~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University   Driving across dusty country roads, we often find tattered traffic signs, including old detour signs that invite us to create a new path or stay on course. Seeing a green traffic light might solicit a quick glance before the gas pedal is …

~by Steve Yoder Community Development Regional Educator, Purdue Extension   Most community-related grant applications have a section asking for a description of the changes expected within a community if the proposal were to be funded and implemented. Words often used to describe these changes include goals, objectives, outcomes, and impacts. Although all of these words …

~by Michael Wilcox Assistant Director and Program Leader for Community Development / Purdue Extension Associate Director / North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD)   Are you experiencing the same thing I am? I am uncertain if it is politics or the pandemic, but polarization appears to be winning the day. There was a …

~by Dr. Larry DeBoer January 28, 2022   Farmland property taxes have been falling. Total property taxes paid by agricultural property owners fell 2.3 percent per year from 2017 to 2021, mostly because of lower farmland assessed values. But farmland prices are rising. A Purdue Agricultural Economics survey showed that average farmland selling prices increased …

Reminders and alerts for Purdue Extension CD educators. Jeff Hermesch is the Agriculture & Natural Resources and Community Development Extension Educator in Dearborn County, Indiana. Jeff began his Extension career in Decatur County, Indiana, in 2013 as the 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator and then transitioned to the Agriculture & Natural Resources Extension Educator. In …

~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University     Knock! Knock! The wrapping of knuckles on the large, dark door frame bellows down the corridor of the distillery. The distillery marks the history of what founded the town more than one hundred years ago. Grandparents were secretaries, bookkeepers, and the …

~by Michael Wilcox Assistant Director and Program Leader for Community Development / Purdue Extension Associate Director / North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD)     At the community level, when is the right time for a change? The answer to this question depends on your circumstances and your point of view. Those who …

~by Steve Yoder Community Development Regional Educator, Purdue Extension    Whenever I facilitate Purdue Extension’s Guide to Grant Writing workshop, there is usually a participant seeking funding to buy equipment for an organization. Sometimes, it’s new uniforms for the volunteer fire department. At other times, it’s a van for a youth organization.  When these participants …

~by Dr. Larry DeBoer January 4, 2022   The property tax is the biggest source of tax revenue for most Indiana local governments, and they were worried about the effect of the COVID recession on property tax revenues. But rising home values in 2020 will increase assessed values for tax bills in 2022. The federal …

~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University     What does it mean to live and belong to a community? By definition, belonging to a community requires an affinity for that community and having the qualities that afford you membership in that community. Those qualities align with basic community capitals: social, …