St. Cloud Times
U.S. and Iran trade infrastructure attacks
– The United States struck bridges and an airport in Iran on July 17 and Tehran responded by hitting a power and desalination plant in Kuwait, as the warring foes risked further escalation by expanding their targets to include infrastructure. In the...
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Northern Hollow Winery serves up wood-fired pizzas
Before Northern Hollow Winery became the first winery to win the Governor’s Cup — an esteemed wine competition — two years in a row, owner Jim Truehart discovered his love for the craft when his wife bought him a wine making kit some years ago. “We...
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St. Cloud air quality alert issued as wildfires grow
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued an air quality alert for parts of Minnesota, including central Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area, for Tuesday through Friday, as wildfires in the northern parts of the state and Canada...
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New effort seeks to bridge Minnesota political gaps
Just in time for election season, several area nonprofits recently launched a new project aimed at combating divisiveness in Minnesota. The idea? Connect people who may not agree with each other to talk about issues important to them and, with any...
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Christine’s Cheesecakes has grand opening for new store
After just one year of introducing dirty soda to the menu, Christine’s Cheesecakes is opening another location. In addition to cheesecake and ice cream, the new store in Sartell will sell its dirty soda staple. The new store will be open from 11 a.m....
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Sisters of St. Benedict build new ‘right-sized’ monastery
When they first arrived in central Minnesota nearly 170 years ago, the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict in St. Joseph settled in what eventually became St. Cloud. Six years later, they moved to their current site in St. Joseph. The main brick...
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Our American Vision
As we celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, we asked Americans across the Midwest a simple question: In a few words, what does America mean to you? The answers we received in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,...
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Ceasefire falls apart as Iran buries slain leader
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to have fallen apart over continued strife over the Strait of Hormuz as Iranians buried their supreme leader, killed by U.S.-Israel forces at the outset of the war. There were no new...
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New lumber yard opens in Foley, carries on tradition
Residents of Foley, Benton County and most of central Minnesota have another spot to serve their construction needs. Kotsmith Lumber, which opened last year, is a retail lumber yard that works with houses, sheds, decks, garages, windows, doors and...
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Be The Hope Music Fest to launch this weekend
Place of Hope will be holding its first Be the Hope Music Festival fundraiser on July 11 at Iron Street Distillery, with a goal of raising $50,000. Including headliners Charlie Roth and Paul “Stretch” Diethelm, the festival will feature over 20...
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Lindell addresses unpaid property taxes on residence
The check’s in the mail, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell assured the Reformer Monday when asked about Hennepin County records showing he owes about $48,000 in unpaid property taxes. Lindell, along with House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Kendall Qualls, who was...
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Salon works with children, those on the spectrum
Shear Bellezza in Waite Park, Minnesota.
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A
year ago, Ryan Tseng, the head of U.S. defense tech startup Shield AI, announced his company had turned a new page. After a gory incident that partially severed a U.S. Navy official’s fingers during a test of its V-BAT drone, Shield AI had addressed...
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ICE releases nun detained in Texas
A Catholic nun who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers while walking to Sunday Mass in southern Texas has been released after intervention from members of Congress, officials said. Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja was...
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THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION
Like Americans today, the people living in the United States in 1826 were preparing to celebrate a milestone for their country. July Fourth of that year marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As what was known as the “Jubilee”...
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Uihlein shapes MN GOP race by funding Demuth
If House Speaker Lisa Demuth becomes the Republican nominee for Minnesota governor in August, she’ll have one donor in particular to thank: Richard Uihlein. Uihlein owns one of North America’s largest distributors of shipping and packaging supplies,...
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Find July 4 fireworks and events in St. Cloud area
The annual St. Cloud July 4 event is almost here. The festivities, including fireworks, will take place at Wilson Park. Elk River and St. Joseph will also have Independence Day fireworks. And if you want a more mellow evening, you can head to a state...
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Cool off at these St. Cloud ice cream spots
Summer is a great time to grab an ice cream cone with both friends and family. Here are seven independently owned shops in the greater St. Cloud area to check out. Flavors range from mocha caramel latte to bubblegum, pistachio or blueberry cheesecake....
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Dominion drops $1.3B lawsuit against Lindell
Dominion Voting Systems has reached a settlement over defamation allegations against Mike Lindell and dropped its billion dollar lawsuit, ABC reports. Dominion was sold in October 2025 and renamed Liberty Vote. The company and MyPillow founder...
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Tips for Minnesotans facing data center projects
As communities across the United States wrangle with multibillion-dollar data center proposals, they’re forced to make quick decisions that can affect their economy, natural resources and way of life for generations. How can communities with no prior...
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Trump sees wins on immigration, guns
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump victories in two immigration cases June 25. In the divide between gun rights and gun violence, the justices struck down another state law, this one in Hawaii, aimed at curbing guns in public...
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Voters push back on new data center proposals
Driving down a dirt road that runs along a sprawling farm field, Aubree Derksen described feeling like David against Goliath. Her Goliath is Google, the tech behemoth working with a developer to transform that rural field into a hyperscale data...
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Granite City Days ends with pancake breakfast
The five ongoing days of fun provided by St. Cloud’s annual Granite City Days events conclude with a special event at St. Cloud’s Sky Central Airport. Airplanes, classic cars and much more will all be on display Sunday morning with the long-awaited...
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Twins stadium workers demand higher wages
Dozens of unionized concessions workers picketed outside Target Field’s “front door” Gate 34 in Minneapolis on Monday as part of a one-day strike, the first in the stadium’s history, as workers seek higher pay and health insurance. The strike landed...
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U.S.-Iran war talks wrap ‘successfully’
The first round of peace talks between the United States and Iran in Switzerland “concluded successfully,” mediators said on June 22, after negotiations appeared strained over the Strait of Hormuz and persistent fighting in Lebanon. “The discussions...
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App created for navigating abuse
Sara Love sat at her kitchen island in Des Moines, hunched over her laptop, painstakingly combing through code for weeks while developing an app built upon her experiences with domestic abuse, as well as those from friends, family and the...
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Awe inspiring landmarks cross the country
America is turning 250, but some of its greatest treasures don’t sit behind museum glass. The awe-inspiring scenes that take your breath away and remind you of the beauty of our nation are hidden along winding roads, tucked into mountain valleys,...
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Next round of Iran peace talks on hold
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire June 19 after escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to reach a final peace agreement with Iran. Still, negotiations to end the war appeared to be delayed,...
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See the assets of MN members of Congress
WASHINGTON – Rep. Kelly Morrison is likely the wealthiest member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, Rep. Betty McCollum is burdened with two mortgages, and Rep. Angie Craig sold her condo on a Mexican beach. Those are just some of the findings...
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Connecting the dots
People who carry out mass public shootings often display observable warning signs long before an attack, but those signals are frequently fragmented across friends, family members, coworkers and institutions, making them difficult to piece together,...
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Kronos Quartet captures magic at the Dakota
For decades, the trailblazing Kronos Quartet has reinvented classical music, exploring its edges in an increasingly digital world. This week, the Grammy Award-winning string ensemble will take the stage at Minneapolis’ Dakota Jazz Club to capture their...
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Empowered Stars brings original alien show to stage
It’s an entertaining production marketed as “a Granite City alien singalong.” This month, WACOSA and the Paramount Center for the Arts’ collaboration Empowered Stars is putting on their third-annual original production called “CHEESE.” A synopsis...
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St. Cloud styling studio puts empathy before fashion trends
Jess Keairns Sarah Mueller decided to launch Best Me 360 in late 2019 after spending several years developing the idea and feeling increasingly pulled toward it. She opened the St. Cloud personal-styling studio in February 2020, only for the pandemic...
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White extremist group’s numbers swell
One of the nation’s largest White supremacist groups is rapidly expanding, adding hundreds of members across 49 states in the past two years. Internal documents leaked to USA TODAY show a coordinated recruitment push fueled by step-by-step manuals and...
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25 million people lost Medicaid after pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people covered by Medicaid rose month after month – an unusual pattern for the government’s insurance program for people with low incomes and disabilities. Why? A policy of continuous coverage during the...
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AI helps attorneys in jury selection process
TALLAHASSEE, FL – A jury of one’s peers is a cornerstone of American jurisprudence; however, there may be an invisible hand in the jury box as artificial intelligence helps lawyers pick panels who will decide cases. Picking a jury has been considered...
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Primary elections arrive for 4 more states
A busy month of primaries across America continues. Four states in all four corners of the country are set to hold elections on June 9 for U.S. House, Senate and governor races, among other local contests. The winners will head into a busy campaign...
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For the love of cheese
A football stadium is hardly where you’d expect to find fine artisanal cheeses. Yet each spring, Huntington Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota hosts the American Cheese Society’s annual competition, judging the best cheeses made in the...
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Look inside the struggle to save rural grocery stores
Ryan Pesch grew up in East Grand Forks, went to college in St. Peter, and during his 20s spent five years in St. Paul working at Mississippi Market, where he internalized the food co-op model. Then in 2004, when he and his wife Maree had the chance to...
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AI partners could upend human relationships
When the movie “Her” debuted in 2013, its plot felt like science fiction. The protagonist, Theodore, is a jaded man with no vigor for life. He comes alive after talking daily with his artificial intelligence chatbot, Samantha, with whom he eventually...
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Hollywood lacks competition for Timothée Chalamet
Timotheé Chalamet has been everywhere. From sitting courtside at every home New York Knicks playoff game with his richer and more famous girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, to standing on top of the Las Vegas Dome (illuminated as a giant orange ping pong ball)...
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Red Truck Ice Cream ready for summer
A downtown Cold Spring building that had long sat vacant was given new life roughly three years ago by husband and wife duo Bob and Julie Sabo. The building on 113 Main St. was once a general hardware and furniture store after being built in 1893,...
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North Table offers fine dining at Milk and Honey Ciders
When The North Table’s Dennis Hogenson first started cooking about 10 years ago, it was his second job. Now he is working full time at a new location he started out of a food truck at Milk and Honey Ciders in St. Joseph. When Hogenson first reached...
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GOP, DFL have picks for governor
DULUTH – Army veteran and former health care executive Kendall Qualls won the endorsement for governor from Republican activists gathered for the GOP state convention Saturday, beating House Speaker Lisa Demuth after 10 rounds of voting. If nominated,...
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Life after the lab begins anew for rescued beagles
Beagles rescued from Wisconsinbased Ridglan Farms are up for adoption at the Tri-County Humane Society in St. Cloud, and some have already found their forever homes. The Tri-County Humane Society received 11 beagles in May after breeding facility...
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FISHING SEASON
On the opening day of Minnesota’s fishing season in 1965, the Minnesota Legislature selected walleye as the state’s official fish. While walleyes are neither the state’s biggest fish nor its most abundant, they are consistently ranked as Minnesotans’...
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Potential Iran deal puts Trump in a bind
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump finds himself in a bind as he seeks to end the war against Iran: He is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get U.S. gasoline prices down but at the same time faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks...
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Farmers see more bankruptcies as costs rise, crop prices sink
This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Minnesota led the country in farm bankruptcies during the first quarter of...
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New law adds guardrails to social media for minors
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday signed a bill into law enacting new guardrails for Minnesota children on social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok and SnapChat. The bipartisan law (HF 4138) requires parental consent for Minnesota children under 16...
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Central Minnesota’s lead pipe problem continues
Although a bonding bill passed easily in both the Minnesota House and Senate, coming in at 122-11 in the House and 50-7 in the Senate, funding for some projects did not pass — namely fixing lead pipes. Out of the $100 million requested for the project...
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Feds announce MN’s largest Medicaid fraud case
Top Trump administration officials traveled to Minnesota on Thursday, May 21, to announce 15 federal indictments in what they called the largest Medicaid fraud case ever brought in Minnesota. “We’re going to protect these programs and protect...
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Lawyers shot outside Raleigh courthouse after tense hearing
Court records show a 57-year-old Raleigh woman faces two counts of attempted murder after police say she shot two lawyers following a tense court hearing in North Carolina. The morning of May 22, Gwendolyn White had a civil case hearing in the Wake...
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Universities still hold Native remains, artifacts
Many universities and museums in the United States have long held Native American burial artifacts, other sacred objects and even human remains. Most of these collections were acquired in the late 19th and 20th centuries. They came from grave...
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Pakistani official seeks breakthrough on Iran
WASHINGTON – Iran’s foreign minister met Pakistan’s interior minister on May 22 to discuss proposals to end the U.S.-Israeli war, Iranian media reported, with Tehran and Washington still at odds over Iran’s uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait...
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St. Cloud approves roundabout beautification projects
When St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson campaigned for office in 2024, enhancing the city’s beautification efforts was among his top priorities. One of the projects he discussed on the campaign trail moved ahead Monday night. The city council approved...
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HuHot Mongolian Grill in St. Cloud closing soon
HuHot Mongolian Grill announced on its Facebook page it will be closing its St. Cloud location May 25. It said it will be closing after Memorial Day, which is May 25 this year. HuHot officially took over the old Mongo’s Grill location during fall...
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MN lawmakers pass big bills, miss others
Despite low expectations, including from the Reformer, the Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die, end of session, on Sunday having passed a significant infrastructure package, property tax and car tab fee relief and a bailout of the state’s critical...
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Princess Kay finalists for MN State Fair named
Ten young women were named as finalists for the 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way. This past weekend, dairy princesses from across the state gathered for the annual May Leadership Event, held May 15-16 at the Delta Hotel in Minneapolis. Four of the...
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Walz, leaders strike a deal as legislative session ends
Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders announced a deal late Wednesday on the big-ticket items the Legislature plans to pass this session, which ended on Sunday night. They provided few details, but Walz and some legislative leaders were holding press...
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Paranormal Cirque Inferno
Paranormal Cirque Inferno will be in St. Cloud from May 29 to June 1 at The Crossroads Center. h “It’s basically a regular circus with all the cool acrobats and crazy stunts, but it has a scary Halloween vibe,” performer Augusto Gonzalez Malaga said. h...
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Trump leaves Beijing with a few wins
BEIJING – President Donald Trump left China on May 15 with no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war, despite two days spent heaping praise on his host, Xi Jinping. Trump’s visit to America’s main strategic and...
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National support for Tafoya’s Senate run splits state GOP
A dream candidate for the national Republican Party, former sportscaster Michele Tafoya is finding support from Washington to be a double-edged sword as she seeks to win retiring Sen. Tina Smith’s seat. Tafoya, 61, is a skilled and mediasavvy...
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Caribou Coffee’s new value menu starts at $2
Caribou Coffee, a coffeehouse known for its handcrafted beverages made with real ingredients, is rolling out a new value menu at participating locations nationwide. Beginning May 7, a company release stated, Caribou Coffee is serving Caribou Everyday...
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‘Courting Harry’
History Theatre will start its run of “Courting Harry” on Thursday. The play is a smart, funny and intriguing look at a 70-year-long friendship between Justice Harry Blackmun and Chief Justice Warren Burger that began in the streets of St. Paul and...
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Somali leaders: Anti-Muslim rhetoric fueling harassment
Following the Friday prayer, leaders of the Somali community gathered at Karmel Mall in Minneapolis to condemn what they described as escalating anti-Somali rhetoric linked to “Operation Metro Surge” and right-wing politicians and media. Community and...
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Find your scoop at 6 St. Cloud sweet spots
Ice cream season is here, and here are six independently owned shops around St. Cloud to check out. Flavors range from mocha caramel latte to bubblegum, pistachio or blueberry cheesecake. There’s also homemade Mexican ice cream available. Jupiter...
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‘It comes down to a fight’
Keith Harvey is CEO of Cook Area Health Services, better known as Scenic Rivers Health, a group of nonprofit medical and dental clinics in the northeast Minnesota hinterlands. Scenic Rivers Health struggles to make the most of a mysterious federal...
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Trump says Iran ceasefire will hold
President Donald Trump is brushing away concerns that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement is finished after the two sides launched strikes on each other that he called a “trifle.” “They trifled with us today. We blew them away. I call that a trifle,”...
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Charting his own path
It’s been nearly 1,000 years since King Henry IV stood barefoot in the Italian snow to beg forgiveness after clashes with Pope Gregory VII, and over two centuries since Napoleon imprisoned Pope Pius VII in France. Now, a battle is underway between a...
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Comedy, music coming to The Ledge Amphitheater
Since it opened five years ago, the Ledge Amphitheater has become an entertainment mecca in central Minnesota, drawing attendees from across the region, country and world. Two new acts were recently announced: comedian Jim Gaffigan and .38 Special. As...
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St. Joseph bakery unveils spring treats
If you’re craving the perfect treat to compliment your spring outings, Flour & Flower Bakery might just have what you’re looking for. The bakery, which is celebrating its sixth anniversary in May, often rotates certain menu items to match the...
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Brad Paisley, Rod Stewart join state fair lineup
The Minnesota State Fair is bringing in lots of top-quality acts this year. Along with Weird Al Yankovic, Bonnie Raitt and Tommy James & The Shondells, Brad Paisley and TLC and Salt-N-Pepa are on in the lineup. Rod Stewart is making an appearance on...
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Gruber leads St. Cloud construction company
Rachel Gruber’s father, Dale, started Dale Gruber Construction out of a home office in 1983. Rachel Gruber has been a key part of the St. Cloud company’s growth and success over the years, especially since Dale Gruber Construction announced her as the...
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Sartell golf course gets fresh start with new restaurant
A few years ago, Brandon Testa envisioned Pine Ridge Golf Course’s future. After more than two decades in the Sartell community, the local entrepreneur saw an opportunity to transform the course into something new, different and built around...
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Prediction markets see explosive rise
Though prediction markets have been legal in the United States for less than 18 months, they can’t stop making news and making money. On prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, users can stake real money on just about anything, from the...
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