St. Louis County Board approves agreement to make energy efficiency financing available

Business and property owners interested in making energy efficient improvements to their buildings now have a more affordable way to do so, following a vote by the St. Louis County Board. The County is now participating in the Property-Assessed Clean Energy program, a financing tool to help property owners with the initial costs of installing renewable energy technology. Read more.

SUPERIOR NEWS: More than 9,000 technical drawings for over 200 different ships are now available for research in the Fraser Shipyards Collection in the Special Collections of the Jim Dan Hill Library at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Read more.

. WITC-Superior will host “Celebrate Caregiving: Laughter, Learning and Living,” an empowering and educational conference for both professional and family caregivers, today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants will develop positive strategies for caregiving, establish a broader support network, as well as connect with speakers and other caregivers. Read more.

Meanwhile, nationally top-ranked WITC continues to show impressive results with the 2015-2016 Graduate Survey Results. Read more.

. Eight top students from Lake Superior College attended the Business Professionals of America 2017 National Leadership Conference, “Spread Your Wings” in Orlando from May 9-14. They joined more than 7,000 conference delegates from across the nation and competed in national level business skills competitions, earning 15 awards.

University of Wisconsin-Superior junior Brittany Laehn is one of approximately 1,200 American undergraduate students from 354 colleges and universities across the U.S. selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

. The College of St. Scholastica will host a two-day conference focusing on an emerging management style that helps organizations maximize efficiency by putting their employees first.

. Only a few seats remain for the second year of The College of St. Scholastica’s Sacred Word, Sacred World, Sacred Call Youth Theology Institute, which will be held July 7-16 on the college’s Duluth campus.

. Lake Superior College will host free career exploration academies and camps for youth during June and July of 2017.

. The University of Wisconsin-Superior Foundation has received a $100,000 gift from the Minnesota Power Foundation in honor of alumnus Steve DeVinck.

LITTLE LEAGUE: The mighty Hermantown Royals are 3-0 and currently sit atop the Quad City Little League majors standings, with impressive victories over Proctor T & C Hardwoods, 14-7, Proctor 4 Star Construction, 11-1, and Western Yankees, 10-6. Read more at HermantownNews.com

BAYFRONT FESTIVAL PARK EVENT: Two major regional event businesses have teamed up to present a new festival that they hope will become one of Duluth’s premier annual waterfront events for years to come. Twin Ports Entertainment and Lundeen Productions will present Taste of Duluth on Saturday, July 1 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Bayfront Festival Park.

LITTLE LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
. Hermantown Royals edge Western Yankees, lead Quad Cities majors
. Western Yankees a team to watch

DOWNTOWN DULUTH: Longtime Duluth restaurant Porter’s announced that it will undergo a major transformation. Starting May 30, the restaurant will temporarily close. The restaurant will reopen with a new name, fresh look and updated menu.

DULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Troy Erie of Lowell Elementary received the 2017 Goldfine Gold Star Teacher Award on Wednesday night. Manley and Lillian Goldfine established the award to recognize public school teachers who inspire their students and provide a strong foundation for educational, personal and professional success, Duluth Public Schools spokesperson Kathleen Kaufman said. The Goldfine family presents $5,000 annually to an outstanding teacher within the Duluth Public School system.

Teachers are nominated and selected for the award through a competitive application process based on several criteria, including impact in the classroom, school and community, and their efforts to pursue professional development.

Other 2017 Goldfine Gold Star Teacher Award nominees were Jen Boyson (Myers-Wilkins Elementary), Paul Davis (Stowe Elementary), Holly Johnson (Lakewood Elementary), Matthew Knutson (Laura MacArthur Elementary), Cindy Miller (Congdon Park Elementary), Rachel Moseley (Piedmont Elementary), Nicole Munthe (Homecroft Elementary) and Sherry Williams (Lester Park Elementary).

HOW MUCH DO THEY MAKE? According to OvertheCap.com, Vikings fullback C.J. Ham of Duluth will earn $465,000 if he remains on the team’s 53-man roster for the entire 2017 regular season, or $6,000 a week if he continues on the practice squad where spent all but two weeks of the 2016 season.

SPORTS MEDICINE: Thanks to a generous $4,170 grant from Essentia Health, Western Duluth Little League is able to support additional safety initiatives including King Devick testing and an AED for its intermediates field. Read more.