By Scott Carlson
Comings and goings
It’s hard to believe, but the Bugle is already more than a month into its new fiscal year, 2025–26, which began July 1.
With the end of fiscal 2024–25, we said “Thanks for a job well done” to Helen Warren, who served six years on our board of directors and was presiding officer this past year.
Helen brought great enthusiasm and dedication, challenging us to reach more readers in our circulation area and sustain the Bugle’s long-term viability. She also strongly supported expanding our social media outreach.
We wish Helen the best as she gets more time for her other interests in life. Among other things, she is an avid follower of the Minnesota Lynx, Gopher women’s basketball and other local sports teams.
Board member Steve Plagens is our 2025-26 presiding officer. He is a long-time St. Anthony Park resident and has been very active in the community and with the Bugle for many years.
Meanwhile, joining the Park Bugle board for 2025–26 are Moses Hungiapuko and Mark Gudmastad.
Hungiapuko was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but has lived in the United States since he was three years old. He grew up on Eustis and Carl streets, and spent most his childhood in Lauderdale and the St. Anthony Park community.
“I am happy to join the Park Bugle to be a voice of advocacy and stay connected to the local community,” Moses said. “Above all, I am always looking for opportunities to convey the importance of civic duty in our communities.”
Hungiapuko earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Bethel University and a master’s degree in global affairs from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
His professional experience spans federal government service, education (eight years with at-risk youth), legal administration, diplomatic liaison work, and public affairs.
Gudmastad brings family roots in St. Anthony Park that stretch back a century.
His great-grandparents, William “Billy” and Sophie (Stickney) Hedlund arrived in St. Anthony Park in the 1920s and made their home on Chilcombe Avenue. Billy worked at a gas station at the corner of Como and Chilcombe, a site where Mark’s mother now lives. Mark returned to St. Anthony Park in 2019 and is proud to call it home.
Gudmastad is a senior communications director in international development and global health.
Drawing on an early career in journalism, Mark develops strategies that turn complex evidence into stories that inspire action among policymakers, strengthen health systems and improve livelihoods around the world.
He said he believes strong local journalism builds trust and civic connection. “I’m honored to help steward a paper that has informed and united St. Anthony Park neighbors for generations.”
Welcome Moses and Mark!
The readers speak
The Bugle this summer conducted its first readership survey in several years and the results are in: Readers are generally pleased with the newspaper and its local coverage.
In the survey of 325 readers, 81% of respondents feel the Bugle is fulfilling its mission to strengthen our community by providing local news and stories that transform readers into neighbors.
Most survey respondents (69%) said they read seven to 12 issues of the Bugle a year.
The Bugle’s efforts to strengthen its website and online presence are also gaining traction. Nearly 40% of respondents said they read the Bugle online either primarily (23.1%) or in combination with the monthly print newspaper (16.4%).
During the past three years, Bugle social media specialist Laura Adrian has been shepherding the growth of our online presence. Laura’s latest monthly report tells the story of new successes.
“For the month of July, our Facebook page had approximately 120,000 views,” she told the board of directors. “We built strong momentum this spring, and engaging stories around Milton Square, Speedy, and Luther Seminary attracted a lot of attention.
“The Milton Square post alone drew more than 600 likes, 24 comments, and 18 shares. Because of the new interactions, I was able to invite over 500 people to ‘like’ the Bugle page, bringing our total followers to about 1,650.”
We intend to always have a strong local newspaper. But as more and more readers continue gravitating to online and digital platforms for local news, the Bugle is well positioned to meet the needs of the public.
Scott Carlson is the managing editor of the Bugle.