State briefs: Newspapers take the lutefisk challenge

Staffers at the Grand Forks Herald recently held "the first inaugural lutefisk challenge." Young people who had never before tasted the infamous Norwegian dish of lye-soaked cod did so for the first time. On camera.

"Butter and pepper," one Bismarck man offered, via Twitter. "And hold your nose."

The video begins with a woman shaking her head. "I don't want to do it," she says. Another taster: "Uh, once you doused it in a lot of pepper and butter, it was … it was still terrible."

The scribes then challenged two Minnesota newspapers to "take the fishy, wobbly plunge themselves" — or donate to a Grand Forks charity. The Bemidji Pioneer donated to Bemidji Holiday Gifts for Kids but also did the deed. The paper posted its own video, with a different tenor.

One exchange: "You know, it's not so bad." "I would have some more. Anybody got any more?" But reporter Zach Kayser disagreed. Rather than swallow, he left the room.

Jenna Ross @ByJenna

The Mower County Board voted Thursday against lending Austin $250,000 to remake the Oak Park Mall.

Under the new plan for the property, Shopko, which owns its own building, would stay, as would a fitness center, movie theater and Younkers department store. But everything in between would come down, making way for the Hy-Vee.

The board believes the project will be "a good thing" for Austin, Reinartz said. "It was a tough decision."

JENNA ROSS @ByJenna

Ski jumpers and others who miss Duluth's once-popular Chester Park ski jumps can help plan a lasting homage to the former attraction.

Ski jumping was once a hot sport in Duluth, with the park once holding the world's tallest jump and eventually a total of five jumps. People lost interest toward the end of the century, though, and the park's two remaining jumps were demolished in August.