Effective Wednesday, August 11, St. Louis County is requiring face masks to be worn inside all county buildings. This applies to all employees and visitors regardless of vaccination status. 

St. Louis County continues to experience substantial transmission of COVID-19. The CDC defines substantial transmission as 50 or more new cases per 100,000 residents in a week. St. Louis County, with 200,000 residents, has had 120 new cases in the last week.

Wearing a face mask is a proven way to limit spread of COVID-19, in particular to the unvaccinated, including children who are too young to be eligible for the vaccine. Getting vaccinated remains the best way for people to protect themselves and those around them from the potentially serious effects of COVID and the highly contagious delta variant.

Vaccination data (as of August 8) for St. Louis County shows that 116,522 people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This equals 67.7% of the population age 16 and older. St. Louis County Public Health continues to offer vaccine clinics each week. Details can be found at stlouiscountymn.gov/vaccineregistration. People also are encouraged to check with their medical provider or pharmacy for vaccine opportunities.

The St. Louis County Board today gave unanimous support to invest $1.75 million in Broadband Infrastructure Grants. The grants will be distributed to qualifying communities to assist with constructing broadband infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas. This latest investment is in addition to $250,000 authorized last month to assist communities with broadband planning costs. Funding for the Broadband Infrastructure Grants comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act money the county received.

St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin has announced plans to retire at the end of September following more than 42 years of public service.

Rubin, who was raised in Duluth's Smithville neighborhood and graduated from Morgan Park High School, first joined the County Attorney's Office as an intern in 1975 while attending The College of St. Scholastica. He went on to attend what is now Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and after graduation was hired as an Assistant St. Louis County Attorney in 1978. With the exception of two years spent in private practice during the late '80s, Rubin has worked in the County Attorney's Office ever since.

rea first responders and law enforcement responded to the report of a residence, located at 6389 Beckman Rd in Grand Lake Township, filling with smoke last night at approximately 7:25 PM last night.

Upon the arrival of emergency resources on scene they discovered that the house was nearly fully engulfed in flames. Several area fire departments responded to help fight and contain the blaze. The home was a total loss. 

The female homeowner, who was the only occupant of the residence, was able to escape from the residence. The homeowner who was later identified as Rhonda Ziells was treated for minor smoke inhalation by EMS on scene and released.

The fire appears to accidental. The state Fire Marshal was contacted and the incident remains under investigation.

Area first responders and law enforcement responded to the report of a 2 vehicle personal injury accident near the intersection of Midway Rd and Cloquet Rd N in Midway township last night. 

Each vehicle contained only one occupant. The male driver was treated by EMS on scene and released. The female driver was transported by EMS to an area hospital with non-life threating injures.

Heavy fog in the area is considered to have been a contributing factor. The accident remains under investigation by the St Louis County Sheriffs Office.  

The St Louis County Sheriffs Office was assisted by the Proctor Fire and Police Departments, Hermantown Police, Minnesota State Patrol, St Louis County Rescue Squad and Mayo Clinic Ambulance service.