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Vol. 137, No. 32© 2007 Duluth News Tribune

For home delivery: (800) 456-8080

SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2007 $1.50DULUTHNEWSTRIBUNE.COM

ON A FAST TRACK TO STATESPORTS: Jessica Butler (right) wins two hurdlesevents in leading Grand Rapids to the Section 7AAgirls track and field title on Saturday, PAGE B1

LOCKS FOR THE OVAL OFFICE:When judging the presidential

field, columnist Jim Heffernan usedto take a heady strategy: Good hair

(Romney) or bad (Giuliani)?Local News, C1

BBOOBB KKIINNGG / NEWS TRIBUNE

Marcie Crain, physical therapist at Miller-Dwan Medical Center, lends support as Rita Ronchiwalks on her prosthetic leg from one room to another during a therapy session Friday.

Dear Abby.....UsLocal news .....CMoviesSelectTVObituaries .C8-9Opinion .A20-21

OutdoorsB10-12Sports.............BTV.......SelectTVUs ...................FWeather......C10

67/48SUNRISE: 5:17SUNSET: 8:56

THUNDERSTORMS

FULL FORECAST, PAGE C10

I N S I D E

C O R R E C T I O N

W E A T H E R

“I’m alive, and I’m not supposed to be.”RITA RONCHI of Maple, who nearly died in a car accident one year ago Monday

AAMMAANNDDAA OODDEESSKKII / NEWS TRIBUNE

Mike Berg, owner of Seagull Creek Fish-ing Camp, fishes for walleyes on Sagana-ga Lake on Tuesday while guiding. Fire-fighters saved Berg’s camp from theHam Lake fire on the Gunflint Trailnorth of Grand Marais, and now he’sgearing up for a summer of guiding.

Along the trail,fresh fish talesHAM LAKE FIRE AFTERMATH:The fire hasn’t discouraged anglersfrom coming north for walleyes, andearly-season fishing has beenproductive along the Gunflint Trail.BY SAM COOKNEWS TRIBUNE OUTDOORS WRITER

ON THE GUNFLINT TRAIL — The HamLake fire may have blackened 36,000 acresalong the Gunflint Trail. But it couldn’t getthe walleyes.

Thanks to the efforts of firefighters, MikeBerg’s Seagull Creek Fishing Camp near thetip of the trail survived the fire. Now, Berg’sguides and others along the upper GunflintTrail are back on the water, putting theirclients in touch with Saganaga Lake’s trophyfish.

Any concernsabout the state of thelake’s walleyes weredispelled when Bergset the hook on hisfirst walleye of theseason last weekend.It was a 32-incher,probably weighingmore than 10 pounds.

“First day, firstfish, first bite,” said Berg, 49, who has ownedSeagull Creek Fishing Camp for 20 years.

Members of his family who were fishingwith him boated all kinds of big walleyes. SonCurtis Blake landed a 31-incher. DaughterJessica Berg-Collman got herself a 29 and a27½. Mike also picked up a 28 and a 27.

“The resource is still there,” Berg said.Anglers who want to get at those big

walleyes have not been dissuaded by the fireor the notion that some shorelines may be

In OutdoorsAnglers and guides atthe Seagull CreekFishing Camp arealready logging bigwalleyes on thecamp’s “Hawg Board.”

PAGE B12

The voices of NortheasternMinnesotans will bring to lifethe characters of the CBStelevision show “CreatureComforts,” which debutsMonday. The comedy, a staple ofBritish television for years,pairs the voices of ordinarypeople with Plasticine animals,such as flies atop a partiallyeaten hamburger and other suchunusual situations.

See FISH, Page A7

Diabetesresearchtaps cellsof pigletsBY BRANDON STAHLNEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

It’s like something out ofthe X-Files: Cameras and astate-of-the-art security sys-tem protect a building thatat first glance appears to benothing more than a largestorage shed placed on theoutskirts of a small West-ern Wisconsin town.

Only a select group ofpeople are allowed deepinside the building — andbefore that, they mustremove their clothes andjewelry and take a longshower that includes usinga specialized soap andmouthwash before gettinginto sterilized garments.Anyone wanting to get outmust take another shower.

Their primary job is towork with about 50 piglets,each of which is beingraised for the sole purposeof breeding more pigs.

The facility is the visionthat has become reality forDuluth businessman TomCartier — even though he’sonly been inside once, andthat was before any pigslived there. He wants thefacility to remain free ofany outside pathogens.

“We’re not taking anychances,” he said.

The piglets, Cartier andothers believe, are the keyto curing diabetes.

Last year the Universityof Minnesota announcedthat 12 monkeys given pig’sislet cells — those producedby the pancreas that pro-duce and secrete insulin —were cured of diabetes. Thelead researcher on thestudy, Bernhard Hering, aprofessor of surgery at theUniversity of Minnesota-Twin Cities, says the sametreatment can cure humantype 1 diabetes.

MEDICINE

See DIABETES, Page A7

A car crash left Northwestern star athlete Rita Ronchi in a coma andrequired the amputation of her right leg. In the year since the accident,

Ronchi has regained normal brain function and can walk withassistance. She’s planning a party Monday to celebrate her recovery.

A word was dropped in theediting of a Saturday columnabout a former Duluth Cen-tral High School student whofailed to receive a diplomabecause of his service inWorld War II. It should haveread, “In 1942 – the yearafter the Japanese attackedPearl Harbor ...”The News Tribune regretsthe error.

BY RICK WEEGMANNEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

alking is an activity most people don’t thinktwice about.

For Rita Ronchi, walking is a goal she’sfocused on for close to a year.

That goal became a public reality May 25 when shewalked across the stage in the Northwestern HighSchool gym in Maple — with the aid of a walker and aprosthetic right leg — to receive her high school diplomato a thunderous ovation.

“I don’t think there was a dry eye in the whole gym-nasium,” said her longtime friend Nate Thoreson, a fel-low graduate. “It was like someone hit a home run orscored the game-winning touchdown. I’ve never heard itthat loud in that gym.”

Those small steps were the culmination of large strides

STEP BY STEP

DDEERREEKK MMOONNTTGGOOMMEERRYY / NEWS TRIBUNE

In the year since the accident,Ronchi, 18, has progressed fromhaving a 1 percent chance ofsurvival to crossing the stage ather high school graduation.

W

See RONCHI, Page A6

OONNLLIINNEE:: View a slideshow of Ronchi’s recovery at dduulluutthhnneewwssttrriibbuunnee..ccoomm

According to the JuvenileDiabetes Research Founda-tion, up to 3 million Ameri-cans have type 1 diabetes,which makes a person depen-dant on insulin and leads to anincreased chance of visionloss, stroke, heart disease, kid-ney failure, nerve damage andlower-limb amputations. Itmakes up about 5 percent to 10percent of all diabetes casesand thousands of people diefrom it.

Hering and others believethat injecting healthy pig isletcells into humans can reversetheir diabetes.

“What you need to callsomething a cure is unlimitedsupply and a safe anti-rejec-tion protocol,” Hering said.

The facility, located in NewRichmond, Wis., is designed tobe the unlimited supply. A fewyears ago Cartier said he metwith Hering and anotherresearcher who has beenstudying diabetes for severalyears, David Sutherland, whotold Cartier that they had theanswer to diabetes, but neededhis help.

Cartier has a special inter-est in the subject — his son,Cory, has type-1 diabetes.

“They said I could usesomeone to lead the charge,”Cartier said. “But I didn’tknow if I was up for the task.”

A month later, Cartier saidhe began assembling a teamwhich later formed SpringPoint Project. After the resultsof the monkey research werereleased last year, SpringPoint announced it would leadan attempt to conduct the

same research on humans.Groundbreaking on the $6.2million facility in New Rich-mond began in June 2006 andwas finished in February 2007.

That’s a relatively quickturnaround, but speed andadherence to deadlines is partof the plan for Spring Point.

“Everything [with otherstudies] is always five or tenor 15 years away,” said Carti-er, who owns Cartier Insur-ance, which is located in amodest-sized building in Lin-

coln Park/West End. “We’renot letting any timetables getaway from us.”

The piglets at the facility in

New Richmond — chosenbecause of its proximity to theUniversity of Minnesota andrelatively inexpensive land

prices — were born there,though their mothers werebrought in from a facility inHuron, S.D., after the buildingwas completely decontaminat-ed.

Researchers say the height-ened caution and security isneeded to keep disease awayfrom the pigs. Aside from hav-ing blood drawn to ensurethey’re free of pathogens, theherd of pigs will lead a cushylife, said Adrienne E. Schuck-er, Spring Point’s director ofveterinary medicine. Theywill get constant attention,high-grade food and treats,toys to play with, backscratching devices, largespaces to play in, and mostimportantly, the encourage-ment to breed.

The next generation of pigswill be euthanized and theirpancreases will be harvestedfor the first round of clinicaltrials.

Spring Point hopes to beginthe trials in 2009 or 2010, fol-lowed by one more round oftesting. Cartier, the chairmanof the Spring Point board ofdirectors, said if the trans-plants are approved by theFDA, he hopes that SpringPoint can begin offering isletcells to the public in five to sixyears at a relatively afford-

ably cost. Spring Point is anonprofit organization.

“Our whole goal is to makesure everybody gets cured,rich or poor,” he said. “Rightnow, you have to be on a list toget a [human] transplant. Ourgoal is that you don’t need alist — that you have enoughsupply.”

That would probably takehundreds to thousands of pigs,and Cartier said Spring Pointstill hasn’t decided how it willdeliver the islet cells tohumans, whether it be at onecenter in Minneapolis or cellsshipped around there world.And there are still other hur-dles to clear, such as moreresearch that needs to be doneto ensure that humans won’treject the pig cells.

Still, those involved inSpring Point are optimisticthat the research will bringground-breaking results.

“This is the cure. It’s infront of us,” Hering said. “Wecan execute and deliver this.”

BRANDON STAHL covers health. Hecan be reached at (218) 720-4154 or by e-mail atbstahl@duluthnews.com.

DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE | www.duluthnewstribune.com FROM PAGE ONE Sunday, June 3, 2007 A7

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burned over. They’re calling.They’re booking trips.

“At least for the customersI have, none of them have can-celed because of the fire,” saidBob Baker, who owns Gun-flint Pines Resort and Camp-grounds just down the trailfrom Berg’s place.

“We haven’t had any can-cellations on our guides,” saidDave Schudy, a manager atGunflint Lodge on GunfintLake. “There’s been no illeffect on the fishing.”

Berg said he lost about 10days of bookings, but Maynever is a big month for Seag-ull Creek. June is the peakmonth, and July and Augustare always good. Some anglerswho had to cancel in May willprobably rebook later in thesummer, Berg said.

Fishing wasn’t foremost inthe minds of anglers whocalled Seagull Creek in thedays after the fire, Berg said.

“What do they want toknow? First, ‘Are you safe?’ ”Berg said. “And everyone isglad your place is still there.”

Eventually, they want toknow what Saganaga lookslike.

“Sag has been burned,”Berg said, “but it still has a lotof beautiful areas that haven’tbeen touched by fire or the[1999] blowdown.”

Berg’s is the only fishingcamp of its kind on the Gun-flint Trail, but other resortsoffer guided fishing for theirguests who want it. Manyanglers from the Northlandfish without guides onSaganaga, Northern LightLake in Ontario, Seagull Lake,Gunflint Lake, Little GunflintLake, Little North Lake andNorth Lake.

The Ham Lake fire shutdown fishing on all of thoselakes on Minnesota’s fishingopener because a large por-tion of the Gunflint Trail wasevacuated and closed to traf-fic. And few anglers made itup for the Ontario fishingopener May 19 because the

fire was still burning inOntario.

Following the fire, it took afew days for businesses to re-establish phone and computerservice. Land phone lines stillhaven’t been restored near theend of the trail, including atSeagull Creek. Most business-es have been issued cellphones, and a temporary celltower allows them phone serv-ice.

Already, grass is comingback at the edges of theburned areas. Spring peepersand chorus frogs are callingfrom the wetlands. The black-flies are out. Slowly, a sense ofnormalcy is returning to thearea. But talk of the fire stillcreeps into many conversa-tions, and when the wind isright, it carries the scent of acharred forest. Psychological-ly, the Ham Lake fire willweigh on residents’ minds fora long time, Berg said.

“You don’t get over this onequickly,” he said. “It affectedtoo much property, too manypeople. It still wears on you. Itcame so close to me being oneof them.

“I’ll always be able to walkaway and go fishing some-where. But this is home.”

Now, Berg and other guidesmust deal with the challengeof low water, a drought-causedcondition that existed beforethe fire.

Saganaga Lake is down sev-eral feet, said Baker, of Gun-flint Pines.

“The other day I was fish-

ing next to a cliff, and standingin the boat, the high-waterline was at eye-level,” he said.

Low water presents prob-lems for some Gunflint Lakeanglers who traditionallyhave taken their boats up nar-row currents into Little Gun-flint Lake, Little North Lakeand North Lake.

“They can’t get into NorthLake right now,” said Gun-flint Lodge’s Schudy. “And onSag, you just have to be morecareful. I hit a reef the otherday.”

Anglers can get a 16-footboat into Little Gunflint andLittle North Lake, Baker said,but not into North Lake. Someanglers are remaining onGunflint Lake, fishing lake

trout and walleyes.“Trout fishing has been

really good,” Baker said. “Andthey’re still getting walleyes.”

Walleye fishing continuesto be productive on Saganaga.Seagull Creek clients havecaught 26 walleyes longerthan 28 inches already thisspring in just seven days offishing, compared to 24 in twoweeks of May last year.

And Berg is getting hisshare. On Thursday, hecaught three more of 28, 28½and 29 inches.

SAM COOK covers the outdoorsfor the News Tribune. He canbe reached at 723-5332 or (800)456-8282, or by e-mail atscook@duluthnews.com.

From Page A1

AAMMAANNDDAA OODDEESSKKII / NEWS TRIBUNE

Cory Christianson, a fishing guide with Seagull Creek Fishing Camp, holds a 30-inch walleye he caught on SaganagaLake. The shoreline behind him was burned in the recent Ham Lake fire, although much of Saganaga Lake’s shore-line was untouched by the fire.

FISH | Fish biting, anglers returning after Ham Lake fire

DIABETES | Researchers say pig cells hold link to diabetes cureFrom Page A1

SUBMITTED PHOTO FROM SPRING POINT PROJECT

Chasa Armstrong, an animal care worker for the Spring Point project, holds a newbornpig at a facility in New Richmond, Wis. To Armstrong’s left is an airlock where thepiglets are passed from the delivery operating room into a biosecure area.

SUBMITTED PHOTO FROM SPRING POINT PROJECT

These two-month-old pigs will be raised to breed morepigs at the Islet Resource Facility. The pigs’ offspringwill be used for research.

AAMMAANNDDAA OODDEESSKKII / NEWS TRIBUNE

Curtis Blake (left) holds a grocery bag while his dad,Mike Berg, drops in bags of walleye fillets after a day ofguiding on Saganaga Lake. Berg owns Seagull CreekFishing Camp.

“You don’t get overthis one quickly. Itaffected too muchproperty, too manypeople. It still wears onyou. It came so close tome being one of them” MIKE BERG, owner of SeagullCreek Fishing Camp, on theeffects of the Ham Lake fire.

TP