My son’s bike was stolen this weekend. A really nice white-and-black Specialized Hardrock Comp with disc brakes was taken from my back yard. The officer from DPD told me there has been a rash of bike thefts east from 10th Avenue East. I spoke with a pawn shop owner who told me they are often moved out of town to more populated cities to our south. So get ‘em locked up and put away or end up like my little-big man who will be mowing lawns for a new one.
In addition to misapplied possessive apostrophes and upset people in the newspaper, another thing we’ve been following on PDD for quite some time is the first tick to show its face each year. This little bloodsucker latched on to me today on the Lumber Camp Trail at Pattison Park.
Well, I don’t really follow football, and now here’s another reason to despise the world 0f big, corporate sports. Message sent and received–athletics is a place where freedom of speech will kick your football on down the field. Boo team Vikings!
Recently in Minneapolis, the Sisters’ Camelot collective faced restrictions in its ability to canvass for donations as the group was no longer listed as a registered nonprofit or charity in Minnesota. It has been told to cease fundraising efforts with a potential $25,000 fine per fund solicitation. The canvass workers unionized and have been calling for collective organizers to step down to restructure in the wake of the mishandling of the collective.
Sisters’ Camelot provides food and meals to homeless folks and low-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis. It relies on monetary donations and donations of food from merchants.
Should Loaves and Fishes and other Duluth collectives be wary in light of this news? Is there a line between helping the poor and marginalized as a household service and negligence to the law in not having accountability as a registered nonprofit?
Is this a new thing, or have I just not noticed it before? I just saw on Craigslist they were hiring tour guides. I do already try to avoid the Canal Park/Downtown portion of the Lakewalk in the summer because it’s so crowded, and those doublewide pedal-mobile things are impossible to get around when I’m on a bike, but if I’m going to have to be dodging Segways now, too, well, one more reason to stay off the Lakewalk.
(I wish the business owners the best of luck and yay for tourism dollars and all that. I’m just selfishly grumping about crowds and am wanting my own private Lakewalk.)
I used an Interstate lot in downtown Duluth today thinking it would be a nice solution to not having quarters or cash and also not knowing how long my meeting was going to run. As is often the case in Duluth, I was unable to read my spot number and was also unable to read the spot number for the neighboring spot due to snow and ice. So I paid for 2 hours of parking using my license plate number. About five minutes before my two hours was up I called the 866 number listed on the receipt to extend time.
Problem number one encountered is that the receipt listed two lot numbers. On the top portion of the ticket, it says Lot 2561. On the very bottom of the ticket it says “to extend time at location 3110.” When I called the 866 number I was unsure which number was supposed to be entered. (more…)
The DNT has run two recent articles on special education in our public schools. Both articles seem to be to be blaming the current overcrowding and school budget crisis on special education costs.
Now, I am not unbiased here, I am the father of an autistic boy in the Duluth public school system. I am also a home owner and I pay taxes in Duluth. Does educating special needs children cost more? I am sure it does, but by helping special needs children become educated, we are increasing the chances that they can become productive members of our society. Like all forms of public education, it is an investment! My son does not have an aid to help him through the day, nor does he receive any “Cadillac benefits,” he also does not participate in several school programs: He doesn’t participate in art, music, or gym. He does not play any organized sports. If the Duluth school system could become more competitive in offering services needed by special needs students, it would not have to send funds to other districts that can.
It’s articles like these that show why we need federal mandates to provide for our special needs children.
If you are reading this through your Google Reader, you already know you won’t be after July 1. If you’re not, you probably don’t care. But in case further explanation is necessary, read “RIP Google Reader” on Mashable.
So, just out of curiosity, how many of you care? Will any of you stop reading PDD because of this, or will we never know because you’re reading the RSS feed and are too lazy to log in and complain about it?
I was at the Arrowhead/Woodland intersection yesterday, and I’m not making this up, I witnessed two young college ladies making a turn and texting at the same time, back to back, faces pointed toward their lap when they were turning. I was only at this intersection for 30 seconds — multiply by the thousands of times youths text and drive through this turn. But there is nothing that can be done to stop them, because even though we’re all just primates, they’re prettier than you. So you just have to sit there and wait for one of them to kill you while they’re typing OMG!
The latest asshole person to do so? Someone with bundles and bundles of Budgeteer papers and ads that decided to toss them off the overlook (for unknown motives; I’ll keep my hypothesis to myself). As I was walking my dog today I stumbled upon this disgusting site.
Alright, I like winter as much as anyone else in Duluth and don’t want to spoil people’s fun. That being said, I have a neighbor who is a bit of a snowmobile enthusiest. He likes to ride his snowmobile around his yard ad nauseum at all hours of the night. He also likes to ride up and down the street and all over the schoolyard accross the street, especially when parents and kids are sledding. I have talked to him about this but he isn’t what you would call neighborly. Is this even legal to do? It seems a trail or a lake would be a better spot than a small yard or public space to ride around. Do I have a legitimate complaint or am I being the old guy shaking his fist at everyone?
So I feel like I am about to go to a Baci-esque Defcon 2 level on the snowmobile riders using my yard for their personal burnout entry way to the state trails. I live in Lakeside and after about the 4th ride through the middle of my yard that included track marks below the grass level I got to ask what gives. I am wondering if there is anyone out there who can fill me in on the snowmobile code of ethics. Before I start binge calling the cops I want to know if this is acceptable behavior on any level. I was a finger pointing old man at the guy I caught riding through the yard tonight that wasn’t interested in stopping to discuss the issue. I have no problems with snowmobiles as I use them plenty for ice fishing and certainly appreciate their utility. Does anybody else out there have any experience with this? Does calling the cops help?
Ok, I had written this a week or so ago, then didn’t publish, but now with the next film showing up … I have to say something …. is Duluth the epicenter of icky?
With several filmmakers coming to Duluth and making films which extol the … er … um grittier nature of our fair city, I’ve come to wonder if we aren’t letting others define how others see us with their films. Firstly, hats off to anyone who can herd all the cats and get a film or video made, I know because I’ve done it. I’m not decrying the fact that these director/producers are here and making us look “horrible” or licentious or evil cultish. Truly, thanks for shooting your show here! But come on! Isn’t Duluth worthy of something cute, quirky, poignant, beautiful or at least just mundane? You are correct to say, “STFU Baci and just make a film yourself!” and you’d be spot on to say so. I wish nothing more than I had the time to put toward making a film, set in Duluth, that showcased how perfect our days here are.
Since Charter just jacked up its rates for cable Internet from $35 to nearly $50/mo., I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a good high-speed internet provider that does not require a land-line phone. I need the service at my home for my laptop PC.
The school just called my wife to come and pick up our 5th grade son. Why?
He pretended to shoot someone with his finger! Remember when you were a kid and you would point at a playmate and say bang? If you do this now, in Duluth, you get suspended. Really? Is there a list of gestures published by the school board that will result in getting kicked out of school?
I am a community member of the Duluth area and I wanted to voice a couple of things that have been concerning me as well as some things that have been brought to my attention surrounding the American Indian Community Housing Organization.
I know that the community was really excited when AICHO’s Gimaajii Building at 202 W. Second St. opened this past spring. I had very high hopes as to what this venue could do for the people, especially the urban Native Americans within Duluth.
As time has passed and the excitement and buzz about what this “could” be has since faded, I have heard from several current and former tenants of the Gimaajii Building that they have felt there is a lack of spiritual understanding from many of the staff members including the current executive director. They have felt that anything “cultural” that has taken place there has been more for show than for the people it serves. (more…)
It has been mentioned on this site before how awful that Holiday sign is on I-35 at 27th Avenue West, but it bears repeating since it is pretty much the worst thing about Duluth, coming in just ahead of the Honking House and the fact that liquor stores can’t sell on Sundays (which is statewide, but so are the Holiday signs).
Well, I just noticed that the agenda for the Jan. 14 Duluth City Council meeting mentions that Councilor Jim Stauber will be introducing an ordinance regarding sign regulations that would seem, if I’m reading it right, to ban the Holiday sign.
[UPDATE: A closer reading of the resolution reveals that “legal, non-conforming signs are allowed to continue.” So Holiday couldn't put up more signs with bright outlines at its stores in Duluth that don't have them, but the ones that do have them could keep them.] (more…)
