Ron Troupe

Ron Troupe is the Daily Planet's top political and economic journalist. He is an award winning reporter with a more careful and meticulous approach towards his pieces. Ron prides himself on truth and integrity and is extremely intelligent.

Minnesota’s annual business survey shows improvement in ‘key areas,’ says DEED

/
photo of high rise buildings
Photo by Josh Hild on Pexels.com

Minnesota business services firms are cautiously optimistic about the workforce shortage and inflation easing in the coming year, according to a survey of Minnesota businesses service firms conducted by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Metro cities team up to ‘Electrify Everything MN’

Empty highways leading to Minneapolis during the Covid-19 Coronavirus outbreeak on St. Patricks Day 2021. Photo by Chad Davis

Significant progress continues to be made in cutting carbon emissions from energy production in Minnesota and and area metro cities stated that there has never been a better time to begin exploring the transition from gas-powered appliances to electric-powered options.

Department of Commerce establishes national artificial intelligence advisory committee 

//
blue bright lights
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo today announced that the Commerce Department has established a high-level committee to advise the President and other federal agencies on a range of issues related to artificial intelligence (AI). Working with the National AI Initiative Office (NAIIO) in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Department is now seeking to recruit top-level candidates to serve on the committee.

NASA Perseverance Mars rover to acquire first sample

A light-colored “paver stone,” like the ones seen in this mosaic image, will be the likely target for first sampling by the Perseverance rover. This image was taken July 8, 2021, in the “Cratered Floor Fractured Rough” geologic unit at Jezero Crater. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

NASA is making final preparations for its Perseverance Mars rover to collect its first-ever sample of Martian rock, which future planned missions will transport to Earth. The six-wheeled geologist is searching for a scientifically interesting target in a part of Jezero Crater called the “Cratered Floor Fractured Rough.”

UNC trustees approve tenure for Nikole Hannah-Jones

/
Nikole Hannah-Jones posing with the Ida B. Wells monument in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Hannah-Jones

Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted 9-4 to accept a plan to offer investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports.

Minnesota unemployment rate drops to 4.1 percent in April

person standing at the edge of building at night
Photo by Josh Hild on Pexels.com

Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent in April, from 4.2 percent in March, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The unemployment rate decline was due to people moving from unemployment to employment. The U.S. unemployment rate rose one-tenth to 6.1 percent in April.

Job growth slowed in April as US adds 266,000 jobs

cityscape with multistory house exteriors under cloudy sky
Photo by Charles Parker on Pexels.com

The American job market slowed considerably last month, according to the latest US jobs report. The economy added just 266,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1 percent, surprising some economists who had projected a growth of approximately 1 million jobs. President Joe Biden said that the latest numbers are proof that his American Jobs Plan is necessary to jumpstart the economy following the COVID-19 pandemic.