Minnesota briefs: Solar power for church in Duluth

DULUTH

Church installs solar array

A new 34.4 kilowatt solar array will provide 40% of the power for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth.

The church says it's one of the first solar installations that will qualify for the federal direct-pay for nonprofits through the Inflation Reduction Act under clean energy provisions.

Wolf Track Energy of Two Harbors installed the solar array on the church's flat roof. The church is the first in Duluth to have one.

JANA HOLLINGSWORTH

ROCHESTER

Olmsted County will work with homeless services nonprofit Family Promise Rochester to develop and potentially operate a new family shelter.

The county's Housing and Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday approved a six-month agreement with Family Promise. The deal is part of the county's efforts to renovate a group home that officials bought last month which could house up to 10 families in the future, depending on renovations.

Once Olmsted officials and Family Promise finalize details, the county intends to lease the property to Family Promise for $0 a year, acting as landlord to maintain the property while Family Promise operates the building as a tenant.

Family Promise officials say more families are seeking services in recent years. Since 2020, the nonprofit routinely has about 25 to 30 people on its waitlist for support.

TREY MEWES

Photographer takes award-winning loon photo

Steve Maanun's image of a loon and its chick, is the subject of this year's award-winning photograph for the Loon Appreciation Week poster, an annual contest held by LoonWatch at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland, Wis.

"Silently Waiting" captures the educator's favorite subject. In addition to photography, Maanun offers presentations on "Loons: The History of Minnesota Icon" and "Making Loons the Focus of Your S.T.E.A.M. Lessons."

He also won the contest in 2019.

Maanun volunteers on Big Mantrap Lake, a loon management site that started in the mid-1980s where 20 aluminum rafts are placed each spring in loon nesting territories — an alternative to natural nests that are prone to predation, Maanun said. The project starts the day the ice melts off the lake.

Maanun uses an ethical approach to his subject, which starts with learning the animal's behavior.

"Give them space and if you notice signs of discomfort with your presence, back off," he said. "I use photo blinds and a long lens most of the time."

Loon Appreciation Week is held annually in May to promote education about the popular birds. There is a contest each year to find a loon image for the event's poster.