EXCERPT: “One of the MnDOT snowplow blades that were signed during the Minnesota State Fair is now being used to clear roads along the North Shore of Lake Superior. There were five plow blades that were signed by thousands of people at the fair last summer. Two were kept in the Twin Cities area and three ...

EXCERPT: “When it comes to feeding her family of five, Stephanie Pocklington leans heavily on Island Market in Pine Island. ‘Cereals, pizzas, beverages, snacks,’ Pocklington said. ‘Generally things we’ll cook for dinner, like pastas and sauces’ are purchased at the lone full-service grocer in the town of roughly 3,400 people. Not that Island Market is ...

EXCERPT: “Mayo Clinic on Wednesday announced it will close facilities in Springfield and Lamberton in southwestern Minnesota early next year, continuing a trend of closures and service cuts in rural areas. Mayo Clinic has closed or consolidated at least 16 facilities in southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa since 2009, reflecting what Mayo says are mounting ...

EXCERPT:“Residents of rural areas are more likely to be hospitalized and to die than those who live in cities primarily because they lack access to specialists, recent research has found. The study, led by Dr. Kenton Johnston, assistant professor of health management and policy at Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, ...

EXCERPT: “It’s time to write our own rural narrative, according to Neil Linscheid, a University of Minnesota Extension educator and 2017 Bush Fellow. While people in the media and academics love to write about rural decline and sleepy towns, the facts don’t support that narrative, according to Linscheid. He told members of the Yellowstone Trail Alliance ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations (Note: The links in this post are not affiliate links. No one at the Center makes any money if you click on them.) When I saw it was my turn to write the blog post this week and that the assignment was “Why do I live here?” ...

EXCERPT: “Seventy-five years ago, a May newspaper article reported 5,000 tons of hemp were stacked at the site of the Hutchinson hemp plant where 3M now stands, with 2,000 more yet to be hauled there. Another article in October reports the Hutchinson plant is one of 11 to be closed in Minnesota following the end ...

EXCERPT: “A municipal power utility Monday announced one of the largest ever investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Greater Minnesota. The nonprofit Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) plans to install 17 DC (direct current) fast chargers and 68 Level 2 chargers next year. The chargers will be placed in nearly all of the communities ...

  We asked the all-important question, “What is rural?” The first in our new set of videos on rural issues and research provides the answer! 

EXCERPT: “What started with just a few wind turbines 20 years ago, now turns out nearly 20% of Minnesota’s electricity. But the towering blades haven’t come without questions and controversy in rural Minnesota. In last year’s Super Bowl, ad experts ranked Budweiser’s commercial that promoted wind energy as one of the best. On a farm far away, ...