EXCERPT: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving grants to 86 projects in Greater Minnesota that will increase access to clean energy and increase the production of biofuels, according to a press release. A combined $26.8 million be disbursed through two programs — $9.2 million from the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, and $17.5 ...

EXCERPT: “Ever since Mary Hartman started her small business in Kasson 15 miles west of Rochester, she has felt a severe disparity in the availability of grants and mentorship opportunities that are needed to be successful. ‘That continues to be a problem in the rural sector,’ she said. Hartman got some needed help when she connected ...

EXCERPT: “Amazon.com is reaching into the remote corners of America to deliver its packages quicker to customers in rural areas, a push that represents its last frontier of ultrafast delivery in the U.S. The retail giant is expanding its one- to two-day delivery capabilities throughout the country as it seeks to boost sales in less-populated ...

EXCERPT: “Parts of Greater Minnesota are continuing to see their available housing stock grow older and older without much new product coming online, according to a new report from the Minnesota Housing Partnership. Three regions in Greater Minnesota, the northland, southwest and southern, all have a housing stock where over 40% of both rentals and for-sale ...

EXCERPT: “On the surface, it looked like any other school fundraiser. The kids at Challenger Elementary in Thief River Falls were selling coffee cups, writing thank-you notes, and partnering with local businesses to drum up interest in their cause. But these kids weren’t fundraising for a class trip, a sports team, or any other extracurricular activity. ...

EXCERPT: “As rivers crest in the coming days, some parts of the state are still bracing for flooding, while others are already cleaning up. From Waterville to Cook, parts of the state are dealing with devastating floods and residents are looking for relief. The Salvation Army and American Red Cross are working together to help flood victims.” FULL STORY: ...

EXCERPT: “Rural health care providers, such as CentraCare in Willmar and St. Cloud, are facing some challenging numbers, and not just financially. While 20% of the country’s population lives in rural communities, only 11% of physicians practice in those same areas. Compounding the problem is the fact that only 4% of medical students are from rural ...

EXCERPT: “Juneteenth has been observed for more than 150 years in remembrance of June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers told slaves in Galveston, Texas that they had been freed. Slave owners had kept the news from the slaves that President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier. Following years of activism by 95-year-old ...

EXCERPT: “When University of Minnesota graduate student Allison Lind, in her work with runaway youth, began observing an increase in youth violence in 2020, it led to some questions about what she was seeing. Lind started exploring public data on gun mortality rates from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What she found took ...

EXCERPT: “Ashley Jacobson has a high risk pregnancy and lives nearly 2 hours from her OB/GYN. Some women in rural Minnesota choose to forgo their doctors appointments entirely because of the distance. CNN’s Omar Jimenez travels to Bigfork, Minnesota to hear how Dr. Johnna Nynas, an innovative OB/GYN at Sanford Health Bemidji, is making care ...