Pillager

Alexander Hardy, Lindsay Martin, Sara A. Nagel and Sarah Smith are running for Pillager School Board.

Rob Freelove, Josh Gammello, Megan Lentner and Leroy Smith are running for Pillager City Council.

Neal Gaalswyk and Patrick Rafferty are running for Cass County Commissioner District 1. Leslie Bouchonville and Aaron Young are running for Commissioner District 3. Scott D. Bruns and Tyler Seifert are running for District 4. Aaron Ammerman and Bryan Welk are running for Cass County sheriff.

The Minnesota State Patrol identified the man who died in the Aug. 25, 2026, crash as Keith Donovan, 37, of Brainerd.

Mike Wiener narrowly defeated Paul Utke in the Aug. 11, 2026, primary. Utke was initially reported as the winner due to an error in the results reporting in Todd County.

Seven rural Northern Minnesota teams and nearly 90 student-athletes in total will compete Tuesday-Wednesday, June 9-10, 2026, on courses in and around the Twin Cities.

Area athletes to watch at the 2026 meet include Aitkin junior Ashley Asmus, Ely sophomore Violet Udovich and West Marshall seniors Emily Marquis and Markelle Pederson.

Speakers from Bemidji, Cass Lake-Bena, Pequot Lakes, Pillager, Walker, Laporte, Cherry, Mountain Iron-Buhl, Red Lake County, UNC, Staples-Motley and Crookston took home hardware.

The qualifiers span 27 Northern Minnesota teams and all 13 categories. Over 30 are repeat qualifiers, including five medalists and one reigning champion.

Detroit Lakes will compete at state Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, and five Northland athletes from Detroit Lakes and Pillager will also compete individually.