The great pumpkin man of Littlefork has announced the start of Halloween season in Borderland.
A large wooden pumpkin can be seen outside of Littlefork on the Bruce and Bonnie Junker property. The pumpkin appears to be held by “Walter”, a life-size structure of a man with his arms extended, and standing about eight feet off of the ground on an iron pedestal.
Walter was created by Donny Belanger, a friend of the family who likes to do unique projects in addition to his sand blasting and painting work.

L-BF superintendent, school board member and union president visit MACCRAY

The news is all good on the 4-day school week after an on-site visit with the MACCRAY school district by officials from the Littlefork-Big Falls school district.
Superintendent Fred Seybert reported the findings to the L-BF school board Monday.
Seybert, school board member John Mastin and union president Greg Erickson made a joint visit to the MACCRAY district on Oct. 9, 10 and 11 for further discovery on the shortened academic week as L-BF moves closer to adopting the change.

RANIER — The Ranier City Council Monday approved the replacement of 360 feet of the main water line.
The council approved a $22,000 bid from Shannon’s Inc., a local contractor, to replace main line from the water plant to the second bridge.
Randy Hell, an excavation supervisor with Shannon’s, estimates that it would take approximately a week to replace the line with weather as a factor. He was present to explain several issues he encountered with old valves and eight inch pipe that would be replaced with standard 12 inch pipe made of durable and flexible materials.

A steering committee was designated Monday to make a recommendation to the International Falls City Council on the make up of a city Economic Development Authority Board.
The Falls Council Monday agreed to include Gordy Winzenburg, Julie Ehrman, Jay Bartkowski, Rob Boyd and one or two councilors on the steering committee. The committee is designed to recommend people involved in finances, real estate and successful entrepreneurs.
The Falls EDA will be empowered to take the lead on the city’s economic development projects and allocate funding.

A body of a female was discovered during a house fire in Big Falls Monday.
The Big Falls Fire Department responded to a fire at a trailer located at 504 First St., Big Falls, at 12:35 p.m. Monday, according to Big Falls Fire Assistant Chief Gregory Boes.
The residence was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene and they then worked to suppress the fire, according to Boes.
The name of the female was not released as of press time. The owner of the trailer is also unknown as of press time. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

In a brief meeting Monday, the Falls school board scheduled its Truth in Taxation hearing.
The hearing will be conducted Dec. 7.
The board must hold a hearing as a result of its levy being set at more than $1.861 million. The district’s levy was set at $1.927 million.

Broncos focus on stopping the run, limiting mistakes in Section 7AAA opener

The last time Broncos coach Stuart Nordquist finished with only one win in a season was ... never.
Since 1974 — Nordquist’s inaugural season in the Falls — the long-time coach has lost twice in a season only once (1996) and three times in a season on four occasions (1974, 75, 85 and 2007).
Tonight the No. 7 Broncos (1-7) can avoid being on the wrong side of history with a win in their opening-round contest at No. 2 Eveleth-Gilbert (4-4) in the Section 7AAA tournament.

Top-seeded and dominant Vikings look to stay level-headed in Section 7

Littlefork-Big Falls football coach Derek Bilben told his kids recently to dig a hole and bury the regular season.
That must’ve been a big hole.
The Vikings (8-0) destroyed the regular season, outscoring opponents 350-39 in eight games. Their closest game was in Week 3 on the road in a 12-0 victory over Tower-Soudan, while their biggest blowout was 63-0 over Mesabi Academy in Week 7.

The Falls school board approved 12 coaching positions at Monday’s meeting:
• Basketball cheerleading advisor: Jessica Crosby.
• Assistant girls hockey coach: Tara Hiscock.
• Head boys swim coach: Beth Reed.
• Head boys baseball coach: Vic Heinlen.
• Assistant boys baseball coach: Eric Walls.
• Head girls softball coach: Kevin Gordon.
• Assistant girls softball coach: John Prettyman.
• Head boys track and field coach: Paul Hjelle.
• Assistant boys track and field coach: Dan Zika.
• Head girls track and field coach: Jen Erickson.