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.  

On 07-31-2021, at approximately 8:00 PM the Lake Superior Drug & Violent Crime Task Force (LSDVCTF) assisted by the Hibbing Police Department, St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, St. Louis County Emergency Response Team, Itasca County Sheriff's Office, MN State Patrol, MN BCA and Grand Rapids Police Department arrested 5 Hibbing, MN residents in connection with a month long investigation into the distribution of Methamphetamine on the Iron Range.  Three of the individuals were arrested after a traffic stop in Itasca County yielded a large quantity of Methamphetamine and they were lodged in the Itasca County Jail. Two others were arrested at a residence in the city of Hibbing after the execution of a search warrant by the LSDVCTF and St. Louis County Emergency Response Team where a firearm and US Currency was seized.  All 5 individuals involved in the investigation are pending criminal charges of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. The identities of those involved will be released at a later time pending formal charges in St. Louis County District Court.  The LSDVCTF was also assisted in this investigation by the Southwest Corridor Task Force in Riverside, California.