Magazine ranks top hunting, fishing towns

Magazine ranks top hunting, fishing towns

NEW YORK — The Idaho town of Lewiston ranked No. 1 on a list of top places to live for hunting and fishing.

Outdoor Life magazine used data to score 200 towns on available sporting opportunities and quality-of-life measures such as good homes, schools and jobs.

The list appears in the June-July issue and online at www.outdoorlife.com.

Lewiston was one of three Idaho towns in the top 10, along with Idaho Falls, tied with Rawlins, Wyo., for third place, followed by Pocatello.

Marquette, Mich., the easternmost town in the top 10, was No. 2 on the list. Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, was sixth followed by Sheridan, Wyo.

Pierre, S.D., came in at No. 8. Rochester, Minn., better known for the Mayo Clinic than for hunting and fishing, is ninth on the list and is the largest of the 10, with a population of about 99,000.

Finishing up in 10th place was Carbondale, Colo., with the smallest population at about 6,000 residents.

Governor’s residence opens for public tours

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The nine-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion that serves as the official home of Minnesota governors has opened for public tours.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his family spend part of their time there, while also maintaining their home in Eagan.

Tours will run from 1 to 3 p.m. on the first three Tuesdays of June, July and August. Photo identification is required to enter the building.

The 20-room house on St. Paul’s storied Summit Avenue has nine fireplaces.

It was donated to the state by Clotilde Irvine Moles and Olivia Irvine Dodge in 1965.

Train cars purchased for use in national parks

DENVER — A company that operates lodges and restaurants in national parks has bought 25 passenger cars that belonged to a defunct luxury train operator.

Xanterra Parks & Resorts said it is buying the cars of GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, which stopped operating last year.

Xanterra President and CEO Andy Todd said the company plans to use the cars “to enhance the national parks experience” at several Western parks but doesn’t have specifics yet.

Xanterra has properties in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz., Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., Mount Rushmore National Memorial, S.D., Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks, Utah, and Crater Lake National Park, Ore., and in eight Ohio state parks.

New youth exhibit at Holocaust Museum

SKOKIE, Ill. — The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in suburban Skokie has a new exhibit designed for kids ages 8 to 11.

The exhibit is called “Make a Difference: Miller Family Youth Exhibition.” It uses technology and interactive games in a park-like setting to teach lessons on tolerance.

The 65,000-square-foot museum opened in April. It is the largest of its kind in the Midwest and features 2,000 survivor testimonies, most of them from Skokie area residents.

For more information, visit www.ilholocaustmuseum.org.

Ferry increases marketing efforts

PORTLAND, Maine — The company that operates the high-speed ferry that runs from Maine to Nova Scotia says it is shifting some of its marketing efforts this year to entice Canadians to travel to Maine.

In past years, Bay Ferries has focused mostly on getting Americans to use The Cat to get from Maine to Nova Scotia. But the relatively strong Canadian dollar is causing the company to shift some of its ad dollars to the Canadian market.

The Portland Press Herald says Bay Ferries is running print ads and television commercials in Nova Scotia promoting the attractions of Portland and Bar Harbor, the two Maine ports it serves.

The Cat, a 320-foot catamaran that travels at speeds up to 40 knots, arrived in Portland June 4 for its first visit of the season.

Associated Press