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Recent posts

Articles & News

Barn at the Deerwood Ranch wild horse refugee, outside Laramie, Wyoming. (Deborah Fallows)
View Post
  • Civic Life

‘With the Wind at our Back’

  • James Fallows
  • September 3, 2023
Ten years in, a promising change in the national mood. Now, what comes next.
A young girl rakes up a pile of leaves.
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Health & Well-Being

Local Action with Global Effects: the Saga of the Leaf Blower

  • James Fallows
  • September 14, 2023
There was a time when people considered the noise and pollution of gas-powered leafblowers to be merely a “First-World Problem,” a nuisance that mattered only to people with nothing more…
View Post
  • K-12

Outstanding Programs in Public Education from the American South

  • Deborah Fallows
  • September 3, 2023
Lessons from Mississippi for the rest of the U.S.
Aerial view of the ocean and the town of Easport, Maine.
View Post
  • Media

Our Towns Returns to Eastport, Maine, Ten Years Later

  • Deborah Fallows
  • August 23, 2023
Deb and Jim Fallows talk with David Dahl of The Maine Monitor.
View from the right seat of the Cirrus. Storms near Bowie, Arizona. (Deborah Fallows)
View Post
  • Travel

Summer in Our Towns

  • Deborah Fallows
  • August 7, 2023
How the summer of 2023 looks from the air and on the ground.
Entrance to the main library in Columbus, Ohio, a city that is putting the "Open to All" motto into effect (Deborah Fallows)
View Post
  • Libraries

Libraries in the Age of Book Bans

  • Deborah Fallows
  • June 26, 2023
Across the country, libraries are coming under political pressure. Here is how they are upholding their role as anchors for their communities, 'Open to All.'
A group of people stand on a catwalk looking down at a first-floor level lab.
View Post
  • Economic Development

Paths to New Prosperity and a Better Politics in Our Democracies

  • John C. Austin
  • May 18, 2023
'It's not all a silicon valley'. What a new report of a U.S.-Midwest learning exchange and study tour for European Union and United Kingdom leaders finds.
Some of the Arras Foundation staff (from left to right: Elizabeth Howe, Brian Canty, Hannah Saeger Karnei, Emma DeVenny, Susan DeVenny, and Savannah Crosby) pose in front of a mural on historic Main Street in downtown Lancaster, South Carolina. Photo courtesy of the Arras Foundation.
View Post
  • Local Institutions

Driving Regional Transformation through Inclusion

  • Ben Speggen
  • April 6, 2023
The Arras Foundation in Lancaster, South Carolina, is using resident input and data to empower whole-of-region progress.
Three kayakers paddle down a river.
View Post
  • Parks & Recreation

Great Falls Reimagines Its Identity through Nature-Based Tourism

  • Ben Speggen
  • March 30, 2023
With community partnerships and resident input, the small South Carolina town is writing its next chapter.
Andrew McKeever, Jim Fallows, Deb Fallows on Greater Northshire Access Television's ‘The News Project: In Studio’.
View Post
  • Media

Discussing the ‘Our Towns’ Journey on The News Project

  • Ben Speggen
  • March 29, 2023
Deb and Jim Fallows explore the ongoing story of Our Towns with Andrew McKeever on Greater Northshire Access Television's ‘The News Project: In Studio’.
Three people lift a solar panel.
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

Carbon offset pact will put solar on dozens of Habitat for Humanity homes

  • Elizabeth McGowan, Energy News Network
  • March 17, 2023
The District of Columbia-based American Institute of Architects is offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from a major renovation with a $500,000 donation that will cover the cost of solar panels on an estimated 72 homes.
Seven people sitting on stage for a panel discussion.
View Post
  • Civic Life

‘Change is in the Air – in Redlands!’

  • Ben Speggen
  • March 15, 2023
A panel of residents, business owners, and community stakeholders discuss the southern California city then, and now.
Illustrated router and rural setting.
View Post
  • Civic Life

How Infrastructure Funding Is Bringing High-Speed Internet to Hard-to-Reach Places

  • Nhatt Nichols, The Daily Yonder
  • March 7, 2023
A fresh round of funds was pumped into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Broadband project when the infrastructure bill passed a year ago. That investment is bringing connectivity to some of the most rugged and remote corners of the country.
Crew members perform an inspection at one of First Solar’s Ohio manufacturing plants. Credit: First Solar / Courtesy of Energy News Network.
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

Made-in-Ohio solar panels benefit from federal incentives, supply chain politics

  • Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
  • March 3, 2023
About two decades after cadmium telluride solar panels were commercialized in Ohio, the maturing technology is finding momentum thanks in part to its domestic manufacturing and supply chain.
Zoom panel of four people, two men at the top, two women at the bottom.
View Post
  • Local Institutions

How a Foundation Transforms the Well-Being of Residents

  • Ben Speggen
  • March 1, 2023
Our Towns' Ben Speggen talks with the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation team to discuss how the Foundation is empowering community development, has transformed a former grocery store into an innovative hub for nonprofits, and more.
Community members holding rakes and shovels pose in front of Fort Lawn, South Carolina town sign.
View Post
  • Local Institutions

How a Community Center Helps a Town Rise Again

  • Ben Speggen
  • February 24, 2023
Residents of Fort Lawn, South Carolina used a community development model to identify 51 actionable goals to improve their town. Today, they’re checking off the list, one by one.

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