April 10, 2006                                                 Contact:          Ellen Quinn

                                                Public Information Officer

FOR MEDIA RELEASE                                                         (218) 726-2621

                                                       MEDIA ADVISORY

St. Louis County to Hold “Internet Press Conference”

     St. Louis County will host an “Internet Press Conference” at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 to debut its new web page.  Media are asked to log onto www.co.st-louis.mn.us to see the transformation to the new system at noon.

     St. Louis County was one of the first counties in Minnesota to host a website for its citizens, beginning in 1996; and it has re-designed the site twice to better serve residents.  The newest system will allow users to easily access information from several ways directly from the home page:  Users can access "Departments”,  find services grouped alphabetically, discover services grouped by subjects such as “Your Life”, “Your Business”, “Your Safety”, or use the county’s search engine.

     Widely used information about property taxes is also featured on the new home page, along with frequently asked questions and contact information. "What’s New" has all of St. Louis County’s recent and archived announcements. "Picture Yourself in History" invites residents to join the county’s 150th anniversary celebration.

    The new system uses a shareware program called Dot Net Nuke that was virtually free for the county.  All the website design and functions were developed internally by a committee from several departments, including Tom Aldridge and Doug Pirila from Management Information Systems, Brad Brunfelt from Public Health and Human Services, Darren Jablonsky from Planning, and Gary Eckenberg and Ellen Quinn from Administration.  For more information about St. Louis County or the new website, please contact Ellen Quinn at 218-726-2621.

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