But itâs been an extra sweet week at Canelakeâs Candies.
The iconic candy shop, in operation since 1905, has something new to add to its long history. Canelakeâs, on Tuesday, opened an expansion into the adjacent building, broadening its selection of merchandise and preserving its history â and that of the Virginia area â for generations to come.
The Canelake family spent more than a year renovating 416 Chestnut St., to increase retail space and establish a candy (and Iron Range) museum, said co-owner Pamela Canelake Matson.
Walls are adored with enlarged photographs depicting the shopâs transformations through the decades: An image of the 1900sâ storefront, complete with wooden sidewalks and bananas displayed in the window; second-generation candy makers, brothers John and Leo Canelake, posing in front of the shop in the 1960s; longtime candy dipper, Liona Forst, dipping chocolates at a table now used as a display in the expansion.
Minnesota briefs: Two Iron Range school districts add mountain bike teams
By Star Tribune staff Text size Copy shortlink:
Two school districts on the Iron Range plan to start mountain biking teams in part of what s been a decadelong explosion in the sport in Minnesota since the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails opened in 2010.
Mountain bike teams in the Minnesota High School Cycling League are being formed at Rock Ridge and Hibbing school districts, with the Rock Ridge team in Virginia being a composite team that draws from schools on the east side of the Iron Range.
Mountain biking has exploded in popularity in Minnesota since the trail system in Crosby was built. In 2012, the first year of the cycling league for high school and middle schoolers, there were 151 participants from 16 teams. This past year, despite COVID-19 restrictions, there were 2,135 participants from 80 teams spanning 125 schools.
Minnesota briefs: 10 Hibbing businesses awarded loans to weather pandemic
By Star Tribune staff Star Tribune January 23, 2021 1:10pm Text size Copy shortlink:
Ten businesses in Hibbing have been awarded $324,000 in interest-free loans to help offset the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city one of 12 northeastern Minnesota communities to receive a Taconite Area Community Relief grant from the state s Department of Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation used the loans in conjunction with the Hibbing Economic Development Authority in a move that impacts 71 jobs in the St. Louis County city.
The 10 businesses received zero-interest loans ranging from $5,000 to $40,000 with a five-y
October 4
Breaking ground on new GRFD fire hall
For 125 years, the Grand Rapids Fire Hall has been located just east of City Hall on NE Fifth Street. This week, city leaders joined the Grand Rapids Fire Department (GRFD) to break ground on a new site for the hall.
A lot directly north of the IRC Building in Grand Rapids and south of SE 11th Street between Pokegama Avenue and SE Second Avenue will be the location of the new Grand Rapids Fire Hall. The current fire hall will be sold to Itasca County for the purpose of expanding county jail facilities onto the existing courthouse building.
Six campuses, one name: Northeast Minnesota colleges to merge The schools are among the state s smallest. December 22, 2020 4:08pm Text size Copy shortlink:
After years of declining enrollment and corresponding revenue losses, five community colleges in northeastern Minnesota will combine into one institution.
The schools in Hibbing, Grand Rapids, Virginia/Eveleth, International Falls and Ely have seen enrollment fall 35% in the past decade and have some of the smallest student populations among the three dozen Minnesota State Colleges and Universities schools.
Under the consolidation plan, the six physical campuses will remain (Mesabi Range College has campuses in Virginia and Eveleth) but under the umbrella of a single college, which does not yet have a name. The new college will be operational by fall 2022.