Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/lee-egerstrom/page/4/)
It’s an economic development tool Minnesota recognized years ago, and it could hold the key to helping turn around Detroit. New residents, immigrants and refugees specifically, hold great promise for reviving places battered by de-industrialization or changing economics.
Despite early season floods, July’s U.S. Drought Monitor report shows a bit of a threat to Minnesota crops through portions of south, central and northwestern Minnesota counties. Continue Reading
Fifty years have passed since the 1960’s civil rights struggles that sought to open opportunities for all. Unfortunately, where you are born and raised still matters greatly if your idea of the “American dream” is to rise out of poverty.
Northfield and several surrounding communities are planning for an August 1-4 blowout that will bring renowned brass and wind bands to southern Minnesota, giving the area a cultural and economic boost. Continue Reading
There are ground-up stirrings all across America, from Seattle-Tacoma to New Jersey and Washington, D.C., to bring compensation for workers up to something approaching a “living wage.”Dayton’s Bluff, a neighborhood on St. Paul’s East Side, is right in the middle of these efforts, geographically, but is more like ground zero for Minnesota neighborhood activists who are trying to create livable, sustainable communities.The Dayton’s Bluff Community Council on May 20 adopted a resolution that encourages larger businesses to pay workers what are widely being called “living wages,” or compensation packages that nonprofit organizations and government agencies can determine through cost-of-living calculators.There is no legal weight behind the resolution, said Deanna Foster, executive director of the community council. Rather, she said, it is a way to engage business leaders and others in discussions on how to “invest in the neighborhood to make it a good place to live, work and do business.”Earlier, in announcing the council’s action, Foster said the council’s Equity Committee generated the idea “because it wanted to implement both the council’s equity principles and the city of St. Paul’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.“Dayton’s Bluff is recovering from a lengthy period of underemployment and we want to encourage employers in our neighborhood to consider themselves partners in the recovery,” she said.That is a straightforward, close to home local action by people trying to improve and grow their community. It comes after lawmakers at both the state and federal levels have failed to adjust minimum wage laws (which are set even lower than living wages) to reflect cost of living increases and as compensation for workers throughout commerce and industry have experienced a steady erosion of household incomes and purchasing power.Macalester College historian Peter Rachleff, a Dayton’s Bluff resident and member of the council’s Equity Committee, described the council’s resolution as “a small step, to be sure, but a real step. Continue Reading
Bipartisan pollsters have found rural Americans feel policymakers are ignoring them at a time when they need public infrastructure investments to compete and thrive in 21st century economic opportunities.
Unless farm groups, community organizations, faith-based groups and state and local governments weigh in on the debacle in Congress, a class warfare battle over who has access to the American pie—and our food—is going to get uglier, costlier and more damaging to future generations of Americans. Continue Reading
A new global study by University of Minnesota researchers sheds fresh light on the need to increase food production in step with population growth by the year 2050 while also showing by example how scientists, farmers, food companies, the public sector and consumers must work together to achieve such goals.
Oregon state agriculture officials are doing toxicology studies on dead bees found in a parking lot near Portland to learn what is killing bees by the thousands. Continue Reading
The farm bill is supposed to be the least contentious piece of federal legislation, with a little something to benefit all constituencies. Its food and nutrition programs help urban, suburban and rural folks in poverty. Direct payments and crop insurance provide a safety net for farmers. Rural development programs build nursing homes, wastewater infrastructure, keep utilities up to date and provide small business financing. There are even environmental and conservation protections in the bill.