Have you got a “coming soon” biking trail? Or a biking trail that is not completely finished yet? Well, don’t keep it a secret! A couple of places I’ve visited lately, I’ve heard about trails that are in the partially-finished stage. Some segments of the trail have been improved, others are still rough. “Once…
By Glenna Mae Hendricks (Maesz) With some pride, I tell you that my hometown owns and runs a very excellent retirement community for the people who can still live independently. It is called the Homestead Retirement Community. Since the economic downturn, our little town has been seeking ways to cut costs. Some short sighted people…
[I’m a rural telco cooperative customer, and I know so are many of you. That’s why I’m publishing this guest post on broadband from Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. –Becky] By Shirley Bloomfield Broadband discussion tableat the Midwest Rural Assembly It’s been called today’s “essential service,” with the transformative power of electricity and…
Victor Vasquez, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development, made the keynote presentation at the Midwest Rural Assembly. He started with the story of a road trip with a big city friend. As they reached a particularly empty stretch of land, the friend asked, should we turn back? Turn back? Victor asked, why would we turn…
Our friend Des Walsh from Australia sent me a great email, that I just had to share with all of you. You might not have known but we had a Federal election here on Saturday. The outcome hangs in the balance (although I don’t think there are any hanging chads), with the likelihood of a…
Let’s talk about the National Broadband Plan, and its 100 Squared initiative. The goal is to get 100 million households on 100 mpbs by 2020. All well and good. The problem is the remaining 5.5 million households, almost assuredly rural. They are not included in the plan, and there is no “phase 2” or second…
[We’ve been known to rant about broadband access, so I was more than happy to bring you this guest post from the Broadband for America Coalition. -Becky] By the Broadband for America Coalition Not so long ago, broadband access to the Internet was reserved for the largest corporations, the most expensive colleges and universities, and…
Shop local is a popular topic here, but this week I’ve watched a new trend pop up: bank local.Move Your Money is encouraging people to shift their money to locally owned banks. The site includes bank rankings by Institutional Risk Analytics. All of my local banks scored B+ or higher. The project was dreamed up…
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