We received an exciting call today from a Grand Rapids resident letting us know that today was the day solar panels were being installed on his house by the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL). As a rural Minnesota-based organization, RREAL works in partnership with Community Action Agencies and Habitat for Humanity affiliates to provide residential …
It’s your story. It’s my story. It’s our story. Yet, it’s a story few of us know. For eight months now, community members throughout Itasca County have been exploring their shared history and filling in knowledge gaps about the promises made between American Indians and the United States that have shaped Minnesota’s past, present and …
“Whether in a tech-savvy metropolis or a city where the town square is still the communication hub, local news matters deeply to the lives of residents.” – Pew Research Center Volume and choice. These two common denominators are changing the way communities access and appreciate local news, says a recent report from Pew Research Center. …
After her first day on the job, Kelli Pelland knew some changes had to be made. From the dinosaur-era computers to the drag-your-feet-in-the-mud speed of the Internet connection, she realized that the Baudette Public Library didn’t have the makings of a community connecting hub…yet. “We were kind of outdated,” she says. “We needed to update …
Newspapers inform, educate and can even spur change. It takes a special kind of story to touch readers’ hearts and move them to action – even if it’s only to question their own way of thinking. This is what the Grand Rapids Herald Review editor Britta Arendt was honored for at last month’s Minnesota Newspaper Association’s …
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (January 29, 2015) – Blandin Foundation announced today that it has awarded six grants totaling $113,900 to support rural Minnesota communities as they grow high-speed Internet access and use in their communities. Long Prairie will develop a business plan to build a fiber-to-the-home network, Project FINE out of Winona County will support …
Last month we wrote a story on two civic-minded brothers who went through the Blandin Community Leadership Program. They later went on to become mayors of Jasper and Luverne, MN. Earlier this month, the Jasper Journal covered their story. Since the newspaper is not published online, we thought we would share it on our blog. …
By John Connelly In late November, I spent the majority of one mild and perfectly sunny Saturday sequestered deep within the recesses of Grand Rapids High School. There, I immersed myself in assorted conversations with a diverse group of nearly 100 other Itasca County residents. As a guy who places a high value on his …
The power of community leadership took center stage in President Obama’s preview of his appearance yesterday in Cedar Falls, IA, where he talked about his plan to increase access to affordable, high-speed broadband in rural and urban communities across the country. The President featured Cedar Falls, or Iowa’s first “Gigabit City,” in the preview, comparing …
The average rural Minnesotan currently wears six (and often more!) leadership hats and as the rural population ages, the leadership demand is only increasing. Leadership capacity is maxed out, said University of Minnesota Extension sociologist Ben Winchester during a fall 2014 webinar. With demand increasing faster than supply, it’s important to understand, and plan, for …