Ground Level Blog

Metal thefts nag at rural law enforcement
Rural Minnesota communities are experiencing an uptick in metal thefts, especially of copper.
Broadband availability inches up again
Three out of five households have access to the Internet at speeds the state thinks everybody should have by 2015.
A northern Minnesota telecom cooperative is putting on hold plans to extend its fiber network, citing changes in the way the government plans to allocate Universal Service Fund money.
For volunteer fire departments, recruits can be hard to find
In order to draw firefighters to its “paid on call” team, White Bear Lake offers pensions, health savings accounts and cheap houses to rent.
The citizens of Sandstone were unhappy with the way Essentia was running their hospital, so they took a stand and are forcing the health care system to do better.
‘Brain Gain’ study: People in 30s, 40s still moving to rural Minnesota
The movement of people in their 30s and 40s into some rural areas that otherwise have declining populations has continued in recent years, a new University of Minnesota Extension study shows.
Behind the “brain gain:” Ups and downs of going rural
People who move to rural Minnesota from the city rave about the beauty and personal freedom, but the jobs picture proves more problematic.
Why move to rural Minnesota?
We asked sources in our Public Insight Network why they had moved to (or back to) rural Minnesota and how the experience has been. The benefits and challenges seem to break down into three categories: community, lifestyle and economics. Here’s what some of our sources had to say.
Central Minnesotans kick the tires of regional plan
At a meeting in Baxter on Tuesday, more than 100 people gathered to comment on draft recommendations for a central Minnesota regional plan.
Outstate members of our Public Insight Network described factors that divide their communities, from mining issues to race and religious differences.