http://minnesota.publicradio.org/about/people/mpr_people_display.php?aut_id=30664 en-us Copyright 2013 Minnesota Public Radio Tue, 21 May 2013 02:42:13 -0500 http://minnesota.publicradio.org/standard/images/mpr003/logo_mpr.gif http://minnesota.publicradio.org/?refid=0 In the eyes of the federal government, urban Minnesota has just pushed a little farther into the countryside. What used to be a 13-county metropolitan statistical area now contains 16 counties. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2013/03/metro-area-creeps-further-into-rural-minnesota.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:25:49 -0500 People are dying faster than they're being born in more than a third of Minnesota's 87 counties now. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2013/03/immigration-may-explain.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:48:01 -0500 Minnesota's growing Latino population has been around long enough to put down roots, grow businesses and go through school, sometimes for generations. /projects/2012/12/ground-level-latino-connections/?refid=0 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:09:11 -0600 Preguntamos a los minesotenses dentro del área de nuestra red Public Insight Network, dónde se estaban forjando conexiones entre los latinos y los anglosajones. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/13/ground-level-latino-connections-pin-espanol?refid=0 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:00:00 -0600 Las investigaciones de University of Minnesota Extension estudian los cambios de liderazgo en ciudades con significativas poblaciones latinas. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/13/ground-level-latino-connections-leadership-espanol?refid=0 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:00:00 -0600 University of Minnesota Extension research is delving into how leadership shifts in towns with substantial Latino populations. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/13/ground-level-latino-connections-leadership?refid=0 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:00:00 -0600 A Duluth brewery has figured out a novel way to use the leftover grain from the brewing process: feeding steer they hope will be soon be steaks served in one of its new restaurants. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/11/beer-and-beef-coming-full-circle.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:27:40 -0600 Three-quarters of Minnesota households now have high-speed Internet connections, according to a new survey by the Center for Rural Policy and Development. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/11/duluth----three-quarters-of-minnesota.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:30:41 -0600 Ground Level is an MPR News project providing news coverage, resources, connections and conversations on important topics in Minnesota communities. /collections/groundlevel/?refid=0 Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:49:12 -0500 The number of valid handgun permits in Minnesota has passed 100,000. That's about 19 permits for every 1,000 Minnesota residents. But permits to carry handguns are far from evenly distributed and, in fact, show up in a fascinating pattern. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/08/handgun-permits-more-prevalent-in-ne-minnesota.shtml?refid=0 Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:21:59 -0500 A report from Connect Minnesota, the organization charged with tracking this progress, says the state has gained another few inches. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/05/broadband-availability-inches-up-again.shtml?refid=0 Tue, 29 May 2012 16:19:06 -0500 Unmet transportation needs in rural Minnesota range from getting to the Performing Arts Center in Pipestone, above, to finding a way to catch a bus to the Twin Cities. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/04/getting-to-the-concert-in-pipestone-and-other-unmet-needs.shtml?refid=0 Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:40:15 -0500 Minnesota's fastest-growing transit system over the past five years? The one run by the small town of Montevideo. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/04/more-people-are-getting-there-in-montevideo.shtml?refid=0 Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:02:52 -0500 A person doesn't have to just sit and wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on national health care reform. nstead sign up for one of about 40 two-hour conversations in the next several months around Minnesota that will let you talk about your own experience with the real-world balancing act among costs, care and health. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/04/health-care-reform-doesnt-have-to-be-a-spectator-sport.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500 I went looking for my grandparents in the newly released 1940 Census forms but found my real reward when the face of Ardelle Neufeld, an 80-year-old woman I'd never met, lit up at BB's Diner in Mountain Lake. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/04/making-ardelle-neufeld-smile.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:18:29 -0500 Wireless keeps getting better as an answer to rural areas' high-speed Internet needs. But some people worry that even as it solves some problems it could relegate areas to second -class service. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/03/rural-and-wireless-problem-solved.shtml?refid=0 Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:18:49 -0500 First it went up but lately it's gone down. The data on entrepreneurship: 5 ways to look at Minnesota's entrepreneurial culture http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/29/entrepreneurship-data?refid=0 Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:44:07 -0600 Leaders from Minnesota's cities, counties and school districts have banded together to plead for more flexibility from the state to let them try new ways of delivering local services. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2012/01/leaders-from-minnesotas-cities-counties.shtml?refid=0 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:20:26 -0600 If you just opened your truth-in-taxation notice and are stunned to see how little your house is apparently worth, take a deep breath. What may have plunged is your "taxable market value," which is not the same as what your house might fetch on the market. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/11/shocked-by-your-tax-notice-look-again.shtml?refid=0 Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:44:53 -0600 Will the budget agreement the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton reached last summer leave Minnesota's property taxes higher next year? In a word, yes. But a caution: This is Minnesota, and when you talk property taxes, things get complicated. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/11/did-the-legislature-raise-property-taxes.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0600 Gov. Mark Dayton has named Margaret Anderson Kelliher, former Minnesota House Speaker and 2010 candidate for governor, to lead a new task force aimed at expanding the use of broadband in Minnesota. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/11/dayton-picks-new-broadband-task-force.shtml?refid=0 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:50:29 -0600 The numbers for St. Paul are among the first available as the property tax season cranks up. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/10/st-paul-property-taxes-going-down-going-up.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:49:28 -0500 MPR News' Ground Level project looks at Minnesota's water pollution challenges and how some residents are tackling them, river by river and lake by lake. /projects/2011/09/ground-level-water/?refid=0 Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:25:21 -0500 One way to further develop broadband Internet infrastructure in Minnesota is to allow broadband projects to be included in state bonding requests, said Rick King, chief technology officer for Thomson Reuters. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/08/should-the-state-bond-for-broadband.shtml?refid=0 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:16:31 -0500 Gov. Mark Dayton says he's re-creating a broadband task force for Minnesota. He wants it to report on the state's needs by the end of the year but, more importantly, come up with a set of recommendations for improvement a month later. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/08/dayton-creates-new-broadband-task-force-will-it-change-anything.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:57:52 -0500 Minnesota Public Radio's Ground Level blog is looking for your ideas about improving health care in rural Minnesota. Doctors, nurses, paramedics and other providers from around the state have contributed insights about the special challenges they face providing care in rural areas. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/08/25/rural?refid=0 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:03:41 -0500 When Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders struck a budget deal last month, lots of attention was paid to the $200 million cut to Local Government Aid, what the state had promised cities to help with their local budgets. Another change got less attention. But the elimination of the Market Value Homestead Credit could have an even bigger impact on your property taxes. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/08/market-value-credit-disappearance-property-tax-sleeper.shtml?refid=0 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:20:20 -0500 Rural areas long have had difficulty maintaining hospitals and attracting doctors, but political, economic and demographic changes are adding to the burden. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/20/ground-level-rural-health-care-primer?refid=0 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500 Service trips in the wilderness give people an opportunity to see land they otherwise wouldn't, and to become part of a constituency of quiet. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/03/peters?refid=0 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 05:00:00 -0500 The greatest portion of those unconnected to the Internet say the reason is they aren't interested and see no need. Dozens of people from around Minnesota who are trying to change that notion gathered in St. Cloud on Wednesday. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/04/why-doesnt-everybody-use-the-internet.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:24:06 -0500 Minnesota residents' concerns about the economy apparently have eased, and education and government budgets now top the list of what people worry about when it comes to the state's quality of life, according to a new Wilder Research report. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/03/wilder-survey.shtml?refid=0 Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:39:35 -0500 Faced with a need to make important government budget decisions, Minnesotans say they would rather reform the way education, health care and social programs work than simply reduce spending on them. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/03/minnesotans-try-to-solve-budget-problem-reform-dont-just-cut-spending-tax-but-only-if-its-fair.shtml?refid=0 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:21:06 -0600 Minnesota cities have continued the trend of relying increasingly on property taxes to pay for the services they provide, a state auditor's report shows. The report shows that over the past decade cities have both raised property tax revenue and spent less money overall. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/03/minnesota-cities-increase-reliance-on-property-taxes-spend-less.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:39:49 -0600 For the next two years, a couple hundred people in central Minnesota will be arguing -- with civility they hope -- about how to fix transportation, housing, land use and the economy. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/02/central-minnesota-launches-ambitious-2-year-planning-effort.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:06:53 -0600 The state Commerce Department and the organization Connect Minnesota on Thursday are going to unveil the latest report on the status of broadband availability in the state, and it shows again the wide disparity in access to the Internet around the state. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/02/new-minnesota-broadband-report-makes-disparity-clear.shtml?refid=0 Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:08:22 -0600 As many as one in 10 Americans can't get Internet connections that are fast enough for common online activities such as watching video or teleconferencing, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. It unveiled a detailed online map showing what types of high-speed Internet connections are available in every last corner of the country. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/02/kick-the-tires-on-the-national-broadband-map.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:32:45 -0600 Last month, money started flowing through a stimulus grant aimed at getting more Minnesotans to make better use of the broadband access they already have. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/02/what-good-is-rural-broadband-ask-these-people.shtml?refid=0 Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:32:44 -0600 More than 50 elected officials -- county commissioners, city council members, township board supervisors -- gathered in the Arlington Community Center last night to inch ahead a plan to lay fiber optic lines to every home and business in the county plus those in and around neighboring Fairfax in Renville County. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/01/will-sibley-join-the-push-for-public-broadband.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:43:55 -0600 The people charged with tracking whether Minnesota is keeping up with broadband access to the Internet have produced their first tally, and you have to conclude the picture is mixed at best. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2011/01/1st-state-broadband-status-report-mixed-at-best.shtml?refid=0 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 09:35:54 -0600 Partly because of the federal stimulus and partly for other reasons, people all over Minnesota are pushing projects to improve broadband access to the Internet. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2010/11/are-community-broadband-networks-faster-than-the-metro-area.shtml?refid=0 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:50:14 -0600 Residents rural central Minnesota have launched started a conversation, not just about whether to build a fiber optic network that would give them world-class Internet access, but about how to share the cost burden between town and farm. /collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2010/11/fiber-to-farm-should-farmers-pay-more.shtml?refid=0 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:32:31 -0600 Signs of a growing local food movement are everywhere. You can see them, at Saturday farmers markets and on restaurant menus. Local apples are now served at school cafeterias. There are community gardens in city neighborhoods and small towns. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/17/local-food-peters?refid=0 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0600 That number is down from an estimated 110,000 a year earlier. The numbers are deep in a national report that says illegal immigration has dropped for the nation as a whole, partly due to the poor economy. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/ground-level/archive/2010/09/pew-95000-illegal-immigrants-in-minnesota.shtml?refid=0 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:45:57 -0500