Congratulation’s to Makoti’s Everett Dobrinski, who was recently inducted into the national Cooperative Hall of Fame!  Everett is only one of 177 people in the Hall of Fame, which honors cooperative farmers.

And you’re going to like today’s news – about a wall of purses, speedy service, and a hero of rural newspapers.  Read on.

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I typically don’t put business philanthropic activities because there are so many (!) that they would overtake the news; however, this is a very clever way for a business to visibly support an organization and help individual people without asking for money. (KFYR TV)

Two weeks ago, I posted a story about how Fargo, Bismarck, and Williston are working to reduce wait times at the DMV.  Turns out Grand Forks already the process down pat; they have a zero-wait. (Grand Forks Herald)

Two North Dakota newspapers (Adams County Record and New England Extra) had to close due to loss of ad revenue, and so Jill Friesz, who owns the Grant County News and Carson Press, stepped in to save them.  I love what she had to say about it (Dickinson Press):

“Small newspapers will never die, because we are the heartbeat of the community,” she said. “It’s really important for people in these coverage areas to know that we are a local entity, that it’s a local person that is going to cover their community news. We are not a big company from out of state, we are a local North Dakota company.”