Nearly 70 percent of Minnesota households now have available the kind of high-speed Internet access that the state says they should. The latest semi-annual report from Connect Minnesota today said that 69.2 percent of households have access to download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second and upload speeds of six megabits per second. Read more →
MPR News How communities are facing the future
Archives for May 2013

One way a town can solve a problem is to put somebody in charge, come up with a plan and go to work. Parks get cleaned up, old buildings get saved, senior meals get organized. But as the number of Latino residents continues to rise in a number of Minnesota towns, that approach might not Read more →
Motorists driving through Richfield might someday find Portland and Nicollet avenues in better shape. Hutchinson might put a new roof on its civic arena. The police station in Maplewood might be remodeled. South St. Paul could shore up the levy along the Mississippi River. Austin might update some of its police equipment. These are some Read more →
Minnesota cities will get an $80 million increase next year in Local Government Aid from the state under a provision in the tax bill that seems to be near legislative approval. The increase would bring the LGA total to $507.6 million for the year 2014. That’s nearly a 20 percent increase over this year and Read more →

Over the past week, four bicyclists and one runner from the University of Minnesota have been crossing the state from west to east, stopping at farms along the way to explore innovations. As part of the project, called “Grown to Run,” the team has posted a short video every day showing a different aspect of Read more →