Using Data for City Planning ~ Student Debt and Small Farms ~ LuLu Garcia Navarro ~ Annie Gerhardt

Wednesday, February 15 – The What Works Cities initiative is an effort to use data and statistical analysis to improve city functions. Fargo is one of 63 cities participating, with more expected to join. It sounds a bit like baseball’s cyber metrics, but here with a more thoughtful explanation is Fargo community development administrator Dan Mahli, and city planners Aaron Nelson and Tyrone Grandstrand. ~~~ Harvest Public Media’s Kristofor Hustad looks into student debt and its impact on small farms. ~~~ We have a chance to visit with NPR journalist Lulu Garcia Navarro. She has had an exciting career, with stops in Rio de Janeiro as NPR's international correspondent in South America, a stint based in Mexico, and many years in the Middle East based in Israel and Iraq. She’s now the new host of Weekend Edition Sunday. ~~~ Capt. Annie Gerhardt is a North Dakota Army National Guard member from Devils Lake with a very interesting story. She's currently activated in Ghana supporting a Medical Readiness Training Exercise. Annie is a nurse practitioner who joined the Army later in life, and she comments on her experience in remote places, both in and out of uniform.