In 1969, John Howell, a man from Greenwich Connecticut, bought my hometown paper, the Warwick Beacon, in Rhode Island.
To put it into context, my parents, who are both from Warwick, and have lived there their entire lives, were two years old.
For 55 years, Howell was publisher, owner, and editor of the Beacon, and other newspapers in the suburban part of Rhode Island.

Tim Penny was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives when he first learned about the McKnight Foundation’s plan to establish six regional nonprofits in the wake of the mid-1980s farm crisis.

Dodge Center’s Beth Fahning Hanggi has been named Citizen of the Year by the Dodge Center Lions Club.
Each year the Lions ask club members and the community to nominate a candidate for the Lions Club Citizen of the Year. This year the nomination committee chose Hanggi, of Fahning and Associates, LLC, for the honor.

Keith Lowell Gillette, 79, of Brownsdale, MN passed away peacefully on Friday, June 13, 2025, at Prairie Manor Nursing Home in Blooming Prairie.

Gerald "Gerry" Henry Fahning, 93, of Dodge Center, MN passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Mayo Clinic St. Mary's Campus in Rochester. Gerry was born on October 30, 1931, in Zumbrota to Henry and Julia (Erickson) Fahning. He grew up outside of Cleveland on a farm with his sister and three brothers. Gerry graduated from Cleveland high school in 1949.

Barbara Ann Flicek, age 85, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Circle Drive Manor, where she had resided since January 2025. Barb was born on September 9, 1939, in Berne, Minnesota, to Ralph and Elnora Zeller. She grew up on the family farm, where she helped raise her younger sisters. She attended country school in Berne through grade seven and graduated from West Concord High School in 1957, as class Salutatorian.