I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Jan. 5, 1997
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
Local state legislators-to-be Gail Skare of Bemidji and Dave Ten Eyck of East Gull Lake will be putting their prior experiences to use when they enter the state Legislature Tuesday.
Both Skare and Ten Eyck have received unofficial notices that they will be serving on committees that will draw upon knowledge from past occupations.
Skare, who was elected as the House 4A representative, was informed that she would be serving on the Minnesota House's Agriculture Committee, Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs Committee ad Tax Committee. She also will serve as vice chairwoman of the Sales and Income Tax Division under the auspices of the Tax Committee.
In an interview Friday, Skare said she was surprised to hear she was assigned to the Tax Committee because she was told that freshman representatives are not usually assigned to that prestigious committee.
She said she wanted to be on the Tax Committee because in being a homeowner and a former county commissioner, she has seen what dramatic increases in property taxes has done to Minnesota residents.
As for the Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs Committee, Skare said she could see her experience as a 10-year county commissioner as being a large benefit.
But she didn't have the Agriculture Committee listed as a priority. Instead, she listed the Commerce, Tourism and Consumer Affairs Committee, which she thought pertained more to her district. However, she said she could also see the benefits for her district of being assigned to the Agriculture Committee.
Elected to represent Senate District 4, Ten Eyck was assigned to the Children, Families and Learning Committee; Crime Prevention Committee; Judiciary Committee; Human Resources Finance Committee; Health and Family Security Committee; Crime Prevention and Judiciary Budget Division; and Higher Education Budget Division. He will be serving as the vice chairman of the Higher Education Budget Division.
Ten Eyck, an attorney and prosecutor for the cities of Brainerd, Baxter and Nisswa, and a former Legal Aid Service attorney for this region, will be able to draw upon his knowledge of the law for several of his committee assignments.
Ten Eyck's appointment as vice chairman of the Higher Education Budget Division also maintains a local presence in higher education decisions, which should favor Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College.
In a House shake-up, Rep. Tony Kinkel, DFL-Park Rapids, was displaced as chairman of that body's higher ed funding panel and instead placed on the panel handling K-12 matters.
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