State

ST. PAUL – Statistics collected from Minnesota fire departments in 2011 reveal that the peak time for home fire fatalities is between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., and 29 percent of residential fire deaths that year occurred in homes without working smoke alarms. Those are two reasons the...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota is getting a fresh burst of attention in the presidential race after months of being taken for granted as a Democratic lock. Partisans on both sides are escalating efforts to turn out voters, making hundreds of thousands of calls and leaving glossy...

ST. PAUL – Paul Telander of Bemidji, a 28-year wildlife management veteran of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), has been named the Fish and Wildlife Division’s new wildlife section chief. “Paul is an experienced wildlife manager and administrator who brings...

By Brandon Stahl, Forum Communications

By John Myers, Forum Communications Co. BEMIDJI – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is adding restrictions on campfires and other fires in northwestern and central portions of the state starting Sunday because of worsening drought. The DNR will ban camp-fires starting...

By Blane Klemek I enjoy telling the following story. A good friend of mine, who is an avid and accomplished outdoorsman, once had a chance encounter with three northern Minnesota wolves on a cold and starlit December night several years ago. It was an unforgettable, thrilling experience...

To the people of Bemidji and the surrounding area, I have these words: For our sakes, and for our freedom, we must vote “no.” There have been many letters in this paper concerning religion and the definition of the marriage amendment. If our argument is based in religion, we...

By Brandon Stahl, Forum Communications DULUTH — When Brandon Castellano was a drug dealer working in Cloquet and Duluth, he sold marijuana and pain-killers such as OxyContin — but his most profitable drug was methadone, he said. And much of that methadone, he said, was paid for...

I remember the first time I spent a few days in the beautiful bluff country of southeast Minnesota. It was about nine years ago. I was able to take a little time from business and explore some of the grandeur of this lovely part of the state by driving the countryside and visiting...

BEMIDJI – November’s ballot will include a full plate of major political decisions for Minnesotans. Besides picking a president, voters will also be asked whether same-sex couples have the right to marry and whether citizens should be required to show ID to vote. That’s on...

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. – Rare is the Minnesotan who has not seen videos of fish leaping out of water and hitting boaters. Word has spread across the state in the last couple of years about the invading Asian carp seen in those videos and the damage they could cause native fish. But...