...

By Marnie Werner, VP Research, & Kelly Asche, Research Associate Access to emergency medical services in Rural Minnesota is the topic of our latest report. In it, we analyzed data collected by the Minnesota Department of Health in their 2016 survey of EMS agencies around the state. We wanted to see how delivering EMS services ...

Ambulance services save lives every day, and rural communities deserve as much access to emergency medical services as anyone else. Our latest report asks the question: What are the next steps we should take to ensure a strong rural EMS in the future? On Wednesday, April 20 from 2:30-4:00pm we presented the findings in our ...

EXCERPT: “Work to expand another 12 miles of U.S. Highway 14 to four lanes in southern Minnesota is underway. It’s the last leg in a decades-long effort to create a four-lane transportation corridor between Rochester and New Ulm. Local, state and federal officials gathered in Courtland, Minn., on Tuesday morning for a ceremonial groundbreaking. In addition to ...

April 2022 By Kelly Asche, Research Associate For a printable version of this report, click here. Ambulance services save lives every day, but a report released by the Office of the Legislative Auditor in February of 2022 raises serious concerns about the way ambulance services in Minnesota are regulated, their future viability, and the operations ...

EXCERPT: “Results from a Minnesota Department of Health survey confirm health care worker burnout and show workforce shortage trends are affecting a wide range of health care professionals. The report, Minnesota’s Health Care Workforce: Pandemic-Provoked Workforce Exits, Burnout, and Shortages (PDF), is the first report of its kind covering the effects of the pandemic on ...

This week on the Center of Everywhere hear researchers Phil Jensen and Kelly Asche discuss the topic of Phil’s newest report, “Why Grandma May Stay at Home: Property taxes and home ownership in rural Minnesota.” Attracting workers to more rural parts of the state is a complex problem, but housing plays a major role. Encouraging ...

By Phil Jensen Job vacancies in Greater Minnesota continue to rise, and at a faster rate than in the seven-county metropolitan area. Attracting workers to more rural parts of the state is a complex problem, but housing plays a major role. Encouraging workers to relocate to Greater Minnesota depends on the availability of housing. That ...

EXCERPT: “Paramedics are often the most highly skilled medical providers on emergency response crews, and their presence can make a lifesaving difference in rural areas where health services are scarce. Paramedics are trained to administer specialized care from the field, such as placing a breathing tube in a blocked airway or decompressing a collapsed lung. ...