Thief River Falls, Minnesota

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Thief River Falls is a city in Pennington County, Minnesota, USA. The population was 8,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pennington County6. The town is the home of snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat. Thief River Falls has one of the few Native American casinos in the area, 7 Clans Casino, which also contains a hotel and indoor water park. It is about 10 miles south of Thief River Falls. Thief River Falls is also home to the Electronic Parts Distributor Digi-Key, one of the largest employers in the area. The town is often called by locals simply as Thief River, TRF or Thief (in the local tongue, Teef).

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[edit] Geography

Location of Thief River Falls, Minnesota

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.9 km² (5.0 mi²). 12.4 km² (4.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.21%) is water. It is located at the confluence of the Red Lake River and the Thief River. Thief River Falls is located approximately 70 miles south from the Canadian border, and 50 miles northeast from Grand Forks, North Dakota.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there were 8,410 people, 3,619 households, and 2,091 families residing in the city. The population density was 679.3/km² (1,760.0/mi²). There were 3,931 housing units at an average density of 317.5/km² (822.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.555% White, 0.27% African American, 0.95% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.63% of the population.

There were 3,619 households out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,759, and the median income for a family was $40,908. Males had a median income of $30,332 versus $20,785 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,489. About 8.0% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

TRF is home to a public school district operating a high school, middle school, and elementary school. Benefactor Ralph Engelstad, who was raised in Thief River Falls, built a $10 million hockey arena for the high school hockey team whose most notable accomplishments are winning the Minnesota high school boys hockey tournaments in 1954 and 1956. The arena is called Ralph Engelstad Arena, the same name as the $100 million hockey arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Thief River Falls is also home to Northland Community and Technical College (NCTC) which also has a campus in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. The college has experienced steady growth in enrollment and in the past decade.

[edit] Healthcare

Northwest Medical Center, located in Thief River Falls, is a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) with 25 beds non-governmental, not-for-profit, 501 c 3 status and the area's community hospital. It houses an Inpatient and Outpatient Mental Health Unit, encompasses a Free-standing 15 bed group home for mentally ill, a Free-standing 10 bed treatment center for emotionally disturbed children, has 24/7 Doctors on site in the Emergency Room and is the ONLY Hospital in the community of Thief River Falls, Minnesota. It is staffed by over 430 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the area. It is governed by an eight-member Board of Directors.

[edit] Media

The local newspaper is the Thief River Falls Times. It is a weekly newspaper. The daily newspaper Grand Forks Herald is also available. Most local television stations that can be received in TRF are based in Grand Forks or Fargo. Thief River Falls is home to several radio stations, and several radio stations from Grand Forks, ND can also be received.

[edit] Local radio stations

[edit] Reality TV exposure

A family from Thief River Falls and a family from San Jose, California switched wives for two weeks on popular reality show Wife Swap. Doug Williams, an overnight police officer, swapped his wife Jo Williams, a prison guard, with Abra Slater, whose husband is Mark Slater. Both families have children.

[edit] External links

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