Names in the news

Grain industry official THOMAS E. GROSSER has been re-elected president of the Seaway Port Authority of Duluth Board of Commissioners. Mr. Grosser is operations manager Duluth and Nerstrand, Minn., and safety and compliance coordinator for AGP Grain Ltd., Omaha, Neb. SHARON CLARK, deputy commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture, was re-elected to her third term as vice president. Other officers elected were JANET E. NELSON, Duluth, secretary; HELENA JACKSON, Duluth, treasurer; and STEVE RAUKAR, Hibbing, assistant treasurer. They are joined on the board by EARL B. OLSON, Willmar; and BILL KRON, Duluth.

FRED M. CUMMINGS has been promoted by USS Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., a Transtar, Inc., company, to marine superintendent. He is responsible for operations of the Duluth-based Fleet's 11 self-unloading vessels operating on the Great Lakes and portions of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Mr. Cummings has been with the Fleet since 1961.

FRED SHUSTERICH, president of the Midwest Energy Resources Co. coal facility in Superior, Wis., has joined the Superior M & I Bank's board of directors. Mr. Shusterich has been with MERC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Detroit Edison Co., for 12 years. He served as assistant general manager, general manager and vice president/general manager before being promoted to president in 1997 upon JOHN ETHEN'S retirement. Meanwhile, MERC named BOB SARVELA manager - transportation and marketing. Mr. Sarvela formerly served as fuels planner for Minnesota Power of Duluth.

The North Dakota Wheat Commission board of commissioners appointed NEAL FISHER administrator. He succeeds MEL MAIER, who died on Dec. 28 after a heart attack. Mr. Fisher previously served as deputy administrator of the wheat commission.

Duluth's Great Lakes Aquarium at Lake Superior Center Executive Director DAVID LONSDALE has been appointed to the Lake Superior Advisory Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The commission is an organization established by convention between the United States and Canada to improve and perpetuate the fishery resources. Mr. Lonsdale will fill a seat representing the public-at-large.

TOM COCHRANE has announced his resignation as chief executive staff officer of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, Inc. He will still work as a consultant to the Agri-Growth Council's Board of Directors. Mr. Cochrane joined the Council in 1987 as its executive director. Founder of the Council, former Port commissioner RUSSELL SCHWANDT, died in 1993.

MARSHALL WEEMS, director of Superior's harbor commission and its planning and development department for seven years, has accepted a position as executive director of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority in St. Cloud, Minn.

LARRY PETERS, Great Lakes District International Longshoreman's Association vice president, has retired from Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., operator of the Port Authority-owned Clure Public Marine Terminal's cargo facilities. Mr. Peters, instrumental in negotiating an agreement with Lake Superior Warehousing to establish ILA Local 2061 four years ago, had been a waterfront labor leader in Duluth-Superior for more than three decades. He plans to devote more time to working with his grandchildren.

Canadian member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport STAN KEYES of Hamilton, Ont., has been named American Association of Port Authorities Port Person of the Year. A member of Parliament since 1988 and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Transport in 1994 and 1995, Mr. Keyes was instrumental in proposing Canada's maritime reorganization legislation. He conducted hearings across Canada which resulted in the "National Maritime Strategy," known as the Keyes Report, which was received by the House of Commons in 1995.