Today in Brainerd / Baxter
Brainerd Catholic's St. Francis of Assisi celebration begins tonight, Friday, October 2, and runs through Sunday, October 4.
The Great Pumpkin Festival is Saturday, October 3, 1 to 4 p.m., at Memorial Park.
Little Falls operations director Mark Diehl is set to work 20 hours a week for Brainerd Public Schools under a shared-services agreement.
Brainerd's Planning Commission will see another comprehensive plan draft in October before a public hearing is set.
The Baxter City Council extended an interim use permit for the former Simonson Lumber yard.
Brainerd Public Schools' Indigenous Peoples Celebration is Monday, October 12, at Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts.
NEW: newly reported developments or upcoming opportunities. UPDATE: later substantive information on a covered story. ONGOING: continuing useful information. RESOLVED: the reported issue has ended. BACKGROUND: dated historical context, not a new development or confirmation of current availability. UNCONFIRMED: a story, continuing story or detail that could not be confirmed against its cited source on the edition date; the note under the headline says what is not confirmed. Today and countdown lines carry "(unconfirmed)" for the same reason. All local times are Central Daylight Time.
Schools & Youth
ONGOING
Indigenous Peoples Celebration brings demonstrations, food and film to Gichi-ziibi
Brainerd Public Schools' third annual Indigenous Peoples Celebration is scheduled for Monday, October 12, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd. The free event's theme is “Connecting Past and Present.”
The district lists cultural demonstrations, a market and a meal from 4:30 to 7 p.m., including student-led drum performances honoring Ojibwe heritage, birch bark craft demonstrations, local artisan vendors and a free meal of wild rice hotdish and fry bread. A screening of Medicine Ball and a facilitated discussion follow from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Community: Brainerd. Source published: September 28, 2026. Event date: October 12.
UPDATEUNCONFIRMED
Little Falls operations director Mark Diehl to work part time for Brainerd schools
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: the October 1 start and June 30, 2028 end of the agreement, the half salary and benefits split, Diehl working with Superintendent Chip Rankin, Kari Ross's December retirement, the lack of an assistant superintendent, and the board meeting move from October 12 to October 19. Check the source before relying on it.
Mark Diehl, executive director of operations at Little Falls Community Schools, is set to work 20 hours a week for Brainerd Public Schools, the Brainerd Dispatch reported October 1. The shared-services agreement the School Board approved September 21 took effect October 1 and runs through June 30, 2028.
Brainerd will pay Little Falls half the position's salary and benefits: $68,539.90 for nine months of the 2026-27 school year and $92,786.50 for 2027-28. Diehl will work closely with Superintendent Chip Rankin. The arrangement comes ahead of the December retirement of Kari Ross, Brainerd's executive director of schools, and the district has no assistant superintendent.
The Dispatch also reported that the board moved its October meeting from October 12 to October 19 so members can attend the Indigenous Peoples Celebration.
Arts, Culture & Events
ONGOINGBothUNCONFIRMED
Joint fall guide highlights local parks, arts and food-and-drink destinations; zip-line tour is in its final season
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: that the Brainerd Zipline Tour is in its last season and will close for good this winter. Check the source before relying on it.
Visit Brainerd & Baxter published a fall activity guide covering both cities. Local suggestions include paddling the Mississippi River from Lyman P. White and Kiwanis parks, the Paul Bunyan Trail, indoor waterparks, Jack Pine Brewery in Baxter, 5Rocks Distilling Co. in Brainerd, Central Lakes College performing arts, Stage North Theater, The Crossing Arts Alliance and the Franklin Arts Center. The guide also says the Brainerd Zipline Tour is in its last season and will close for good this winter.
ONGOING
St. Francis of Assisi celebration runs October 2 through 4
Brainerd Catholic lists St. Francis of Assisi feast activities from today, Friday, October 2, through Sunday, October 4. The St. Francis of the Lakes schoolyard hosts an Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, October 3, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with food, games and live music.
Admission to the Oktoberfest celebration is free, with a freewill offering accepted. The weekend opens with an hour of Adoration and sung prayer at 7 p.m. today, followed by a Transitus service at 7 p.m. Saturday and a Feast Day Mass at 9 a.m. Sunday, October 4.
ONGOING
Crossing Arts 8x8 exhibition opens October 13; online bidding starts October 18
The Crossing Arts Alliance's annual 8x8 community art exhibition and fundraiser goes on display October 13 through November 7. Artists' 8-by-8-inch canvases were due back October 1.
Online bidding runs from 10 a.m. Sunday, October 18, through 5 p.m. Sunday, October 25, and a free public reception is scheduled for Friday, October 23, 5 to 7 p.m. Proceeds support the organization's arts programming in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
ONGOINGUNCONFIRMED
Teen and tween studio nights are back for the school year
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: that the nights are donation-based with no registration, the 3:30 to 4 p.m. arrival and 4 to 5:30 p.m. instruction times, the no-school schedule, and where projects and cancellations are posted. Check the source before relying on it.
The Crossing Arts Alliance lists donation-based studio nights for students in grades 5 through 12. Registration and payment are not required.
The posted dates run from September 17, 2026, through May 20, 2027, with arrival from 3:30 to 4 p.m. and art instruction from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sessions run almost every night there is school in the Brainerd School District, with no studio night when there is no school; the organizer posts weekly projects and cancellations on social media and its email list.
ONGOING
Great Pumpkin Festival returns to Memorial Park Saturday
Brainerd Parks and Recreation schedules the Great Pumpkin Festival for Saturday, October 3, 1 to 4 p.m., at Memorial Park.
The city lists pumpkin rolling and other races, pumpkin painting, a coloring contest, a pie-eating contest, a hayride and a petting zoo. Pumpkins donated by Boys-N-Berries Farm will be sold as a fundraiser for the Brainerd High School band. Contact the parks office at 218-828-2320 for details.
Business & Commercial Development
ONGOINGBaxterUNCONFIRMED
Baxter extends interim use permit for former Simonson Lumber yard
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: the sale to Kodiak Building Partners and then QXO, the Independence Road location, the October 20, 2028 extension date and its conditions, and the $1,000 Mills Automotive Group donation. Check the source before relying on it.
The Baxter City Council approved an extension of an interim use permit for the lumber yard off Independence Road in west Baxter, the Brainerd Dispatch reported October 1. The business, formerly Simonson Lumber, was sold to Kodiak Building Partners and then to QXO, and the applicant sought a two-year extension because of the ownership change.
The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended extending the permit to October 20, 2028, with conditions that stormwater, parking and signage be brought up to code, no parking in the Independence Road right-of-way, and removal of a nonconforming sign. The Dispatch reported the council also accepted a $1,000 donation from Mills Automotive Group for the police department.
ONGOINGBrainerdUNCONFIRMED
Pinecrest of Country Manor opens with senior living and childcare
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: the Beaver Dam Road location and Mayor Dave Badeaux's comments. Check the source before relying on it.
Pinecrest of Country Manor celebrated its grand opening Friday, September 25, the Brainerd Dispatch reported. The complex off Beaver Dam Road spans five buildings and more than 180,000 square feet, with senior living apartments, memory care, assisted living units and a childcare component.
Mayor Dave Badeaux said the project addresses two city needs, housing and childcare, according to the Dispatch.
NEWBrainerdUNCONFIRMED
Brainerd comprehensive plan update gets another draft in October
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: that the plan was approved in 2019 and that the update aims to raise the environmental assessment worksheet threshold for residential development. Check the source before relying on it.
Brainerd's Planning Commission asked staff to bring back another draft of the city's comprehensive plan update in October before a public hearing is set, the Brainerd Dispatch reported October 1. The Dispatch reported the hearing will likely take place later this fall, giving residents a chance to comment before the plan is updated.
The update to the plan, approved in 2019, aims to align it with current community goals and to raise the threshold at which a mandatory environmental assessment worksheet is required for residential development. Bolton & Menk is completing the update; items raised in July included adding policies on childcare and industrial development.
AI in Your Community
ONGOINGBrainerd / BaxterUNCONFIRMED
Brainerd-area transit scheduling software was set to add AI after-hours phone booking
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: the July 6, 2025 report date. Check the source before relying on it.
The Brainerd Dispatch reported in July 2025 that new scheduling software for Brainerd and Crow Wing Public Transit would include artificial-intelligence voice software, allowing riders to call the dispatch line after hours to schedule trips when a dispatcher is off duty.
The City of Brainerd's Spare Rider App and Web Portal page describes the Brainerd Dial-A-Ride app and web portal for booking, managing and tracking rides from a smartphone or computer. The transit line is 218-825-7433.
BACKGROUNDBrainerd
Brainerd Dispatch has served as a test site for AI-assisted police-blotter writing
The Associated Press documented a local-news AI project with the Brainerd Dispatch designed to ingest police-blotter documents, identify potentially newsworthy incidents and use natural-language generation to produce material for publication in the newspaper's content-management system.
The project is a separate kind of local AI footprint: the technology was tested inside a news organization covering the same community.
BACKGROUND
Utility commission's earlier AI recommendation focused on public data
Brainerd Public Utilities commissioners voted unanimously on June 25, 2024, to recommend AI-use language to the City Council. The proposed guidance limited employee inputs to public, low-risk data, directed staff to seek advice when a data classification was uncertain and required AI-created records to follow the city's retention schedule.
The minutes record a recommendation only; they do not show whether the council later adopted it. Those remain the key questions for following this policy's implementation.
Community: Brainerd. Status: Background on local AI policy; a recommendation, not a newly announced deployment. Record date: June 25, 2024.
Still Developing
The latest confirmed movement, the open question and the next checkpoint.
OPENHighway 210 reconstruction
Construction remains active through Brainerd, with the next major set of downtown, bridge and west-segment work scheduled for 2027.
Still unresolved: Ongoing traffic changes, business-access impacts and completion of the 2026 work segments.
Next checkpoint: MnDOT traffic, access and construction-completion notices.
Current work: 2026 railyard segment (August 10 through fall).
OPENBrainerd 2027 city levy
The City Council set a preliminary maximum levy increase of 9.9%, with possible reductions before final adoption in December.
Still unresolved: The final increase and related budget changes.
Next checkpoint: Budget revisions and the December final levy decision.
Preliminary maximum set September 21.
OPENBaxter 2027 budget and levy
Baxter says it typically holds a public informational meeting on the proposed budget and levy in early December, before final adoption.
Still unresolved: The levy, operating adjustments and enterprise-fund decisions.
Next checkpoint: Published budget figures, the December meeting and final adoption.
OPENUNCONFIRMEDRemaining Brainerd school labor agreements
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: the interpreter agreement and the September 21 ratification date. Check the source before relying on it.
The School Board ratified teacher, food-service and interpreter agreements.
Still unresolved: Agreements for educational assistants and nurses, which Brainerd Dispatch reported were still unsettled at the time.
Next checkpoint: Ratification or published terms of the remaining agreements.
Latest movement: September 21.
OPENSchool operating referendum
Brainerd Public Schools' published proposal asks voters on November 3 to authorize $5 million annually for 10 years. The ballot decision remains ahead; the next developments are official election information and any documented change to the proposal.
Still unresolved: Voter approval or rejection and resulting district decisions.
Next checkpoint: The November 3 election result.
AWAITING RECORDSUtility commission
The commission's schedule lists the September 29 meeting and the next meeting on October 27. The September 29 action record is the next checkpoint for decisions affecting customers.
Still unresolved: The meeting actions and any votes.
Next checkpoint: Published minutes or another official record.
OPENSeptember 9 CC’s Bar case
The Brainerd Dispatch reported September 22 that a Brainerd man was charged with assault and threats after an alleged September 9 incident at CC’s Bar. The charges are allegations.
Still unresolved: Later court proceedings and the outcome.
Next checkpoint: A dated court record or further local court report.
Charges reported September 22.
OPENUNCONFIRMEDBrainerd Zipline Tour closure
Not confirmed against the source as of October 2, 2026: that the 2026 season is the zip-line tour's last and that it will close permanently this winter. Check the source before relying on it.
The regional attraction is expected to close permanently this winter.
Still unresolved: The final operating date and future plans for the site or equipment.
Next checkpoint: An operator closing-date or site announcement.
The joint tourism bureau reported that the 2026 season will be the attraction’s last.
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