Year: 2018

EXCERPT: “A Twin Cities coalition aiming to boost state investments in public transit said it will push for full funding of $120 million in improvements in Greater Minnesota. Spokespeople for the new initiative called Keep Minnesota Moving laid out their top priorities at the Capitol Tuesday, Dec. 11, including fully funding Metro Transit operations, supporting ...

EXCERPT: “The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it will investigate whether major U.S. wireless providers have submitted false data. The FCC said it will temporarily suspend the start of a $4.5 billion program to improve wireless Internet service in rural and other underserved areas while the probe is underway. Wireless providers were required to submit current data of their ...

EXCERPT: “A new study by Minnesota health officials finds virtual medical visits are on the rise. Telemedicine grew at a rapid pace in Minnesota with visits jumping from around 11,000 in 2010 to 86,000 in 2015. That’s according to the Minnesota Department of Health and University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Researchers found uses of telemedicine vary ...

  Frank Douma, director of the State and Local Policy Program at the U of M’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, joins us this week. Frank has been tracking self-driving vehicles for years. The technology for them is out in fields right now, Frank says, and MnDOT demonstrated self-driving buses last year already. We can ...

EXCERPT: “While the 2019 state legislative session will see a different governor and plenty of new faces in the House, one of the top priorities for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities remains the same. As has been the case with recent years, the coalition is once again looking to the Legislature for a boost ...

  Heather Fisher, owner of Salvage Sisters in Mankato, joins Marnie and Jim to talk about Shop Small Saturday and the importance of small businesses to cities small and large in Greater Minnesota.

EXCERPT: “There are 60,000 job openings in Greater Minnesota, the most openings since the state first conducted the Job Vacancy Survey in 2001. Most of the overall gain in job openings was caused by a sharp increase in six low-wage occupations: food preparation and serving, sales, personal care, office support, janitorial, and farming. Compared with ...

EXCERPT: “Does Becker County have a child care shortage? The short answer is, yes — a big one. A total of 648 child care slots are needed to meet the county’s current needs, according to data gathered from a recent survey conducted by the Rural Child Care Innovation Program, or RCCIP. The RCCIP is an ...

  In the third and final part of our interview with CRPD board member and Crow Wing County Administrator Tim Houle, Tim talks about how federal transportation dollars are divided among Minnesota’s communities, and why with the upcoming Census in 2020 it will be especially important that everyone gets counted. Minnesota is on the verge ...