Dakotafire Get your spark here.

Do you know someone who is building a home in the rural Dakotas? That person is making both a sacrifice and a statement: The “common wisdom” would call their building project a poor financial investment. Yet they care enough about living how and where they choose that they are doing it anyway. I think people who live in suburban or ... Read More »

Not long ago, I opened my back door in St. Paul, expecting a fine summer morning. Instead, the sky was as gray as November, Read More »

The loss of small farms and the loss of small schools in this country are indisputably connected. At the most obvious level, the disappearance of small farmers meant the disappearance of farm children and, thus, the disappearance of small rural schools. But the connection is deeper than that. Read More »

We asked North and South Dakota candidates for federal or statewide positions to tell how they would serve rural places. Here are the responses from those who answered our request. Read More »