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Pioneer Press | November 06, 2017
Educators are increasingly certain that the skills children learn in preschool classes like Heroff's are essential to success in kindergarten — and can help close the academic achievement gap between poor and minority children and their peers.
Amy McGuire, who teaches down the road from Castle at Richardson Elementary, said it's easy to tell which students attended a preschool program before kindergarten.
"They have a huge jump on things," McGuire said. "They're a little more confident and a little less terrified."
This year, more Minnesota 4-year-olds than ever before are in school, thanks to a steady increase in early-learning funding that has grown to more than $250 million in the current $18.8 billion two-year education budget, approved in May.
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Forum News Service | November 03, 2017
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn.—Abby Haley "fell in love."
Jen Jensen encountered "my own personal devil."
The women were talking about their addiction to opioids, powerful painkillers that Minnesota and national officials say are taking taking over so many lives that the situation has become a crisis.
Many who have become enveloped in the crisis are like Haley and Jensen, who hit the depths. The two women received treatment and say they have been clean for two years.
"At my lowest point, I was broken and I had no hope for a better life," Jensen recalled Friday, Nov. 3, as she joined state officials in announcing $16.6 million in grants to organizations around the state that fight the opioid epidemic.
More than 30 agencies will split the money, with the intention of reaching 110,000 Minnesotans over the next three years.
The money comes from the federal government, and mostly goes to existing programs to either launch new efforts to expand existing ones.
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KSTP | November 03, 2017
Minnesotans will get new resources to deal with the opioid epidemic.
On Friday, the state awarded more than $16 million in grants to 30 different agencies.
Opioid overdose deaths have increased in Minnesota by 430 percent since the year 2000. Over the course of the next 3 years, this money will try to put a dent in those numbers.
"All across Minnesota, families and communities are being damaged by the nightmare that is opioid abuse, and addiction, it's critical that we put an end to this now," Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper said.
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Fox 9 | November 03, 3017
Agri News | November 07, 2017
ST. PAUL — Gov. Mark Dayton says farmers have made a "remarkable amount of progress" in meeting new state goals for water quality around the state.
During a conference call on Oct. 30, Dayton thanked area farmers, landowners and local officials for their continued efforts in protecting water quality through the state's buffer initiative. The 2015 legislation requires farmers to establish a 50-foot vegetation buffer on lands adjacent to public waters. The buffers are meant to reduce the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment entering Minnesota's lakes and streams.
Dayton said landowners are now at least 95 percent compliant with the state's initiative, ahead of Wednesday's deadline.
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