DNT Extra December 2020

DNT EXTRA | December 2020

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DNT Extra • December 2020

Rick Lubbers

“Life is an onion — you peel it year by year and sometimes cry.”

— Carl Sandburg, “Remembrance Rock”

As 2020 draws to a close, I’m drawn to this line from Sandburg’s epic novel.

For many years, the DNT newsroom has compiled a list of the biggest stories in a given year and published them ahead of New Year’s Day. This year, our staff decided to publish that content in the December 2020 issue of DNT Extra.

Most years feature a much more diverse list of top stories, but the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t just cast a long shadow over newsworthy events in 2020 — it dominated the news for the lion’s share of the year. But there were also local demonstrations for justice following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody and a presidential election cycle that featured many prominent visits to Duluth and the Northland, among other big stories.

As such, most of us are counting the hours and minutes until 2021 takes its turn at the plate.

Like the Sandburg line, this layer has brought too many tears.

But even the most challenging years are worth a look back to provide perspective for the years that are ahead. A time capsule to recall the year’s top events long after they have faded in our memory.

We hope you’ll enjoy this edition of DNT Extra featuring the biggest stories — and most impactful photos — our newsroom has covered in 2020. Besides the serious hard news stories and photos featured, you will find hopeful and heart-warming moments on the pages as well.

We wish you and your loved ones a safe and blessed New Year.

Thank you for being a loyal reader of the Duluth News Tribune.

OK, 2021, you’re next up!

Rick Lubbers is the executive editor of the Duluth News Tribune. Contact him at 218-723-5301 or rlubbers@duluthnews.com.

4-5

Northland serves as campaign hotspot

6-7

Some hit, some miss with Trump factor

8-11

Virus changes how schools teach

12-13

2020: The year when sports called a timeout

14-15

City of Duluth, hospitals faced financial woes due to pandemic

16-19

2020 meant layoffs across industries, businesses

20-21

Pandemic spurs outdoors boom

22-29

2020 in photos

30-33

Clayton, Jackson and McGhie remembered

34-35

Duluth weathers wave of gun violence

36-37

Another fire, court battles for controversial Kozy

36-39

St. Louis County snowplow drivers strike Cover: News Tribune file photos

Cover designed by Gary Meader / gmeader@duluthnews.com Editing by: Rick Lubbers, Barrett Chase, Katie Rohman, Beverly Godfrey Graphics by: Gary Meader Page design for this section by: Renae Ronquist

December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Northland serves as campaign hotspot

By Brady Slater bslater@duluthnews.com

Vice President Mike Pence pumps a fist in the air as the crowd chants “Four more years” during the Monday, Oct. 26, rally at Range Regional Airport in Hibbing. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

N

ot even a pandemic could stop the Northland from becoming a national presidential campaigning hotspot in 2020.

Last fall, President Donald J. Trump, Presidentelect Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence all made stops in Duluth. About a week out from the election, Pence made a campaign stop in Hibbing, too.

Even two of Trump’s children, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, made it to Duluth during the election cycle.

Entering the year, Trump had made a lot of noise about winning Minnesota after coming within 1.52% of beating Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016.

Additionally, a growing rural and urban divide seemed to indicate Iron Rangers and others outside Duluth were more receptive to Republicans than ever before.

The Northland was ripe for attention — and attention it received.

The visits came fast beginning at the end of August, when Pence spoke at the Duluth port.

A former Duluth mayor, Don Ness, explained why he thought the Northland was drawing so much attention.

“When you have larger-scale shifting or movement, or a sense that things are a little bit more in play, then you’re going to attract national attention,” Ness said. “Unfortunately, the reality is there are fewer and fewer areas of the country that feel in play after having gone through this giant political sorting process of the last two decades.”

Trump’s arrival at the Duluth International

President Donald Trump speaks during his Wednesday, Sept. 30, campaign stop at the Duluth International Airport. Trump tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday, Oct. 1.

(Clint Austin/caustin@duluthnews.com)

Airport on Sept. 30 found him ruminating on the idea that no Republican presidential candidate had carried the state since Richard Nixon in 1972.

“I don’t get that,” Trump told the crowd. “The Democrats have done such a lousy, pathetic job.”

But the visits weren’t all in good political fun.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the visits served to generate large crowds — most in violation of state guidelines to limit crowd sizes to 250 people.

Only Biden, among the presidential ticket candidates, adhered to restrictions by holding a small, invitation-only event at the carpenters union hall in Hermantown. He later drew a gawking crowd with an impromptu visit to Canal Park, where video footage of the campaign stop appeared in his commercials.

Meanwhile, Trump’s rally in Duluth a week later was estimated to have attracted 3,000 people. A little more than 24 hours after his Duluth event, Trump announced on Twitter that he was diagnosed with

COVID-19. Shortly afterward, three cases of the virus locally were linked to the rally.

Pence events at the port in Duluth and the Range Regional Airport in Hibbing both also exceeded the recommended 250 people.

The Trump campaign had signed an agreement with Duluth International Airport promising not to let crowd sizes grow beyond 250. But even a chilly and wet day didn’t stop the crowd from swelling to 10 times or more that size.

Airport Executive Director Tom Werner cited Trump’s September visit in a letter denying a Pence event one month later. The Pence rally ended up being held at Range Regional Airport in Hibbing.

“The Trump Campaign is in breach of their previous agreement with (the airport) on a couple of significant items,” Werner wrote. “VPOTUS is welcome to land and park his aircraft as is our obligation. However, if there is a campaign event planned, they will have to do so elsewhere.” u December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Some hit, some miss with Trump factor

By Brady Slater bslater@duluthnews.com

Virginia Mayor Larry Cuffe Jr. (left) and Two Harbors Mayor Chris Swanson (center) react to Vice President Mike Pence’s speech Aug. 28 while waiting to take the stage during Pence’s campaign visit to the Clure Public Marine Terminal in Duluth. (Clint Austin/caustin@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

F

or every U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber in 2020, there was a Chuck Novak — one election buoyed by an alliance with President Donald Trump, and the other perhaps cursed by it.

Stauber rode a train of support, and high-profile Trump-ticket events, to easy reelection in November, becoming the first Republican to repeat in the 8th Congressional District in 76 years, since Duluth’s William Pittenger in 1944.

Meanwhile, Novak lost his mayoral reelection bid in Ely against a candidate in Eric Urbas who had dropped out of the race, and has so far said he’ll decline to take the seat.

Prior to the November general election, Novak and five other northern Minnesota mayors famously threw themselves into the national presidential campaign circus.

The mostly Iron Range mayors claimed their towns had been neglected by Democrats, so they were instead endorsing Trump.

Their announcement was arranged by Stauber’s campaign, and deftly coincided with Vice President Mike Pence’s Aug. 28 campaign event in Duluth.

Two of the mayors, Two Harbors’ Chris Swanson and Virginia’s Larry Cuffe, stood with Pence on stage, where Cuffe loudly proclaimed: “Joe Biden did nothing to help the working class!”

In addition to Cuffe, Swanson and Novak, the Iron Range mayors who announced their endorsement of Trump included John Champa, of Chisholm; Robert Vlaisavljevich, of Eveleth; and Andrea Zupancich, of Babbitt.

Ely Mayor Chuck Novak talks in October about why he was one of several Iron Range mayors backing the reelection of President Donald Trump. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

“There’s many people in northern Minnesota who truly are Republicans,” Swanson said alongside Pence in Duluth. “They truly understand what’s going on.”

Timed with the Pence visit to Duluth, the mayors’ big swing registered with national news outlets.

Some of the mayors took turns appearing on Fox News.

Other media outlets produced stories about how a traditional Democratic hotbed had been lured by Trump.

But all of the Trump campaign’s efforts in northern Minnesota, including two Trump rallies (Duluth and Bemidji), didn’t improve his overall performance in the state.

Yes, Trump won the 8th District in 2020 by a greater percentage and with more votes than he did in 2016 — with nearly 26,000 more votes and a 56% share of the vote.

But he lost Minnesota to Biden by 7 percentage points — losing ground compared to Trump’s better overall performance in 2016.

And in Ely, the mayoral seat remains in flux.

If Mayor-elect Urbas chooses not to take the oath of office at the first meeting of the city council Jan. 5, then the board can appoint an interim mayor in advance of a special election, which would include a possible April primary and an August general election. u

December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Virus changes how schools teach

By Adelle Whitefoot awhitefoot@duluthnews.com

Alena Harris accepts her diploma cover from Assistant Principal Kyle Rock at Duluth East High School auditorium Thursday, May 14. Staff handing out diplomas wore protective face masks and latex gloves and did not shake hands with graduates. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

C

OVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March. A few days later, schools across Minnesota quickly switched to online learning.

The change was hard for students, teachers, parents and everyone in education. Many schools weren’t prepared for the switch due to lack of internet access and/or devices for their students, so paper packets were used.

When Gov. Tim Walz placed a two-week pause on schools in March, many students thought they were going back to school, but educators knew that wasn’t going to be the case. The 2019-20 school year ended in distance learning and many senior traditions ended with it.

In-person graduations were being altered. Proms were canceled. Seniors who graduated in 2020 seemed to understand why school was closed and everything was canceled, but it didn’t make it any easier.

Over the summer, the Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota Department of Health worked on coming up with a plan to open schools safely in the fall. School districts each took that plan and made it their own.

School districts in Minnesota were asked to use a local 14-day case rate per 10,000 residents to help guide them on what model they are using, but if COVID-19 cases remain low in their schools, health officials are advising schools they can remain open, but to be aware of the community spread.

Minnesota Department of Health policy states that if the range of 14-day case rates per 10,000 people is zero to nine, in-person learning for all students can occur.

If case rates are 10-19 per 10,000 people, Continued on page 10

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DNT Extra • December 2020

Nik Kaliszweski (right) labels a folder in Andrea Rosenberg’s fourth and fifth grade class Monday, Sept. 21, during Lakewood Elementary’s first day of school. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

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December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Event organizer Sibley Dunbar leads Proctor students and parents in a chant during a march from the elementary to the high school Monday, Oct. 19. The marchers are unhappy with how little time students get with their teachers under the district’s distance learning system. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

elementary schools can be in person, while secondary schools would be in hybrid; 20-29, all schools would be hybrid; 30-49, elementary schools could be hybrid, while secondary schools would be distance learning; and 50 or more, all students would be distance learning.

In September, with 14-day case rates in much of the area under 10, nearly every school district in the Northland opened for some sort of in-person learning. Rural schools where COVID-19 numbers were lower, opened to full in-person classes, where schools in and closer to Duluth started in hybrid learning. Proctor Public Schools and Duluth Public Schools took an even more cautious approach by starting secondary students in distance learning.

No matter the model, students all over Northeast Minnesota headed back to school for the 10

DNT Extra • December 2020

first time in six months, but it didn’t last long.

As the fall continued, COVID-19 cases grew exponentially, and just over two months into the school year nearly every district in the Northland has switched to distance learning at all grade levels.

In the second week of November, every Carlton County school, except for Cromwell-Wright Public Schools, made an announcement they were switching to distance learning with the hopes of returning before Christmas break. The next week, St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties’ school districts followed suit.

Though some of the more rural schools planned a two- or three-week pause on in-person learning, many districts will remain distance learning until January. u

Fourth and fifth grade students from left: Nik Kaliszweski, Peter Ahrens and Jolissa Rosenlund sit in chairs spaced at least 6 feet apart while they read books they checked out during Lakewood Elementary’s first day of school Monday, Sept. 21. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

A woman walks a student to Hermantown Elementary School for his first day of kindergarten Tuesday, Sept. 8. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) December 2020 • DNT Extra

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2020: The year when sports called a timeout

By Jon Nowacki jnowacki@duluthnews.com

Williams Arena stands deserted as seen March 13 after the state girls basketball tournament was canceled amid growing concern over the spread of the coronavirus. (File / News Tribune)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

W

hen I was first assigned to make a contribution to our year-ending DNT Extra about the “Stories of the Year,” I was a little hesitant at first.

How do you sum up the craziest year in sports history in just 500 words?

Picking a starting point to how the craziest unfolded is arbitrary, but I’ll go with March 11, when the NBA suspended its season a short time after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. Other developments had come before that, of course, but that’s when the dominos really started to fall.

The NCAA, which initially announced its winter tournaments would go on with limited attendance, quickly did an about-face after the NBA news and on March 12 announced its remaining winter and spring championship events for 2019-20 would be canceled, including its incredibly popular and profitable NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. When “March Madness” gets axed for the first time in its 81-year history, things were getting real.

That also meant that the Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team wouldn’t get the chance to defend its back-to-back national championships — not this year, anyway — and the UMD women’s basketball team would never get the chance to play for a NCAA Division II Central Region title. Instead, the Bulldogs had to head back from Warrensburg, Missouri, the regional over before it had even started.

Malosky Stadium is seen behind fencing on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus July 1. (File / News Tribune)

Back in Minnesota, the ensuing impact was becoming inevitable as one high school league after another quickly began canceling their winter tournaments, and on Friday, March 13, the Minnesota State High School League did the same thing. That left Duluth Marshall and CromwellWright, still alive at the state girls basketball tournament in Minneapolis, heading home, while so many boys basketball teams never got a chance to make that trip, their seasons canceled during sections.

“I didn’t know what to say,” Cromwell-Wright girls basketball coach Jeff Gronner said about hearing the news. “There were a lot of tears and anger and everything, and that was just me.”

And such began a pattern of hope followed by inevitable heartbreak and sadness as spring and summer seasons were canceled and signature Duluth events like Grandma’s Marathon went virtual-only for the first time. The third Saturday in June never felt so quiet. Five months later, there would be no annual Thanksgiving traditions like the Amsoil Duluth National Snocross or youth hockey tournaments as the sports-related economic impact of the coronavirus continued to climb.

Pro sports eventually returned amid a national

state of social unrest, having the resources and ability to micromanage and conduct all the testing it would require to play games or race cars amid a pandemic, but the fans, for the most part, still haven’t been allowed to attend.

Both Minnesota and Wisconsin prep sports gave it a go in the fall, with mixed results as some teams were forced to drop out even before the season had ended.

While Wisconsin carried on to some extent, albeit not like normal, Minnesota put a pause on youth and high school sports as teams scrambled to get games in before Gov. Tim Walz’s Nov. 20 deadline. The near consensus among athletes and coaches had become cliche: something is better than nothing.

The Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team started play Nov. 20 and the men Dec. 1, with the NCHC playing its games in a “pod” in Omaha, a system similar to what was used by the NBA and NHL. While the local college fall seasons were wiped out, there remains hope for the winter and the spring, and if this past year has taught us anything, it’s that hope is a really good thing, but it’s certainly no guarantee. u December 2020 • DNT Extra

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City of Duluth, hospitals faced financial woes due to pandemic

By Andee Erickson aerickson@duluthnews.com

Laurie Arndt (left), of Duluth, prays as Wendy Larson, a surgical nurse at St. Luke’s, also of Duluth, takes a break from her shift Friday, April 17, during “Parking Lot Prayers,” hosted by Life 97.3 FM, St. Luke’s and the Duluth Vineyard Church in a parking lot at St. Luke’s in Duluth. “This is awesome. They need to do more of this,” Larson said. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

E

arly in the pandemic the financial outlook for the Duluth-based health care systems and the city did not look bright.

In March, the largest employer in Duluth, Essentia Health, laid off 500 non-medical employees. Then in May, the health care system announced it was laying off another 900 employees, or 6% of its workforce, to continue making up for revenue lost during a decline in patient volume last spring.

Under Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order restricting elective surgeries so hospitals could reserve resources, hospitals all over the state faced major revenue declines, making Essentia Health far from alone during the early pandemic battle.

The Duluth hospitals received millions in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act dollars in the spring. Still, their leaders said it wasn’t enough to make up for all the lost revenue.

St. Luke’s hospital in Duluth received more than $9.9 million, Essentia Health’s St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth took in over $9.9 million and Essentia Health’s SMDC Medical Center in Duluth received more than $8.6 million, The governor lifted that order in May, but Northland doctors and health care systems continued to remind patients through the summer and into the fall that they should seek the care they need and not fear going to a hospital.

Around that time, the city of Duluth was originally anticipating a $25 million revenue shortfall in the city’s 2020 general budget of $92.9 million.

In April the city laid off 45 temporary and largely seasonal employees. That followed with another layoff

Essentia Health employees cross Third Street in front of Essentia Health’s Third Street Building. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

round of 49 employees, 25 of which were library technicians.

Mayor Emily Larson, City Council President Gary Anderson and Councilor Arik Forsman all took voluntary pay cuts. To further help heal the budget holes, Larson proposed auctioning off a pair of historic, stained-glass Tiffany windows.

The council ultimately ended that proposal by unanimously voting to designate the windows as a local heritage preservation landmark. The windows could have sold for upward of $3 million.

Since spring Larson has said the budget shortfall caused by pandemic will won’t be as bleak as what was projected. The city has avoided dipping into its reserve funds in 2020.

In September, Larson proposed drawing on $4 million in reserves next year to avoid raising

property taxes during a pandemic. That would leave more than half of the reserves untouched.

Nearing the end of 2020, the city’s finance director, Wayne Parson, projected the city would save about $3.5 million as a result of a hiring freeze, temporary layoffs, suspending hiring temporary and seasonal workers, freezing travel and purchasing as well as closing facilities.

Additionally the city received $6.5 million from the CARES Act. However, the city still anticipates a decent amount of lost revenue in anticipated tourism tax collections. Early on, the city forecast that revenue would be off by 50%. That’s since changed to about 30%. To combat the revenue shortfall, the city will reduce allocations to tourist attractions and organizations appropriately. u December 2020 • DNT Extra

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2020 meant layoffs across industries, businesses

By Jimmy Lovrien jlovrien@duluthnews.com

Four Air Canada Airbus A319 aircraft fill the hangar at the AAR maintenance facility in Duluth in 2015. AAR closed its Duluth location in summer 2020 following the drop in air travel. (File / News Tribune)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

T

he year started off promising. Unemployment rates were low, the economy seemed to be booming and the area was ready to welcome tourists in the summer.

But then COVID-19 hit the U.S. To curb its spread, officials in March launched shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, disrupting supply chains, triggering demand for many products to fall and forcing thousands of layoffs across the Northland.

Unemployment rates in the Duluth metropolitan area — St. Louis, Carlton and Douglas counties — reached 12.3% and 12.4% in April and May. “I don’t think there are many jobs that haven’t been impacted,” Brian Hanson, CEO and president of APEX, a Duluth economic development nonprofit, said in June.

The Big Three car companies shut down production lines to curb the spread of COVID-19, and people were buying less in general, causing a dramatic drop in the demand for steel. Three of the six iron ore mines and pellet plants on the Iron Range temporarily idled, laying off a combined 1,760 workers, more than one-third of the 4,105 total jobs at the Iron Range’s mines in 2019.

Sir Benedict’s Tavern co-owner Josh Stotts (right) chats in March with Amy Kelley, of Duluth, as he delivers her order curbside. With restaurants closed during the pandemic, Sir Benedict’s was one of many businesses in Duluth offering curbside pickup. (2020 file / News Tribune)

Less iron ore shipments meant less freighter movement on the Great Lakes, forcing three ships in the Great Lakes Fleet into an early layup with 100 crew members laid off.

Airline traffic took a nosedive.The AAR Corp. aircraft maintenance base in Duluth, which serviced United airliners, closed for good. And with it, 269 jobs were gone.

Demand for paper products fell. Verso’s paper mill in Duluth closed and was put for sale, leaving 225 without jobs. Sappi’s mill in Cloquet rotated through layoffs and UPM’s Blandin mill in Grand Rapids was temporarily idled.

Businesses cut spending, including newspaper advertisements. The Lake County News-Chronicle — part of the Duluth Media Group — and the

Scenic Range News in Bovey closed. The Mesabi Daily News and Hibbing Daily Tribune merged into the Mesabi Tribune. The Duluth News Tribune, laid off employees and went from daily print editions to twice-weekly papers, but produces e-editions seven days a week.

Duluth’s restaurant and hospitality industry Duluth saw 3,500 food preparation and serving occupations file for unemployment insurance between March 15 and June 6, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. “(We lost) basically our entire hospitality Continued on page 19 December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Verso’s Duluth paper mill. (2020 file / News Tribune)

Dave Wittke walks to the next house along his route with a traditional newspaper carrier’s bag slung over his shoulder Wednesday, June 24, in Gary-New Duluth.

Wittke walks his portion of the route while his wife, Tina, drives to places farther away. The News Tribune went from being printed daily to just twice a week in July. It is now delivered by mail, not carriers.

(File / News Tribune) 18

DNT Extra • December 2020

industry,” Elena Foshay, director of workforce development for the city, said in June. “The good part is that unemployment insurance eligibility was expanded.”

A cautious recovery By late summer, all but one Iron Range mine had restarted and called back its employees. The last, U.S. Steel’s Keetac, was scheduled to resume production in mid-December.Negotiations are underway to sell Verso, boosting the hopes it will again employ hundreds of workers in Duluth if it converts to making brown paper for paper grocery bags and cardboard.

But for some of the other hard-hit industries, recovery is less certain.

AAR won’t be coming back, but if Utah-based Borsight Inc. is successful in its bid to land a major contract to service the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons, the company could bring as many as 100 jobs back to the former Northwest Airlines maintenance hangar.

Minnesota restaurants and bars, despite returning to business this summer, were hit with another round of closures in November as COVID-19 cases surged, forcing mass layoffs again.

This time, federal government aid wasn’t readily available for small businesses. u

Cleveland-Cliffs’ Northshore Mining in Silver Bay was one of three iron ore mines and pellet plants to idle for part of 2020. (2020 file / News Tribune) December 2020 • DNT Extra

19

Pandemic spurs outdoors I boom

By John Myers jmyers@duluthnews.com

RVs and vehicles fill camping pads in July at Two Harbors’ Penmarallter Campground, one of many North Shore campgrounds full all summer thanks to the COVID-19-inspired rush to get outdoors. (File / News Tribune)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

t was a tale of two summers for fishing camps and other tourist destinations in the north.

On the Ontario side of the U.S.-Canada border, it was hauntingly quiet on many lakes, with shuttered resorts and quiet shops as American tourists were prevented from crossing the border due to COVID-19 precautions.

But on the Minnesota side of the border, sometimes just an imaginary line across lakes, it was one of the busiest summers on record.

As the first wave of COVID-19 spread slowed in summer, and as states relaxed restrictions on travel and opened outdoor areas, people flocked north. Fishing guides, campgrounds, bait shops, canoe outfitters and other tourist-related businesses in far northern Minnesota capitalized on travelers going as far north as they could as the pandemic-pushed border closure dragged on from March through summer and into fall and winter.

Steve Piragis, owner of Piragis Northwoods Co., a canoe outfitter and outdoor store in Ely, said 2020 may go down as the busiest summer ever for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

“There are hardly any permits still available,” he said in early July.

“You’ve got a mass of people who have been cooped up. So they head north, and they can’t even get into Canada. ... I think pretty much all the outfitters around here are having a good season with rentals.”

Other folks simply wanted to get away, to do their social distancing up north. With youth sports shut down for most of the year, and no professional sports to attend — along with closed music venues and other urban attractions shut down — the outdoors became a mecca for people with time off and a need to do something — anything — fun.

“I think people are tired of being sheltered and cooped up, and they just want to get out and do

something, to get outdoors and get some fresh air and maybe catch a fish,” Rick Leonhardt, who coowns High Banks Resort on Lake Winnibigoshish with his wife, Kim, said in July. “Everyone I talk to says the same thing. It’s really busy up here. …

People call us looking for a cabin and we have to tell them we’re booked. They say they can’t find anything out there. Everyone is full.”

Through September, state park visits in Minnesota were up 13% over 2019 and state trail use was up nearly 50%. Summer permit sales and applications in other areas were up more than 50% across the board at peak periods. Boundary Waters permits sold out fast early in the season and then remained hard to get all summer. Same for Voyageurs National Park with its hundreds of boatto campsites booked most of the season.

Minnesota State parks, once most of them reopened in June, and especially along the North Shore, were booked solid all summer and into fall, as were campgrounds in the Superior, Chippewa and Chequamegon national forests.

“I spend a lot of time trying to set people up with a fishing trip. A lot of these people would normally be fishing somewhere in Canada,’’ Mike

Berg, owner of Seagull Creek Fishing Camp near the end of the Gunflint Trail, said in August. Those usual Canada anglers “are learning how complicated it is to get a last-minute trip in up here in the BWCAW. Permits for day-use are scarce, and so are guides.”

Sporting goods stores ran out of fishing rods and lures in some cases, while bikes, trampolines, kayaks, canoes and ATVs were almost impossible to find. Minnesota fishing license sales ended up 10% after the pandemic summer. And the rush ran into autumn as well, when guns and ammunition were in short supply, or sold out, gobbled up by eager outdoorspeople.

The throngs of visitors into the Northland wasn’t all good news, however. The pandemic rush to get outdoors saw an influx of newbie and careless travelers leaving behind garbage, soiled diapers, human waste and even stashes of gear for others to clean up in wild areas while in some places illegally cutting down trees in campsites.

In late August, one group of six campers at Lake One in the Boundary Waters had to be escorted out of the wilderness and ticketed after complaints they were intoxicated and disorderly. u

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December 2020 • DNT Extra

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HOPE FOR HEALING: People taking part in a march Monday, March 9, for prayer and healing walk along Big Lake Road from Min No Aya Win Human Services Center in Cloquet to the Fond du Lac Tribal Center. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

CALL FOR JUSTICE: Deshawn Gardner, of Duluth, yells Thursday, June 4, while leading a chant during a protest at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth demanding justice for George Floyd. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

DIVIDED WE STAND: Verne Wagner (left), of Duluth, talks with his neighbor, Arthur Germaine Jr., on Monday, July 13, about taking down his Confederate flag while about 100 protesters line both sides of the 5100 block of Glenwood Street in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

IN REFLECTION: Duluth firefighter Dylan Mills is reflected in his ax during the Last Alarm ceremony as part of the Duluth Fire Department’s 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at Amsoil Arena on Friday, Sept. 11. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)

through the lens

SECURITY DETAILS: A Secret Service agent stands guard KENNEDY MAKES HISTORY: Councilor Janet Kennedy (center) laughs as President Donald Trump speaks during a Wednesday, alongside councilors Derek Medved (left) and Arik Forsman (right) Sept. 30, campaign stop at the Duluth International after being sworn in as Duluth City Council members Monday, Jan. Airport. (Clint Austin/caustin@duluthnews.com) 6, at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Harbor Side room. Kennedy is the first woman of African-heritage to serve on the Duluth City Council. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) December 2020 • DNT Extra

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STILL A CHAMPION: Cloquet-Esko-Carlson forward Taylor Nelson tears up as she high-fives fans heading into the locker room after the team’s 6-0 loss to Breck in the girls Class A state championship Saturday, Feb. 22, at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

SWEET VICTORY: Simon Davidson (14), of Denfeld, celebrates after scoring the first goal during the Monday, Oct. 19, Section 7A semifinal game at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth. Denfeld defeated Grand Rapids 5-0 to advance to the championship game. (Clint Austin/caustin@duluthnews.com)

SYMBOLIC SUPPORT: CloquetCarlton’s Ilei Benson takes a knee during the playing of the national anthem before the start of the Thursday, Sept. 3, game. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

YOUNG AND FREE: Brody Lillo (second from right), 12, does a backflip from a bridge on the Saginaw Grade/Lumberjack Multi-use Trail into the St. Louis River as friends from left: MJ Kayser, 12, Joe Jukich, 11, and Kroix Kayser, 8, wait their turn to jump Saturday, July 25, in Cloquet. The group from Esko spent time on the bridge Friday, July 24, but weren’t quite ready to make the jump.

With temperatures reaching 84 degrees July 25, they decided it was time to cool off. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

PHOTO FINISH: Rita Whesler crosses the John Beargrease mid-distance finish line to finish second early Monday, Jan. 27. “This old girl can still run,” she yelled as she crossed. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

LAKE SUPERIOR SEARCH: Towels and an umbrella remain in the sand as members of the Lakeside, Amnicon and Maple Volunteer Firefighters search the waters of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Middle River for a 6-year-old boy who went missing Wednesday, June 3. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com) December 2020 • DNT Extra

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TREE TRUNK DINNER: A male pileated woodpecker uses its tongue to lap up insects from a hole in the trunk of a dead apple tree in a Duluth yard in September. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

WATCHFUL EYE: A black bear cub watches three hikers from behind the truck of a white pine in May. The cub’s mother had moved off when the hikers approached, not knowing the bears were there. The sow returned as soon as the hikers began leaving the area. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

BEAR DENTAL CARE: One of the two Alaskan brown bears at the Lake Superior Zoo uses a bone to pick at its teeth Saturday, June 20, in Duluth. The bears were out swimming in their pond and able to be seen during the Walk on the Wild Side tours at the zoo.

The zoo was open, with visitors following a one-way path through the outdoor exhibits. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com) 26

DNT Extra • December 2020

NEED FOR SPEED: Prospectors Trail Alliance Coordinator Ron Potter drives a section of trail near Finland in July. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

EMPTY DULUTH: A lone cyclist rides a bike on West Superior Street in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood midday Sunday, April 5. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order directing Minnesotans to stay at home and limit movements outside of their home beyond essential needs. This order was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 10. The two-week order to stay home was forecast to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and allow the state to make key preparations for the pandemic. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

FULL MOON RISING: A nearly full moon rises behind the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth on Sunday, Feb. 9. The moon was past full being 99.2% illuminated in its waning gibbous stage. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

A WILD WIN: Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) and center Eric Staal (12) celebrate Staal’s game-winning goal on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) in overtime at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan. 4. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

A TRIP TO REMEMBER: Passengers wearing masks aboard the North Shore Scenic Railroad’s Duluth Zephyr 11 a.m. trip on Wednesday, July 1, look out a window while waiting to depart from the Duluth Depot. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

TUNNEL VISION: Kaeleb Martens, 6, is startled as he climbs back up the slide that is connected to his bedroom window Tuesday, Oct. 6, in Duluth. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)

PRETTY FLY: Shawn Perich fishes for brook trout north of Grand Marais in July. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

WHEN THE VIRUS ARRIVES: On Thursday, April 30, Kevin Szczyrbak looks out the skylight of a room at Woodland Hills in Duluth that would be used to quarantine clients if they contracted COVID-19. The entire third floor was available for quarantine. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com) December 2020 • DNT Extra

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SMALL BUT MIGHTY: The tug Missouri helps the John J. Boland, its propeller turning, to back out of drydock at Fraser Shipyards in Superior on Saturday, March 28. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

DULUTH IN COLOR: Connor Knettel and Kylie Lange, both of Duluth, play with their 7-month-old miniature Australian shepherd, Aspen, while enjoying the view Monday, Oct. 12, from one of the overlooks along Hawk Ridge in Duluth. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

TRAIL CAMARADERIE: Shuttle driver Harriet Quarles bumps elbows with Micheal Andrie after dropping off his backpacking party at a Superior Hiking Trail trailhead north of Grand Marais in July. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

PANDEMIC ENTERTAINMENT: From left: Megan Drevecky-Rees, Embry, 3, Annie Drevecky-Rees and their 3-day-old daughter, Liv, pass the time before “Dolittle” starts outside the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center on Friday, July 17, as part of the Greater Downtown Council’s Movies in the Park(ing) Lot. The event sold out with 130 vehicles filling the parking lot. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

CRITICAL TRAINING: Tyler Kemp, of Eveleth, puts plastic over a window as Porcha Shadd, background left, and Nick Gant tape up a larger sheet as carpenters get training on the Infection Control Risk Assessment practices at the Carpenters Local Union in Hermantown on Wednesday, Feb. 19. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)

QUARANCUTS: Receptionist Megan Moore, right, explains to a customer that she’ll have to wait longer outside of Great Clips in Superior on Wednesday, May 20. Customers who signed in online waited in their vehicles in the parking lot until staff called them to enter the building. Customers drove from as far as the Iron Range to get cuts after Wisconsin allowed salons to open. (Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)

December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Clayton, Jackson and McGhie remembered

By Christa Lawler clawler@duluthnews.com

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DNT Extra • December 2020

T

he 100th anniversary of the lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie — three Black circus workers falsely accused of raping a West Duluth woman — was supposed to be an event that filled the streets of Duluth with upward of 10,000 people and included a visit from one of the country’s biggest names in social justice.

The men were still remembered June 15, but in a more modest way that reflected the pandemic.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited the memorial in downtown Duluth while human rights officer Carl Crawford, who presents this tour a few times a year, offered the infamous story and moments of reflection

Hundreds of people filled West First Street in Duluth for a Juneteenth march that started at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial and joined with another march before ending at City Hall. (2020 file / News Tribune)

at the site of the bronze statues and companion quotes from historical figures.

The governor later Tweeted: “We can never forget this shameful, tragic event in Minnesota’s history.”

The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Committee had intended to draw an audience that matched the amount of people who were on the scene in 1920 when rioters busted into the jail and dragged the circus workers up the avenue to a light post, where they were hung in front of an audience — some who posed for a commemorative photograph later with the freshly dead bodies.

The large-scale event, including keynote speaker Bryan Steven of the Equal Rights Initiative, was pushed to a future date.

Despite the pandemic, more than a hundred people visited the memorial on the anniversary.

There were free masks and bottled water, in addition to a buffet provided by Duluth Grill. The line extended down the block.

The previous week, the Minnesota Board of Pardons unanimously cleared Max Mason, who Continued on page 32 December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Co-chair of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Stephan Witherspoon raises his fist in the air Saturday, Oct. 10, after unveiling a historical marker at the site where Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie were lynched in 1920.

Witherspoon said the experience was emotional. “That could’ve been me,” he said. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

had briefly served time in prison for raping the West Duluth woman who was involved with the accusation. Despite the lack of evidence, Mason was sentenced to 30 years, and then quietly released a few years into his sentence.

“There is a direct line between Max Mason and Clayton, Jackson and McGhie,” the governor said during the meeting, which was streamed on the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Facebook page. “There is a direct line to what happened to George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis. The inability for us to address the stain on our state for so long has led to those situations.”

The anniversary had further poignancy: Weeks earlier, George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes — a move to detain him for allegedly passing a 32

DNT Extra • December 2020

counterfeit bill. Protests and marches went on throughout the summer, starting with thousands of people gathering at City Hall a few days after Floyd’s death and a hundred or so more migrating to Interstate 35 to interfere with traffic — some stopping drivers to ask “Do Black lives matter?” before letting them trickle past. An even smaller group continued on late into the night before winding down in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

On Juneteenth, marchers from the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial and another faction coming from Bayfront Festival Park, met at City Hall where Floyd was remembered and Diona Johnson sang Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.”

Throughout the summer, small groups continued to gather at the site of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial. u

Cindy Miller, of Duluth, holds a sign as Joe Carter, of Superior, has a target painted on his back during the Wednesday, May 27, protest on Duluth’s London Road against the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer May 24. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

More than a thousand people raise their fists in a moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd outside City Hall on Friday, June 19, during Duluth’s Juneteenth celebration. (Tyler Schank / tschank@ duluthnews.com)

December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Duluth weathers wave of gun violence

By Tom Olsen tolsen@duluthnews.com

Nine bullet holes appear on a sign in a downtown alley where a shooting was reported Sept.

20. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

D

uluth officials grappled with another year of escalating gun violence in 2020.

Police had reported at least 37 shootings or gunfire incidents as of early December — easily surpassing 2019’s total of 24 prior to Labor Day — and the city was on pace to record as many incidents in 2020 as in the past two years combined.

“Any time we see gunshots ring out in our neighborhoods, that is cause for concern,” Police Chief Mike Tusken said in September.

“Without question, it shakes us to our core.”

Remarkably, despite the surge, there had not been any fatalities reported heading into the final month of the year. The city had one gun homicide in 2019.

Data obtained by the News Tribune in September revealed just how quickly gun violence has accelerated in the community.

In 2014, the city saw 14 shootings or confirmed shots-fired incidents in which officers were able to recover evidence at the scene. That remained steady in 2015 before dropping to just 11 in 2016 — a year that included one gun homicide.

Duluth Police Investigator Dan Saletel examines a damaged windshield in a Central Hillside alley after a shooting Aug. 12. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

But the city has experienced escalating numbers since 2017, with the exception of a small dip in 2018 — though that year included two homicides.

Police have suggested that there is frequently a lack of cooperation among victims or potential witnesses to the incidents, at least some of which appear to be in retaliation for prior acts of violence.

Perhaps owing to the drive-by nature of many of the crimes, the rates of both injuries and arrests appeared to be down in 2020.

Tusken cited widespread availability of firearms as a cause.

“At any given time, there are thousands of

(guns) that have been stolen and are in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, who are convicted felons, who have been violent felons, and who are remorseless in how they operate, in that they will use guns to resolve conflict,” he said.

Meanwhile, a different kind of shooting made headlines through the fall. On Nov. 30, Duluth Police Officer Tyler Leibfried was charged with two felonies for shooting an unarmed man through the door of a downtown apartment Sept. 12 — believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in the department’s 150-year history. u

December 2020 • DNT Extra

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Another fire, court battles for controversial Kozy

By Peter Passi ppassi@duluthnews.com

Eric Ringsred is the former owner of the Kozy Bar building and an advocate for preserving it. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

W

hile 2020 proved an eventful year for the former Kozy Bar and Apartments building, the future of the fire-damaged historic structure appears far from certain headed into 2021.

The Pastoret Terrace building dates back to 1887, when it opened as an upscale townhome development designed by Oliver Traphagen, one of Duluth’s most revered architects. But the building at the corner of First Street and Second Avenue East was later subdivided into small low-rent apartments with an attached bar.

Following a 2010 fire, the Pastoret and the adjoining Paul Robeson Ballroom buildings were condemned for habitation and languished as the building’s owner, Dr. Eric Ringsred lacked property insurance.

In 2015, Ringsred lost ownership of the properties to tax forfeiture, and the Duluth Economic Development Authority took control, initially seeking to redevelop the property through a request for proposals.

However, deeming none of the proposals it received acceptable, the authority sought to demolish the blighted structures.

Ringsred and a group of preservationists called Respect Starts Here sued to block the demolition. But in October 2019, Judge Eric Hylden found that due to the buildings’ deteriorated condition there were no “feasible and prudent alternatives to demolition.”

Ringsred and his supporters filed an appeal, and on Aug. 31, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed

Even with a snow cover, an aerial view of the Pastoret Terrace building in November reveals extensive damage to the roof of the former home to the Kozy Bar and Apartments. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

Duluth firefighters battle the Sunday, Nov. 1, blaze at Pastoret Terrace, also known as the Kozy.

(Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

Hylden’s order after determining that city officials had failed to undertake due diligence in evaluating proposals to rehabilitate the historic structures.

It ordered DEDA to “perform all maintenance and repairs necessary to prevent the properties’ further deterioration.”

On Nov. 1, another fire struck the buildings causing yet more extensive damage.

A new structural assessment of the buildings had yet to be completed by early December, due to safety concerns.

DEDA awaits court direction on what steps, if any, it must take to secure the buildings for winter.

But the Duluth City Council has approved the expenditure of up to $135,000 to comply with the court’s determination. u December 2020 • DNT Extra

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St. Louis County snowplow drivers strike

By Tom Olsen tolsen@duluthnews.com

Striking St. Louis County equipment operators represented by Teamsters Local 320 picket as replacement drivers leave the Public Works complex in Pike Lake on Jan. 15.

(Clint Austin/ caustin@duluthnews.com)

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DNT Extra • December 2020

A

disagreement over sick leave policies led to a nearly weeklong strike that threatened to leave county roads without timely plowing and treatment in the heart of a Northland winter.

St. Louis County Public Works employees represented by Teamsters Local 320 walked off the job Jan. 15 after they were unable to broker a new contract with administration — the first strike by any county workers in recent memory.

The sticking point involved the payout of accrued sick leave upon retirement. The union bargaining team sought to have the maximum raised from 1,150 to 1,500 hours, but the county remained firm in its opposition, citing future financial liability and noting most of its other bargaining units lacked such a high cap.

For several days, workers and their supporters formed a picket line at the Public Works complex in Pike Lake and other locations throughout the county. They waved signs, lit burn barrels to keep warm and chanted — announcing their presence in a manner that prompted one county official to complain of “a lot of middle-finger, singlefinger salutes (and) four-letter words.”

The striking workers received visits from dignitaries, including U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Hermantown, and messages of support from now-President-elect Joe Biden and two of his

St. Louis County senior equipment operator Cheryl Eidum (center), of Proctor, pickets near a burn barrel Jan. 15 while on strike with Teamsters Local 320 at the Public Works complex in Pike Lake. (Clint Austin /caustin@duluthnews.com)

then-Democratic primary rivals, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders.

When snow fell overnight Jan. 17-18, a skeleton crew of Public Works supervisors and other licensed staff were pressed into service in an effort to keep the roads clean and safe — no easy feat in a geographically massive county that includes 108 plow routes across 3,000 miles of roads and bridges.

The snowfall may have been a breaking point, with the two sides reestablishing contact shortly before the snow began flying that night.

Representatives gathered at the St. Louis County Courthouse on Sunday, Jan. 19, and emerged in the wee hours of Monday, Jan. 20, with a deal after a 15hour mediation session.

The Teamsters, ultimately, agreed to back off their demand for the increased sick leave accrual.

The county, in exchange, agreed to higher wage

increases and a higher starting wage over the duration of the three-year agreement. The plow drivers also received an option to leave the county’s health insurance plan in favor of one offered by the Teamsters.

“We are thankful to have reached this agreement and to welcome our employees back to work,” Kevin Gray, county administrator, said in a statement at the time. “Both sides worked very hard to get to this point.”

Union members quickly ratified the agreement by a vote of 133-0.

“I don’t think our relationships are tarnished at all through this,” Erik Skoog, the chief negotiator, said. “The county leadership has a responsibility to the taxpayers. I have a responsibility to the members of the (bargaining unit). ... In the end, both parties won.” u December 2020 • DNT Extra

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FR-1579471.1-0816-0918