BRAINERD DISPATCH

Help us tell the stories of our community – and be paid for it

News Staff — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 18:59:09 GMT

Minnesota newspapers stand in a unique moment. A shortage of reporters and editors is causing hardships at some papers, and important stories are going unreported. Other papers have forged solutions. Wanting to strengthen their coverage, they are turning to their readers to report the news. These new partnerships are producing incredible stories.

Do you consider yourself a potential storyteller about our community? If so, we want to visit with you. We want to learn about your interest in storytelling. We’d also like to see some samples of your writing.

Then we will tell you about an enterprising online training program that can help you refine your writing skills so you can share stories about our community with other readers. The program is called Citizen Journalism U, or CJU for short. Now in its second year, CJU has already trained a good number of new journalists across Minnesota. And it has solid credentials. Its sponsors include this newspaper, the Minnesota NewsMedia Institute, the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the journalism program at Bethel University.

Interested? Read on.

There are several newspapers throughout Minnesota's lakes country looking to hire citizen journalists, including:

Detroit Lakes Tribune Perham Focus Wadena Pioneer Journal Park Rapids Enterprise Bemidji Pioneer Brainerd Dispatch Pine and Lakes Echo Journal in Pequot Lakes Alexandria Echo Press St. Cloud Live West Central Tribune in Willmar

All these Forum Communications newspapers are recruiting readers like yourself to join the second cohort of CJU students. The first cohort of 24 students, who were trained in 2022, had varied backgrounds: high school students, retirees and people in between from all walks of life. Their common interests: a deep curiosity of the world, a love for their communities, and a love for telling stories.

Weekly two-hour training sessions are moderated by Scott Winter, Bethel’s journalism professor. He is accompanied by four other Minnesota newspaper veterans who take students into a deep dive into reporting. Over five weeks, students learn the difference between news and opinion, how to develop a “nose for news,” how to conduct an interview, how to organize and add color to a story — and about 1,000 other worthwhile things that go into writing a solid newspaper story. Students are also assigned to mentors with extensive journalism experience. The mentors provide individualized help with reporting assignments.

The next CJU course meets from 4 to 6 p.m. over five consecutive Thursdays beginning Sept. 14. The course is free to students because costs are shared by host newspapers and the Minnesota Newspaper Association. After successful completion, students are awarded a certificate from Bethel and the Minnesota NewsMedia Institute.

Might you or someone you know be interested in CJU – and writing for this newspaper? We’re specifically looking for readers who want to report on:

• people with intriguing hobbies or interests, life-changing volunteer roles, stories of epic world adventures, and other experiences

• public affairs issues such as matters being considered by our city council, school board and county board

• local athletes and sports events, particularly high school sports

• school trends and activities, both in the classroom and out

• store openings and other major business changes on Main Street, in the industrial park, at local farms, and elsewhere nearby

• trends and major changes in our houses of worship

• the local arts and entertainment scene

Interested? If so, contact Paula Quam at pquam@forumcomm.com or Kelly Boldan at kboldan@wctrib.com so we can set up a time to visit at your nearest Forum Communications newspaper. We'll ask you to bring a sample or two of your writing. It doesn’t have to be anything official – it might be a report you wrote for school or for your job, or something similar.

If selected for CJU, you’ll become part of your newspaper’s extended team of reporters, perhaps as a freelancer or maybe part time. Your efforts will strengthen this newspaper, inform the community, and help it retain and nourish its identity.

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Commentary: Newspaper shooting revives memories

Pete Mohs — Sun, 08 Jul 2018 10:00:00 GMT

The recent deadly shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper office in Annapolis, Md., brought back memories for a handful of current Brainerd Dispatch employees.

Although no one was injured and the shooter never entered the building, the Dispatch office was the target of a gunman in the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 1993. Two years later, a fired Dispatch employee, Brad M. Serani, was convicted of the shooting.

I will never forget that day. I was the Dispatch's assistant sports editor and was the first to arrive at work about 4:45 a.m.-about 15 minutes after Serani fired more than 35 rounds from an SKS semi-automatic rifle into our building.

We were printing the Dispatch in the afternoon at that time, so our building was usually empty until the morning shift arrived in the newsroom.

I entered the Dispatch through a side employee door and immediately noticed the cold temperature in our building. I walked to the front counter to drop off mail, and that's when I noticed the large front window blown out. I figured the below-zero temperatures may have shattered the glass. I called the Brainerd police to make sure no one had entered the building.

The police dispatcher told me to meet an officer at the front door in a few minutes. When he arrived, the officer walked into the building through the broken glass as we both made the realization the damage was caused by numerous bullet holes in dozens of windows around the front and east sides of the building.

That moment started a flurry of activity between police investigators and the workers putting up plywood over the broken windows to keep out the cold weather.

We also had water along the east wall of the building as a bullet struck a heat register. One of Serani's bullets severed our liquid, closed-loop heating system, effectively shutting down all heat in the building. We were in real danger of freezing up the entire building.

Unlike the Maryland shooting, we didn't know our shooter's identity for almost two years. And that led to a nervous feeling among employees, but former Brainerd police Chief Frank Ball did assure us "that it appeared the shooter didn't intend to shoot anyone" since he first walked around the building before shooting.

As time went on, the worst part was not knowing who shot up the building and why, and would they strike again? We had an armed guard in the building for more than 30 days, adding to employee stress.

Police also analyzed six months of past Dispatch editions to search for anyone with a possible grudge against the Dispatch because of our reporting.

It was almost two years later that the mystery was solved when Serani was arrested after he made terroristic threats to a mortgage company attempting to foreclose on his home. Police then matched him as a former Dispatch employee. Serani, who served time for the shooting, later died in 2006.

Unlike the Maryland shooting, the Dispatch news staff and coverage were not the target of the Dispatch shooting. But we understand the nature of our business can upset readers even as we strive for fair coverage. We cover the news, and people have varying opinions of most stories. There have been a handful of threatening visitors at our office over the years, and we continue to review security for our building.

We hope our readers will understand and appreciate the nature of our business. We cover the news whether it's viewed as negative or positive.

We did achieve the same goal as the Capital Gazette as we didn't miss publishing the news the day of the Dispatch shooting. Terry McCollough, who served as Dispatch publisher at the time of the shooting, emphasized the importance of meeting the press schedule and standing behind our commitment to cover the news. We refuse to silence the presses despite any threats.

And we will never forget that day in Brainerd. McCollough left the bullet damage on a metal strip between windows inside the publisher's office unrepaired as a constant reminder to stay alert to any possible future threats.

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Despite adversity, Crosby man keeps making political impact

Zach Kayser — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 16:08:05 GMT

CROSBY, Minn. - Crosby native Joe Radinovich, a 31-year-old former legislator, will become chief of staff to the mayor of Minneapolis in January.

To get to this point, he had to overcome a harrowing origin story containing tragedy, hatred and defeat. But the difficulties he's experienced on his road to Minneapolis City Hall apparently haven't dimmed his willingness to work hard or his ambition to go further.

Radinovich recalled his first voting experience, when his mom took the 6-year-old to vote with her in the 1992 election (She voted for Ross Perot, he said). His dad was a lifelong Democrat - Radinovich joked he thought as a kid Ronald Reagan's middle name was a swear word.

When he was in the eighth grade, the Crosby-Ironton �� District proposed deep budget cuts, and Radinovich attended a school board meeting with 500 people. A young Radinovich was featured in a photo on the front page of the Brainerd Dispatch.

The next day, the students walked out in protest.

"I remember feeling like that was a powerful thing to do," he said. "We were breaking the rules to advocate for our views."

The cuts stayed, but the earnestness with which locals fought them stuck with Radinovich. He told himself he would do something about it if he ever got access to power.

In the meantime, a series of incidents with his family derailed not only his educational career but his life as a whole, he said.

He came home from school one day his junior year to find a close family member attempted suicide. Radinovich missed much of the rest of the school that year to be with his family in the intensive care unit.

"The teachers in my life really kind of rallied around me, supported me, made sure that I passed my classes and had the emotional and structural support that I needed," he said.

But in February the following year, his mother was murdered by his step-grandfather, who then killed himself.

Again, he relied on teachers to help him protect his grades enough so he could go to college, he said. He made it, and while attending Macalester College in St. Paul, he got a chance to help the people who helped him. The teachers in Crosby went on strike, and Radinovich went back to his hometown to walk picket lines with them and buy them pizza.

It was at that time he came to know John Ward, another area DFLer active in the teacher's union. After Ward was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2006, Radinovich called Ward to ask if he would hire him as an intern. Ward agreed.

"For me, what was important about that is, my parents aren't involved in politics, they weren't on local committees, they didn't know legislators - I had never known how to access that," Radinovich said.

Ward set him to work writing letters to constituents. Big events in people's lives, like babies or anniversaries, drew a letter on behalf of Ward, written and mailed by Radinovich.

"It wasn't glamorous work obviously, but what I started to recognize was, politics is one of the few places that's almost totally meritocratic," he said. "If you work hard, you gain entry. If you're kind of earnest ... if you ask questions and kind of provide your value, there's always going to be another opportunity."

Eventually, the weight of what happened to his family was too much for Radinovich, and he dropped out of college to return to Crosby. He needed time to repair his mind and body.

"I remember that time of my life, being a pack-a-day smoker, just generally unhealthy," he said.

Initiation

In the spring of 2008, the Democratic party was being shaken up by the intense presidential primary fight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Radinovich felt safe to get involved in politics once again. He became a delegate to the DFL county unit convention and then the state convention, supporting Clinton even though at times the position wasn't popular.

Radinovich's efforts were noticed, and he became a field organizer for the state DFL - his first paid job in politics.

"It was 10 years ago this coming spring," he recalled fondly.

At the time, his boss warned him it may prove to be the worst job he ever had, with long hours and a high potential for burnout - but if he worked hard, there would be opportunities for advancement. So Radinovich poured himself into the job, working six or seven days a week until late at night, and broke up with his high school girlfriend.

In the end, 2008 turned out to be excellent for Democrats, from Obama's ascent to the presidency on down to the re-election of Ward to the state Legislature.

Excited to get another job in politics, Radinovich spent most of 2009 unemployed at his parents' house while he waited for the phone to ring.

But then, his old boss at the DFL told him about an opening at the federal employee union, American Federation of Government Employees. He traveled the country, speaking to federal employees about labor relations.

Still, he became restless - until a chance to run for office himself arose.

Legislative stint

Redistricting based on the 2010 Census meant the 2012 election would feature a new legislative district created alongside that of John Ward's - and Radinovich saw his opportunity. At age 25, he decided to run for the Minnesota House of Representatives seat for House District 10B.

Over a beer, he turned down an offer from 73-year-old primary opponent David Schaaf to run his campaign in exchange for being his "heir apparent," Radinovich recalled. He later took heat from Schaaf when he ran against him in the primary.

"Do you want someone who's extremely young, an unmarried union organizer, or somebody who's more of the age and business experience of most people in the district?" Schaaf told the Brainerd Dispatch at the time.

Radinovich said Schaaf's digs at him gave inspiration to work even harder to beat Schaaf in the primary - and he did.

"I think I beat him like 99 to one (votes) in my home precinct," he said.

He challenged Republican Dale Lueck in the general election. Radinovich credits his victory over Lueck in part to an incident surrounding a letter to the editor written to the Dispatch, claiming to be from a Democratic supporter of Radinovich's from Hill City. In fact, the letter was written by House Republican Campaign Committee staffer Steven Sundquist, who also door-knocked and distributed literature for the Lueck campaign, according to an article on the incident. A statement from the Committee said Sundquist subsequently no longer worked for them and the group disavowed his actions. Radinovich won by 323 votes.

"We won a squeaker that year," Radinovich said.

After he took office, Radinovich focused on education issues, serving on the Education Finance Committee in the House.

The education work was soon eclipsed by a vote Radinovich took in the spring of 2013 to legalize same-sex marriage. The vast majority of voters in his district voted in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage the year before. But, minority civil rights should not be determined by the majority, Radinovich said.

"I happen to think that 62.5 percent of the district was wrong," he said.

He knew at the time the vote would likely cost him his seat.

"Even people who supported marriage equality, supporters of mine, were saying, 'You know, if you do this, you're not coming back,'" he recalled.

Radinovich's constituents were indeed angry after he declared his intention to vote to legalize, including one unidentified man who spoke to Minnesota Public Radio in Aitkin and said gay people should be rounded up and executed.

"Well, it sounds to me like (Radinovich) must be gay, too. I'm totally against that," the man told MPR.

That MPR story was running the same day Radinovich voted in favor to legalize same sex marriage, Radinovich remembered. His father called him, concerned for his safety.

In reaction to his support of marriage equality, local Republicans organized a recall effort to remove Radinovich from office. Although the recall failed, Radinovich lost the 2014 election to Lueck, 48 percent to 51.86 percent.

Back on the campaign trail

Despite being sent home from the Legislature by voters, Radinovich soon got a job working for the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, more commonly known as the IRRRB. The state agency injects funding into Iron Range communities to help them get over the fall of the mining industry. But he got bored again after about a year, he said.

He did not have to wait long for a challenge, and when it came, it was a humdinger.

After pheasant hunting with U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Crosby, the two were driving together back north when Nolan asked Radinovich to be his campaign manager for the 2016 re-election fight. Radinovich took it on, and the campaign got Nolan another two years in Congress despite opponent Stewart Mills III coming within less than a percentage point of beating Nolan, and Donald Trump taking the 8th District by storm in the election results.

"For us to win in those circumstances was pretty crazy," Radinovich said.

He went on vacation in Death Valley and Colorado to get the stress of 2016 out of his system, but no sooner did he return home that a recruitment call put him back on the horse. It was Jacob Frey, running for mayor of Minneapolis. The two young men had a connection through mutual friends among Democratic supporters. The test of running a campaign in a major city using ranked choice voting appealed to Radinovich, he said. To him, campaigns are like a logic problem or a video game to be mastered, he said.

"You start here, you need to get here, and what do what you need to gather along the way to be successful," Radinovich said.

He and Frey wound up beating all the bosses in the video game of the Minneapolis mayoral election, resulting in Radinovich getting the level-up to become Frey's chief of staff.

Looking ahead

In an interview when he was a legislator, Radinovich said his favorite book was "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and he read it several times. Both him and title character Jay Gatsby are two young men who come to prominence from obscure beginnings through sheer force of will and personality.

There remains the question of whether Radinovich has finally reached his elusive green light across the water, or if there is something more he wants in the future. Current Lt. Governor Tina Smith once had his same job of chief of staff to the mayor of Minneapolis. Does he see a similar trajectory for himself?

"My philosophy in politics - my philosophy in life, generally speaking - is that, I don't have a plan, and I don't want a plan," Radinovich said.

He advocates for his views no matter what political role he finds himself in, he said. Doing the job in front of him the best he can will lead to further opportunities, he said.

But Radinovich is going to run for office again.

"I expect that I will," he said. "I don't know when it will be."

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