Louella LaFrance, of International Falls, Minn., died Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008, at her home in the Falls. She was 76 years of age.
Born April 24, 1932, at Rainy River, Ontario, Canada, she lived in Las Vegas, New York and Kansas but most of her life resided in International Falls.
The former Louella Laverdure was united in marriage to Daniel LaFrance in 1952.
Louella worked as a counselor for the Fergus Falls Chemical Dependency Program for 10 years, retiring in 1997.

John “Jack” Ojala died peacefully Oct. 18, 2008, of complications related to a 15-year struggle with Alzheimer’s.
Born Nov. 4, 1938, to T. Armas and Sylvia Ojala in Miller, Ind., he graduated from Indiana University in 1956 and later received his masters degree from Bemidji State.
During his college summers he worked as a deckhand on the U.S. Steel Ore boats on Lake Superior. He often put in at Minnesota Harbors and fell in love with the state.

Isabelle Johanna Tomczak, of International Falls, Minn., died Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008, at Falls Good Samaritan Care Center. She was 92 years of age.
Isabelle was born Aug. 4, 1916, in Sturgeon Lake, Minn., to John and Johanna (Danielski) Kolosky.
She graduated from Willow River High School and moved to International Falls in 1945.
Isabelle was united in marriage to Joseph W. Tomczak on Oct. 8, 1940.

The Koochiching Men’s Garden Club is looking for a few good men.
With membership aging and in decline the club needs new gardeners to carry on its civic and social goals. Interested men are invited to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Barney’s Restaurant.
Tom Barthell, club president, said that members have fellowship and pride in the organization and want new members to “continue to beautify and enhance the overall appeal of International Falls.”
“Our numbers are down and our ages are up,” said Orin Simon, vice president of the gardening club.

The Koochiching County Board is expected to take action on a road vacation request when it meets Tuesday.
The board meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the courthouse boardroom.
Action on the vacation request is scheduled for 10:35 a.m.

Cynthia Jaksa presented information Thursday to the Littlefork City Council on the formation of a Kootasca steering committee charged with the study of the vitality of Koochiching County communities.
Councilor Noel Schroeder will represent Littlefork on that committee. Its objective will be taking stock of community well-being and it is entitled the Koochiching County Assessment.

The International Falls City Council is expected to establish guidelines for its commercial loan program when it meets tonight.
The council meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at the Falls Municipal Building.
The council is expected to act on the guidelines for the program as a recommendation of its Economic Development Committee. The council is also expected to hear from the Economic Development Committee about an Economic Development Authority Steering Committee.

The Ranier City Council is scheduled to discuss a request for replacement of the main water line at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the Community Building.
The Water Committee request is for an estimate by Shannon’s Inc.
The council is also scheduled to consider requests from the Budget and Administration Committee to approve the agreement to establish the Koochiching Community Development Association. It is scheduled to consider funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development funding. A review of S.E.H Engineering is also scheduled to be given.

Erholtz cruising to success in mountain running, Hams helping Hibbing volleyball team; Nagurski finds his way onto e-Bay

What is mountain running?
Falls graduate Brandy (Griffith) Erholtz (1995) knows it well and it brought her all the way to Switzerland on Sept. 14.
Erholtz, who lives in Bailey, Colo., with her husband Matt, is a first-year member of the TEVA U.S. Mountain Running Team. Only four women are on the team, and Erholtz has pumped her resume full of accomplishments this summer and fall.

The undefeated and third-ranked Littlefork-Big Falls football team outscored its opponents 350-39 in eight regular season games in 2008. The No. 1 seeded Vikings (8-0), the defending Section 7 9-man and St. Louis County North Conference champs, play host Tuesday to No. 8 Babbitt-Embarrass at John Thompson Field.