News – Page 69 – TheMinotVoice.com

Grand Forks City fees, projected tax revenue up in budget draft for a ‘pinching year’

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

There’s been a lot of talk in Minot this spring about how 2018 local budgets are going to be difficult ones. Decreasing revenue, the end of a state property tax buy down, and the need to fund flood protection will create a pinch. In Grand Forks, they’re feeling similar pressure and the working meetings to

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

In Duluth, Sump pump, line inspections will be mandatory before home sales

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

Does your sump pump drain out onto the street as it’s supposed to or does the water get put into a household drain and added to the City’s sanitary sewer system? In Duluth, various municipalities are taking steps to make sure homeowners are in compliance. The Grand Forks Herald hast the story.

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

Oil climbs on weaker dollar, but rise in U.S. drilling drags

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

The number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. has been growing in recent months and so has the oil output. Both have combined to put downward pressure on the price of oil which has recently risen above the lows produced by a 7-month downward trend.

Read & Share sourced from: Reuters

Scientific American Labels Precision Farming as a Technology to Watch

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

We all gotta eat, the world’s population keeps on growing. And we don’t seem to be growing a lot of new land, so we’re going to have to feed the growing population with the food production areas already in use. And toward that end, precision farming is a concept that has a high ceiling. Companies

Read & Share sourced from: Scientific American

Bloomberg to launch $17M contest for US cities

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

The rise of the city-state is getting a boost from the foundation of a former New York Mayor. The Bloomberg Foundation is putting up $17 million and making it available directly to the nation’s cities in the hopes of encouraging Mayors to take responsibility for critical issues and address them locally.

Read & Share sourced from: Star Tribune

Minn. cities rethink carnivals, security at local summer festivals

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

In Minnesota, the fair business is on the move. Where it’s going is yet to be determined, but cultural shifts are forcing the industry to evolve and adapt. And for those that don’t, lower attendance and local irrelevance are the end result. It is perhaps a canary-in-the-coal-mine story for Minot as the North Dakota State Fair is

Read & Share sourced from: Star Tribune

A storybook finish for an original St. Paul Saint

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

Here’s your feel-good story of the week; 45-year old Kevin Millar started his professional baseball career with the St. Paul Saints in their inaugural season 25-years ago. Yesterday, he put the uniform on again to help them celebrate and even took an at bat. What happened next is a classic baseball story. Watch below.

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SD congresswoman’s family-based substance abuse treatment bill passes House

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

Last week, the U.S. House unanimously passed the Supporting Families in Substance Abuse Treatment Act. The program allows foster care dollars to go towards keeping families together while parents in trouble because of drug abuse stay in a treatment center that can accommodate the whole family.

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

How Sweden is pushing toward the seemingly impossible goal of zero emissions

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

Our distant Scandinavian relatives have built themselves some pretty sustainable energy infrastructure, just 5% of Sweden’s energy comes from fossil fuels. But they’ve set an even higher goal — be 100% sustainable by 2045. And the problems they have to solve in order to get there and the manner in which they’re attempting to solve

Read & Share sourced from: Quartz

A new player in the meat market… plants

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2017

North Dakota is beef country; we run cattle and order steak. But outside of North Dakota in food labs and corporate boardrooms, there’s been a long fought effort to produce beef that doesn’t come from cows. They’re getting closer. Read the article on Quartz about a new plant-based meat substitute that earned a heady praise

Read & Share sourced from: Quartz

Health Department warns of cyanotoxin in North Dakota waters, animal deaths reported

by: Josh Wolsky | June 24, 2017

The hotter-than-usual weather combined with little rain has sped up mother nature’s clock when it comes to creating ripe conditions for blue-green algae development. The blue-green algae release cyanotoxins into water sources that can be fatal if ingested. Several cattle deaths have already been reported. Kim Fundingsland with the Minot Daily News has the story.

Read & Share sourced from: Minot Daily News

Local angel fund from Dakotas gets farm-tech app

by: Josh Wolsky | June 24, 2017

A North Dakota farm technology company that’s developed an app that streamlines contracts between farmers and local elevators has gotten a financial boost from a South Dakota-based angel fund. Myrian\d Mobile the app developer out of Fargo; The Falls Angel Fund out of Sioux Falls liked Myriad’s prospects and chose to invest $1.35 million to

Read & Share sourced from: Bismarck Tribune

Lake Audubon drought draw down plan sparks concerns

by: Josh Wolsky | June 24, 2017

The snake creek embankment that separates Lake Sakakawea and Lake Audubon is more than 70 years old, and in 2005 it was put to a heavy test when the elevation differential between the two lakes reached 41 feet. The result of that differential sparked a concern within the Corps of Engineers that has now led

Read & Share sourced from: Bismarck Tribune

Africa is now the world’s testing ground for commercial drones

by: Josh Wolsky | June 24, 2017

North Dakota likes to think of itself as a leader in UAS investment. And in the U.S., we are. But on a global scale, strict U.S. regulations are dampening the industries ability to advance at the pace dictated by commercial demands and technical ability. In Africa, regulatory burdens aren’t a problem there we’re seeing drones

Read & Share sourced from: Quartz

Automated Garbage Roll Out Coming Soon

by: Josh Wolsky | June 23, 2017

The roll-out of Minot’s automated garbage pick-up service is weeks away. The issue has generated lots of community conversation in the past months, and speaking to many of those concerns, Jill Schramm with the Minot Daily provides some timely reporting on the initiative.

Read & Share sourced from: Minot Daily News

Burgum opens applications for State Water Commission

by: Josh Wolsky | June 23, 2017

The State Water Commission is a hugely influential body, they’re responsible for directing the Water Commissions legislative appropriation which in recent bienniums numbered in the hundreds of millions of dollars. They’re also the organization informing many aspects of our local flood protection project. And at the conclusion of yesterday’s meeting, Governor Burgum announced that there

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald