Date: Monday, April 5, 2010
Curt Carstensen, Northwoods League Director of Operations

(ROCHESTER, MN) With the start of the baseball season officially happening last night and almost every team in action today, 25 former Northwoods League players open the season on a big league roster.

St. Louis Cardinals reserve outfielder Allen Craig (Alexandria ‘03/05) is the only of the 25 players that enters the season with no Major League experience. The 2006 eighth round draft pick hit .322 with 26 home runs and 83 RBI in Triple-A last season.

Four of the players are with new teams in 2010. Outfielder Juan Pierre (Manitowoc ’96) is now the starting centerfielder for the Chicago White Sox and Curtis Granderson (Mankato ’01) patrols centerfield for the New York Yankees. Granderson hit a home run in his first at-bat for the Bronx Bombers last night. Right-hander Max Scherzer (La Crosse ’04) holds the third spot in the Detroit Tigers’ starting rotation. Mike McCoy (Brainerd ’00) earned a reserve role as a utility player with the Toronto Blue Jays.

A pair of relief pitchers join McCoy on the Jays’ roster. Righties Jeremy Accardo (Alexandria ’01) and Casey Janssen (Wisconsin ’01) give the Blue Jays three former Northwoods Leaguers. The Los Angeles Dodgers also have three NWL alumni on their squad with outfielder Andre Ethier (Rochester ’02) and relief pitchers George Sherrill (Kenosha ’97-98) and Jeff Weaver (Dubuque ’95).

Three Major League teams have two former NWL players on their roster. Second baseman Clint Barmes (Kenosha/Waterloo ’98-99) and outfielder Ryan Spilborghs (Madison ’01) both suit up for the Colorado Rockies. The Chicago Cubs have a pair of pitchers with lefty Tom Gorzelanny (St. Cloud ’01) and righty Justin Berg (Wisconsin ’03). In Seattle, the Mariners have right-handed relief pitcher Mark Lowe (Wisconsin ’02-03) and infielder Jack Hannahan (Mankato ’99), but Hannahan opens the season on the 15-day disabled list.

Elsewhere, outfielder Robb Quinlan (Dubuque/St. Cloud ‘96/98) is back with the Los Angeles Angels after spending the entire offseason as a free agent and receiving a minor league contract to rejoin the Angels. Side-arming reliever Pat Neshek (Wisconsin ’00) returns to the Minnesota Twins after missing all of the 2009 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Outfielder Josh Willingham (Austin ’98-99) is with the Washington Nationals, All-Star second baseman Ben Zobrist (Wisconsin ’03) is looking for another big year with the Tampa Bay Rays, right-hander Doug Mathis (Duluth ’04) earned a bullpen spot with the Texas Rangers, left-handed specialist Daniel Herrera (La Crosse ’05) is in the Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen, Nick Hundley (Alexandria ’04) is the starting catcher for the San Diego Padres, Casey McGehee (St. Cloud ’01) is the opening day third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers, and Jason Jaramillo (St. Cloud ’02) is the backup catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Former Duluth Huskie Fernando Rodriguez also made the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 40 man roster but did not make the trip north to Anaheim with the MLB team.

The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America. Opening day for the NWL is June 2nd.

For Immediate Release
Coverage of

March 18, 2010 – All media interested in taking pictures and/or video of the GoogleFest Movie can stop by the Coppertop Church 230 E. Skyline Parkway around 11 a.m. Thursday, or at Minnesota Power around noon. There will not be time to speak with the director, but you are welcome to interview anyone else on the scene and shoot photos of the filming.

These times are very tentative, so to get a better understanding of precisely where filming is going on at any given time, call Patrick Garmoe 218-461-9655.

Director Ken Kemp (see bio below) intends to attend the 1 p.m. press conference on the 4th floor of Duluth City Hall Thursday March 18.

Director Ken Kemp has worked three Olympics as a field producer and on-air talent. He's directed gameshows, a wide variety of sporting events, press junkets, short films, music videos, a documentary of the US Olympic Water Polo team and an independent film starring Antonio Sabato Jr. of the recently seen VH1 show "My Antonio."
Ken is an award winning director for industrial, commercial and infomercial directing along with garnering seventeen other awards of various technical merit. Mr. Kemp is on the cusp of major cross-over success and is currently in negotiations to direct three motion pictures intended for wide release. Ken has a reality series in development and is also an accomplished song writer. His sister, Tara Kemp was an early 1990's pop-music star, releasing two Top 10 singles, "Hold You Tight" and "Piece of My Heart."

Other information movie details: Movie scenes will continue being shot around the Twin Ports throughout the day Friday, and in the Lake Superior Ballroom (city-side) of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Saturday beginning at 2 p.m., and likely continuing until 6 p.m.

Also occurring in the Lake Superior Ballroom will be GoogleFest, with lots of musical performers and activities, for those who were not chosen to be in the actual movie, or chose not to be part of the movie. Details coming soon on the specifics of GoogleFest.

Parking is free for both events at the DECC.

Patrick Garmoe
(218) 461-9655
Public Information Officer,
Duluth/Superior Google Fiber Initiative

http://www.googletwinports.com

A proposed bill is under development that would require the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Revenue, to conduct a study on the effects of resuming income tax reciprocity between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The study would determine the number of residents in each state who earn income in the other state, the total income earned in each state by those taxpayers, and the amount of revenue that would be foregone by each state if reciprocity were to be reinstated. The study would use tax information data for the 2010 tax year and would be completed by the end of 2011. The results would be submitted to the two state legislatures and governors at that time.

This appears to be something taxpayers in the two states will have to live with for the next few years. The last study took place in 1995 with discepancies in some of the currently issued data. While some information from Wisconsin sources show that 80,000 Wisconsin Taxpayers would be affected the Minnesota Department of Revenue states that 33,500 Wisconsin residents meet the filling requirements while working in Minnesota. These differences may in part be caused by students working part time but falling under the minimum filing threshold and other part time workers.

Besides having to file tax returns in both states some Wisconsin taxpayers may end up paying more in state income taxes due to Minnesotas higher personal income tax rates. For example a Wisconsin single taxpayer with only W2 income of 32,000 would pay $1,212 in Minnesota income tax while if they worked in Wisconsin they would pay $1,115 in Wisconsin income taxes. With the ending of reciprocity they would get a creit of $1,212 for the Minnesota income taxes and would not have any tax liability to the State of Wisconsin. This is a very simplified example for a taxpayer without any interest, dividend or capital gains income all of those incomes would be taxable only in the taxpayers home state.

Google Twin Ports is a community-wide initiative led by the mayors of both Duluth and Superior, aimed at becoming one of a handful of locations in the United States for Google to build an ultra-high speed broadband network.

If successful, it would allow residents of Duluth to pay about what they're paying now, for Internet 100 times faster than current top speeds. This would lead to all kinds of benefits for individuals and businesses, many of which haven't even been imagined yet.

For example, a rural health clinic near Duluth could stream three-dimensional medical images over the web, so the patient wouldn't have to drive several hours for an appointment to see a specialist. Students here could join others around the globe in watching a live lecture in 3D. Each person on the network could download a full high-definition movie in less than five minutes.

How fast? Google will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. Google says they'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 people, and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Google's main goals for this experiment are to spur interest in what's possible, if Internet speed is no object. Google wants to test a new way of building fiber networks and create an open network, so users will have more choice in who they buy Interent access from. In addition, Google wants to watch developers create a whole variety of new applications that currently aren't practical to create, due to lack of bandwith.

The initial meeting on the idea organized by Duluth Mayor Don Ness, occured Feb. 15. In attendance were about 12 local IT professionals and entrepreneurs. The team has now expanded to include four committees all tackling different aspects of the proposal, from preliminary engineering of the project, to getting the communities involved.

A facebook group started before the first meeting has already grown to nearly 2,000 members, as of Feb. 17.

Everyone interested in this initiative is asked to show your support:

1. Visit http://www.googletwinports.com and click the "nominate our communities" button; join our Facebook Groups page, and join the Google Groups page, and keep up on the latest news on our blog.

2. Post your own video explaining why you want Google to come to the Twin Ports and how you'd benefit from this.

3. Come to the public events where we'll be discussing the project. Our next one is scheduled for: 4:00 pm at the UMD Center for Economic Development, in the Technology Village: 11 East Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802

BusinessNorth to be purchased by area journalists Beth Bily and Ron Brochu; founder and publisher Wayne Nelson to continue involvement.

BusinessNorth, which since 1992 has covered business news in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin, is being sold by founder and publisher Wayne Nelson to Beth Bily and Ron Brochu, two longtime area journalists who already have close ties to the publication. After the sale is completed on March 31, Nelson will continue reporting in BusinessNorth’s print and online editions indefinitely.

“For 19 years, we’ve been proud of our reputation as the trusted resource for in-depth, no-holds-barred coverage of the area’s economy, business environment and the entrepreneurs who make this region go,” said Nelson, 65. “Today, there are even greater opportunities than ever for more stories, analysis and opinions, and I’m pleased that Beth Bily and Ron Brochu will build upon that commitment as BusinessNorth’s new owners.”

Nelson said that while Bily and Brochu are planning to further enhance BusinessNorth’s print and online offerings, readers and advertisers will notice very few changes in the operation based at 101 W. Second Street, in the Carnegie Building which decades ago housed Duluth’s public library.

“We’ll still have the same offices and same great staff, but now readers will benefit from having two excellent, well-connected professionals covering the business-news beat full time,” said Nelson. “With Beth’s and Ron’s complementary talents related to news management and reporting, advertising sales and their deep knowledge of this region, they’re the perfect team to take BusinessNorth into the future.”

Bily, 42, is currently a reporter and advertising representative for BusinessNorth. She’s a former editor of the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Herald Review, and has also covered stories for the Mesabi Daily News and the Hibbing Tribune. She has completed the Blandin Foundation Community Leadership program, as well as the Foundation’s Editors and Publishers leadership program.

Brochu, 55, was BusinessNorth’s managing editor from 1995-1997 and has continued to contribute stories and columns. He also served as executive editor at the Superior Daily Telegram, city editor and business page editor at the Duluth News Tribune and trade journal editor and chief at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in Duluth.

“Ron and I are excited to take the reins of what Wayne Nelson has made into one of the most respected business-news entities in the entire country,” said Bily. “With Wayne continuing on to provide his insights and great nose for the news, the transition will be very smooth.”

Brochu said his and Bily’s purchase, terms of which were not disclosed, reflect their confidence in the region’s future.

“Beth and I are bullish not only on this area’s economic future, but also on the continued need for this sort of journalism,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to having BusinessNorth play an even larger role in covering and helping influence the region’s business climate.”

BusinessNorth is a monthly publication, including its comprehensive annual directory of business and industry, reaching more than 21,000 readers each month. The publication covers business news across 17 counties in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin – a $10 billion economy that supports 450,000 people.

The company’s website – www.businessnorth.com – is a creative partnership of radio, online and print publications, bringing daily news sources together in one easy-to-use site. The company’s toll-free telephone number is 800-777-7306.

Later this morning a local print and on-line publication will have a major announcement on its future direction.   Stay tuned.

This site is about "community news". Community news is about people, organizations, businesses, meetings and events happening in our communities. Community news is open to everyone with something to say, report, and do. I felt there was a need in our communities to create a site that could be a gathering place for information.

As this site develops its sure to take some turns and new directions as community members make requests of what they want to see.

Items can be submitted for publication by emailing to publisher@superiorwi2.com. If you are interested in becoming a regular contributor send an email or use the form on the site to submit your idea(s) on what you would like to write about on a more ongoing basis. Some examples of could be youth organizations and sports, community organizations, town or village news, history, arts, economy and business, or any other topic you are passionate about.

Currently I have to do some manual setup of new pages, posting categories and assigning user publishing rights. Once those are set all that is needed to add content is a web browser. Writers will have one or several categories they can publish to. Its just a matter of selecting the correct category and content is automatically published on the correct page on the site for that category. As you look at the pages on the menu bar each of those has a category with a similar name.  New pages and categories will be created as needed.

This site is not about becoming a "one stop shop"  but as a starting point that can lead to other sites and blogs in our local communities. Our focus is on Superior and Rural Douglas County but the site is open to news and events from around the region.

Ideas questions and concerns?

Jon Winter
publisher@superiorwi2.com

Spartan Westling Classic today at SHS. 8 Teams including Superior, Northwestern, Ashland, Bayfield, Camron, Northwood, Shell Lake and Eau Claire Memorial. Wrestling starts around 10am. Updates at www.trackwrestling.com

Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) today finalized sweeping new air emission regulations for large ships in U.S. waters, including a temporary exemption for 13 U.S.-Flag steamships on the Great Lakes as part of a legislative compromise brokered by Representatives Dave Obey (D-WI) and Jim Oberstar (D-MN).

The compromise between officials from EPA, Rep. Obey, Rep. Oberstar, and others in the Great Lakes delegation, addressed a defect in the EPA’s original proposed rule. The compromise will save tens of thousands of jobs in the Great Lakes mining, steel, and shipping industries, while maintaining unprecedented new air quality requirements for the region.

“You really can’t say enough about the way Congressmen Obey and Oberstar worked with the EPA to find a reasonable middle ground and so avoid further devastation to the Midwest economy,” said Don Cree, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest coalition ever to promote shipping on the Lakes. “Before they became involved, we were talking about the potential loss of thousands of jobs in a region that cannot afford to lose even one job.”

In August, the EPA first proposed regulations to control emissions from large oceangoing vessels, and also extended those requirements to Great Lakes vessels. One provision would have required the 13 U.S.-Flag steamships on the Lakes to burn distillate fuel, something that cannot be done safely on a steamship.

Without this exemption, the regulation would have eliminated those 13 vessels by 2012. Those vessels represent 25 percent of the U.S.-Flag Great Lakes fleet that moves iron ore and other raw materials to steel mills, power plants, manufacturers, and others in the Midwest. Seven Canadian steamships also would have been impacted by the rule.

In addition to the steamship exemption, the new air regulations provide some flexibility in their application to another 13 U.S. and 53 Canadian diesel-powered vessels. They, like thousands of other ships that call on the U.S., which otherwise will be required to switch to low-sulfur fuel by 2012 and then to ultra low-sulfur fuel in 2015.

American manufacturers, shippers, and others remain highly concerned that the additional costs associated with the new air requirements will render Great Lakes industries uncompetitive and open the door to unnecessary foreign imports. Under the EPA regulations, some Great Lakes vessels’ fuel costs could increase by 70 percent based on historical numbers, potentially impacting their economic viability and eventually costing Great Lakes consumers more than $100 million in additional fuel costs per year. However, in the report accompanying the legislation, Congress, calling for an economic impact study, stated the EPA should provide a waiver in cases where fuel was not available or upon a showing of “serious economic hardship.” Some oil refiners doubt the required fuel for lakers will even be available at any cost.

Oceangoing vessels trading to the Lakes will also see their fuel costs increase, as they will have to burn the lower sulfur fuel the entire time, two weeks or more, that they are on the Lakes, whereas deep-sea vessels calling on coastal ports will only be in U.S. waters for a few days.

“This really was only superficially about Great Lakes shipping,” said James H.I. Weakley, 1st Vice President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, and President of Lake Carriers’ Association. “This was about protecting family-sustaining jobs from regulations that had no basis in fact. Had the regulations been finalized as originally proposed – misapplying regulations designed for oceangoing vessels to lakers – we would have lost jobs on the Lakes, the mines and quarries, the steel mills, and all the other industries that depend on waterborne commerce.”

Weakley noted that loss of carrying capacity on the Lakes can have only one of two results. “There will be either a modal shift or a source shift. A modal shift means ship-borne cargos go to trains and trucks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently determined that ships produce 70 percent less carbon dioxide than trains and 90 percent less than trucks. A source shift means we import what we now produce and in the process, lose more American jobs.”

“Great Lakes shipping, domestic and international, is a cornerstone of the U.S. transportation system,” said John D. Baker, 2nd Vice President of GLMTF, and President Emeritus of the ILA’s Great Lakes District Council. “The temporary exemptions for U.S. and Canadian lakers will keep it so. As we move forward, we must ensure that these new fuel standards do not dissuade oceangoing vessels from coming to the Lakes. These vessels will be facing increased fuel costs. The nation will not benefit from a modal or source shift.” The Great Lakes region, often referred to as “America’s Fourth Seacoast,” benefits from the greenest form of transportation: Short Sea Shipping. The term recently coined to describe the use waterborne transportation over shorter distances is being actively promoted to reduce the release of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, particularly in European countries.

“We all want clean air,” said Pat O’Hern, 3rd Vice President of GLMTF, and Vice President and General Manager of Bay Shipbuilding Company. “Congressmen Obey and Oberstar are renowned for their commitment to the environment. They would not have championed Great Lakes shipping if this temporary exemption posed any threat to public health. They saw it for what it was: A needless loss of jobs.”

U.S.-Flag Great Lakes operators have modernized the engines on their vessels. In the past two years, two steamships have been converted to diesels. A vessel that burns intermediate fuel entered a shipyard last month to have new engines installed. Another Great Lakes operator is seeking a Federal grant to help with the cost of repowering one of its intermediate-fuel vessels. Another company is using a Federal grant to assist in replacing generators. The EPA, through the finalized rule and other programs, continues to promote the upgrade of these and other transportation engines to more modern and cleaner power plants. With another worldwide fuel standard coming into play in 2020, the greenest form of transportation will continue to reduce its carbon footprint. The EPA’s final rule gives the carriers time to adapt and provides incentives to do so sooner.
Founded in 1992, Great Lakes Maritime Task Force promotes domestic and international shipping on the Great Lakes. With 87 members, it is the largest coalition to ever speak for the Great Lakes shipping community and draws its membership from both labor and management representing U.S.-Flag vessel operators, shipboard and longshore unions, port authorities, cargo shippers, terminal operators, shipyards and other Great Lakes interests. Its goals include restoring adequate funding for dredging of Great Lakes deep-draft ports and waterways, construction of a second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; protecting the Jones Act and other U.S. maritime cabotage laws and regulations; maximizing the Lakes overseas trade; and opposing exports and increased diversions of Great Lakes water.