Regional briefs: Hibbing clears the way for new terminal

Work crews reduced the old Range Regional Airport terminal to a pile of rubble this week, clearing the way for an expansive new facility.

The airport secured $5 million in federal funding in September for the project, which will double the size of facility. The airport was built long before federal regulations required space for things like TSA screenings.

Air travel will continue uninterrupted during construction work, said Barrett Ziemer, assistant director of the Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority. The temporary terminal has been set up in a building just 100 feet from the site of the old terminal.

The new terminal is expected to open in fall 2015.

Jennifer Brooks @stribrooks

A month after little Atwater, Minn., made national news over a boy's pet chicken, the City Council has decided to ditch a proposal to allow backyard hens.

The council Wednesday killed a proposed ordinance that would have let residents keep up to five chickens, said Goldie Smith, city clerk.

The issue of raising chickens erupted in September, after a resident filed a complaint against Police Chief Trevor Berger for killing her 5-year-old son's red hen. Responding to a complaint about a chicken on the loose, Berger decapitated the small hen with a shovel.

Police had warned Ashley Turnbull that it was against city ordinance to keep chickens and ducks. Berger has apologized for killing the chicken, saying he "did not have any clue" it was the boy's pet.

Smith said Turnbull withdrew her complaint against Berger on Sept. 7.

Jenna Ross @ByJenna

The John Beargrease Sled Dog race is getting its own soundtrack. A composer has spent the past few days wandering Minnesota's North Shore talking to sled dog mushers and looking through library archives to learn about the life and times of John Beargrease, the man who once delivered the mail along the North Shore by dog sled and rowboat.

She plans to ask local musicians to perform her piece at the 2016 Beargrease. Her project is made possible by a McKnight Foundation grant through the American Composer's Forum, based in St. Paul.