Empire, Minnesota

KCMP (89.3 FM, 89.3 the Current) is a radio station owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) music format including a significant rotation of songs by local artists. Licensed to Northfield, Minnesota, and covering the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, the station's studios are located at the MPR Broadcast Center on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul, while its transmitter is located atop the Vermillion Highlands near Coates. The Current is also broadcast on stations in Rochester, Duluth-Superior, Pasadena-Los Angeles, translators around Minnesota, and online. The Current, which has been broadcasting its AAA format since 2004, debuted after MPR purchased WCAL-FM, the radio station of St. Olaf College in Northfield, in 2004. St. Olaf had put WCAL-FM on the air in 1968 as an extension of WCAL, a part-time AM station established in 1922 and eventually shut down in 1991.

Dakota County is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota, located in the east central portion of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 439,882. The population of Dakota County was estimated to be 443,341 in 2022. The county seat is Hastings. Dakota County is named for the Dakota Sioux tribal bands who inhabited the area.The name is recorded as "Dahkotah" in the United States Census records until 1851. Dakota County is included in the Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States with about 3.64 million residents. The largest city in Dakota County is the city of Lakeville, the eleventh-largest city in Minnesota and sixth-largest Twin Cities suburb. The county is bordered by the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the north, and the state of Wisconsin on the east.

WGVX (105.1 MHz), WLUP (105.3 MHz) and WWWM-FM (105.7 MHz) are three separate radio stations that make up a trimulcast serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. The three stations are owned by Cumulus Media, along with sister stations KQRS-FM and KXXR. The three stations broadcast an adult contemporary radio format, with the moniker "Love 105." The studios and offices are in Southeast Minneapolis in the Como district. WGVX's transmitter is located southeast of Apple Valley, WLUP's transmitter is located in Cambridge, and WWWM-FM's transmitter is located atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.

The Church of the Advent built in 1872 is a historic Carpenter Gothic Episcopal church located at 412 Oak Street, in Farmington, Minnesota, in the United States. On December 31, 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Church of the Advent is still a functioning parish serving Dakota County, Minnesota and surrounding areas. The 1872 church building, which seats only 70 people is used as a wedding chapel, while larger worship services are held in the Michael and Lisbeth Sly Room built in 1976. The rector is the Rev. Elaine Barber.

Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) is a public, two-year technical college in Rosemount, Minnesota, United States. It is located in Dakota County inside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. DCTC belongs to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System and is one of five stand-alone technical colleges in the state.

Farmington is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,632 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

Gopher Ordnance Works was a smokeless powder production plant near Coates and Rosemount, Minnesota, United States. It was first opened in 1943. The plant was closed soon after the end of World War II. There are some remains still at the original site which is visible from U.S. Route 52 and County Road 46. After the government decided it needed a place to open up another gunpowder factory, they chose Dakota County in East Central Minnesota as their prime spot to put up such a factory, specifically, the city of Rosemount. They soon evicted farmers on 11,000 acres (45 km2) of farmland so that they could build Gopher Ordnance Works, which consisted of 858 buildings.

The Exchange Bank Building was built in 1880 as the most prominent commercial building in Farmington in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the city's second-oldest commercial building. The Italianate and Romanesque brick building is located at 320 Third Street and was designed by Saint Paul's Augustus Gauger.

Rosemount is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States, on the southern edge of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The population was 25,650 at the 2020 census.

The Horticulture Building was a building at the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1918 and demolished in 1988.

Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZMP), (radio communications, "Minneapolis Center") is one of 22 Area Control Centers. It is located at 512 Division Street in Farmington, Minnesota, United States.The primary responsibility of Minneapolis Center is sequencing and separation of overflights, arrivals, and departures, in order to provide safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of aircraft filed under instrument flight rules (IFR). Minneapolis Center is the 13th busiest ARTCC in the United States. Between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, Minneapolis Center handled 1,986,502 aircraft. Minneapolis Center covers approximately 330,000 square miles of the United States Midwest region, including all or parts of Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri.Minneapolis Center employs close to 400 air traffic employees, approximately 300 of whom are air traffic controllers. Minneapolis Center lies adjacent to 7 separate Area Control Centers, including Toronto Center, Winnipeg Center, Cleveland Center, Salt Lake City Center, Denver Center, Kansas City Center, and Chicago Center. ZMP overlies or abuts 18 approach control facilities (including APN, MBS, GRB, M98, DLH, YQT, GFK, FAR, MOT, BIS, FSD, SUX, LNK, OMA, DSM, STJ, RST, and MKE approaches) and is responsible for approximately 210 uncontrolled airports with authorized instrument approach procedures.

Coates is a town in the U.S. state of Minnesota located west of the Upper Mississippi River on the exurban fringe in central Dakota County. U.S. Highway 52 connects north to the city of Saint Paul, while County Road 46 draws east–west to nearby suburban cities. The population was 161 at the 2010 census. It is named for Civil War Captain Henry C. Coates who served in the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Major employers are in trucking, moving and recycling services. The city is popular among people from the Twin Cities for the House of Coates, a burger restaurant opened in 1962. St. Agatha's Catholic Church serves as city hall. Originally a rural post office hub in the 1900s, the U.S. Postal Service now designates addresses as part of the larger nearby city of Rosemount. The city of Coates was officially incorporated in 1953 at the northwest corner of Vermillion Township.