by Dennis Dalman
Three new reporters joined the Newsleaders of St. Joseph and Sartell-St. Stephen in recent weeks – MaryAnne Block, Conner Sura, Jessica Tomhave.
All three writers are among 21 statewide budding journalists who graduated on Oct. 12 from Citizen Journalism University, a virtual five-week Zoom course (10 hours of class time plus homework) on the basics of newswriting. That program was created by the Bethel University (Arden Hills) journalism program and the Minnesota News Media Institute, which is the nonprofit training and professional development arm of the Minnesota Newspaper Association, of which the Newsleaders is a member.
All of the 21 students were recruited and sponsored by their local newspapers, including the Newsleaders.
The following are brief introductions to each of the three new writers:
Block
MaryAnne Block of St. Joseph was born on a farm near Cherokee, Iowa. Block graduated with a degree in nursing from Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter).
She started her nursing career in Worthington, where she became a specialty cardiac head nurse after just four months.
She then branched off into public-health nursing, working by visiting homes in a “rough” area of Omaha, Neb. Later she worked at the Omaha VA Hospital as a staff nurse and developed its cardiac-rehab unit.
Her husband, Marvin Block, was a cattle rancher in northeast Nebraska, and she worked part-time while living on that ranch.
She later did volunteer work in the administration of a small city in Nebraska and was named its first economic-development director. She also served on a city council. When her husband suffered major health problems, she became his primary caregiver until he passed on.
Eventually, Block moved to Minnesota, at first to South Haven for a year, then to St. Joseph four years ago. She has worked in retail stores and in a chiropractic office in Sauk Rapids.
Block always loved reading, teaching and writing. She leads a Sunday School course for adults at the Jubilee Worship Center in St. Cloud.
“If I learn something, I want to share it,” she said. “St. Joseph is an amazing community. I like to build up and encourage people in my writing. So far, I’ve enjoyed covering news involving public works, the police and the variety of people and programs at Kennedy (Community School).”
Sura
Sartell resident Conner Sura, 22, said he has always loved to write and is happy to be able to write news and feature stories, primarily for the Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader.
Sura graduated from Sauk Rapids-Rice High School in 2020. He was deeply involved in the sport of wrestling, and one time while wrestling he suffered a traumatic brain injury, which caused some memory loss that, in his words, “turned my world upside down.”
That is when Sura became determined to develop his writing hobby in order to turn it into a career. He started by working for freelance online sites like “Upwork” and then moved on to “LinkedIn” and worked with more regional clients.
Taking internships along the way, his first one was with a start-up company called “The Social Talks.”
When he learned about Citizen Journalism University, he leapt at the chance to enroll in it.
“I enjoy news and feature writing because it allows me to give back to the community,” Sura said. “While learning about other people, it gives me a chance to better my knowledge and my writing ability.”
Sura has many hobbies besides writing – among them benching, running and jogging, hiking, playing video games, reading and learning.
Tomhave
A Sartell resident for 10 years, Jessica Tomhave grew up as Jessica Lundsetter in Alexandria and graduated from that city’s Jefferson High School and its technical college. She first earned a degree in psychology and later a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from St. Cloud State University.
Tomhave said she has long enjoyed writing, whether it be in the field of psychology, prose, poetry or just for fun.
“I am committed to working for the Newsleaders in a fair and honest way for my neighbors from a Sartell resident’s perspective,” she said.
Jessica and her husband, Dustin Tomhave, have two children: Miles, a kindergartner at Oak Ridge Early Learning Center; and Ella, a 2023 Sartell High School graduate who is now a freshman at the University of St. Thomas. The family also has a beloved 12-year-old springer spaniel, Christian (nicknamed “Chrishy).
Tomhave loves traveling, woods-wandering, reading mystery and suspense novels, celebrating holidays (especially Christmas), eating her husband’s cooking, listening to and collecting vinyl records, tending her indoor plants, bird-watching and hanging out with her husband, two children and their springer spaniel.
MaryAnne Block
Conner Sura
Jessica Tomhave Lundsetter
