The DJ Rollie D Story

You can read the article that inspired me to write this week's blog post right  here .  Happy Reading! ~ DJ Rollie D At a City Council Meeting in Virginia, MN on Monday, a plan was re-introduced to "re-vitalize" the town's mall.  For those of you who don't know, the town has a really tiny mall called the Thunderbird Mall.  It only has about 20-30 spaces and is currently sitting at a 33% vacancy rate due to many recent store leavings, including Kmart, Payless Shoe Source, Z Wireless (Verizon Retailer), and a little mom and pop jeweler named Suzanne's.  Even the Hallmark store has left, and this was all within the past ten months, meaning the vacancy rate has spiked. Now, several things have moved in to replace old stores over the years.  The area's local gymnastics shop moved into a space where Fashion Bug once stood last year, and a dog training academy has been sitting in a space near Kmart for around ten years.  That being said though,...

Sad news from back home earlier this week.  According to an article by Jerry Burnes from the Mesabi Daily News, the Northland Building in Virginia, a building that has seen several different uses, most recently as a government services center, will face the wrecking ball next year and be replaced by a brand new building the following year, similar to the brand new Sheriff's Office and Courthouse just a few blocks down.  It joins a long list of buildings in Virginia that are either being remodeled or replaced as time goes on, and it makes me feel a little sad. The Northland Building was not necessarily my absolute favorite place to go as a child, as it was, just like the clinic, a place where you'd sit and wait in a waiting room and play with toys or read a book until it was time to go home.  That never stopped me from being in awe at the building's wonderful design, which is truly something to appreciate.  For those who haven't been in there before, it's tr...