News

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) older adults face unique challenges in today’s healthcare ecosystem. Whether due to access issues, previous poor experiences and/or trauma related to healthcare providers or a system simply not set up to serve our aging population regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, the barriers to care for LGBTQ older adults can feel overwhelming to patients, the patients’ loved ones and healthcare providers themselves. Rajean Moone, PhD, LNHA, LALD, FGSA, with the College of Continuing & Professional Studies, the School of Public Health and the Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), discusses how older adults, older adults’ loved ones and healthcare providers can work together to ensure LGBTQ older adults are receiving high quality care. Q: What are health risks for LGBTQ older adults?

Manufactured in February 1964, General Electric diesel-electric locomotive No. 34584 rolled off the assembly line and straight into the Magma Copper Company’s bustling mine complex near San Manuel, Arizona. There it served venerably until the mine shuttered in the early 2000s, ending a decades-long run of shuffling railcars at what once reigned as the continent’s largest underground copper mine. How that little locomotive –Magma No. 6–escaped the desert heat only to arrive in the frigid climes of Duluth is quite a leap, but escape it did, having been sold to Ag Processing Inc. (AGP), which owned an 1880s-built grain elevator on Rice’s Point. That elevator property became Magma No. 6’s new home. When the Duluth Seaway Port Authority purchased the property in December 2020, it inherited ol’ No. 6. According to Ken Buehler, executive director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, General Electric produced about 550 of these 25-ton locomotives from 1941-1974. Just 16 feet in length, they deliver 150 horsepower and travel no faster than 20 mph. They’re used primarily for switching railcars, which is what it did at the Duluth grain elevator in addition to the Arizona copper mine and its 29.4-mile San Manuel Railroad. Marc Pearsall, a researcher with the Arizona State Railroad Museum Foundation, somehow ascertained the whereabouts of Magma No. 6 last fall. His foundation is working to establish a railroad museum in Williams, Arizona, along the Grand Canyon Railroad. Pearsall reached out to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority asking if the stout little steed could migrate back to Arizona and become a cornerstone of the museum’s collection, repainted and restored with its 1970s Magma livery. The Port Authority agreed to the deal and is presently planning an Arizona homecoming for this unlikely traveler, which will become one of approximately 12 such specimens preserved in railroad museums nationwide, according to Buehler. “From a curatorial aspect, the engin

worked with CO Williams on a birch theft investigation. A search warrant was drafted and executed, and charges are pending on two individuals for timber trespass.

The Two Harbors Anderson-Claffy American Legion Post 109 will be hosting an open house on Wednesday, March 29th, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. This is a community event open to the public, all veterans, and their family members. A free light lunch and non-alcoholic beverage will be provided for Vietnam War-era veterans and one significant other. The Post is located at 614 First Avenue. There will be country maps, displays, informational tables, and a DJ providing background music from the era. Everyone is invited to attend. March 29th is a fitting choice for a day honoring Vietnam veterans. It was chosen to be observed in perpetuity as March 29, 1973, was the day the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished and also the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam. In addition, on and around this same day Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war. The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 110-181 § 598) empowers the Secretary of Defense to conduct a program on behalf of the Nation that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, of the Americans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces during the period of the Vietnam War, approximately 7 million are living in America and abroad today.

Sip Root Beer, explore Archives, and get a Tour of the Lighthouse next weekend “History in a Pint,” bringing people together at a bar or brewery to learn some history, is an idea gaining traction amongst several historical societies in Minnesota to expand winter programming. The Lake County Historical Society is at the end of its first year experimenting with “history in a pint,” and it’s going well, according to Lake County Historical Society Director Ellen Lynch.