Looking ahead at 2023 in Northland

Jan. 4—In the waning days of 2022, the Duluth News Tribune, Cloquet Pine Journal and Superior Telegram published numerous stories, photos and videos highlighting the news we covered in the past year. Now that the calendar has turned to 2023, we asked each of our reporters to share with you some of the stories we are keeping an eye on and plan to pursue.

Mayor Emily Larson running for reelection

Before the calendar even flipped to 2023, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson announced her intentions to seek a third term at the city's helm. She is the first person to enter the race, which will be decided in November.

The first woman to serve as Duluth's mayor said she wants to tend to unfinished business, including plans for "a new library with community, health and workforce services within it."

Larson also aims to launch a pilot project to provide Lincoln Park with faster and more affordable internet service. On other fronts, she said her administration will champion more affordable housing and strive to bring new energy and prosperity to a downtown still struggling to rebound from the pandemic.

— Peter Passi,

City beat reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Opioid reduction and St. Louis County

This will be the first year St. Louis County will distribute opioid remediation funds, according to Jana Blomberg, a member of the county's advisory committee of human remediation settlement funds and a community health program coordinator. The state of Minnesota will receive funds from a $26 billion multistate settlement with McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, and opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.

The fund will be distributed to cities and counties for 18 years at a diminishing rate. St. Louis County will receive approximately $340,000 this year and distribute those funds to programs and organizations which prioritize prevention.

The committee was formed early last year to ensure the money was put to its best use. It's composed of 27 members in related fields as well as people directly impacted. It spent the past year meeting with organizations to see what work is already being done and to find where the gaps are.

— Teri Cadeau,

News reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Superior refinery set to reopen in early 2023

The Superior refinery is expected to reopen in the first three months of the new year, almost five years after an April 26, 2018, explosion and fire severely damaged the facility and led to the evacuation of much of Superior.

In the fall, crude oil was shipped to the refinery's storage tanks in anticipation of the reopening, the refinery's owner, Cenovus, said in an email to the News Tribune in mid-December. At the time of the blast, it was owned by Husky Energy.

Approximately 350 employees and contractors will work at the refinery once it is fully up and running, the company said.

The rebuild was expected to cost nearly $1.2 billion but was largely covered by insurance.

— Jimmy Lovrien,

Energy and mining reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Cloquet focuses on housing

Mayor Roger Maki said housing would be a key issue he would focus on if reelected. One idea was to rezone lots in the industrial park to multi-family, since they are not being used and already connected to city utilities. City officials have stated that housing is needed at every level. We'll be watching for developments on this front and elsewhere in the housing sector.

— Dylan Sherman,

News reporter,

Cloquet Pine Journal

Police completing racial bias audit

A racial bias audit that has long been in the works for the Duluth Police Department is expected to be completed by mid-2023 and presented to the public. The Crime and Justice Institute was awarded a contract of up to $273,000 to assess data and practices including traffic stops, use-of-force incidents and personnel practices.

Conducted in conjunction with a team of community members that includes representatives of the Duluth NAACP and Law Enforcement Accountability Network, the findings and response to the audit are expected to be one of the first major tests for new Police Chief Mike Ceynowa, who stepped into the role in January.

— Tom Olsen,

Crime and courts reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

How will Lincoln Park businesses weather road construction?

Two miles of Superior Street in Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood will undergo a $38.42 million construction project. Improvements will include the addition of electric-vehicle charging stations, green infrastructure and streetscapes, in addition to replacing underground utilities and adding fiber for broadband, with the help of funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The News Tribune will hear from business owners, residents and visitors on the economical impact, and explore solutions on how foot traffic and transit changes will affect Lincoln Park's short- and long-term growth.

— Brielle Bredsten,

Business reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Cloquet schools to consider $4.5 million athletic facility project

If a final design is approved by the Cloquet School Board and construction begins in May, will the field be done in time to host football/soccer games for the next fall sports season? We'll be closely monitoring the progress of this large-scale project in 2023.

— Jake Przytarski,

News reporter,

Cloquet Pine Journal

School districts looking for new administrators

The Maple and Solon Springs school districts will be looking for new administrators. Maple District Administrator Sara Croney and Solon Springs Superintendent Frank Helquist have both announced they will be stepping down at the end of the 2022-23 school year. We'll keep track of the hiring process in both districts in 2023.

— Maria Lockwood,

News reporter,

Superior Telegram

Next steps for Princess Theater renovations

The building that most recently housed Frankie's Bar remains dark and uninhabitable and likely will for a good part of 2023.

However, that doesn't mean work isn't being done behind the scenes that could bring about a plan to rehabilitate the former Princess Theater by the fall. In March, Superior's mayor will attend a conference for historic theater renovations and plans to shop out a request for proposals on a national scale to find someone experienced to design the rehabilitation.

There are few photos of what the Princess Theater looked like in its prime, and unlike other theater projects, they no longer have a stage or auditorium to work with. However, the mayor promises a historic theater that offers a modern experience.

— Shelley Nelson,

News reporter,

Superior Telegram

Where will the U of M's academic health care center go?

In January 2022, the University of Minnesota announced plans to build a new academic health care center in the city's medical district to house the Duluth campuses of the university's medical school and college of pharmacy. The project is still awaiting legislative funding of $12 million before moving into the design stage. According to media relations manager Kat Dodge, the project is once again being proposed in the university's 2023 comprehensive legislative request.

Both Duluth health care systems have proposed locations for the facility. Essentia Health has offered up the current site of St. Mary's Medical Center, 407 E. Third St., which will be demolished when the new hospital opens in late 2023. St. Luke's would prefer the university's project to be built closer to its hospital campus, and has proposed the property at 830 E. First St., formerly the site of United Baptist Christian Church.

Depending on that approval, a tentative timeline could have the project breaking ground in late 2024 or early 2025. The University of Minnesota has not released a projected budget for the medical center.

— Laura Butterbrodt,

Health reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Whiplash weather exactly what climate scientists predicted

Go back to summer 2021 and parts of the Northland had their driest summer in nearly a century. Flash-forward to just a few months later, spring 2022, and parts of the Northland had their worst flooding on record.

This is the kind of whiplash weather extremes that climate scientists have predicted for years, pushed by climate change. So far, no one has ventured a forecast for 2023. But strap on your safety belts, we're probably in for another wild ride.

Already we have a heavy snowpack, which portends extra water come spring, And keep an eye out for Lake Superior, which, after years of being above normal, dropped below normal during the 2021 drought. Suddenly it's creeping back up again, almost a foot above normal as winter sets in.

— John Myers,

Outdoors reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Duluth Public Schools to map out strategic plan

Duluth school district leaders are set to finalize the latest iteration of their districtwide strategic plan in early 2023. The plan would be a broad-minded document meant to guide longer-term decisions. Officials are set to update that plan, plus three-year operations and governance plans, every year as part of a "continuous" planning model.

They'll also have to figure out how spend the remainder of the district's federal COVID-19 aid.

The district has allocated, through June 2023, about $20 million of the combined $28.6 million it in turn has been allocated by the feds, according to Finance Director Simone Zunich. The last of that money must be spent by September 2024.

— Joe Bowen,

Education reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Are there more movies in the Northland's future?

For decades, the opportunity to see northern Minnesota on a movie screen was a rarity. Now, thanks to stackable incentives and new technology, the Northland is seeing a flurry of film production.

Last year saw the documentary "Hockeyland" hit mainstream theaters, while the romantic comedy "Merry Kiss Cam" brought Hulu subscribers across the country into the cozy Carmody bar. Big stars are wandering off film sets and into Duluth businesses, while there's building buzz for a potential soundstage in Lincoln Park. What will 2023 bring for movie and TV production in the Northland?

— Jay Gabler,

A&E reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

How is mansion living going?

Susan and Mark Brown said "goodbye" to their lake-side home to move into a Duluth mansion with their daughters, their pets and families.

That's three households, six adults, five children, three dogs, three cats, a bearded dragon and an iguana. And a partridge in a pear tree.

"COVID had a little to do with it. Not seeing people, being kind of isolated, being kind of bored," said their daughter, Elisabeth Helstrom.

Helstrom refers to the moves as a "social experiment."

"We joked that during the next pandemic, we'll all be in the same bubble," she added.

Three house sales, many moves and a full year-plus later, we'll check in with the extended family to see what they discovered.

— Melinda Lavine,

Features reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Bulldogs shoot for the top

The Minnesota Duluth men's and women's basketball teams both started the winter with high hopes, with the men being ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Division II preseason coaches' poll, believed to be their best-even preseason ranking. However, the Bulldogs dropped out of the top 25 after a couple early losses. Tough crowd.

Look for both squads to bounce back and make the postseason. The UMD men, in particular, could make a run after going one-and-done in the Central Region last March after playing without injured star forward Austin Andrews.

As of mid-December, the UMD men were 9-2 overall and 5-0 in conference play; the UMD women, 8-2 and 5-0, with both squads having won four straight.

While the Bulldogs still weren't ranked nationally, don't expect that to last for long.

— Jon Nowacki,

Sports reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

NCAA Women's Frozen Four takes Amsoil ice

Amsoil Arena will host the NCAA Women's Frozen Four on March 17 and 19, marking the fourth time Duluth — and second time Amsoil Arena — has hosted the national collegiate women's hockey semifinals and championship.

The 11-team NCAA tournament bracket will be unveiled March 5, with the regional semifinals and quarterfinals taking place March 9-11 at the home rinks of the top four seeds.

It's still too early to know if the Bulldogs will be among the 11 teams selected. UMD — which won its third of five NCAA titles in 2003 at DECC Arena — was ousted in the national semifinals in Erie, Pennsylvania, two years ago and lost to Ohio State last year in the national championship game at Penn State.

If UMD doesn't make it, there should still be some familiar teams in this year's Frozen Four as the WCHA has sent at least two teams to each of the previous eight Frozen Fours.

— Matt Wellens,

Sports reporter,

Duluth News Tribune

Is the Twin Ports becoming a basketball hotbed?

For decades, the Duluth area has been known for producing elite-level hockey talent. Simply look at the college ranks — even today — and you'll see men's and women's rosters peppered with players from Hermantown, Grand Rapids, Cloquet and Duluth.

Occasionally, there will be a low-level NCAA Division I football player recruited from the Twin Ports as well as track and cross-country runners, but rarely has the area consistently produced high-level basketball talent. Superior's Jessica Lindstrom and Lakeview Christian Academy's Anders and Bjorn Broman are exceptions: all three played Division I college basketball and Lindstrom plays professionally in Belgium.

That perception seems to be shifting. Currently, Duluth Marshall's Gianna Kneepkens and Grace Kirk are playing at college basketball's top level, with Mountain Iron-Buhl's Jordan Zubich and Cherry's Isaac Asuma both getting a fistful of Division I offers as juniors.

Over the next year, I will explore the changing landscape of basketball in our area.

— Jamey Malcomb,

Sports reporter,

Duluth News Tribune