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.

Coming home, more native than her parents
Unlike her parents, Marna Macgregor is a Stearns County native. But as she returns to Minnesota after two years in New York, she still struggles with a question of identity.
Doctor shortage raises rural C-section rate
A lack of doctors in outstate Minnesota promises to be an ongoing problem even as communities look for solutions like student loan forgiveness programs. Health care reform could make the shortage worse.
A two-year planning process to envision a better central Minnesota in 20 years is nearing a key point — selecting 22 “champions” to push and cajole local governments, businesses and others to take steps to improve handling of housing, natural resources, the workforce and more.
What will Frontier and CenturyLink do with new broadband money?
Frontier and CenturyLink say it’s too soon to say how they would apply the millions of dollars they are eligible for under the FCC’s new Connect America Fund, which is aimed at extended high-speed access to the Internet to rural areas. The deadline to apply is in July.