Minnesota briefs: Walker's eelpout fest will stay put

The International Eelpout Festival will remain in Walker after all, organizers have announced.

In October, Beltrami County commissioners reviewed an application from the event's organizers to move the festival 38 miles north to Bemidji.

"After investigating all options we felt were feasible to ensure the growth and sustainability of the event, we concluded that staying in Walker is [in] the best interest of the festival and the nearly 12,000 people who attend every year," Eelpout Festival owner Jared Olson said in a release.

The festival was started on Walker Bay on Leech Lake in 1979 as a way to boost tourism. It celebrates the long-reviled eelpout, a fish considered so disgusting that anglers who hook them often cut their lines rather than handle the slimy, snakelike creature. The event includes ice fishing, an eelpout fish fry, eelpout rugby, eelpout curling and a polar plunge.

Organizers have said that the festival generates more than $1 million for the local economy. The 2018 event is scheduled for Feb. 22-25.

Mark Brunswick

Duluth voters overwhelmingly supported a proposal to raise the sales tax in the city by 0.5 percent to improve local streets. The measure, approved with 76.5 percent of the vote on Tuesday, will need approval at the Legislature before it can be implemented.

Duluth street maintenance is now paid entirely by property taxes. The city has more than 86,000 residents, but more than 35,000 people commute to the town, which also welcomes 6.7 million visitors each year.

In a 2015 citizens' survey, 91 percent of Duluth residents indicated they lacked confidence in city streets, more than 55 percent of which are listed in critical condition.

Larson thanked voters on social media, saying "77% of the vote is, by all Minnesotan terms, pretty darn good. Thank you, Duluth, for choosing a long term, sustainable plan for streets funding."

Pam Louwagie

A new marketing campaign launched last month aims to draw new residents to the St. Cloud area.

The St. Cloud metro area continues to grow, with nearly 190,000 people living within the three counties.