DULUTH – A deceased Itasca County commissioner candidate won re-election Tuesday by a landslide.

Grand Rapids, Minn., resident Burl Ives, 57, died Sept. 11, a loss that was well-publicized in local media. He was vying for his third term of the board that oversees the large county, which sits more than an hour northwest of Duluth.

Ives defeated Brian Oftelie with nearly three-quarters of the vote.

It was legally too late to remove Ives’ name from the ballot, said Austin Rohling, Itasca County auditor. Now, the board must certify the election results to declare Ives a winner before they can announce a vacancy — both needed to trigger a special election and likely primary, Rohling said. If all goes as expected, the election will be held in the spring, with a primary in February. An appointment, rather than a special election, requires at least half a term to be served.

So, why did people vote for him?

Rohling said Ives’ family asked people considering write-in names to instead vote for Ives.

They wanted him to win “one last time,” he said, so, for many, “it was a memorialization of a life’s legacy as a servant to the people.”

According to Ives’ obituary, he “had a knack for making friends wherever he went. Whether he was snowmobiling, cruising on his motorcycle, fishing, cooking up a storm with friends or striking up conversations with strangers, he embraced life.”

FARIBAULT, MINN. – Jon Frasz could always be counted on to wave his cowbell at anti-gun-violence rallies at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

Frasz didn’t have children of his own, but he felt strongly about preventing gun violence in schools, friends said. After a gunman shot and killed 20 6- and 7-year-olds and six adults inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, Frasz made buttons commemorating the Sandy Hook victims. He could always be counted on to passionately argue in favor of gun-control laws to whomever would listen; he was the kind of person who could make friends with folks even if they didn’t agree with his politics, they said.

And he’s remembered for his catchphrase that gun laws are pro-life.

“You never ran into Jon if you were one of the people that shared his views without getting into a really thoughtful conversation,” said Mary Lewis Grow.

Grow is among several of Frasz’s friends and fellow activists who miss the 76-year-old Northfield man, who died earlier this year from a sudden illness. To honor him, they used his slogan to put on an election billboard in Faribault near Interstate 35, as close to his hometown as they could get.

The billboard campaign was part of a statewide DFL election push in rural areas, but the money collected for the Faribault sign came from Frasz’s fellow advocates who miss his compassion and zeal. And now that the election is over, activists are finding new ways to honor Frasz.

Frasz was born in Saskatchewan but his family moved to Minnesota when he was 2 years old. He moved around the country throughout his life before settling back home as a truck driver for a number of years. But he found his passion later in life through political advocacy.

He would often volunteer to go to St. Paul whenever gun-safety groups like Moms Demand Action held rallies, cowbell in tow. He’d stand at booths and spread literature. He’d even go to Carleton College to reprint the Sandy Hook victim buttons and pass them out, all at his own expense.

A historic beachfront pavilion in Detroit Lakes will be razed and replaced after voters approved a sales tax to fund a $17.3 million project.

About 2,800 voters or 56% said “yes” to the ballot question on whether the city should impose a 0.5% sale tax for 12 years, or until the city raises enough taxes to pay off bonds financing construction of a new pavilion, park and beachfront improvements. It came down to a margin of 618 votes, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.

“It was a narrow vote, but there’s a lot of nostalgia with the old pavilion,” said Detroit Lakes Mayor Matt Brenk.

“I remember when I was a kid we used to have the big dances there and everybody would turn out. I mean, it’s a place where a lot of people maybe attended a wedding or met their spouse. So there’s a lot of nostalgia and I think that was where some of the ‘no’ votes came into play.”

Some residents who opposed the project said it’s a waste of tax dollars. But many remarked that they were happy to see improvements made to the pavilion near Detroit Lakes City Park, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

The existing pavilion, not on the historic register, was built in 1915 and replaced a shelter built in 1897, which is the year the park was created. The pavilion is “a focal point of activity over the decades as it has played host to many dances, concerts, weddings, reunions, and other large gatherings,” the city said.

Despite significant renovations in 2006 to replace the dance floor and build an addition for bathrooms and a kitchen, the foundation, walls and roof are still original from 1915. Age and deterioration have taken a toll.

A structural assessment in 2012 found several architectural deficiencies, namely floor damage, beam misalignment and roof leaks due to poor soil conditions that result in significant seasonal movement. The walls, windows and other building components have experienced significant rot from water leaks. In 2019, a wood beam above the south porch succumbed to years of water damage, the city said.