Public Insight Network

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Who will you be supporting at your caucus?
The Minnesota caucuses are on Tuesday, February 7, so we want to hear from you about which candidates you're supporting and which issues are important to you this year. Please share your outlook here.

What technology is your school using?
At the beginning of this school year, Little Falls Community Schools handed out iPads to many of their students. We want to hear about other examples of how Minnesota schools are using technology and gadgets in the classroom. What kind of technology has your school recently adopted?
What's it like being new to Minnesota?
MPR News wants to hear from people who have been to newcomers to the state at some point. What was it like adjusting to life and finding your social circles in Minnesota? What advice would you give to someone moving here? Has the culture of "Minnesota Nice" welcomed you, or kept you at bay?
What's it like living with diabetes?
MPR News wants to hear from people living with diabetes -- both type 1 and type 2 -- about what you've learned, what myths you deal with and what you want people to know. Share your insights here.
What life experience will inform your vote on the marriage amendment?
In November, 2012, Minnesota voters will be asked to decide whether the Minnesota Constitution be amended to say that "only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage" in Minnesota.

In the Network - Featured Sources & Stories

Pay a sticking point for manufacturers seeking skilled workers
Jennifer Brigham, who runs a staffing company that works with a lot of mid-sized manufacturers, provides insight into the skilled worker shortage.
People living with diabetes share their stories
We asked sources in our Public Insight Network to tell us what it's like living with diabetes -- both type 1 and type 2. We asked them to share what they've learned living with this disease and the misconceptions they deal with.
Scallen family weighs marriage amendment: In their own words
In the 16 years since Eileen Scallen called to say she was bringing a girlfriend home for a school reunion, her five brothers and sisters have grown used to having a gay sibling. But she worries that her siblings' loyalty to her may only go so far.
Art Hounds: Gabriel Figueroa, Learning Fairy, and improv for policy wonks
This week's hounds are into Mexico's master cinematographer, a strange fairy who knows how to push the laugh button and theater that turns public policy into improv comedy.
Reader stories, insights on the student debt dilemma
We got some great responses that really brought home the struggle many of us face making decisions about taking on student debt, whether it's worth the expense and what government should do, if anything, to ease that burden.
Do libraries give us a core service?
We heard a lot of reasons to consider libraries core services at the heart of what a community is. But we heard from others as well, some of whom wonder whether technology and cultural changes are making it necessary to think in different ways.
Minnesotans feel the pinch as their incomes fall
We've been checking in with PIN sources since the recession started and many have told us that their incomes are lower now than a few years ago.
Politics from the pulpit: Religious leaders weigh in
Clergy members in the Public Insight Network tell us how they address politics in their congregations given the restrictions placed on religious organizations and certain other non-profits.
Recollections of 9/11
Minnesotans recollect where they were when they first heard of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Schools struggle with how to address 9/11 in classrooms
Gov. Mark Dayton is encouraging all schools today to observe a moment of silence in memorial of September 11. But 10 years later, the attacks occupy an awkward spot in schools. For teachers and other adults, the anniversary triggers raw memories, and for them it might be too soon to treat the event as history.
Fair Hounds: Old Iron Show is a glimpse into farming history
When Moorhead resident John Beecher goes to the Minnesota State Fair, he makes sure to pay a visit to Machinery Hill to see the row of antique farm machines called the Old Iron Show. The show features tractors and machines from the mid-1800s through the 1970s.
Art Hounds: Hamlet, Latino artists, and a neighborhood art crawl
This week's hounds can't resist a Latino art show inspired by miracles, an art crawl the Longfellow neighborhood way--from home to home, and an attempt to scale the theatrical heights of Hamlet for the first time.
At American Legion convention in Mpls, spotlight on unemployed vets
When veterans return from overseas, unemployment is a common challenge. PIN source Dana Saville talks about she and her husband have coped with job uncertainty.
Changes in flexible spending accounts felt by physicians, pharmacists
Health care providers in PIN help us keep track of the ripple effects of health care reform on their work.
Rural health care from the ground level
As part of Ground Level's coverage of rural health care, we asked nine doctors, nurses and other health professionals around Minnesota to tell us what it looks like where the patient meets the provider.
Crash data: Women injured at higher rates than men
Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi wasn't at all surprised to hear that men accounted for less than half of all reported traffic injuries in Minnesota last year.
Officials examine how raising debt ceiling will affect federal dollars to state
Minnesota is one of just a handful of states that pay more in federal taxes than comes back in federal funding. But that imbalance won't spare the state from potential cuts, which could include highways, schools and health and welfare programs.
Child care could take a hit in government shutdown
Some 26,000 Minnesota families received letters from the state earlier this month warning that their child care subsidies would be suspended in the event of a government shutdown.
Delay in reaching finalized budget worries state workers
Many expected political squabbling to slow down a solution, but delays in reaching a finalized budget worry some of the roughly 22,000 state workers who remain laid off.
Constituents react to Rep. Cravaack's plan to move family from district
Voters in Minnesota's 8th District gave us their outlook on Cravaack's time in office so far and the fact that he'll be spending more time out of the state.
Rising number of same-sex couples could signal change in next election
PIN source Peter Sage and his partner Jay Haukom are one of 14,000 same-sex couples living in Minnesota. New census data showing the number of households occupied by same-sex couples rose by 50 percent in Minnesota over the last decade could have rippling effects as the state heads toward a constitutional vote on same-sex marriage in next year's election.
Art Hounds: The Defenders, Momentum dance, and handbells ring
This week's hounds embrace the notion of not only presenting cinema, but defending it in a screening room full of film aficionados, they endorse a series that plucks emerging talent from the local dance scene, and they open their ears to a national handbell conference in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Child care could take a hit in government shutdown
The impact of a government shutdown would be far-reaching. Child care providers and parents helped us uncover this part of that ongoing story.
To Whom it may concern: the art of the public invocation
Network source Adam J. Copeland is currently pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hallock, Minn. He soon begins as mission developer for The Project F-M in Fargo-Moorhead.
Residents keep us informed about flooding
Residents living along the Minnesota and Wild Rice Rivers shared their observations and photos to help us stay up-to-date on spring flooding in southern Minnesota.
Clay Coyote Pottery finds success online
Small business owners Tom Wirt and Betsy Price told us what access to broadband has meant to them.
Minnesota lawsuit alleges deception in Groupon business model
Network source Hyedi Cribben shares her experience with Groupon in light of a lawsuit against the company.

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Featured Project

A church divided, together
We explore the effect of the Aug. 21, 2009 vote allowing gay pastors to serve as clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through the stories of Lutherans in the Public Insight Network.