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Fire at Lutsen Lodge wipes out latest chapter in rich North Shore history

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Lutsen Lodge, the iconic Minnesota skiing and tourist destination, was declared a total loss after a late-night fire engulfed the historic resort overseeing Lake Superior. The wooden lodge was more than 70 years old, having replaced another lodge lost to a fire in 1951.

Here are three things to know about the Lutsen Lodge:

Swedish immigrant roots

Charles Axel Nelson bought the property at the mouth of the Poplar River in 1881 and built a house on the land in 1893. The family home served as an outpost for travelers who arrived by boat, horseback, wagon, sleigh dog teams or on foot — the nearest neighbors were 30 miles away. Nelson himself was an angler who also trapped animals and logged the land.

Guests would typically sleep on the second floor of the family home or in a loft in the barn, according to the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). The house was soon replaced by a hotel in order to make space for the increasing number of travelers. The family named the resort after the Battle of Lützen between Sweden and Austria during the Thirty Years War.

The Society claims newspapers repeatedly misspelled the name, which led to the current spelling of the resort and surrounding Census designated place: Lutsen.

Blaze. Rebuild. Repeat

The Nelson family expanded the hotel throughout the years, adding a lobby, dining room and several guest rooms in the 1920s. Charles Nelson’s son and grandson, both named George, winterized the lodge and hired two lumberjacks to clear the hillside behind the resort in 1945.

“It was being called ‘the oasis of the North Shore,'” George Jr. told the Star Tribune in a 1993 interview.

A fire destroyed the lodge in 1948. Another fire leveled the resort’s main lodge again in 1951, according to a Star Tribune report from the time. The blaze began in the laundry room and obliterated the two-story structure. The newspaper reported that 40 executives from the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company were having breakfast when the fire started, but no one was injured.

The iconic wood-framed structure that was erected in its place stood for 72 years.

Three owners over 140 years

The Nelson family held the property for more than a century. George Nelson, Sr. died in 1993. His son told the Star Tribune he “was a true North Shore pioneer.”

George Jr. sold the resort to Scott Harrison, a Duluth-based financial consultant, and local attorney Billy Burns in 1988. Although the men did not disclose how much they paid for the property, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board’s director of economic development pegged the price tag at about $2.36 million, or more than $6.2 million today.

The resort again exchanged hands in 2018 when Bryce Campbell and his mother, Sheila, bought it for an undisclosed amount. The property had gone up for sale a year earlier with an asking price of nearly $10 million.



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Former Medtronic consultant gets 18 months federal prison for insider trading

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A former Medtronic consultant received an 18-month prison sentence this week for his role in a scheme linked to the $1.6 billion acquisition of an Israeli medical device company in 2018.

A federal jury in February convicted Doron “Ron” Tavlin, 69, of Minneapolis, of one count of conspiracy to engage in insider trading and 10 additional counts related to securities fraud. That same jury found David Jay Gantman, 58, of Mendota Heights, not guilty of all charges against him. A third defendant — Afshin “Alex” Farahan, 57, of Los Angeles — pleaded guilty in 2022 and has yet to be sentenced.

“His crime was cynical and brazen. It was also reckless,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert wrote in a memo calling for a 3-year prison term. “Tavlin’s conduct had the potential to blow up a deal that a team of executives and financial advisers had been diligently negotiating for months.”

Tavlin is now scheduled to self-surrender Jan. 5 to begin his prison term, which will be followed by 320 hours of community service.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Tavlin learned about a secret, pending acquisition by Medtronic of Mazor Robotics, where he worked as vice president of business development, in 2018. Tavlin also previously worked as a consultant to the Ireland-based Medtronic, which also has a headquarters in Fridley.

Tavlin illegally tipped off Farahan, his friend, about news of the imminent acquisition and told him to keep the news secret. Farahan knew the deal would likely result in a boost to Mazor’s stock price and quickly bought more than $1 million of the company’s stock throughout August and September 2018. Medtronic announced plans to acquire Mazor, which specialized in robotics for spinal procedures, in September 2018 and the deal closed three months later.

Prosecutors said Farahan netted more than $245,000, and Gantman made $255,000 in profit by selling the securities quickly after the deal was publicized. Farahan paid Tavlin for the secret information about the pending deal — including a $25,000 kickback about a year later —according to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank, who sentenced Tavlin Monday, also ordered Tavlin to pay a special assessment fee of $1,100 – or $100 per each count. Frank did not impose a fine.



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Charges detail assault in Minneapolis that led to shooting rampage, killing one in Kandiyohi County

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Another friend of the ex-girlfriend arrived to help. He pulled up in a car as the group exited the apartment and Matariyeh immediately pointed a gun at him before pounding on the windshield with the gun. Everyone fled as Matariyeh ran back inside the apartment.

The two men met in a parking lot before attempting to return to the apartment. That’s when they looked up and saw Matariyeh on the balcony. Matariyeh immediately began firing multiple shots at them as they took cover behind parked cars.

It was around this time that Minneapolis police officers arrived and made contact with Matariyeh’s ex-girlfriend. She believed he was still inside the apartment, but officers later learned that he had fled. They reached him on the phone. He told officers he was going to kill innocent people if he couldn’t speak with his ex-girlfriend or see his daughter, who was at daycare at the time. He later told police negotiators that “he wanted to go out by ‘suicide by cop.’”

All the while, Matariyeh was speeding westbound.

Police officers pursued him near Cosmos in Meeker County after being alerted that Matariyeh might have stolen another vehicle at gunpoint in Carver County.

Around 2 p.m. he pulled into the rural driveway of Peter Mayerchak in Lake Lillian. Mayerchak, who was in his yard placing hay over his septic mound, went and greeted Matariyeh, who shot him in the chest.



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DFL’s last-minute push to keep their trifecta

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Mixing progressive dreams with dire warnings, a group of DFL leaders riled up a group of volunteers in St. Paul on Thursday morning, urging them to push on through the day’s freezing rain and fatigue in the remaining days before the election.

Several elected officials including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar told the group of about 150 campaign staffers, volunteers and union members about how meaningful their work is to keeping DFL control of the Legislature, as the electeds start a statewide bus tour to turn out votes.

“We are here to keep our trifecta here in Minnesota,” U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar told volunteers on Thursday. “We’ve got five days, people!”

On the Republican side, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said earlier this month that the House Republican Campaign Committee had raised a record $2.7 million ahead of the election and she said Republicans have also set records in volunteering and door-knocking as they work to break DFL control.

Minnesota Democrats hold a rally before starting a bus tour around the state to get voters excited, including Rep Ilhan Omar, Sen Amy Klobuchar, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Rep Betty McCollum and Sen Tina Smith on Thursday. (Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

“Republicans have the momentum and resources heading into the final stretch to win the majority and restore balance to Minnesota,” Demuth said in a statement. “Minnesotans are ready to move on from the expensive two years of Democrat one-party rule.”

House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said she thought voters preferred action to the gridlock of divided government. “They’re looking for people who can get things done,” she said.

These last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts come as Democrats around the country push to keep control of state legislative chambers and try to flip a few statehouses that Republicans hold by just a few seats.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the arm of the national Democratic party that works on statehouse races across the country, has spent $500,000 on Minnesota races this year, including House races and the state Senate contest.



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