Updated 2: added At-large candidate Tim Riley.
Updated: added First District candidate Jennifer Julsrud.

I emailed four at-large city council candidates: “What do you think of the Canal Park skateboarding ban?” Their responses below.

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Volunteers are needed during and after school to tutor and mentor students at Woodland Middle School. Over 30 volunteer time slots are open and need to be filled. Please contact griffithsja @ gmail.com to volunteer.

Six-page PDF of NorShor Theatre preliminary schematic designs

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Top Secret America Government Work Locations

Notice the red dot on the zenith city. I go to a’thinkin .. hmmmm … what!? who? Jeno? Loll? Storm Analysis Consultants? Hmmm…

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Chip’s office stating my views on Obama’s jobs bill and I asked for Chip’s view on the bill and if he would be supporting it.

To date, I’ve heard nothing from him.

In the past I’ve email Franken on an unrelated matter and at least his people bothered to send me a standard response in a timely fashion.

Are elected officials obligated to reply to the questions those they represent have for them?

If not, I’ve not sure how appropriate the term ‘representative’ really is.

Duluth has so many photographic opportunities it can be overwhelming. These 10 locations are a sure bet for beautiful images.

Read the full guide here for ideas and inspiration on photographic sites in the city of Duluth.

The Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota at dusk.

Glensheen Living Literature is preparing to present “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at the end of October and is looking to fill the role of the deliciously villainous Brom Bones.
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After bouncing this idear round for a couple of years  it is finally coming to fruition…. Dink Tank @ the Movies. You know like MSTK3000 but instead of movies you ain’t heard of they are gonna bust on more familiar fodder. First up The Matrix. Dink Tank will guide yer hand through the world that has blinded you from the truth. Friday 9/30 and Saturday 10/1 9:15  Zinema 2 222 E Superior St 722-7300. Tickets available at zinema2.com

On the DNT story! This is for you …

Frak the DNT — I’m getting my news from The Beacon from here on out.

What This Town Needs Is A Really Shitty Community Newspaper

Brush up on your referendums, kids. The city and the school district have some wordy questions for you. (By the way, you should be able to click on the images below to see them larger and read them more easily. The city question is the back side of the ballot, and is a separate image below.)

Another note about the ballot: As usual, depending on what neighborhood you live in, you might also vote on a district city councilor and/or school board member. This ballot has the district council race blanked out and does not include a district school board race.

According to the USDA, the weekly cost of food on a “thrifty” budget in 2011 is $40.60 for men and $36.20 for women (19-50 years old). For my household of two, that comes to $10.97/day. I am now undertaking a challenge to base our household food budget off these numbers. This budget seems reasonable (even generous), but I have been spending about twice that amount on groceries and alcohol each week.

Unfortunately, an easy solution would be to eat off the McDonald’s dollar menu for three meals a day or to switch from the Co-op to Sam’s Club. Thankfully it’s harvest season and we have lots of fresh and canned produce from our garden already paid for. 

USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food

How much a week do you spend on groceries in the Duluth-Superior region? Any tips for frugal grocery options? Comments on the price of food?

Hey! Do you know anyone looking for a cool place to work? Not cold, mind you, but a place where coming to work is like being wrapped a warm, sweaty blanket supplied to you by dear friends? OK, maybe not sweaty. Here’s the deal: I am look for two people who are fun, artistic, and competent to come and work at my company, Raven & Associates, Inc.
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Air hockey … it must exist in Duluth. As a very new resident to Duluth, I already know hockey is woven deeply into the fabric of many Duluthian’s lives. But concerning air hockey, is there a place for it in Duluth? And where could one find this entertaining game?

Did you see this front-page article in today’s paper?  Should neighborhood residents be the ones to decide whether or not sidewalks are included as their street is reconstructed? Is it about building a transportation network that serves current and future residents, those who drive and those who don’t?

Caution: Sidewalk fight ahead on Duluth’s Glenwood Street

The fall colors season is upon us. Be sure to get out and check out your favorite places around area to enjoy the changing of the season colors. It has been reported that it will be a great year and I have already noticed some pretty vivid changes taking place.

I also recommend you snap a photo or two of some fall colors when you are out and about and post them here on PDD.

From Robert DeArmond
Executive Director
October 28, 2011 Deadline

In this new fiscal year, the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council announces that the Two-year Administrative Support Grant Program application deadline will be Friday, Oct. 28. The ARAC Board will review these grants on Thursday, Jan. 19, and funds will be available by Feb. 1.
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Since the PDD Calendar editor has come down with a nasty case of computer virus, allow me to take a shot at highlighting a few hot events this week.

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Hey Duluthers. I’m in college in Idaho and I lived in Wisconsin, but I’ve spent many good times at my grandparents’ on Jefferson Street in Duluth (when will the city repave it?). So I thought I’d share this poem with y’all. It was for a class last year. (c) Moses Bratrud 2011, mos_bratrud @ yahoo.com.

The Aerial Lift Bridge

At the terminus of plains and lakes,
Where the Rust Belt is buckled,
There is a bridge that shinnies up to let ships under.
Linking twisty sandbars
In this zephyr city of the unsalted seas.
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Map of American English Dialects

Minnesota Pronunciation Samples — Mayor Don Ness and “miner’s wife” Mildred Opacich represent Duluth. (By “represent” I mean that they are used as examples, not as the whole of the study by any means.)

[via/via]

I have but one concession to my St. Paul Life (1995-2005) as I live in Duluth for my sixth year: I love Green Mill. Happy Hour apps are $5.99, instead of $5, and the Alamo Nachos is off the list, again, but Green Mill remains a Happy Hour First Choice for me … which explains why, despite that Minneapolis/St. Paul nostalgia, I had a great time tonight rooting for the Harbor City Rollerdames.
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I’m a new student at UMD and I have been in Duluth for almost a month now. I have been to Canal Park, downtown, Enger Tower, and other well-known places, but that’s kind of it. Other than what I’ve observed from points of interests and basic knowledge from Wikipedia, I really don’t know much about the city. So I was wondering if there was a person(s) out there that I could just chat with to learn about Duluth’s politics, culture, accomplishments, struggles, people, places, history, future, or whatever I should know. Ultimately I am just trying to get an insider’s perspective of Duluth beyond UMD. If you would want to chat sometime or could refer me to somebody just send me an email, so we can hopefully set something up.(romen021@d.umn.edu) Thanks!

by Dave Hill | Sun Magazine July 15-16, 1970

Will the real Bob Carlson please stand up and identify himself? So far, there are conflicting reports about just who the real Bob Carlson is:

An enterprising St. Paul hustler who has made an opportune bundle as a publicity-wise smut-peddler;

A crusading champion of freedom who has been victimized by the harassment of St. Paul’s self-appointed guardians of public and private morality;

A modest, even earnest small businessman who runs a group of bookstores, putting in long hours of hard work, trying to make an honest dollar just like thousands of other men in the hardware, furniture or used car lines.

When the real Bob Carlson does stand up, the situation gets a little muddled. You see, to one degree or another, all three of those confusing caricatures seem to fit him, at least a little bit.

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Instead of exclusively perusing Craigslist, I thought I’d put a question to the friendly community of PDDers.

Can anyone please recommend a handyman and/or woman who could help me with my inability to properly execute seemingly simple home repair tasks?

Very friendly neutered male sometimes answers to Dionysus or “Dio.” We believe he got out Sunday, Sept 18, and would have been in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Second Street and 23rd Avenue West. We all miss him very much and are eager to find him. If seen please call 218-249-0885.

At 1:02 p.m. today Duluth Police executed a search warrant at the Last Place On Earth, a head shop at 120 E. Superior St.

According to police, the search warrant is part of an ongoing investigation into the sale of “illegal synthetic marijuana,” and Last Place will remain closed until investigators have cleared the scene.

No arrests have been made, so whether illegal products were being sold along with legal ones is yet to be determined.

Designer drugs were the subject of cover stories in the Duluth News Tribune and Star Tribune on Sunday.

DNT: Synthetic drugs bring new rush hour to downtown Duluth
Strib: Bath salts hit U.S. ‘like a freight train’

There appears to be some controversy about Pohahontas, an original opera to be performed this Thursday evening at 7:30 pm Marshall School Fregeau Auditorium.

The Duluth News Tribune wrote a front page (above the fold) story on Monday about one woman’s complaint concerning the opera and today’s newspaper shows a guest column and two letters to the editor in support of the opera and it’s authenticity. While the woman who is the focus of Monday’s front page DNT story purports that efforts were not supportive of the local Native American culture, others from the local Native American community claim otherwise.

The opera performance is sponsored by the local Duluth Festival Opera and is an original music drama written by a regional woman about the true story of a Native American woman caught between two worlds. It is a very moving music drama that has been successfully debuted in the state of Virginia. Thursday’s performance will be Minnesota’s debut of the music drama. A discussion will be held following the opera performance.

Help keep the arts alive and come and see this unique and lovely new music drama and judge for yourself … and weigh in on the discussion.

Anybody have thoughts on this?

Duluth School Board authorizes sale of Woodland site; developer envisions mini ‘Dinkytown’

I know the family that lives on the east end of the wooded area. They have been trying for over a year to purchase some of that land to leave as green-space and a buffer. They were assured that the developer would take the neighborhood “into consideration.” Can anybody fire up their crystal ball and see how this plays out? Or should I invest in vinyl siding as it takes a lot of plastic to wrap buildings over 21 acres.

I saw a poster today for an old (25 years!) Roland electric upright piano for sale. Full-size keyboard, model HP 5500/5600. I tried to research online, but of course, these things just ain’t around anymore. Anyone familiar?

I’d love a real piano, but just don’t have the space right now, though I bet for just a bit more money I could get something much better sounding? Advise, fair Duluthians. Thanks!