Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has selected his lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to replace Al Franken in the U.S. Senate. Smith said she will run for the seat in 2018.
State Senator Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville will replace Smith as lieutenant governor.
Two dozen spirited students, faculty, alumni and community members braved the cold on the evening of Dec. 2 to protest in front of the UWS Yellowjacket Union. The protest was held outside of the glitzy Chancellor’s Ball fundraiser to show outrage at the devastating academic program cuts that were announced on the morning of Halloween.
Protesters wore costumes to symbolically reclaim the Halloween that was ruined by the announced cuts. They handed fundraiser attendees candy with the following message printed on them: “Thank you for supporting UWS students! Please ask Chancellor Wachter to reconsider the program suspensions at UWS. More choices for students, not fewer, is what make UWS great.”
The response from those attending the fundraiser was overwhelming supportive, demonstrating yet again how deeply opposed our community is to the gutting of our university. The action closed with a rousing chant of “We’ll Be Back, We’ll Be Back!” And rest assured we will be – again and again – until these draconian cuts are consigned to the dust bin of history!
With 34 of 34 precincts reporting.
Duluth At-large City Councilor
Top two candidates are elected
Zack Filipovich – 8,749 | 31.48%
Barbara Russ – 6,568 | 23.63%
Janet Kennedy – 6,053 | 21.78%
Rich Updegrove – 5,899 | 21.13%
Write in – 522 | 1.88%
Still from Thank You for Your Service
This is partially a reflection on a movie seen at the Duluth 10 Cinema, partially a survey of important Duluth resources, and partially a reflection on the way I wish the world would be.
District city council and school board races will appear only on ballots in the appropriate precincts. The location of candidates’ names will be different in each precinct; the names are rotated in accordance with the law.
The League of Women Voters 2017 Voter Guide is available in PDF format at lwvduluth.org.
Duluth residents who wish to vote absentee may do so in person in City Hall room 330 from Oct. 31 until Nov. 3 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; or Monday, Nov. 6, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents who are not registered with their current address must show proof of residency by providing one of the means allowed by law.
With 34 of 34 precincts reporting, here are the unofficial results.
Duluth At-large City Councilor
Top four candidates advance to General Election
Zack Filipovich – 3,859 | 27.97%
Barbara Russ – 2,797 | 20.27%
Janet Kennedy – 2,462 | 17.85%
Rich Updegrove – 2,456 | 17.80%
Jan Swanson – 1,222 | 98.86%
Brandon Sorvik – 604 | 4.38%
Richard L. Williams – 369 | 2.87%
Duluth Fourth District City Councilor
Top two candidates advance to General Election
Renee K. Van Nett – 622 | 44.94%
Howie Hanson – 468 | 33.82%
Tom Furman – 294 | 21.24%
Duluth At-large School Board Member
Top four candidates advance to General Election; two are elected
Sally Trnka – 3,929 | 30.00%
Josh Gorham – 3,558 | 27.17%
Harry Welty – 2,406 | 18.37%
Bogdana (Dana) Krivogorsky – 1,642 | 12.54%
Loren Martell – 1,560 | 11.91%
There are a mere two races on Duluth’s citywide Primary Election ballot for 2017 — city council at large and school board at large. Voters in District Four, the area highlighted on the map below, can also vote to whittle down the choices for that council seat.
At-large Duluth School Board member Harry Welty wrote on his Lincoln Democrat blog about digging into a box of thank yous last night and spreading them on his office floor “to make a little campaign video for a campaign webpage.” And then he posted “this shaky video.”
Welty’s term ends Jan. 8; Duluth candidates officially file to seek school board positions between July 5 and July 18.
“Years ago I attended some session during which a presenter made a good suggestion,” Welty wrote. “She warned her listeners that it was easy to get discouraged and she suggested that we all collect thank yous and such. She thought that when we got down we could look in the old thank yous and remind ourselves that we weren’t such bad folks.
“Until I got on the School Board in 1996 my little sunshine folder wasn’t very big. Then I started reading to classrooms.”
I’m watching the action at the Minnesota State Legislature with an eye toward what is happening in Duluth, too.
I look at these two initiatives. I wish I had some principle here, like “local control is always best” or something like that, but I don’t. I just prefer the results of the Duluth ordinance over the results of the state law. If I liked the results of the state law better, I would prefer that.
What do you think, comparing:
The work of Duluth’s “Earned Sick and Safe Time Task Force,” which “gathers information, collects public input, proposes the best options for implementing ESST policies and brings forward policy recommendations.”
vs.
SF 580 as introduced – 90th Legislature (2017 – 2018)
A bill for an act relating to employment; providing uniformity for employment mandates on private employers;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 181.
Ten years ago today, Feb. 13, 2007, Al Franken published the above video announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate representing Minnesota.
He won the DFL nomination with 65 percent of the vote, but in November 2008 appeared to have lost the the General Election by 215 votes to Republican Norm Coleman. On Jan. 5, 2009, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified the recounted vote totals, with Franken winning by 225 votes. Subsequent challenges prevented him from taking his senate seat until July 7, 2009.
Franken was reelected in 2014, defeating Republican Mike McFadden with 54 percent of the vote. His second term ends Jan. 3, 2021.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was one of 14 Democrats who sided with Republicans on Monday in voting to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Mike Pompeo.
Happy Inauguration Day. Let’s celebrate peaceful transfers of power with a retrospective view of the portraits of Duluth’s Mayors. For many years, these portraits hung in the hallways of City Hall, but were recently taken down to be cleaned, maintained, digitized and cataloged. The images used here are taken from the Minnesota Digital Library. More information about each mayor is available at the site.
Don Ness says portraits are traditionally done 2-3 years after a mayor leaves office, and he anticipates his portrait will be added to the collection some time this year. So scroll backward through time with us and enjoy the virtual gallery of Duluth mayors.
Posted without comment:
1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to education; establishing the Student Physical Privacy Act; proposing
1.3 coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121A.
1.4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.5 Section 1. [121A.35] STUDENT PHYSICAL PRIVACY ACT.
