Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2012 Bringing together strangers, often through social media, the events aim to support locally owned merchants. The upshot: stores get a windfall, and ‘mobsters’ learn more about their city and meet new friends. The crowd stood at the corner of San Pedro and Boyd streets, a bustling shopping area near L.A.’s … Read More
New York Times, April 13, 2012 An environmentalist in Bentonville sounds like the premise for a low-budget reality show, but Wal-Mart has been courting environmental groups and seeking their input on its policies in the seven years since it first announced a sustainability program. The company, the nation’s biggest retailer, has met some environmental goals and … Read More
Star Tribune, April 9, 2012 In this piece in the Star Tribune David Morris speaks out on the need to stop the tidal wave of post office closings that will occur when the Post Office’s self-imposed moratorium ends in mid May. Last year, 3,600 communities, about 90 in Minnesota, were notified that they’ll probably lose their … Read More
Neighborhood Notes, April 2, 2012 Are multi-million dollar public investments to woo corporations to our city in the best interest of our local economy? Who is responsible for job creation? The president, local government, entrepreneurial business people? As we expressed last month in the first installment in our Thinking Local series, you don’t have to look … Read More
In this cover story for Sojourners Magazine, Stacy Mitchell writes that there is remarkably little evidence to support the idea that bigger banks are superior. They have come to dominate, not because they are more efficient or offer better services, but because they have rigged government policy in their own favor. It’s time for a new set of rules—banking policies for the 99 percent.… Read More
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 28, 2012 Chris Dilla figures somebody must like the posters she puts up in the bathrooms of her Bocktown Beer and Grill restaurant in Robinson, because a few have disappeared. Rock star images? Andy Warhol prints? No. Just marketing materials from The 3/50 Project, a low-key effort to get consumers to think about … Read More
Yes Magazine, March 26, 2012 Running their own utility means sun and wind energy instead of coal. by Valerie Schloredt The Boulder-Denver “Power Past Fossil Fuels” bike ride in September served also as a rally for the local utility initiative. Photo by Zane Selvans. The city of Boulder, Colo., has won the right to take its … Read More
Minnesota Public Radio, March 26, 2012 In this article, ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell discusses how the coming of cheap solar may change everything. Most Americans think clean energy is futuristic — a good idea some day, but not practical now. But a new report from the Institute for Local Self Reliance suggests that within 10 … Read More
Minnesota Public Radio, March 26, 2012 When the city of Monticello started providing broadband service in late 2010, advocates hailed it as a model for bringing new technology to an underserved region. Fiber optic lines were making Internet access as fast as anywhere in the state. ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell comments on the issue of overall broadband … Read More
