1 found dead in fire near Bemidji; Governor candidates visit Northland

The Bemidji Fire Department responded to a mobile home fire in Northern Township on Sept. 20, 2026. One occupant had escaped while another was unaccounted for at the time of the report.

The Iron Range offers a window into communities reckoning with how their identities must change for the betterment of future generations as schools increasingly collaborate.This reporting is part of a collaboration with the Institute for Nonprofit News' Rural News Network and Big Local News at Stanford University, with data journalist Cherry Salazar’s analysis helping anchor the reporting. Six nonprofit newsrooms were involved: BenitoLink, KAXE, Mat-Su Sentinel, Mississippi Today, Oxford Free Press and The Texas Tribune. Support from the Walton Family Foundation made this project possible.

Plus: Minnesota's archery deer season opens Sept. 19, 2026; and health experts caution that disease-carrying ticks surge in fall.

Dozens of ticks as part of a study with the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute were submitted from the Bemidji area.

Bow hunters harvested more than 30,000 deer during the 2025 archery season — an all-time high. The 2026 season runs from Sept. 19 through Dec. 31.

The mining company celebrated a $770 million federal loan and the production of its first concentrate at a blast event Sept. 17, 2026. Two days earlier, it announced the "next phase of investment" at an Itasca County Board meeting.

Prosecutors are calling for five years in prison for the former Grand Rapids state senator. His defense team is arguing for time already served, plus five years of supervision.

The Iron Range offers a window into communities reckoning with how their identities must change for the betterment of future generations as schools increasingly collaborate.

And: Mesabi Metallics eyes massive expansion as production of first pellets ramps up.

Relatives confirmed that 17-year-old Dylon Oothoudt of Walker was the male found dead Sept. 13, 2026, in a Cass Lake yard. An autopsy ruled the death a homicide by gunshot wound.