Nicole Ronchetti joins the Star Herald this week as the newest member of the local news team.
She replaces longtime reporter Mavis Fodness who retired earlier this month after 11 years in the position.
“I’m looking forward tcommunity is passionate about,” she said about joining the Star Herald and writing about communities in Rock County.
“What are the things people here care most about? What are they proud of? What is the community struggling with that I can help bring attention to?”
Ronchetti grew up in Hibbing and graduated with honors in 2017 from Hibbing High School before graduating in 2021 with honors from Hamline University, St. Paul.
She has a bachelor’s degree in global studies with a minor in international journalism, and she wrote for the college newspaper, The Oracle, during her time at the school.
Ronchetti’s first job out of college was with the Bemidji Pioneer newspaper where she earned first-place state awards in breaking news, government affairs reporting and human-interest stories.
“While working at the Pioneer, I covered breaking news and stories on critical community issues including housing emergencies, postal worker conditions and controversies in local government,” she said.
“After each story was published, I saw the Bemidji community rally around a cause, supporting one another and taking action. I don’t know of many other professions where you can walk through the community and know you’ve had that much of an impact on so many tangible issues.”
After a brief stint in non-profit work for the Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji Area, Ronchetti said she missed journalism and eventually found her way to the Star Herald in Luverne.
“What I missed most about journalism was seeing the impact my work had in the community,” she said.
Of all the potential community newspapers she could have worked for, Ronchetti said she was drawn to the Star Herald in Rock County for its business independence.
“The fact that the Star Herald is a family-owned paper was very interesting to me,” she said.
“It’s becoming increasingly rare, and the fact that Rock County still has a local paper owned by local people is something that should truly be appreciated and treasured. Luverne is also still a reasonable distance from my family, and is actually closer to some of my best friends than Bemidji was.”
Ronchetti moved to Luverne Thursday, Feb. 12, and her first day on the job was Friday.
“I’m looking forward to stepping back into my passion. I’m a true believer in the importance of journalism,” she said.
“I’m excited to grow my skills in new areas, particularly in podcast and video mediums. I’m excited to keep honing my writing skills and to write about a broad range of topics.
“I’m looking forward to the first story that I’ll write for the Star Herald with meat on the bone — the kind of story where it’s complicated and difficult and writing it is a knot you have to slowly untangle.”
For now, Ronchetti said she’s just getting familiar with her new surroundings.
“I’m excited to find the groups in the community where I can meet people — whether it’s hiking, reading, crochet, community service or something else,” she said.
“I’m hoping there are people here I can get to know and call friends.”
Ronchetti can be reached at reporter@star-herald.com.
