Seeing teen vaping as an addiction, schools move toward treatment model

Across the country, nicotine businesses have found another generation of new customers, but instead of cigarettes, the delivery method has changed to vaping. The trend has schools in Connecticut exploring new methods to address the challenge. Their solution: tackling the problem as an addiction rather than through penalties and discipline. Get the full story from

Read & Share   sourced from: Hartford Courant

Why Companies Are Moving Back Downtown

If you’re paying attention to local issues, you’ve likely noticed a renewed focus on Minot’s downtown. For a car-centric culture like North Dakota, that may seem a bit strange, but when trends from across the country are accounted for, it may be that we’re simply acknowledging and attempting to catch a wave of change that’s

Read & Share   sourced from: Governing.com

Australia keeps voting for coal, but investors are quietly abandoning plans for new mines

What happens when an industry wins political support, but loses private sector money? In Australia, we’re getting a slow lesson in what that looks like. Why does it matter in North Dakota? Because it’s all playing out in energy and coal markets and there’s speculation that new energy investments in the Pacific rim are increasingly

Read & Share   sourced from: Quartz

Homegrown innovation spaces are transforming cities

What does it take for a place to support small businesses and start-ups? Many cities are finding that physical space is a key ingredient. The most common forms are as incubators and co-working spaces, but some places are implementing innovation districts as well. Get the full story on the factors fueling the Midwest’s startup scenes

Read & Share   sourced from: Forbes

North Fargo’s historic Roosevelt neighborhood searches for answers amid rental creep

Do we the citizens have the right to see our neighborhoods stay the same? Should government get involved as neighborhoods evolve? These are just a few of the philosophical questions at play in a historic Fargo neighborhood that’s in transition from single-family homes toward a rental market. Get the full story from the Fargo Forum.

Read & Share   sourced from: InForum

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How Durango created more affordable housing by relaxing laws on garden apartments

Would you consider adding a tiny home in your backyard or a small apartment above a detached garage? While many would say yes, there’s a good chance that your city’s zoning law prohibits or restricts your ability to do so. In Durango, Colorado, they relaxed the laws and saw an increase in affordable housing. In

Read & Share   sourced from: CityLab

In Texas, city leaders and Legislature at odds over local control

The battle for power in government is eternal, and in Texas, they’ve got a case of goldilocks reform creeping into the legislature — the federal government is bad, local government is bad, but state government is just right. In this Texas session, it expresses itself in the form of preemption of local authority and passing

Read & Share   sourced from: Dallas News

Affordable housing dampening western North Dakota’s potential

As oil production grows and investments and production in the Bakken stabilize, demand for housing and all the other amenities that accompany a quality life increase. In Watford City and Williston, they remain in the midst of a surge in demand for all these things, but they’re still finding the supply behind. Check out this

Read & Share   sourced from: Williston Herald

Grand Forks Commission may add county administrator

County government in Grand Forks is exploring some self-reform. The proposed change would add a County Administrator position that becomes — in essence — a chief operating officer for the county. Instead of department heads reporting to the County Commission independently, they’d report to the County Administrator who’d then report to the County Commission. There

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

Could the library, cafe, market, or bar down the street change your life (and our community)?

Cover image credit to Prairie Sky Breads, find them on their website or on Facebook here. As more of our civic discourse moves online, we become less connected to our communities and real people — unless you frequent a local library, bakery, cafe, or bar. And it’s where we live in relation to these amenities

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New opportunities for old coal plants?

There aren’t many days that go by that there isn’t a story about a new coal-fired power plant being decommissioned. We lost one in North Dakota last year; yesterday, there was a story out of Estevan on final dates for their plants. Since 2010, nearly 300 of these plants have closed across the country? Political

Read & Share   sourced from: NPR

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Plastic recycling: the scourge of cities becomes a resource

Recycling. It’s been a regular topic of conversation in Minot recently. People — this writer included — want to see us be better stewards of the environment. Others — this writer included — aren’t sure we should be making big public investments in an industry that’s being turned upside down. Where’s it all going to

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Fargo Chamber, economic development corp. launch plan to boost area’s job numbers, economy

The cities of Fargo and West Fargo are putting $400k apiece along with $4 million from the private sector toward the Fueling Our Future initiative spearheaded by the chamber of commerce and economic development corporation. While specific projects aren’t outlined, the focus will be on workforce development and quality of life projects. The goal —

Read & Share   sourced from: InForum

Should Minot be like West Virginia? How an “Arts and Culture Economy” Rebuilt a Former Coal Town

What does Minot have in common with a West Virginia former coal town? Like all towns, we’re all struggling to create a unique identity and make ourselves attractive to both those in migration and our rising youth. In other words, our fight to survive is the point in common. Few places have felt the urgency

Read & Share   sourced from: Yes!

Minneapolis eases liquor license restrictions, restaurants flock to opportunity offering craft cocktail experiences

When it comes to liquor, the City of Minneapolis chose to take a step back and do a little deregulating. As a step of confirmation, they offered the idea to the citizens through a city charter change; the public supported it overwhelmingly (72% yes). And now, in the first season that restaurants were offered the

Read & Share   sourced from: Star Tribune

North Dakota walleye fisheries in great shape, you can help keep it that way!

North Dakota’s walleye fisheries — particularly those a part of the Missouri River system and Lake Sakakawea are in great shape. But that doesn’t just happen. The health of the fish resource is regularly monitored by North Dakota Game and Fish and policies and stocking practices are aligned to match needs. And it’s tagging studies

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