Rochester Medical Facilities Will Lose Over $21 Million

The city of Rochester is really impressive, particularly in the downtown area. From the civic center, to the library, the public investments in this city really make the downtown area striking. But what made all of this possible was an innovative and thriving medical community around which other sectors have organized. .... READ MORE

Classes Too Big for Lecture Halls in Mankato

The result of Governor Pawlenty’s budget cuts at Minnesota State University in Mankato? New professors are only being offered one-year contracts, administrators have “interim” before their title, and class sizes are increasing, according to the Mankato Free Press. The university has already cut $8 million from its budget, and Governor Pawlenty has imposed an addition $100 million cut for state colleges and universities for 2010.... READ MORE

Breakfast at the Fillin' Station in Mankato

For the first time in what feels like the entire summer there have been back to back days of rainy weather. Which I wouldn't mind in a general sense, but for the last day of a long road trip, some sun would be nice. Update: As soon as I finished writing this it become sunny and beautiful...that was the plan all along.... READ MORE

Minnesota State Students on Unallotment's Impact on Them, A Preview

Just finished interviewing some Minnesota State-Mankato students on the impacts of Gov. Pawlenty's unallotments to the state college system at the Fillin' Station. They had some great insights into what these cuts are going to do to their tuition, and the hurdles that working college students face to graduating with good grades as costs keep rising. Some picture... READ MORE

On the Road Again... Entering the Last Day

It's the start of the last day we've traveled over 1,000 miles already (I think the exact reading on the trip-o-meter is 1,170) and we still have several hundred to go today. Last evening we checked out the Tim Walz town hall which was filled to the brim. For more on what happened over there, you can check out the regular ABM page, which should have those pictures and video up shortly... READ MORE

Wind Energy Makes Up 3% of Willmar's Energy Needs

Willmar finished construction on two wind turbines in early June of this year. Each turbine generates two megawatts of power, which means that the two of them will replace around three percent of the city’s annual energy needs. Wesley Hompe, an engineer with Willmar Municipal Utilities, told MPR.... READ MORE

Line Item Veto Cut Jobs, Investment in St. Cloud

During tough economig times, one of the best ways to keep people off the unemployment rolls is through some labor intensive projects that will also add some value to city infrastucture, especially when the private capital is dried up like it is now. Like the Recovery Act, which we've seen signs for all over the northern part of Minnesota, these sorts of projects put a floor down where there'd otherwise be freefall. .... READ MORE

Bravo Burrito in St. Cloud... Mmmmm

Pulling in to St Cloud we asked our twitter followers for the best places to eat in the city. We received several responses, but @robinmarie suggested Bravo Burrito, and being that we hadn't ventured into the Mexican food genre on the trip we decided to give it a try.... READ MORE

Some Scenes From Around Wadena Yesterday

Before we get too carried away with the stories from St. Cloud, here are some of the scenes and tales from our travel around Wadena yesterday... READ MORE

St. Cloud State Unallotments Endanger Key Cog in Economic Growth in Growing Area

At a speach at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, I once heard a Harvard professor talk about how it was great that Harvard had a big endowment even in the tough economic times, but for the nation to continue to lead the world in innovation, the larger university system had to be well funded as well. This is true for the nation, as well as for the state.... READ MORE

Video: Moorhead Student Talks About Unallotment and Impacts on Students

Here is the first set of clips from Carson Starkey, a junior at Moorhead State University and an Army Vet. We'll have more of this interview as we get it uploaded.... READ MORE

An Almost Halfway Round Up

Okay we're roughly through half of this road trip... okay as I'm writing this it's slightly less than half...but we're starting to get a lot of the stuff from the first two days up to the tubes and wires now that we've worked out some technical issues. The oddometer reads 654.8 miles and we're dealing through Detroit Lakes (when I first started writing this part of the post), and we thought that it would be a good time to review the "Best of" thus far, and some general house keeping notes. ... READ MORE

Video: Education Shifts Under Pawlenty Impacting Class Sizes In Western MN

Mark Altenburg was our first interview in Moorhead this morning. He was the DFL nominee against Morrie Lanning in the last election, so he is obviously well-informed on the issues impacting district 9A, and also has a certain political perspective. He really was able to bring to light the impacts of the education cuts on the Moorhead public schools and the choices that we are facing as a state, and what will happen if we continue down this path... READ MORE

Talking Budget Cuts at Minnesota State Moorhead... Education in Danger

Today is move in at MSU-Moorhead and we stopped by to greet the freshman, as well as speak with some MSUM students about how these cuts are impacting college students. First we spoke with Carson who tutors kids at the school and is a junior. He also is an Iraq War veteran with an extremely powerful story and has done his country and his state proud. He noted that the incoming class this year is going to be facing larger class sizes with less faculty on hand to help them through their years here at MSUM. A quick snippet ... READ MORE

The Great Minnesota Steak-Off at RBJ's in Crookston

Driving down Highway 2 at this point is as natural to us as breathing. Seriously... is there any other road in the northern part of this state that goes east and west? Trick question, of course there isn't. Anyway, we did manage to find some delicious food at RBJ's in Crookston which happened to be just off of the never ending highway. The steaks were delicious... READ MORE

Those Who Need Us the Most Forgotten By Pawlenty in Bemidji

One more back post from Bemidji, on the way out of town here, we also ran into one of the very sad stories in all of these unallotments. The Upper Mississippi Mental Health Clinic in Bemidji, which has seen it's funding cut, and recently announced salary cuts of 10% for top level staff and 5% for everyone else... READ MORE

I Just Had to Add This From Babe the Blue Ox in Bemidji

Right after we finished interviewing Rita Albrect, Xavier and I headed just a couple blocks down 3rd St NW in lovely Bemidji to check out the Paul Bunyan museum. It certainly didn't dissappoint. About two seconds in to walking around the open green area a group of children came out of the information center with their parent's and I overheard a conversation that went roughly like this:.. READ MORE

Make MN Thrive Drive Stops in East Grand Forks, Which Won't Hire Police Officer or Fire Fighter

The Make Minnesota Thrive Drive made a stop in East Grand Forks today, where the City Council decided against hiring a new police officer and firefighter last week. Although the city plans to cut more than $400,000 from next year’s budget because of state aid reductions, City Council President Dick Grassel warns that more cuts could be on the way... READ MORE

Bemidji Stimulus Funds Could Not Come at a Better Time

The Bemidji School Board unanimously approved a plan to borrow $9 million to cover shifts in state funding to its school districts in mid-July, according to the Bemidji Pioneer. That’s why Bemidji’s federal stimulus money could not have come at a better time... READ MORE

Make Minnesota Thrive Drive Visits Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox

We made it a point to stop and see the gigantic statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe when we stopped in Bemidji. It is, after all, the birth place of Paul Bunyan himself... READ MORE

Bemidji Stimulus Funds Could Not Come at a Better Time

The Bemidji School Board unanimously approved a plan to borrow $9 million to cover shifts in state funding to its school districts in mid-July, according to the Bemidji Pioneer. That’s why Bemidji’s federal stimulus money could not have come at a better time... READ MORE

Duluth Unable to Provide City Services Thanks to Budget Cuts

If you’re planning on going to Duluth’s Park Point Beach for some fun under the sun, remember that it’s no longer staffed by city-employed lifeguards. With budget cuts forcing cities to cut services, MPR reports that many Duluth city services are being taken on by volunteers.... READ MORE

White Bear Benefits from Cash for Clunkers

Residents of cold states like Minnesota are trading in their clunkers at much higher rates than those in Sunbelt states where the cars don't have to deal with the effects of rust and salt. The stimulus-related program has gotten a much more enthusiastic response in White Bear than anyone thought... READ MORE

Anoka Car Show Gives Money to Non-Profits Hit By Budget Cuts

The Anoka Classic Car Show is running every weekend until September 26, with about 500-600 cars every Saturday night. This year, $1 of the $3 entry fee will be turned over to the city, according to the Anoka County Union... READ MORE

Anoka: Halloween Capital of the World

Did you know that our own Anoka was the first city in the nation to put on a Halloween celebration? It’s true! In 1920, Anoka residents decided something had to be done about the youngsters who were up to no good playing Halloween pranks.. READ MORE

Living History: Fort Snelling's Civil War Weekend and State Budget Cuts

If there's one thing I've learned about Minnesota, is that there's a lot to see and do here. Just this past weekend, I visited at historic Fort Snelling to learn more about life on the frontier during the Civil War era... READ MORE