The owners of a dozen cabins near the Mississippi River headwaters retired and sold the property to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in December, ending an 83-year run in which the cabins were in private hands.

The DNR is now taking reservations, continuing a long tradition of renting out the cabins, which have air-conditioning, full kitchens and bathrooms with showers. The cabins will be available May 10 through Nov. 17, ranging in price from $125 for a one-bedroom to $220 for a three-bedroom cabin.

"Staying at Bert's Cabins has been a big part of visiting Itasca State Park for many families for many years," said Bob Chance, manager of Itasca State Park.

The Parks and Trails Fund paid for the property. The fund gets 14.25 percent of the sales tax revenue generated by the Clean Water, Land Legacy Amendment, which was approved by the voters in 2008.

To make reservations at Bert's Cabins or elsewhere in the park visit mndnr.gov/reservations or call 866-857-2757.

Dan Browning

Fargo-Moorhead

St. Patrick's Day parade is back on

After many doubted whether Fargo-Moorhead would host its 23rd annual St. Patrick's Day parade, the celebration is back on.

The parade's status was put in doubt last month when the volunteer committee in charge of the event announced that it was unable to host it due to a lack of funds and too few volunteers.

But in the days since, Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney and Melissa Rademacher, of the Downtown Community Partnership, with the help of business and community donations, raised $10,000 to ensure the parade, which attracts more than 20,000 people, will continue.

Rademacher said the parade route will be expanded this year to run through downtown Moorhead. It is scheduled for 11 a.m. March 16.

David Mullen

Red River Valley

No need to fear flooding yet

Red River Valley flood watchers might be nervous after Mother Nature dumped her fifth blizzard on the region last week.

But the National Weather Service points out that, although snow depths are slightly above normal at 47.1 inches in Grand Forks, the water content in the snow is somewhat low.

The snow contains a bit more than 2 inches of water, compared to 6 to 8 inches in high flooding years, said Greg Gust, warning coordination meteorologist. While that may mean some runoff this spring, flood stage so far is looking to be low to moderate, he said. The key will be how much precipitation falls in the wetter snow months to come.

Pam Louwagie