PARK RAPIDS — The Park Rapids School Board voted unanimously to decline a donation that would display the Ten Commandments outside the newly landscaped Park Rapids High School next year.
The Park Rapids Enterprise reported that the Board based its Monday, June 3, decision on the mostly negative feedback on the proposed monument offered by former school board member Dennis Dodge.
Dodge’s monument proposal prompted a response from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which warned the district that it would be open to litigation should it accept the monument.
Park Rapids High School is currently under renovation as part of a voter-approved referendum that passed in 2021, with landscaping expected to be completed by September 2025.
Itasca County recently painted over a Ten Commandments display at its new jail, and a decades-old Ten Commandments display at the Hibbing Courthouse was removed in 2018.
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Plus: Gov. Tim Walz has now signed four cannabis compacts with tribal nations, the latest being the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; and the girls' state tennis tournament wrapped up with a few Northland consolation champions. -
Contributed/Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior ChippewaThe Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is the fourth tribal nation to sign the intergovernmental contract that allows tribal cannabis businesses to operate off tribally regulated land. -
Larissa Donovan/KAXEMnDOT's plans for Highway 197, or Paul Bunyan Drive, in Bemidji include replacing three signalized intersections with roundabouts between 2026 and 2027. -
Contributed/Crosby-Ironton Rangers Facebook pageFifteen individual athletes from Northern Minnesota competed in the girls tennis singles and doubles state tournament Thursday and Friday in the Twin Cities. -
Contributed/Sue Keeler via KAXE-KBXE Season Watch PageThis month's conversation with retired wildlife biologist Pam Perry touched on robins, eagles, thrushes and migrating birds. -
Larissa Donovan/KAXEPresident Donald Trump approved disaster relief for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in response to the June 21, 2025, severe storms. -
Contributed/Minnesota DNRThe Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act, introduced by Rep. Pete Stauber, grants a land swap between the Chippewa National Forest and Bowen Lodge near Deer River. -
Events this week include many Halloween themed activities, an opportunity to learn curling in Grand Rapids and an art reception in Bemidji. -
Plus: Bipartisan legislation for a land transfer in the Chippewa National Forest cleared a key Senate committee; and the Esko girls' soccer team will advance to the state semi-finals on Oct. 29, 2025.
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Paul Gregerson/KAXE file photoIn a conversation about his new book of short stories, Parr explained writing stories actually came before songwriting — and for him, the two have always been the same process.
