News

CCM Health is launching neonatal virtual care services through a partnership with Children’s Minnesota’s neonatology program. Through the telehealth partnership, CCM Health will now have 24/7 access to Children’s Minnesota’s Level IV neonatal expertise, the highest designation by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children’s Minnesota neonatology program has been ranked among the top in the country by U.S. News and World Report.

Guests checked out silent auction items at the Healing Hearts Night at the Barn fundraiser at Lee-Mar Equine Center in rural Granite Falls. The event featured a silent auction, games and raffles, as well as a dinner, general raffle and live auction. Photo by Jessica Stolen-Jacobson

As a college student, Jessie Hennen most enjoyed improv writing activities done in writer’s groups. Having had to figure out what to do with her time during the pandemic, Jessie’s husband Miles Taylor suggested she join streaming episodes he was creating online. The first suggestion that Jessie read from her novel fell short of interesting viewers, and Jessie came up with an idea for a pivot to working on sketch comedy with her friend Maddie which proved to be much more popular. Miles says, “It turned into Jessie doing more of a Garrison Keillor parody that turned into kind of a two-hour staged, sketched sort of show.” Jessie worked on the episodes under the title “Jessie’s Dollhouse”. “It was just me and Maddie reading our sketches, but I love Prairie Home Companion but I have complicated feelings about it, so I decided we were going to redo the entire show,” Jessie says.

Signs of spring are all around as the snow melts, and the ice on the river disappears. The geese were out enjoying the open waters near the Walking Bridge in Granite Falls over the weekend. Sunday, March 20th mars the first day of Spring, though the first day of meteorological spring was March 1. The reason there are two dates marking Spring’s arrival is because meteorologists and climatologists break seasons down into groupings of three-month increments by annual temperature cycle. Under the meteorological model, Spring begins March 1st, Summer on June 1st, Fall on September 1st, and Winter on December 1st. The astronomical season marks the first official seasonal change day as follows: Spring as March 20th, Summer on June 21st, Fall on September 22nd, and Winter on December 21st. Photo by Jessica Stölen-Jacobson

Last week, a book signing event was held at the Granite Grinder Cafe & Gifts in Granite Falls in honor of Walter LaBatte Jr and Teresa Peterson’s joint efforts to publish Voices from Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers. The book was published early this year by the Minnesota Historical Society Press after years of effort by the uncle and niece to cultivate together the stories told not only by Walter LaBatte Jr., but by other relatives of theirs, and Elders.