DOUGLAS COUNTY — I was checking my Instagram feed before sitting down to write this newsletter and I suddenly realized that my search choices have created an interesting — and somewhat chaotic — feed.
I’m not talking about what my Instagram friends are posting or celebrities that I follow. Rather, it’s the stream of content coming from all corners of the Instagram world — the feed derived from my searches or random items I click on.
If I handed my cellphone to a visiting alien, it would think our planet is overrun with cats, tornadoes, people who play Gibson Les Paul guitars and women from the 1960s who cast spells. I click on one video of a tornado and suddenly my feed is overrun with photos and videos from every twister that’s touched down in the past 40 years. Talk about Tornado Alley!
Sure, there’s a little baseball, football and Formula 1 represented in my feed, but it’s mostly felines, twisters, guitar heroes and “bewitching” actresses.
Those would make great “Jeopardy” categories! “I’ll take Rick’s Instagram obsessions for $1,000, Ken.”
I suppose I should find more high-brow entertainment when I log off from the wide world of journalism, but I can change that feed with a few simple searches.
Get ready for old Rick Astley videos, daily affirmations from Matthew McConaughey, the comedy of Nate Bargatze, adventurous beagles and more cats.
I hope you all have a great holiday weekend, but be careful what you Instagram.
Briana Fiandt, Curator of Collections at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center, introduces the team that found the P-38 “Marge” during a press conference in Superior on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Perhaps the most famous, celebrated World War II fighter plane has been found after being missing since the war — Richard I. Bong’s downed P-38 “Marge” plane.
That big breaking news was revealed in a news conference Thursday afternoon. Telegram reporter Maria Lockwood, who has been following the search for the plane, was at the “presser” and
filed this report with all the details on where it was found and reaction from historians and Bong’s loved ones.
It truly is remarkable to know the plane that helped make the Poplar native — and his wife — famous has been found after all these years.
Looking ahead with a glance to the past
Northwestern High School seniors, from left, Deana Jasso, Maya Siddiqui, Wyatt Andren and Lawson Burkhart pose for a picture in the high school entryway Wednesday, May 22, 2024. The class of 2024 will graduate Friday, May 24.
Maria Lockwood / Superior Telegram
I graduated from high school in 1988, so it’s been a minute. But I can still recollect those conflicting, anxious and exciting thoughts about leaping into an adult future, and at the same time also looking back at the memories and accomplishments of 18 young years.
Today’s high school seniors, I suspect, are feeling much the same as they approach their graduations and the blessed summers that lead directly to wide-open, exciting futures.
Telegram reporter Maria Lockwood talked to seniors at Solon Springs and Northwestern to learn how they are feeling about the last days of their high school careers, what they have planned for the future and what advice they would impart on underclassmen. You can read about
the Northwestern seniors here,
and
the Solon Springs seniors here.
Paige “Peeps” Johnson (10) and Ari Robillard (3) share a laugh as they chat in the dugout prior to the Spartans game with Hudson on Friday afternoon, May 17, 2024, in Superior.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Sports create competitive rivals — fiery relationships that often last a lifetime. They can also create wonderful friendships forged in the fire of competition.
Superior Spartan juniors Ari Robillard and Paige “Peeps” Johnson are a potent pitcher-catcher combo for the softball team, but they’re also close friends off the diamond and out of the dugout. Their friendship began as a competitive rivalry, too.
Sports reporter Reagan Hoverman and photographer Jed Carlson beautifully captured that friendship for readers with their images and words.
(Subscriber-only story)
More stories to check out:
Editor’s note: Dispatches from Douglas County is a newsletter I publish every Friday morning. Please consider subscribing — it’s free — and hits your inbox just once a week.
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Rick Lubbers has been in his role since 2014 and at the News Tribune since 2005. Previous stops include the Superior Telegram (1999-2005) and Budgeteer News (1997-1999). Prior to that, he worked at the St. Cloud Times and Annandale Advocate in Minnesota, and the Greenville Daily News and Grand Rapids Press in Michigan. He received his journalism degree at Central Michigan University.
