Features

Essentia Health brings clinical trials to underrepresented rural communities

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Essentia Health has been selected to join the prestigious STAR Clinical Research Network, which focuses on improving health across common and rare diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, COVID-19, vasculitis, and other conditions. Essentia is one of only 10 health systems that comprise the research network. Essentia was selected, in part, for its rural footprint—about 84 percent of Essentia’s […]

A lot of love at the St. Louis County Courthouse in Virginia this Valentine’s Day

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VIRGINIA – Valentine’s Day—February 14—is all about celebrating love, and for four couples at the St. Louis County District Court in Virginia, it also became their wedding day. Inspired by Hennepin County District Court’s tradition of performing weddings on Valentine’s Day, Judge Michelle Anderson offered to marry couples on this romantic holiday. “One of the many privileges I have as […]

Performance at Rock Ridge on Saturday, February 24

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Attend a night of amazing music by the Concordia Choir


VIRGINIA – Music has long been a powerful way to bring communities together, so it is unsurprising that the faculty of Rock Ridge High School has been using music to connect with the surrounding communities. The latest endeavor involves a performance by the Concordia Choir from Concordia College in Moorhead and Rock Ridge’s A Cappella Choir. On Saturday, February 24, […]

Choice Therapy located on Rock Ridge campus

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New rehabilitative therapy clinic now on the East Range

VIRGINIA – Whether you are recovering from orthopedic surgery, sustained an injury while participating in your favorite sport, or are experiencing musculoskeletal pain, rehabilitative therapy may be a good option to get you back to your daily activities again. With the addition of a new outpatient clinic on the East Range offering physical and occupational therapy services, Choice Therapy could […]

A virtuosic voice and indomitable spirit

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Patsy Cline musical takes the stage February 16 and 18

MOUNTAIN IRON — She was influenced by crooning jazz vocalists. She could growl like a rock-and-roller. Her last records had a smooth pop sound. But she was a country singer, and nobody sang a country song—or any song—like Patsy Cline. Her story has been adapted for screen and stage many times. Cloquet native Jessica Lange played Patsy in the 1985 […]

“I love writing and I loved writing articles for the paper”

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To retire or not? What a hard decision it can be to make


I’m officially retired, handing in my resignation letter to Hometown Focus a few weeks ago. It was a hard decision to make. I sat on my resignation letter for a week before sending it to the powers that be. I earned a communications degree with a journalism emphasis in 1975 from the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks. […]

Snow sculptures highlight Ely Winter Festival

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ELY: Visitors to the 2024 Ely Winter Festival, possibly the warmest on record, found some puddles and bare ground among the snow sculptures in Whiteside Park. Thanks to the ingenuity of city crews, who scraped up enough snow to pack into piles in the park, snow sculpting teams expressed their own ingenuity and creativity—though it wasn’t long before their ephemeral […]

Natural Connections: Snowflake stories with branches

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“Snowflakes are amazing!” I gushed to the students in a recent “Words for Winter Wonder” writing workshop hosted by the Lake Superior Writers in Duluth. I continued on, summarizing how snowflakes form. Water vapor crystalizes around a piece of dust, or dirt, or even a unique bacterium. Then, as puffs and gales of wind toss the nascent snow crystal inside […]

FAQ about Chinese New Year

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Chinese New Year sparks interest every year. Unlike New Year on the Gregorian calendar, which always falls on January 1, Chinese New Year does not begin on the same date each year. It’s important to note that this is only when Chinese New Year begins, which is another thing that distinguishes the celebration from New Year’s celebrations in the west, […]

Outstanding achievements in construction celebrated

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Rock Ridge High School wins 2024 MCA Choice Award

The 29th Annual MCA Awards of Excellence, a prestigious event recognizing exceptional projects and achievements in construction, was held on January 24, 2024, at the Minneapolis Marriott West. The evening showcased innovation, talent and dedication within the construction industry. The Awards of Excellence Gala brought together over 250 industry professionals to honor outstanding individuals and organizations who have demonstrated unparalleled […]


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