Value: Progress & Innovation

Entrepreneurial Administration as a Goal for Public Administration

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

“On the conventional telling, public agencies follow specific grants of regulatory authority, use the traditional tools of notice-and-comment rulemaking and adjudication, and are checked by judicial review. In reality, however, effective administration depends on entrepreneurial leadership that spearheads policy experimentation and trial-and-error problem-solving, including the development of regulatory programs that use non-traditional tools.”

Read & Share   sourced from: GovLab

Radical thinking reveals the secrets of making change happen

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

Have you ever wondered how and why change happens? Perhaps more importantly, have you ever wondered how what looks like intentional change happens? The change ingredients are easy to see in when looked on with hindsight, and the driving factors are the topic of a new book called The Guardian by Duncan Green. Check out

Read & Share   sourced from: GovLab

Help Grand Forks streets pass ‘Coffee Cup Test’

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown has taken up the general mission of ‘doing it better’, and one of the first places he’s starting is on the roads in Grand Forks. And an accidentally created litmus test is his newest tool. It’s one part of a larger commentary where Mayor Brown provides a little direct communication

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

Pickle beer and Red Bull slushies among new brews at Minnesota State Fair

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

The 2017 North Dakota State Fair is in the books, and at first blush, the numbers seem pretty good; attendance was up nearly six thousand visitors compared to last year. But in order to stay competitive, we should always be looking around at how others are doing the ‘fair’ game. One stark difference between Minnesota’s

Read & Share   sourced from: Star Tribune

In Crookston, Housing and economic development organizations combine

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

The challenges and methods for dealing with those challenges of cities across the region is strikingly similar. Job creation and economic growth are challenges that nearly every smaller community deals with, and in Crookston, MN, they’ve been managing those efforts from two different organizations. But a lack of resources and overlapping missions forced them into

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

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North Dakota passes 400 percent fine increase for littering

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

The police and highway patrol have been empowered to get serious about littering. Starting August 1, the fine for throwing out that cigarette will be something you notice if you get caught; it’s going from $100 to $500. The Grand Forks Herald has more on the story.

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

There’s evidence, E-cigarettes do help people quit smoking

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

The evidence is significant; it’s pulled from a study that included 160,000 people over 15 years. And what it points to is important, e-cigarettes help people quit smoking.

Read & Share   sourced from: The Verge

Half of Well Productivity Gains May be Due to Core Acreage Drilling, Not Better Frac Designs

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

There’s little doubt those operating in the Bakken have gotten more efficient in the past few years. The low prices have forced operators to get costs under control and the end result is an oil play that’s more economically resilient. But what about the wells, are we getting better at getting more oil out of

Read & Share   sourced from: Oil and Gas 360

ND’s top correction officer looks to Norway for new solutions to old problems

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

In our country and more and more in our state, we put people in jail. For a long time, we’ve viewed incarceration as the only solution to the problem of criminal activity and recidivism. But is it? More importantly, is there a better solution? A recent trip to Norway by our state’s top correction officers

Read & Share   sourced from: Mother Jones

Shopping habits are hurting American jobs, especially today

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, it was the rise of the mall that dramatically changed shopping habits and the retail delivery model. Today, it’s the Internet and giant online retailers like Amazon. The consumer behavior is shifting toward the model that provides lower prices and more convenience, and the pace of the change is increasing.

Read & Share   sourced from: The Washington Post

Winging it on a prayer: churches are trying new ways to attract young followers

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

There’s a lot in flux right now in our country — our economy, our political spectrum, the technology that shapes our daily lives — all of it is changing. And so are our churches; those that are growing are finding new ways to connect with parishioners.

Read & Share   sourced from: Dickinson Press

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It's the free, easy way to stay informed about what's happening in Minot, and it helps support independent local news and journalism.

10 Farming Myths to Think About on Your Next Grocery Run

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

It’s true, here in North Dakota we’re closer to our food production here than most parts of the country, but that doesn’t mean some misperceptions about dinner gets from the farm to the table aren’t out there. This quick article from Science Alerts calls out the common myths about modern agriculture and food production and

Read & Share   sourced from: Science Alert

What’s a ‘Pop Up City Hall’? Popsicles, an umbrella and a Grand Forks official

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

Back on July 16, the City of Minot threw itself a birthday party. You may not have known we just turned 130. It was a great event for many reasons, but perhaps most significantly for the way it made city officials and services public and accessible in a non-traditional setting. And shortly after that celebration,

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

The biggest infrastructure project in the US is a 3,000-mile bike path

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

It’s called the East Coast Greenway; it connects Maine to Florida, and it’s being funded by private donors, state, and local governments. The goal is connectivity. Read the full story on Quartz.

Read & Share   sourced from: Quartz

Stretch of Mississippi River in and around St. Cloud sheds its sullied history

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

For one city in Minnesota, the Mississippi River was just a water pathway that flowed through town. It was the place they dumped their sewage; it was the home of meat-packing plants that sent their environmental impacts downstream. They stopped the environmental damage they were doing a generation ago; now their eyes are opening to

Read & Share   sourced from: Star Tribune

Our economic future depends on storytellers

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

Heard a good story lately? It’s kind of a trick question, because if you did, you may not even know it. Storytelling is a time-honored art form, but we’re just now discovering the relevance it has to what we think, who we trust, and how we act. And our ability to spin a yarn may

Read & Share   sourced from: Quartz