PARK RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota is pushing to train a few hundred "community paramedics," a new kind of health care provider intended to make up for the lack of doctors and nurses in rural areas. Once certified, community paramedics can deal with a variety of non-emergency situations that might otherwise result in expensive trips to emergency rooms.

Local Business News in the Brainerd Lakes Area from brainerddispatch.com - Minnesota's News Source

About 2,000 registered nurses are needed to fill job openings in greater Minnesota.

Lake Country Journal magazine has finished its purchase of property along the Mississippi River near Laurel Street in Brainerd.

The Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care announced it awarded grants totaling $180,000 to preserve access to prescription medications and pharmacy services in several communities in greater Minnesota.

The Brainerd Family YMCA's next swim lesson session is coming soon. The lesson schedule is available at the YMCA and on the Web at brainerdlakes ymca.org.

Tifanne Wolter was promoted to senior attorney at the Ulanowski Law Firm, Brainerd.

Thirteen rural Minnesota hospitals, including St. Gabriel's Hospital in Little Falls a

Nor-son Inc. has been named high performance builder by the Buildings Division of Butler Manufacturing Company, a leader in the development and manufacture of metal building systems.

Joanna Dornfeld is The Brainerd Dispatch's 2002 summer news reporting intern. She completed her second year of college at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she is studying journalism and political science.