Ground Level®: Amplifying Community Voices

Your story is powerful. The stories you share with others honor the complexity of our communities while forging a more equitable and vibrant future.

Call 651-228-4800 and leave us a voice memo. If you're more comfortable texting, you can text “Hello” to 1-833-870-4111. You can also email us at tell@mpr.org and join in on conversations in our Ground Level Facebook group.

We’d like to hear your thoughts and questions. Your ideas about solutions. How are your communities? What are you seeing today? And what do you want to see tomorrow?

Note that while we will exercise editorial judgment for language, length and avoiding personal attacks, we will not sacrifice your meaning. We will ensure your main message comes through on air and online.

Ground Level’s “Broadband 7″ — places to watch in Minnesota as they try to expand high-speed Internet access — includes three communities going without federal stimulus money. They’re gauging public interest and examining feasibility.
Federal broadband stimulus projects in Minnesota have been beset by bids higher than expected and by a tsunami-related shortage of fiber optic cable, but construction nonetheless is starting this month near Lakefield and Lutsen.
A study published July 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that small rural hospitals do not provide the same levels of care found in larger hospitals.
The National Rural Assembly in St. Paul, Minnesota, kicked off Tuesday evening with an address by Navy Captain Wayne Porter and Marine Colonel Mark Mykleby on the need to shift the U.S. approach to national security.