Plus: PCA estimates 12-16 days of wildfire smoke this summer; and Lueken's Village Foods in Bemidji recently celebrated the retirement of its longest-serving employee.

Plus: The new conservation officer in Walker gives his predictions and tips for anglers ahead of his first-ever fishing season opener in the role.

Plus: Lawmakers seek to renew funding to replace lead service lines; International Falls set a new daily low record in recent cold snap; and 30 Northland student artists will have their work featured in Wayzata.

Plus: Community members from Walker and Onigum gathered to commemorate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Awareness Day.

Plus: Hermantown City Council tables a vote on agreements related to the controversial proposed Google data center.

Plus: Former Bemidji teacher sentenced for child sex abuse material; Firefighters in region respond to grass fires; Eighth District Democrats endorse Trina Swanson; and Bemidji State alumni brave cool weather to replant the campus.

This is the Up North Lookback, where we’re digging into the local news archives from 50 years ago — the year KAXE was born. It’s the week of May 4.

The Iron Range Child Care Task Force says employer contributions, public wage subsidies and philanthropic support can save struggling providers and build capacity.

Plus: Bemidji State University celebrates an $8.1M gift from an alum's trust; and 40,000 seedlings are planted in forests burned last year by the Munger Shaw Fire.

Plus: Cougar kittens are captured in footage for the first time ever in Minnesota, first evidence of breeding population in a century; and Bemidji YMCA plans gain steam.