A year ago on this blog, we were all getting ready for the all-school reunion. And getting ready for the long primary season leading up to the elections of 2008. It was exciting.

This week, the lights have dimmed on this old site. Whereas VikesFan was getting the discussion rolling on language-learning and immigrants a year ago, I am wondering this year where all of our energy went. It can't be that we are bored by the prospect of Barack Obama and John McCain, could it? Or Norm Coleman against Al Franken and maybe even Jesse the Body?

Dan Stewart Bilben, International Falls, Minn., died Monday, June 23, 2008 at Falls Memorial Hospital. He was 64 years of age.
Born Nov. 16, 1943, at Bemidji, Minn., Dan moved to International Falls at an early age and was a lifelong resident of the Falls.
He graduated from Falls High School in 1962 and went on to graduate with honors from Bemidji State University in 1972 with a bachelor of arts degree in business.
Dan was an outstanding baseball player in college and was later involved in starting the slow pitch league in the Falls.

The dry weather of the past few days has helped give area dams time to let outflow bring flooding lake levels down from its peak stages this week.
That could change as thunderstorms are predicted for most of this week.
According to the AbitibiBowater hotline, on Monday the Rainy Lake level fell .08 inches from Sunday, and all 15 gates remain open with an average discharge of 35,811.3 cubic feet per second. The level below the dam is at 1,086.48 feet and remains 14.4 inches above the International Joint Commission rule curve.

Minnesota recycles 41 percent of its trash and that admirable achievement is the second best rate of recycling in the country, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
That rate of recycling, however, has not increased significantly for 10 years.

State Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam, announced his bid for reelection in House District 3A, and Marv Ott, announced his candidacy for the seat earlier this year.
The District 3A position represents Koochiching, Lake of the Woods and Itasca counties.
“It’s been an honor to serve the people of northern Minnesota these last two years,” said Anzelc. “We got a lot done, but there’s work left and I want to finish what I started.”

The Icebox Radio Theater has assembled a virtual “all-star cast” for its upcoming live performance in Minneapolis the weekend of July 4.
The hand-picked group of artists represents the most talented and experienced voice actors available in the northland, as well as an exciting cross-section of performers, according to organizers.
The IBRT will do two shows at CONvergence, a massive science fiction and fantasy convention held at the Sheridan Bloomington Hotel July 3-6. Partial funding for the IBRT shows was provided by a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.

The Falls VFW baseball team continued its division schedule with a doubleheader with Hibbing here Tuesday afternoon.
Hibbing swept the doubleheader winning game one 12-8 and game two 10-0.
Falls left hander Chad Sohlman took the loss on the mound for the Falls giving up six runs in the top of the first inning behind several defensive errors.
“We made a couple of errors in the inning that if we had made the plays we would have gotten out of the inning with a more manageable deficit,” Falls head coach Roger Jerome said.

To most people, 16 seconds is not a lot of time. In 16 seconds, you can miss a phone call, blink approximately three to four times or unwrap a Jolly Rancher.
But in the case of International Falls resident Dexi Kallerman, 16 seconds was the difference between qualifying and not qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
Kallerman competed in Grandma’s Marathon last Saturday and fell 16 seconds short of qualifying for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:49:29 which was good enough for 1,201st overall.

To the editor,
So Commissioner Kallie Briggs thinks the City Beach area residents concerns about allowing recreational vehicles at City Beach are “ridiculous,” and Commissioner Chuck Lepper thinks those of us who live in the area are “lucky.”

Lawyers seem to be the only winners so far in a squabble between International Falls and Koochiching County officials.
The most recent move by the city seeks the removal of an attorney representing Koochiching County in a court appeal of a decision by the Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel involving Minnesota Highway 332.