Rev. Thomas Aitken was elected Sunday to a six-year term as bishop of the Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
He was elected on the fifth ballot with 254 of the 408 ballots cast by voting members to the annual Synod Assembly at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

LITTLEFORK — The Littlefork-Big Falls School prom was as much a community event as it was a most special night of the year for 54 students.
Parents and friends filled the bleachers to standing room only to watch the young men and women all dressed in their finest go through the annual ceremony grand march.

Rainy River Community College will celebrate its 41st annual commencement at 2 p.m. May 9 in the college gymnasium.
The ceremony and a reception following the ceremony are open to the public.
Degrees or certificates will be awarded to 94 graduates. Of the 94 graduates, 26 are male and 68 are female. One student will be receiving more than one degree and one team of husband and wife will graduate.

International Falls Hunger Coalition reported that 44 more households visited the food shelf in the first three months of 2008 compared to the same time period in 2007, representing an increase of 11 percent.

The Koochiching County Board is scheduled to hear about the city of International Falls’ strategic plan during its meeting Tuesday.
The board meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the courthouse boardroom.
Falls Mayor Shawn Mason is scheduled to meet with the board at 11 a.m. to highlight the city’s plan, which is expected to be adopted by the Falls City Council tonight.

By ROGER JEROME, Sports Correspondent

The Bronco girl’s softball team after several postponements, made their debut on their new softball field a successful one, with a 13-3 win over Littlefork-Big Falls in a game played Friday afternoon.
Bronco first baseman Ashley Piekarski recorded the first ever homerun, a two run shot in the fifth inning. The home run was part of a four run inning, which ended the game with a 10 run margin. “We have been stressing being aggressive from the first week of practice and we seem to have established a good pattern,” Bronco coach Kevin Gordon said.

With five games postponed due to an unusually snowy spring, the Broncos baseball team has been scrambling to find dates to make-up its lost games.
The team was able to make-up two games on Saturday when a scheduled game with Hibbing turned into a doubleheader with Hermantown.
“The only way you’re going to get into a rhythm is to play games,”Broncos head coach Vic Heinlen said. “It takes some creative scheduling to get your games in this season.”
Game one was an 11-3 win for the Broncos over Hibbing.

The Broncos boys’ and girls’ track team traveled to Deer River on Thursday for the Deer River Northland Invitational.
Both teams took first place with the boys scoring 181 points and the girls scoring 172.5.
The Broncos girls had the option to go to a meet in Virginia, but the team chose to travel with the boys.
"We had the option to travel to Virginia for the second time in a week," girls’ head coach Jen Erickson said. “But, they don’t have a pole vault and at this point in our season, we have to find meets that have all 18 track and field events."

Minnesotans have an opportunity this month to view a rare, original copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Andrea Kajer of the Minnesota Historical Society, Jane Leonard of the Sesquicentennial Commission, and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced recently that the copy will be part of a display at the Minnesota History Center, May 6-18, coinciding with Minnesota Statehood Week, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of Minnesota becoming the 32nd state of the Union.

By SUE OLSON, Get Broadband Program

As more Americans go online and as more homes are geared with high speed service, the popularity of online videos and high graphics Web sites is growing.
The Get Broadband Program is sponsored by Blandin Foundation at www.blandinfoundation.org.According to a report published last summer by Pew Internet Life, 57 percent of Internet users and 75 percent of broadband users have watched videos online and most have shared online videos with others. As the popularity of video increases, so does the range of applications for video.