Hyper-local Duluth news and sports:

. Duluth East's top returning boys hockey player, senior forward Connor Valesano (above), is leaving school early to play in the United States Hockey League, the DuluthNewsTribune.com is reporting.

. Four highways remain closed in Northeastern Minnesota after last week's storm that caused massive flooding. Three of the four closed highways have short detours in place. The only highway that remains completely closed is Highway 210 within the boundaries of Jay Cooke State Park. "We have been receiving many calls and emails from people wondering if they can get to Duluth and surrounding areas," said Duane Hill, MnDOT District 1 engineer. "The only areas they can't enter are some of the flood-damaged neighborhoods in Fond du Lac and Jay Cooke State Park."

. Registration for the 37th Grandma's Marathon (Saturday, June 22, 2013) opens Sunday, July 1 at 12:01 a.m. (CST), online.

. To further flood clean-up efforts in the area, the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District has arranged for area contractors to begin collecting flood-damaged household debris in a curbside pickup program beginning Friday.

. The University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame will enshrine five new members in the fall.

. Scoop: An exhibition hockey game featuring current and past Duluth-area professionals and college players will be played Friday, July 13 at Duluth Heritage Sports Center. Longtime NHLer Jamie Langenbrunner of Moose Lake and 2012 Hobey Baker Award winner Jack Connolly of Duluth have committed to play.

. Community Action Duluth (CAD) could win a Toyota minivan on Sunday, in a one-day online voting contest called 100 Cars for Good.

. maurices has contributed $100,000, as a matching gift, to the Duluth Children's Museum's Be The Spark campaign -- a $5 million effort to renovate the former Duluth Brewing and Malting Company, a 28,000 square-foot space located in Duluth's new Clyde Park district.

. 38 Special performs outdoors Thursday evening at Clyde Park in Duluth.

. Opinion: Duluth Mayor Don Ness and state Senator Roger Reinert, DFL-Duluth, continue to impress as powerful community leaders in the wake of a major flooding event that ravaged many parts of Duluth last week. Their leadership is particulary refreshing for Duluthians who have put up with weak-kneed local politicial leaders for several decades.

Note: This blog is updated several times daily. Valesano photo -- Howie Hanson / For StarTribune.com