Five years after the project was first introduced, the homeowners group, University Park Estates Neighborhood Association, has thwarted plans for a 140,000-square-foot Home Depot in its community. Continue reading
ILSR vice president, David Morris, responds to Al Gore’s recent speech proposing a 10 year effort to move the United States to a 100% renewable energy electric system to address three major crises: the weak economy, catastrophic climate change and the dire national security problems inherent in our dependence on imported oil. Morris says that Gore got got two out of three right. Continue reading
When Local Became the New Organic By David Morris, originally published in Minnesota Law and Politics, August 2008 We can pinpoint with some precision the date the local food movement came of age: Dec. 15, 1997. That day the United States Department of Agriculture finally issued the organic standards that Congress had said it required… Continue reading
Shopping center construction continues at a furious pace, even as chain retailers announce plans to close more than 6,500 outlets and vacancy rates soar. Continue reading
At a time when most of the United States has slower, more expensive Internet connections than our overseas competitors, communities across the country have responded with initiatives to build the infrastructure of the 21st century. And then they have been sued.
Monticellois hardly the first community where an incumbent provider believes it alone should decide how that community connects to the world. Lafayette, a conservative city in Louisiana, spent several years in the courts before it could break ground on a publicly owned citywide network. Cajun culture did not allow for giving up on the project. Nice Minnesotans should do no less.
City on solid ground in lawsuit By Christopher Mitchell, originally published in the Monticello Times, July 31, 2008 At a time when most of the United States has slower, more expensive Internet connections than our overseas competitors, communities across the country have responded with initiatives to build the infrastructure of the 21st century. And… Continue reading
Buffalo News, July 27, 2008 The newly discovered natural gas reserves in the deep layer of rock of the Marcellus Shale, which lies under the Southern Tier, are potentially worth more than $70 billion. On Wednesday, Gov. David Paterson signed a bill making it easier for companies to drill for natural gas. Unfortunately, he didn’t… Continue reading
Christopher Mitchell appeared on the Mark Heaney Show on Air America
Radio to discuss the Monticello Fiber Net lawsuit and the importance of
publicly owned broadband networks
Continue reading
Minneapolis, Minn.— (July 23, 2008). Monticello has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit preventing it from building the fiber optic network 74% of voters supported in a referendum last fall.
TDS,the incumbent telephone provider in Monticello, rebuffed solicitations from the City to build a fiber network before filing a complaint to prevent the City from building its own network.
During the first week of July, over 40 local business alliances across the country celebrated Independents Week, an annual event that draws public attention to the importance of supporting locally owned, independent businesses. Continue reading
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