Ground Level Blog

Trees, sculptures and more to show community collaboration
The Minnesota Community Pride Showcase is being held Saturday, Sept. 3, at Carousel Park at the Minnesota State Fair.
Ground Level asked nine health care providers to tell us one thing that would make rural health care better in Minnesota. Read what they said and add your own thought.
As cities and counties deal with shrinking revenue and the desire to hold taxes down, some have started talking about letting paved roads go to gravel to lower costs.
Should the state bond for broadband?
One way the state of Minnesota could move up in the rankings for broadband access and speed would be to allow the state to bond for fiber optic projects.
Gov. Mark Dayton says he’ll re-create a broadband task force to come up with recommendations for how the state should meet its goal of getting into the top five states for high-speed access to the Internet.
When we asked rural providers to talk about barriers for patients, we received compelling descriptions. Then the public joined in and the conversation got spirited.
Weigh In with your rural health story
We asked nine medical professionals to tell us what it looks like where the patient meets the provider in rural Minnesota these days. See what they told us and then add your response.
The Idea Open has chosen three finalists, which the public can vote on until September 5.
The League of Minnesota Cities is trying to help Minnesota city officials understand how the Legislature’s budget actions will cause them to raise tax rates even if they keep total property tax levies flat.