A growing number of rural Midwestern churches -- where generations have been baptized, married and buried -- are closing their doors as rural America loses residents to cities and suburbs. "There’s a kind of sadness to see the rural decline,” one observer says.

Financially squeezed cities generally try to avoid cutting back on public safety. That means many turn to libraries, where shorter hours, fewer staff, and smaller acquisitions budgets are becoming common.

In Minnesota's metropolitan counties 14 percent of residents receive Social Security benefits. In rural counties it's more than 23 percent.

Just over a week after parts of the St. Paul Central Library got drenched in a water mishap, the library is dry enough to resume business. The library director said a custodian left a sink faucet running overnight after a shift July 6, and workers found water pooling on a large section of the third floor the next day.

The senator says he thinks some leaders on both sides of the aisle agree something should be done to prevent the impending closure of rural processing centers and post offices, but the Democrat admits putting a plan in place by the May 15th deadline could be tough.

People in their 30s and 40s have continued to move to parts of rural Minnesota, new research shows -- perhaps drawn by a higher quality of life, a slower pace, more security, cheaper housing and a better place to raise children. The results add nuance to larger trends of population decline, young people leaving and elderly populations increasing in rural areas.

The bestseller "Fifty Shades of Grey" is a little too steamy for some public libraries around the country. But up here in the northland we like steam. The Hennepin County Public Library tells the New York Times more people have requested holds on that book than any other the staff can remember. They've even offered a list of other spicy novels to read while you wait for "Shades of Grey" to be returned.