Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “While St. Cloud is looking to help people without homes find a permanent place to live, many businesses in greater Minnesota are having difficulty hiring employees because they can’t find adequate housing. But few developers are willing to build in areas with low population density. Kaomi Lee found one west central builder trying to help, ...

EXCERPT: “This summer’s most fashionable color will be orange. Again. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has 193 road and bridge construction projects on tap for this spring, summer and fall in pretty much every corner of the state: Edina, East Grand Forks, Duluth, Litchfield, Minneapolis, Monticello and lots of other spots. ‘Drivers throughout Minnesota can ...

EXCERPT: “Although Gov. Tim Walz and DFL legislative leaders agreed to spending targets last week that include $16 million for emergency medical services, many state lawmakers from Greater Minnesota continue to fight for much more to keep the system from collapsing. ‘There’s a crisis before us,’ says Rep. Dave Lislegard, DFL-Aurora, ‘and ambulance services that ...

EXCERPT: “For years, city dwellers have had access to an array of apps, such as Apple Maps and Google Maps, to plan their public transportation trips. These options are more readily available in urban areas because of how public transit in urban areas works: transit agencies run fixed routes, and their schedules change infrequently. Some ...

EXCERPT: “Broadband continues to reach more rural areas. Focus on Rural America founder and former Iowa Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge says billions in taxpayer dollars are being distributed across the country to bring high-speed internet access to the nearly one in five rural Americans still on the wrong side of the digital divide. ‘A really substantial ...

EXCERPT: “Two organizations that represent Minnesota cities outside the Twin Cities region hope the Legislature will address several challenges facing their member cities, including stress on Emergency Medical Systems and infrastructure needs. The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and the League of Minnesota Cities, whose requests often overlap, are asking that funding for those two areas ...

EXCERPT: “An estimated 45% of rural hospitals in Minnesota no longer offer maternity care, per a new report. The big picture: Challenging economics and labor shortages are forcing more rural facilities to stop providing labor and delivery services, Axios’ Jason Millman writes. The report, from the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, found that 55% of ...

EXCERPT: “To Becca Arens, who lives off of Social Security benefits in Willmar, a federal program that subsidizes the cost of internet service or cell service has been a lifesaver. ‘If I did not have that $30 off my internet, I would be hurting,’ said Arens, 51. Without the subsidy, Arens said her monthly internet bill ...

EXCERPT: “Folks in this Mississippi River town hope a new federal program can revive the optimism engraved long ago in a plaque on the side of their hospital. ‘Dedicated to the Future of Health Care in the Tri-State Area,’ the sign declares. ‘May 11, 1981.’ More recent placards posted at the facility’s entryways are ominous, however. ...