The History of North Star News
North Star News office on Main Street in Karlstad
The North Star News in Karlstad was created in 1961 is the successor to the Karlstad Advocate, Lake Bronson Budget, and Lancaster Herald, with the Kennedy Star being added in 1969.
But the roots of the paper go back to 1895 when the Advocate was established in the Village of Pelan and later became the Pelan Advocate in 1901. In 1905 the Pelan Advocate transferred to Karlstad and became the Karlstad Advocate.
O.S. Nordine took charge of the newspaper in 1911 and the paper remained in the Nordine family until it was sold to Page 1 Publications by Dan Nordine, grandson of O.S., in 1995.
O.S. died at the age of 58 in 1948 and his eldest son, Dane took the reigns of the paper until he retired in 1993. Dane oversaw the transformation from the Karlstad Advocate to the North Star News during his tenure, and also witnessed a myriad of changes in the newspaper production and business during the time. In 1993, he sold the newspaper to his son, Dan, who had worked off and on in the business since childhood, and side-by-side with his father since 1972.
In 1995, Dan sold the businesss to Rollin Bergman and Julie Nordine (no relation) who own Page 1 Publications, a newspaper group currently consisting of four newspapers, including The Tribune, Greenbush, The Northern Light, Baudette, and The Exponent, East Grand Forks.