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Ground Level®: Amplifying Community Voices

Your story is powerful. The stories you share with others honor the complexity of our communities while forging a more equitable and vibrant future.

Call 651-228-4800 and leave us a voice memo. If you're more comfortable texting, you can text “Hello” to 1-833-870-4111. You can also email us at tell@mpr.org and join in on conversations in our Ground Level Facebook group.

We’d like to hear your thoughts and questions. Your ideas about solutions. How are your communities? What are you seeing today? And what do you want to see tomorrow?

Note that while we will exercise editorial judgment for language, length and avoiding personal attacks, we will not sacrifice your meaning. We will ensure your main message comes through on air and online.

Minnesotans find themselves “Forced to Choose”

MPR News launches “Forced to Choose,” a reporting project exploring how Minnesota communities are coping with an austerity putting pressure on taxes and budgets.
by Dave Peters

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Minnesota’s communities making tough choices

Minnesota’s communities making tough choices

A new Ground Level project, “Force to Choose” explores the tough choices communities are making in the face of shrinking budgets.
by Jennifer Vogel

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A quarter of Minnesotans have no broadband at home

A new survey by Connect Minnesota shows that 28 percent of Minnesota households do not have high-speed Internet access at home. The biggest reason cited was lack of relevance.
by Dave Peters

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Minneapolis property taxes rising only slightly

Minneapolis property taxes look like they will rise slightly in 2012, according to preliminary figures from Hennepin County tax officials. The tax on a median value home is set to rise $34. That is less than the expected increase on a similar St. Paul home.
by Dave Peters

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Business property taxes heading for an increase

Business property taxes are going up more than residential taxes, a sampling from a dozen Minnesota cities shows. The numbers are one facet of a question that a special MPR News project called “Forced to Choose” is exploring this fall.
by Dave Peters

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St. Peter’s zero levy increase makes a point

St. Peter’s zero levy increase makes a point

St. Peter will hold its levy flat in order to show that the legislature, by a change in law, raised taxes on local taxpayers.
by Jennifer Vogel

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WEIGH IN ON WATER: Why take action?

We asked our seven Ground Level water panel members to tell us why they got involved in local clean-water issues. Read what they said and “weigh in” with your own answer.
by Dave Peters

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St. Paul property taxes go down (for a few) and up (for many)

St. Paul property taxes go down (for a few) and up (for many)

Low value homes in St. Paul will see their property taxes drop a little but owners of median value and higher homes could see increases next year of close to 10 percent.
by Dave Peters

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‘We’ve just built more than we can maintain’

‘We’ve just built more than we can maintain’

Planner, engineer and writer Chuck Marohn issues a call for local governments to realize their growth is unsustainable and they need to find a new way to think about the future.
by Dave Peters

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WEIGH IN ON WATER: Does local matter?

MPR News’ Ground Level asked seven Minnesotans to tell us why local issues matter when it comes to the complex topic of water pollution.
by Dave Peters

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