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Contributed/Brett Sayles via MinnPostPaul Bunyan Communications announced the completion of two of its three remaining 2025 expansion projects in January 2026. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXEHibbing Public Utilities aims to replace all lead service lines in the city in the next two to three years. That's well ahead of the state's 2033 goal. -
ICE arrests 4 in downtown Brainerd; Judge hears arguments to consider pause on Operation Metro SurgePlus: Prosecutors are declining to move forward with a case after alleging a federal officer was assaulted in Virginia; and hundreds gathered at a vigil Jan. 24, 2025, outside the Crow Wing County Jail. -
Contributed/IceOut.orgThe government did not present any witnesses to meet its burden to establish probable cause and instead moved to dismiss the complaint. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXESources with knowledge of the incident said the arrests took place at El Potro Mexican Restaurant on South Seventh Street in downtown Brainerd. -
Contributed/Tony Webster via Wikimedia CommonsThe hearing was to hear arguments for and against a temporary restraining order to pause the operation, as an estimated 3,000 federal agents are on the ground in Minnesota. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXEAbout 300 people attended the vigil Jan. 24, 2026, a few hours after the shooting death of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis. -
The Minnesota Department of Transportation recently announced $76.2 million in grants to support projects that improve freight options, travel time and economic development. -
Contributed/Michelle Griffith / Minnesota ReformerHis statement underscores the increasing unease Minnesota Republicans — which now includes several swing-district lawmakers — are expressing about the surge of federal officers. -
Lead service lines are a pervasive issue in Minnesota. The state has a goal to replace them by 2033, but Hibbing Public Utilities aims to do it in two to three years.
Chelsey 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.
Megan Buffington joined the KAXE newsroom in 2024 after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Originally from Pequot Lakes, she is passionate about educating and empowering communities through local reporting.
Larissa Donovan has been in the Bemidji area's local news scene since 2016, joining the KAXE newsroom in 2023 after several years as the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting.
