Last August, community marches were held across the country to show solidarity in response to the events that unfolded in Charlottesville, VA during a neo-nazi, white supremacy rally. Dan Gannon was a key organizer in the Bemidji Unite Against Hate march back in August and he is on a mission to continue the conversation around diversity and the strength it brings to our lives and communities. Dan has organized a special event that combines art and music - all in the name of bringing unity to the

On the First Friday of every month we check in with Katie Marshall of the MacRostie Art Center , Molly Olson from the Ely Folk School and KAXE Area Voices Producer Katie Carter... These gals give us a sampling of the arts events happening around the listening area for the First Friday events as well as other art related happenings coming up in the month. In this segment, we learn about what's happening in Grand Rapids, Bemidji's First Friday happenings, classes going on in Ely, forest and art

We continue our series with strong women in northern MN with Grand Rapids Council member Tasha Connelly . She tells us what led her to run for office and a couple of important issues facing the city of Grand Rapids. Do you know a strong women with a story to tell? Email us!

Every Tuesday we hear from students and listeners as they send in weekly Phenology observations. Our last classroom reports for the year are included in these talkbacks. We've absolutely loved hearing from our student reporters this year and we'll miss them dearly this summer. Hopefully they will continue to be observant and send their observations along to us via email ! In addition to our student reports, we also heard from Ian, Ed, Harvey and Tom who sent us notes about what they've noticed

We care deeply about the natural world around us here at KAXE-KBXE. Each week our resident phenologist John Latimer provides a complete Phenology Report giving listeners a comprehensive look at what's happening in nature here in northern Minnesota. And, a lot is happening out in nature in northern Minnesota right now! We went from walking on the lakes to swimming in them over the course of the last month. Bushes are budding, pines are shooting their candles, lilies are blooming, ferns are

Cynthia Booth has been creating dark fiction for decades. She's authored and co-authored dozens of short stories, novels and plays. She recently won an international award for her short story One Date is Danger and her novella Leviathan of Lost Lake , set in Grand Rapids, MN, will be available to the public this summer. She stopped by Northern Community Radio recently and chatted about her life as a writer.

In the summertime we get lots of visitors to northern MN from other places. Part of the beauty of being on the banks of the Mississippi River in Grand Rapids is that we often get to met the folks who are making the big trek from the Headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. Today was our first group of adventurers from 2018 - 3 college students who work on a paddleboat in New Orleans who wanted to prove what they heard their boss say every day - that you could still paddle the length of the Mississippi

Tune in for our weekly conversation with Marshall Helmberger about the news in NE MN from the Timberjay newspaper.

Laura Packer is a professional story-teller, writer, coach and self proclaimed "real-time dreamer." Passionate about the power of storytelling to build empathy, cultivate relationships and create connection between humans, Packer uses her gifts to help others. She facilitates workshops to help others use storytelling as a way to share experiences and ultimately help build community and understanding. She will host a writing and performance workshop related to the #metoo movement at the

Lee Reich, PhD, has graduate degrees in soil science and horticulture. He’s a gardener, scientist and author who lives in New Paltz NY. His new book, released by New Society Publishers, is called The Ever Curious Gardener—Using a Little Natural Science for a Much Better Garden. Reich grows and experiments with plants in what he calls a “farmden.” The farmden started when he added an adjacent 2 acres to his original ¾-acre property. “So instead of planting where I might have two of a certain type