An article in the Duluth News Tribune (read here) says the state of Minnesota is withdrawing from a research project regarding mercury pollution in the St. Louis River, even though much of the river’s fish are inedible to women and children, and despite the fact that 1 out of 10 North Shore infants have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood. The article states that sources of mercury in the environment are well known. They include power plants, taconite plants and sulfate pollution ( like the pollution from sulfide mining). Officials from the MPCA said the state first needs more research on how mercury behaves in nature, but later in the article the proposed study is said to have included new research on how mercury behaves in the environment. Huh? It seems this research would be especially timely due to proposed copper -sulfide mining in Northern Minnesota.

A while back PDD people were clamoring for artisan breads. Well, you can now get the real stuff at the Red Mug Bake Shop in Superior, from noon Thursday through Friday, at least through the winter. They are made by Dave Hanlon, whose breads you may have tasted at past Land Trust benefits. That’s about all I know.

Has anyone heard of this guy? Norman Pettingill was born in Iron River, Wis. in 1896. He moved to Superior in 1937. He was known for his “backwoods humor” postcards. A hardcover (plywood, actually) book on his work came out in 2010, with an introduction by R. Crumb, who published Norman’s work in the ’80s. He died in 1991. (more…)

Where do I find a good motorcycle mechanic in Duluth? I found an old PDD post on the subject, but the one guy named in it is having health problems.

The Senate has voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act , which contains a provision that would allow the military to abduct American citizens, on US soil, without charges or trial, indefinitely. Ex CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses it here. Both Minnesota senators voted yea. This is a big deal!

I am wondering how Duluth small businesses are fairing during The Great Recession. I’d like to hear from business owners, employees, the self-employed , the unemployed, etc. How is business compared to, say, ’07? How are you adapting? I’m really curious about this, and I don’t want to start an overly-political thread here. So, how’s business, Duluth?

Organic vegetables sold by the honor system along Highway A in Iron River, Wis.

I didn’t wanted to go off topic on the thread regarding signs and free speech at the Cravaack town hall meeting, so I thought I’d start another one to discuss the content of the meeting.

This is from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research for April 14 through 18. You can adjust the model to run for radioactive Iodine, Cessium, etc. Here. There is no “safe” dose of radiation, according to Dr. Helen Caldicott

Someone recently wondered why there had not been a PDD post regarding Social Security being “bankrupt.” Here goes:

Social Security currently has a 2.5 trillion dollar surplus. This is partly due to Ronald Reagan raising SS taxes on working people. Then he started to raid the fund to make it look like he could cut taxes on the rich and corporations, bloat the military, and still “balance” the budget. Well, he still wound up turning a surplus into a massive deficit, but I digress.
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Dalton Trumbo was one of the “Hollywood Ten.” Duluth is mentioned in passing in the documentary Trumbo. And judging from his description of the weather he must have been here.

Uncle Paul Steklenski, aka “The Cider Man”, is retiring after 27 years of baking wholesome breads for the community. He is one of the bakery’s founders, establishing the worker-owned co-operative in 1983. Luckily he will still do some part-time maintenance.

The Bemidji City Council voted on Tuesday to return the beaver sculpture which had been removed from display over concern that decorations on it resembled a pudendum. DNT story here

Losing Daugherty Hardware was bad enough. Now Ace Hardware downtown is closing. The big-box stores cannot compare, and downtown takes another hit. Poop!

The mayor’s jump in the lake to support Google Fiber made a splash in the NYT. How about that?

I heard that Japanese tourists visit Enger Park to view the “Bridge to Heaven,” as Park Point resembles a famous pine-tree covered sand bar in Japan. Both are viewed upside down, by bending over and looking between your legs. Here

Farmer Doug and Lois Hoffbauer , who sell xmas trees out of the farmer’s market, are offering these free trees to their neighbors. How nice is that?