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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.

A bridge in time saves Zumbrota?

Zumbrota city officials want to know why the record flood stage of 23.2 feet on the Zumbro river didn’t cause more damage than in the previous flood in 2005, when the river also hit 23.2. Zumbrota city administrator Neil Jensen thinks the new, wider Highway 58 bridge may have had something to do with it. Read more →
by Nancy Lebens

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Shorter contracts the trend for union city employees

If uncertainty were a line item, many Minnesota city budgets would list it. As for quantifying it? One partial measure is the number of mediation cases taken on by the tiny state agency, the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS). From July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 the BMS saw a doubling of its caseload Read more →
by Nancy Lebens

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Hutchinson, a Tree City USA cuts forester job

About as long as Hutchinson has had a forester, the city has earned a place on the national roster of Tree City USA. For three decades, Hutchinson forester Mark Schnobrich has pruned boulevard trees, applied for grants and has given free advice to residents with questions about their own trees. Because the city expects less Read more →
by Nancy Lebens

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Can streetlights lighten the budget load?

Brainerd needed a way to resolve a budget problem. The north central Minnesota city relies on local government aid for about 40 percent of its revenue and that state aid revenue was cut by about one fifth in fiscal 2010. If every service was in line for a trim, why not streetlights? After a summer Read more →
by Nancy Lebens

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Baldwin curbside chat tonight

A curbside chat aimed at leaders in the Princeton/Baldwin area will be held at Baldwin Town Hall at 7 p.m. Sept. 21.

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