Every week, Alliance for a Better Minnesota will highlight the important work being done in the progressive community. Focusing on issues that impact Minnesotans’ lives, this important work helps Minnesota continue moving forward.

Twenty Cool Months Of Economic Growth: Business Conditions Index found that July marked the 20th consecutive month that Minnesota has been projected to see economic growth and expansion. Minnesota scored the highest in the Midwest.

Minneapolis Mayor On Alcohol Recovery: Earlier this week, Minneapolis’s Mayor Betsy Hodges did an interview with MinnPost discussing the time in her life when she stopped drinking alcohol. At 19 years old, she made an incredibly brave choice:

But from that snapshot I was like, well, I could live like this for the next 10 years and hit 29 and be just as miserable as I am now … or I can endure a high-grade level of misery for a shorter period of time, but then after that there’s no limit on what I can do. No limit on what my life could be like or how happy I could be if I am willing to deal with whatever’s behind all these addictions — to walk through that fire. If I’m willing to place myself in that crucible and get distilled down to the essence, I can do anything.

Be sure to read the whole piece here. It shows how truly inspiring some of our public officials are when faced with challenges.

U Toilets Using Stormwater: Two-hundred toilets at the University of Minnesota’s newest 17th Avenue Residence Hall run on stormwater. Because most of the water we normally use in toilets is cleaned up to drinking water standards, it’s often very wasteful. The cistern atop of the U’s new residence hall can hold up to 35,000 gallons of stormwater.