As summer vacation gets in full swing, it’s the perfect time to celebrate our area students – especially the seniors graduating from high school. Enjoy this collection of pics and videos of the capable young people who add energy and excitement to our communities all year long. Seniors – we celebrate this important milestone with …
Reposted from the Blandin on Broadband blog By Ann Treacy, Treacy Information Services Minnesota is looking at an unprecedented amount of money coming in (from State and Federal funds) to support deployment of better broadband. Today, policymakers and government agencies are processing how to spend that money but opportunity is around the corner. So what …
Lac qui Parle’s Computer Commuter is a stand-out example of what can happen when equitable, community-powered thinking meets future-forward planning. Conceived 12 years ago, the Computer Commuter was a unique solution to combat rural internet access issues. Not only did the program offer internet connections for rural people who didn’t have them, it went one …
Historic. Unique. Unprecedented. Once-in-a-lifetime. These are just a few words folks are using to talk about federal dollars soon-to-be available to rural communities. And while the injection of billions has the potential to make real and lasting change in rural communities, the barriers that make federal money dang-near impossible to access should be front-and-center as …
Soon, more money than ever will be available to rural communities looking to build better broadband. To keep conversation about broadband’s importance to rural life top of mind, we’re lifting up stories from you — the people living, working and connecting in rural Minnesota! Your stories can help motivate and inspire decisionmakers as they plan …
It’s hard to get around in rural places without a car. It’s even harder when you’re older. There are some things you just can’t miss or put off, though, if you don’t have a ride. Dialysis, radiation, and surgery to name a few. “Health care is pretty important at our age,” joked Jan Erickson, a …
Hard work is a staple in almost any rural community. A hard day’s work might be on the assembly line or in a clinic, at the computer or deep in the belly of a mine. Whatever the job, every working-age person contributing their skills and talents lay the foundation for a growing, thriving community. As rural communities in Minnesota …
Homogenous. That pretty much summed up Preeti Yonjon’s impression of her new hometown, Alexandria, when she arrived in 2016. She wondered where the black and brown people were in town. (In a community of a little over 14,000, of whom 94 percent are white, it’s a fair question.) She knows where, now. And she’s working …
Tasha Connelly left Grand Rapids after high school and didn’t think anything would ever bring her back. But after years away living in other states, including Florida and Colorado, the usual things began to chip away at her resolve: family ties, a desire for more community, the lure of less traffic. She eventually returned, but …
Janell Hecimovich is a firefighter at the Trout Lake Fire Department in Bovey, Minn. and an alumna of the Blandin Community Leadership Program. Written by Janell Hecimovich Me? A firefighter? No way. They wouldn’t let a female be a firefighter. You need to be bigger and stronger than I am, to be a firefighter. These …