Quote Me, Howie.

Twin Ports entrepreneur and historic preservationist Rod Raymond on his view of Duluth: “There are many things about Duluth that make me proud. Amenities such as the awesome trails, the incredible arts scene, craft businesses, the wonderful people and, of course, the Great Lake.

The one thing we should fight tooth and nail to preserve is how can we keep Duluth charming? This includes a commitment to saving historic buildings, encouraging more Bentleyville type events and supporting organizations that promote wellness activities such as candlelight skis, open air concerts, the various outdoor and farmers markets, etc.

Perhaps integrating the slogan ‘Keep Duluth Charming’ could be the city’s new vernacular. Then officials can ask the question when making related decisions ‘Does tearing down that building, supporting that business idea (fill in the blank) keep or make Duluth charming?’ My guess is that most active and/or cultured people move to or visit Duluth for its charming vibe and connection to the natural world. Let’s keep it that way!” 

Amy Rutledge, Director of Corporate Communications at Allete/Minnesota Power, on power being mostly restored following a major snow event in our region: “After making great progress Friday and Saturday, our Minnesota Power crews wrapped up restoring power to the remaining 200 customers today. This has been a herculean effort by our crews and more than 100 mutual assistance resources, and it has been an historic storm in terms of the amount of damage to our system and the sheer number of trees/limbs/branches that downed wires.

Again, we are grateful to our customers who were patience and understanding during this extended outage. We are also very appreciative of the many kudos and kind words from customers on social media about our line workers who worked long hours in challenging conditions to get the lights back on. Many residents came out of their homes to personally thank crews as they arrived at their homes to restore power.”

Retired Duluth Police Chief Scott Lyons on what he sees for Duluth moving forward: “Opportunity. Duluth is a unique big small city. People care about each other and support all sorts of charities. We need to continue to keep big and small businesses here and actively recruit others. And, work with Superior, Hermantown, Proctor and Rice Lake to team approach our opportunities. The challenges we face are old infrastructure and the need to upgrade it, more neighborhood housing developments for young families, and rethinking our downtown. All doable.” 

Hermantown boys basketball coach Andy Fenske on his team’s impressive start: “Recordwise, you can’t ask for a better start. Sitting at 3-0 is a good spot to be in, however, after having two games moved it adds a bit more stress going 12 days between our games. Our practices this week will be huge in determining our success over the next two weeks.

It’s been great seeing so many guys in positions to score and lead us on the court. What impressed me the most was our second-half effort against Minneapolis Edison when we rallied from 17 down at the half to win in OT. The last nine minutes of it was when we found out what type of determination we have.

We have a tough road ahead of us from here. We’re heading down to North Branch (Thursday) for a section game. We went wire-to-wire with them last season in the section semifinals, so we need to be ready to get after them right from the opening tip.

Then, heading into the holiday break, we see Big Lake (4-0) in our first matchup, who’s ranked a Top-15 team, then we’ll hopefully get a matchup against Delano (5-1), another Top-15 team. Once we get through that grind, we finally get our first home game vs. Rock Ridge who’s been able to put up points in bunches followed by a back-to-back with Sauk Rapids-Rice, who we snuck out a win in overtime last season.

It’s hard to pick just one or two guys who have been our top players. At any moment, each one of our eight guys can step up and do some great things. Abe Soumis is a few rebounds shy of averaging a double-double in the first three games. Blake Schmitz is a leader on both ends of the court.

Drew Schmitz took over in the second half against Edison, scoring all 13 points and leading the charge to get us a chance to win. Keaton Christianson has been a consistent threat beyond the arc for us. Broc Sundland has been a guy who’s knocking down shots and getting to the rim with ease this year. Peyton Menzel has been a spark off the bench, causing some havoc with his defense and getting defenders to fly past him on his shot fake to his mid-range game.  

Nathan Hill has been another spark off the bench to get us momentum with a handful of buckets and rebounds in the early part of the season. Brayden Lundeen has had some great reps off the bench, he’s in a spot where we need him to be like a microwave, get hot quick!

Our boys have been eager to get some more games in. We hopefully come off of this snow break with a fire and desire to keep going.

As I stated earlier, we’re in a unique spot where we get to play the villains of the north, yet the underdogs as we head down south in terms of teams overlooking us. While our biggest test against Orono got pushed out, we have two top-15 teams we get to see in a few weeks to measure up with where we’re at against some of the outer metro-schools in AAA.”

► EVENTS GUIDE

The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center will play host to The Price is Right Live™ stage show March 22. Tickets are now on sale at the DECC and Ticketmaster.

The Price Is Right Live™ is the hit interactive stage show that gives eligible individuals the chance to “Come On Down” and play classic games from television’s most popular game show. Contestants can win cash, appliances, vacations and possibly even a new car by playing favorites like Plinko™, Cliffhangers™, The Big Wheel™, and the fabulous Showcase!   

► A MESSAGE FROM URSHAN RETIREMENT GROUP

Urshan Retirement Group, Inc. strives in helping people achieve retirement goals. This is accomplished through education of the financial planning process, analyzing each individual’s investment needs, as well as continuously reviewing and monitoring their personalized plan. Jordan Urshan (pictured) and Dan Urshan work as partners to ensure long-term consistency to your investment portfolio. They look forward to earning your business. Please give them a call to schedule your appointment. Call 218.625.7575 or stop by their office located at 5033 Miller Trunk Hwy, Hermantown, MN 55811.