Chelsey Perkins
News DirectorChelsey Perkins became the News Director in early 2023 and was tasked with building a new local newsroom at the station. She is based in Brainerd and leads a team of two reporters covering communities across Northern Minnesota from the KAXE studio in Grand Rapids and the KBXE studio in Bemidji.
The news team launched the Up North Report in August 2023 — a five-minute newscast airing daily on KAXE, WTIP, KVSC and available as a podcast on Apple, Spotify and more. They also publish original stories at KAXE.org and make regular appearances on the KAXE Morning Show to dive deeper into their work.
The team has earned dozens of awards from the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association, Public Media Journalism Association and the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2025, the team earned a prestigious Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for its work in digital storytelling. In 2023, Chelsey was named a fellow of the Poynter Institute's Public Media Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative.
Chelsey grew up in Crosslake, Minnesota, where most of her family continues to live. She spent the first 15 years of her journalism career as a print journalist, primarily as a newspaper reporter and editor for the Brainerd Dispatch. There, she covered Crow Wing County government and served on the Forum Communications Co. Editorial Advisory Board.
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Plus: Minnesota partners want you to help track wildlife collisions; and DNR upgrades four fishing piers in Northern Minnesota. -
Plus: Dry, windy weather creates dangerous conditions across the state; and Wrenshall school district voters give the OK for consolidation with Carlton.
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The guilty plea comes more than a year after the Grand Rapids Republican's arrest as part of an undercover law enforcement sting operation. -
Plus: Grand Rapids K9 attacks dog while off-duty; Man who escaped custody pleads guilty in St. Louis County; Cohasset joins group of cities flying old state flag; and a survey to examine long-term impacts of the June 2025 Bemidji derecho.
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More than 350 educators and community members assembled along Oak Street to call attention to the unsettled union contracts ahead of the May 11, 2026, School Board meeting. -
Plus: MN voters will likely decide whether school funding will get a boost; and Brainerd educators rally after nearly a year without a contract.
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Plus: The producers of "Ghost Lake" are filming in a new location after the Bois Forte Band revoked its approval; and one year after Cleveland-Cliffs laid off 600 miners, Iron Range leaders are sounding the alarm on an economic downturn.
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This is the Up North Lookback, where we’re digging into the local news archives from 50 years ago — the year KAXE was born. It’s the week of May 11.
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Plus: PCA estimates 12-16 days of wildfire smoke this summer; and Lueken's Village Foods in Bemidji recently celebrated the retirement of its longest-serving employee.
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Plus: The new conservation officer in Walker gives his predictions and tips for anglers ahead of his first-ever fishing season opener in the role.
