Community Roundup

Starting as early as October 5, 2026, Voyageurs National Park staff will begin removing hazard markers and secondary aids to navigation. Buoys will come out progressively over the next couple of weeks from the park's lakes: Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan and Sand Point. Exact timing depends on weather conditions and other operational factors.

During the same period, United States Coast Guard (USCG) Lamplighters will also be removing buoys that serve as primary navigational aids. Boaters are asked to use caution on park waters this time of year, since navigational markers may be absent as buoys come out.

Current conditions are posted on the park's Alerts & Conditions page at ow.ly/Vf6150ZTKuF. Once snow arrives and the lakes freeze, the same page carries winter updates on snowmobile trails, cross-country ski trails, snowshoe trails and ice roads.

The Rainy Lake Visitors Bureau shared underwater footage of a loon diving. The Bureau says it has been told loons can dive well over 200 feet. This loon dove 65 feet and easily caught a small minnow.

The video comes from a Garmin Livescope that was filming loons while streaming the power loon on the radio. More is at voyageursnationalparktour.com.

Servants of Shelter of Koochiching County notes that Saturday, October 10, is World Homeless Day. The organization provides food, shelter, housing and support to help people obtain the resources they need to change their lives.

"We do not see 'camps' in our community, but there are people through no fault of their own needing help with temporary shelter or housing."

The organization's annual dinner celebrates what it can accomplish and raises funds. The post invites people to join if able. It does not list the dinner's date, time or location, so details are on the organization's Facebook page.

KOOTASCA Community Action is collecting Halloween costumes to help local families in need. New or gently used costumes are welcome, and drop-off begins today.

• Drop-off dates: October 5 through October 19
• Drop-off hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Drop-off location: 900 5th Street #304 (Backus Community Center)
• Distribution: Tuesday, October 20, 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Distribution location: Backus Community Center Conference Room (101/102)

Costumes will be available to lower-income families at the distribution.

Part 5 of the 10-part ifalls.news history series, How the Falls Got Its Dam, follows the Kettle Falls dam through the Bryce-Root Treaty, the Corps of Engineers review and the 1912 Ottawa sessions. It draws on the 1986 National Park Service historic resource study by David L. Fritz and Lawrence F. Van Horn.

Read the full story. The study is available at npshistory.com.

Another history instalment turns to Warren Upham's 1920 gazetteer, Minnesota Geographic Names, which records Jameson township, Little Fork, Pelland and Lindford in Koochiching County. The piece reads what the entries say and where Upham got his information.

Read the full story. The source is Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume XVII (1920), at archive.org.

A third video looks at Russell Lee's 1937 photographs of Craigville, Itasca County, held by the Library of Congress. The images include beer parlors, a barber shop in a saloon and a lumber camp mess hall.

Read the full story. The photographs are in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division at loc.gov.

Independent School District 361 has released The Bronco Bulletin: A Peek Inside Our Week at FES!, a Smore newsletter. Read the newsletter here.

Thunderbird Lodge is featuring a new sandwich from its new menu: the Hot Honey Ranch Chicken Sandwich. It is a hand-breaded chicken breast fried golden and topped with the house-made hot honey ranch sauce.