Two Harbors rallies to keep Lake County Press publishing

Dozens of people in Two Harbors stepped in to keep the Lake County Press publishing when editor Kate “Kitty” Mayo was sidelined by ocular lymphoma. In a county seat of 3,633 people, the paper is more than a weekly news product: it carries city council, school board, sports and public-notice reporting that helps keep the town’s record visible.

That role matters because Lake County has already lost one local print voice. The Lake County News-Chronicle was published weekly in Two Harbors from September 1974 until May 2020, when it ceased publication. The Press, by contrast, is still young, but it has quickly become part of the county’s civic plumbing, with coverage that reaches into school meetings, city government, obituaries, local business visibility and the notices residents rely on to track public decisions.

The paper has also pushed to expand that role formally. In an appeal to readers, the Lake County Press asked people to contact their county commissioner and support making the LCPress the legal publication for 2025, a move that would place official county notices in the paper. For a small market, that kind of designation is not symbolic. It determines where residents see tax-related notices, meeting information and other announcements that shape day-to-day government transparency.

The paper’s civic reach was on display again at Survive This! Lake County Emergency Resilience, which the Lake County Press co-presented with KTWH radio and Lake County Emergency Management. The event was held April 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Two Harbors High School and included booths, brief presentations, audience Q&A, food from the Rainy Rose Food Truck and free emergency radios purchased through grant funds. Support came from the Mortenson Family Foundation Grant and the University of Minnesota Foundation.

That mix of emergency preparedness and local reporting points to the same underlying fact: in Lake County, the newspaper functions as infrastructure. When Mayo needed help, people in town responded. Their support kept a newsroom running that otherwise would have left a thinner public record, fewer eyes on local government and less visibility for the decisions that affect life on the North Shore.