Articles & News - Page 2 of 59

Crew members perform an inspection at one of First Solar’s Ohio manufacturing plants. Credit: First Solar / Courtesy of Energy News Network.

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.

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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.

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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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Environment & Sustainability

Inside Our Towns: Erin Sanborn

Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
February 21, 2023

Erin Sanborn discusses service and sustainability and the role the University of Redlands plays in the community and beyond with Evan Sanford in this episode of the Inside Our Towns podcast.

Volunteers install a sculpture at the Crawford County Coalition on Housing Needs in 2020. Photo courtesy My Meadville via Facebook.

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Citizen Engagement

Meadville Leaders Turn a Community’s Plan into Action

Jordan Sandman
February 17, 2023

Community leaders in Meadville, Pennsylvania listened to, and included, residents in planning and policymaking to drive informed change.

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Civic Life

Is Rural America Growing Again? Recent Data Suggests Yes

Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder
February 14, 2023

Despite unprecedented Covid-19-related death rates, rural America shows population growth after a decade of decline.

"Pittsburgh skyline" by US Department of State is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

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Environment & Sustainability

How Pittsburgh found a secret climate weapon in ‘the thrilling world of municipal budgeting’

Claire Elise Thompson, Grist
February 10, 2023

Even cash-strapped cities have money for climate action. They just need to spend it better.

An Eastern Kentucky family anticipates life in their new home (Photo courtesy of Housing Development Alliance).

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Environment & Sustainability

Finding ‘Higher Ground’: Locally-led Movement Works Toward a Just Housing Recovery in Eastern Kentucky

Kim Kobersmith, The Daily Yonder
February 9, 2023

The urgent need for housing assistance in flood stricken Appalachian communities reveals the severe limitations of the nation’s response and support systems. Community groups are stepping up to help.

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Civic Life

Discovering ‘Cultural Debris’: Making a Big World Small by Paying Attention to Permanent Things

Tom Ruby
January 30, 2023

Sharing what we experience when we travel can open communities to themselves and others.

Josh Landry installs fiber-optic cable in Dedham, Maine, as part of a broadband project that is putting in 60 miles of cable in the town of 1,600. (Photo by Carolyn Campbell)

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Economic Development

Running Fiber-Optic Cable to Rural Communities Is Part of Maine’s Ambitious Broadband Plan

Carolyn Campbell, The Daily Yonder
January 26, 2023

Maine’s governor has pledged that everyone in the state who wants high-speed internet will be able to get it by the end of 2024. In just one small, Down East town, that means installing 60 miles of fiber-optic cable.

A loose crowd of people walking around the inside of Detroit's Eastern Market.

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Economic Development

What Midwest Industrial Communities can Teach about Managing Economic Change

John C. Austin
January 20, 2023

With a great convergence on both sides of the Atlantic around the urgent need to diminish geographic economic disparities and opportunity gaps — particularly those between thriving global city regions and struggling communities in industrial heartlands – there are growing efforts to learn from each other.

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Education

‘Uniting Americans through Service: How California is Leading’

Ben Speggen
January 19, 2023

California's Chief Service Officer discusses the California Volunteers' initiatives -- the impact CalVols is having in the state, and how it serves as a model nationwide at Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit event at the University of Redlands.

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Civic Life

Inside Our Towns: John Kropf

Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
January 17, 2023

John Kropf discusses his latest book, 'Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company', which explores Sandusky, Ohio's innovative industrial heritage and his family's role in it.