Photo Electric Effect

Texas Science: “Discovery of a ‘Dark State’ Could Mean a Brighter Future for Solar Energy“

Of all the obvious jabs at MN 8th District Congressman Raymond “Chip” Cravaack for moving to New Hampshire – which reached a fever pitch today for the New Hampshire primary – this is definitely the funniest. (Note to moderators, it’s blatantly partisan, certain to test the new commenting policy).

Not sure if the movie clips are fair-use or not so I suppose it could get yanked at any time.

Go with WEBC, channel 56 — where you’re hearing things

Here’s an actual photo of a letter that someone I work with received this week. She was just driving through the drive thru minding her business when the car in front of her paid for her coffee and egg sandwich, anonymously. It definitely brought a smile which I guess is the whole idea. Reminds me of that saying that was popular in the 90s: “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.” But it’s not random, at all. It’s called the “Drive Thru Difference” and I had heard about it being done as a consciousness raising campaign of KTIS-FM in the Twin Cities, and even read a blog about it awhile back. But apparently it’s happening in the Twin Ports with KTIS sister station KDNI-FM leading the way.

If you’re wondering about the mechanics of it (which I was), here’s a YouTube video of singer-songwriter Brandon Heath (who I really like) actually doing it at a Dunn Bros in the Twin Cities:

“>Brandon Heath Demonstrates the Drive-Thru Difference

Fond du Lac Band’s 89.1 FM WGZS “The Moon” was one of several Native American Radio stations mentioned in a report on MPR News this morning. I have been aware that the station was coming to the airwaves for over a year now and I have been listening randomly since it signed on in September. They are literally building the station from the ground up, and a week or so ago I noticed that the budding station had powered up enough to reach much of Duluth. It’s occasionally scratchy but I can pick it up at home in the Hillside and around town in the vehicle.

To me, it’s awesome. It’s very raw, and real. There are no commercial interruptions which is enough to recommend it right there (not that there is anything against commercial radio). The programming consists mainly of 70s and 80s rock, although when it signed on in September, it seemed to be dominated by deep Motown and soul cuts from the 60s. And just yesterday I was listening and there was some old time country. Really, it’s random. There are always some traditional Native American tracks sprinkled in and I expect more and more homegrown music and public affairs programming as they get their footing. From what I’ve personally observed, spoken word programming consists mainly of an introduction to Ojibwe language (priceless) and I did hear one interview about a community event that was upcoming. My recommendation is to set 89.1 FM on your car or home presets and give it some time.

The FDL Tribal Newspaper did a story about it in the October 2011 edition, you can click here for a PDF

Since this summer, I’ve seen several large, blaze orange coils of fiber optic cable being installed throughout the city. As of today I spotted some by Holy Rosary and up near Home Depot on Central Entrance.

Does anyone know if our Google overlords are trying to pull a fast one on us? Were area ISPs startled into actually building out their networks up here? Please tell me I’ll be browsing the Internet at satisfyingly fast speeds in the near future.

A student I work with was solicited to write a story for a local college newspaper.  The student has a reputation for his dark writing style, but has been recognized as an outstanding author and actor.  The paper did not print the following story, as they said it was too graphic.  Thoughts or comments?:

Lake Shore Driving:  Headless on the North Shore
by Frank Black

Jamie’s got his head in his hands, having just hacked it off with the cordless reciprocal saw Annie ordered for him off the internet the night she overdosed and stopped breathing—and blood came out her ears.  This made Jamie very sad, so he cut off his head—and now it’s in his hands—and he’s watching and pondering curiously at how his scabby, haggard heart continues to pump random arcing spurts of thick blood out the ragged, chunky stump of what’s left of his neck—and thinks he should’ve thought this through a bit more, which is an odd thought to think when your decapitated head is resting in your hands.
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LakeVoice News is back a semester early! We know that last spring we told you that we wouldn’t be back for an entire year, but we just couldn’t let that happen. We will launch our first batch of stories Tuesday, Oct. 18.

We will also be continuing our Week in Photos. Since fall colors are all around us, please send us your best fall pictures. Just send the pictures to lakevoicenews @ gmail.com along with a caption that includes where the picture was taken, when it was taken, who is in the picture and who took the picture. To get a better idea of what we are looking for, look at previous submissions here

Lions&Creators just released their album in Duluth on Saturday and now the whole thing is up to stream on our Bandcamp, which is here. You can buy it there for only $5! (and it comes with a few extra surprises too). Physical copies will be available at The Electric Fetus soon.  All hand made, designed by the band.

A really awesome review can be found here and a video review , if you’re into that sort of thing. Give it a listen!

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

Via MPR News Polinaut blog and MPR’s Dan Kraker…

Amid mounting pressure, 8th District GOP congressman Chip Cravaack has announced he will hold an open town hall meeting at 4 o’clock tomorrow afternoon at the Duluth airport.

A lot of the push back that I have experienced on this subject, including this letter in the DNT, has involved people complaining that “Oberstar was never here” so why are we so worried about Cravaack being here, all of a sudden. Did anyone else have that experience, that Oberstar was hard to reach or access? I remember calling him at home when I was in college for an assignment and he actually took the time to answer my questions, no problem. If I had thought he’d actually answer I wouldn’t have ever made the call. I was 18 or 19 years old, it was my first semester and my only other memory is being terrified during the entire conversation!

So he’ll do a town hall meeting in Duluth, tomorrow, 8/24/2011, at the airport. Are you going? What will you say to him? And finally, does anyone else find it ironic that he’s holding the meeting there at the Duluth Airport, a place that he originally described as wasteful spending that we cannot afford? Of course, he turned an about face on that issue and now says that he supports the expansion. I’m glad he did that, and also glad that he’s made an about face on a Duluth town hall, too.

UPDATE 3:43 PM 8/23/11
According to the MN Progressive Project, Chip Cravaack is NOT having a town hall meeting tomorrow at the Duluth Airport:

Will Chip Cravack Keep His Promise to Hold a Town Hall in Duluth?

Cravaack’s Duluth office denies knowing about a town hall in Duluth tomorrow and refuses to comment further. The location of this promised town hall is also uncertain. As of 2:15 pm, the Duluth Airport Authority reports that they have not been contacted by the congressman’s staff. Furthermore, the schedule shows the banquet room at the airport, the Skyline Room, is booked by the restaurant for an event from 3 to 5pm tomorrow. The only other possible venue at the airport, Monaco Air Duluth, also has not been contacted by Cravaack’s office.

In the video Cravaack says he will have a town hall at the airport “tomorrow at 4 o’clock.”

UPDATE 9:18 PM
False alarm, it’s on. Verified here by numerous media sources.

My wife found this info at four news sources:
1
2
3
4

PARSONS, Tenn. (WVLT) — U.S. Marshals arrested a convicted sex offender in Minnesota wanted for questioning in connection with the Holly Bobo’s disappearance. Marshals found 43-year-old [name excluded just to be safe -- innocent until proven guilty, etc.] in Duluth, Minnesota Thursday at his girlfriend’s house.

…

We can’t find any reference at DNT or local TV websites? FYI, in any case.

This might be old news, but did anyone see this lovely article in the Star Tribune (Newspaper of the Twin Cities) about Duluth by Curt Brown? He’s going for Duluth beyond the lakefront, and ends up at a Burrito Union cribbage tournament.

What do you think? Did he unearth the “real Duluth”? Or just pack down further the existing path off the beaten Lakewalk path?

Teen zombies descend on Duluth

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, in a coma, or frozen from the Duluth winter, chances are you’ve heard that the face of news in the Northland, Dennis Anderson, will be retiring soon.  In fact, his last newscast will be Wednesday, May 25, so you only have a few more chances to him before Darren Danielson takes over the anchor desk.

WDIO has taken the opportunity to look back at his career on its website.  There was a news reunion of sorts, gathering some of the familiar faces of WDIO past to honor Denny.  Also included is some archive footage from memorable events in the past four decades, such as the benzene spill and fireworks explosion.  They seem to be adding new clips every day or two, so be sure to check back from time to time.

Dennis Anderson: Celebrating a Career

I had been wanting to see if we could have a somewhat level-headed informed and nuanced discussion on the challenger pool for Chip Cravaack in MN 8th Congressional District. I figured I’d wait until after the homegrown fog burned off to post anything, but this morning the Duluth News Tribune has a bombshell from John Lundy saying Tarryl Clark is running for the seat. Was that a bombshell for anyone else besides me?

Before I knew about Clark’s bid, I wanted to talk about other un-announced candidates. In addition to Daniel Fanning and Jeff Anderson who appear to be in Pawlenty mode, that is, campaigning-but-not-campaigning not officially in other words. Here are the people who are not campaigning but that I think might make the race interesting: Tom Rukavina, Tom Bakk and Don Ness (Donny says he doesn’t want the job and that is fine with me, I’d like to keep him as mayor for a term or 3 more). The DNT identifies a few other candidates in the article that I did not know were considering a run, including Yvonne Prettner Solon, but most of them I don’t know so I can’t comment (but you can).

So we’ve already got a half dozen “local” candidates mulling a run and then Clark rolls in from St. Cloud and changes the entire chemistry of the race. Or does she? Banter away PDDers but please save the frothy mouthed passion for the Troll Zone thread. I’m looking for thoughts and analysis here, not bile. Thanks.

Update: I discovered that MN Brown Iron Range writer/college instructor Aaron Brown, already wrote about this a couple of months ago, including the possible Clark bid.

Also, I forgot to add Karen Diver, Chairwoman and CEO of the Fond du Lac Band to my potential candidates list. She has a great deal to recommend herself for the position and to me, she’s actually the most interesting potential candidate, although I have no idea if she or anyone else besides Tarryl Clark is actually gonna run.

Update 6/14/11

“I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States today and I very soon will be making my formal announcement.”

Michele Bachmann last night on CNN one of her classic headline stealing moves that has to have Tim Pawlenty’s stomach all tied up in knots today. But this means that Bachmann can not run for her 6th District seat and president at the same time.

So Today MinnPost is asking the same thing I want to know: Does this mean Tarryl Clark will give up her bid for the 8th District so she can run for an open seat in the 6th? She recieved 38% of the vote there vs. Bachmann’s 52% in 2010 according to those geniuses at wikipedia

Today the House Commerce committee endorsed HF 703 (aka The Minnesota Pint Law …or Surly bill, if you prefer), the bill allowing Minnesota breweries to sell pints of their own beer. There is still a ways to go before it becomes law, but the bill will continue through the legislative process. Surly Brewing says, “Thanks to the committee members for their support, and also to all of you for getting behind this bill and moving it forward.”

More Info Here: http://mnpintlaw.com/

To hear what is going on in LakeVoice this week listen to our audio recording that appears on KUMD. To listen, click the audio link below.

This week in LakeVoice

LakeVoice News is a weekly online publication produced by UMD journalism students. The stories are reported on and written by students, but the content is for the community.

If you have a story suggestion or would like to contribute to the LakeVoice email us at lakevoicenews@gmail.com

This is part one of a three part series profiling three UMD students who all went to Iraq together in 2005 and all came to UMD together right after. Two of them are being redeployed in May and the third is staying behind, due to PTSD. This is Sergeant Benjamin Hatton’s story of his last eight years in the United States Army. Read Hatton’s story on LakeVoice News.

LakeVoice News is a weekly online publication produced by UMD journalism students. The stories are reported on and written by students, but the content is for the community.

If “all the world’s a stage,” The Hillsider is going to one up you by acting out the plot of an Arthur Miller work, in real time and space. From this morning’s constant contact update:

*In the spirit of April Fool’s, and with all respect to the Hillsider and Mr. Lohman, who provide an invaluable service to the city by helping to glue us all together as a community.

Duluth student, Tara Mortenson, received one hundred dollars from a fellow peer for project “Pay it Forward.” She is now on a “Pay it Forward” journey along with local radio station 97.3 who developed the “Drive Through Difference” project.

You can read more about this effort and Tara’s experience at LakeVoice News. LakeVoice News is a weekly online publication produced by UMD journalism students. The stories are reported on and written by students, but the content is for the community.

You can also follow Tara Mortenson on Twitter @Tbird99 for an update of her journey. If you have been involved in the “Pay It Forward” effort we would like to hear about it. You can email your stories and/or pictures to lakevoicenews@gmail.com

LakeVoice News is looking for recent photos from around the Duluth area that we can showcase in our weekly news publication. They can be of anyone or anything, but all we ask is that it is from the area. We also ask that you write a short caption for the photo that explains where the picture was taken, who is in the picture, what is going on in the picture and who took the photo.

To submit your photos you can email them to lakevoicenews @ gmail.com and an editor will get back to you as soon as possible if we decide to publish it.

See it. Hear it. Read it.

See it. Hear it. Read it.

LakeVoice News is a weekly online publication produced by UMD journalism students. The stories are reported on and written by students, but the content is for the community.

Top stories on LakeVoice this week include a family’s ties to the 1920 Duluth lynchings, what the community is doing to help Japan tsunami relief, and the equal working environment at Positively Third Street Bakery.

Also be sure to check out this week’s top photos from around the area and student spring break destinations.

Perfect Duluth Day hit a milestone today at 4:28 p.m. when the user “emmajoru” created an account and made the post below about the Low concert. PDD now has 1,000 contributors.
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