2016 Year in Review: October through December

The last months of the year saw headlines like Bob Dylan winning a Nobel prize to the close 8th district race between Nolan and Mills.

The last few months of the year saw Duluth’s first homicide of the year to Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen resigning to the extremely close 8th district race between Rick Nolan and Stewart Mills.

Hibbing native and Duluth-born Bob Dylan received the Nobel prize in literature in October. Dylan is only the second Minnesotan to receive the award. In honor of the accomplishment, Governor Mark Dayton declared December 10th as Bob Dylan day in Minnesota.

Duluth’s first homicide of the year happened in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Eric Burns was shot in the chest on the 2000 block of West Superior Street. Police have two suspects in custody.

Saying he was tired and burnt out, Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen announced his resignation. Hagen will serve as interim mayor until a replacement is elected in April. Several candidates have already announced they will be running for the vacant seat.

Duluth saw an unusual visitor downtown. A black bear found a home in a tree between the St. Louis County Courthouse and the Radisson Hotel.

Some students in Ashland got more than they bargained for with what they called a joke that got out of hand. The students said they were trying to create a Saturday Night Live style satire of Donald Trump, but instead the float was deemed as racist by many in the community.

Just days before the election, Mike Pence made a campaign stop in support of Donald Trump in Duluth.

While the national election took up most of the headlines, the race for the 8th district was close and one of the most expensive in the country. Incumbent Rick Nolan defeated Stewart Mills by a little more than 2,000 votes which equates to less than 1% of the vote.

In Wisconsin, Green Party candidate Jill Stein pushed for a recount and election officials found there was no evidence of hacking. After the recount, the results were largely unchanged.

2016 saw the 50th anniversary of the DECC. The arena held performances from KISS to Jerry Seinfeld and the Beach Boys.