Jaiden Venem of the Freeborn Eagles rugby club tackles a member of the Osseo Orioles during a game at Southwest Middle School in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Reuben Schaus holds his toy porg — a character from the movie "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." Reuben, now 11, was diagnosed with autism when he was about 2 1/2 years old.

Anita Dittman was born in 1927 in Breslau, Germany, to a Jewish mother and an Aryan father. She was 5 years old when Adolf Hitler came into power. Shortly after Hitler took control, Dittman’s father forced both her and her mother to leave home in the middle of the night so that he wouldn’t be associated with anyone of Jewish heritage.

Dabang Gach, pictured with his son Keat Ruot, 5, fled South Sudan when he was 15 due to the civil war. He, along with many others, traveled on foot to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Gach said it’s important to him that his children know their history and know what their parents experienced to give them a life in the United States.

Dr. Adenuga Atewologun, originally from Nigeria, is the president of the Riverland Community College campuses based in Albert Lea, Austin and Owatonna, Minnesota.

Members of the local and regional South Sudanese community fill St. John’s Lutheran Church in Austin, Minnesota,  for Simon Dup’s funeral. Dup was one of the first South Sudanese refugees to call Albert Lea home. 

Marley Rickley crosses the finish line with the rest of Team Marley at her side during the 27th annual Cleveland Triathlon. Rickley has cerebral palsy, and United Cerebral Palsy has been a sponsor of the Cleveland triathlon for years.

A member of the High Flying Pages acrobatic act launches herself off of a swing and into the air during a performance  at the Freeborn County Fair in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Beau Anderson, 5, with his face painted like the superhero The Flash, checks out Judy Stilley's handiwork. Stilley has been face painting at events and festivals in and around Glenville, Minnesota, for decades.

Jessica Schwerin, 10, gives her dog, Bonzai, a goodbye hug in front of her Bay City, Michigan, home while waiting for a limo to arrive to take her down to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor for a kidney transplant.

Saginaw County Medical Examiner Dr. Kanu Virani, right, demonstrates how someone's neck could be compressed to cut off oxygen on Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas during Kenneth Bluew's trial in Saginaw, Michigan. Bluew, a suspended police officer, was eventually found guilty of murdering his pregnant girlfriend. 

Saginaw's Terry Trafford, left, and London's Matt Rupert fight during their Game 4 OHL playoff matchup at Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan.

Friends and family hold a candlelight prayer vigil for homicide victim Angelica Olivarez in front of her home on North Bond in Saginaw, Michigan.

About 150 Bay County-area high school students were on hand to help put together the Haunted Temple Halloween attraction in Bay City, Michigan.

Albert Lea’s Garrett Aldrich celebrates winning the Class AA state wrestling title for the second year in a row after beating Waconia’s Tyler Wagener at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.