by Wendy Royston, Dakotafire Media staff writer with reports by Doug Card, Sarah Gackle and Bill Krikac Editor’s note: This is the first story in a two-part series. See the second story here. A small-town post office serves as a recognizable face of the local community. “It is an identity. Your ZIP code and your post office is your town,” ... Read More »
Businesses in the rural Dakotas struggle to fill seasonal and temporary jobs with young employees, whose summers are filled with camps, clubs and athletics. Read More »
Want to turn over your position on a board or committee to someone else? Good luck. Finding people willing to serve in leadership positions in the rural Dakotas may be more difficult than it’s ever been. We tend to blame this on a declining population, but there’s also another factor at play: At the same time populations are declining, the number of nonprofits is increasing. Read More »
Long bus rides can have a significant effect on the rest of a child’s day. Superintendents in the Dakotas say they do their best to keep the bus routes as short as possible, but open enrollment and school district reorganizations can make this challenging. Read More »
If you're a woman involved in the agriculture industry, then Annie's Project may be the program for you. Read More »
The percentage of snowbirds in Dakota communities is quite small, if an informal survey of Dakotafire participating newspapers is any indication: Only about 1 percent of subscribers to those newspapers change their addresses for the winter. Read More »
Are there hungry people in your community? Yes. But we may not see them because they look just like everybody else. Read More »
Communities across the nation, including dozens in the Dakotas, are joining in a growing nationwide trend of forming markets with a very short farmer-to-consumer transportation system: goods go straight from the farmer’s hands to the consumer’s. Read More »
Many others in rural Dakota communities have also come to the conclusion that playgrounds are key components of good living for their families—but they are also learning that the process for putting them in place is not that simple. Read More »
Many out-of-school-time programs have struggled in rural areas, but programs in Clark and Groton suggest that when these programs are run by schools, many of the problems can be avoided. Read More »
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