Perfect Duluth Day

Making it Up North: Northernly School for Music

PDDTV May 13, 2026 No Comments

Kyle Orla grew up surrounded by music, but his path to becoming an educator was anything but traditional. From playing 1990s hardcore and metal with jazz chords to traveling the country with a fiddle and no fixed address, he learned that the best education often happens outside the classroom. Today, he’s helping lead Northerly, a Duluth music school run by musicians, for musicians.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.

Music, Videos Making it Up North, WDSE-TV - PBS North

Mystery Photo: Guns, Booze and Cards

Paul Lundgren May 11, 2026 No Comments

Cowboy outfits featuring furry chaps were a favorite costume of photo subjects at G. E. Sackett’s Owl Studio in Duluth during the early 1900s. Several Mystery Photos on Perfect Duluth Day feature unnamed dudes dressed as buckaroos. This is the first time we’ve seen a lawman in one of these old postcards, however.

History Mystery Photos, Owl Studio, Postcards

Selective Focus: Chosen Family & Mutual Aid with Carolyn Olson

Jessica Morgan May 09, 2026 No Comments

Centering on themes of mutual aid, chosen family, snapshots of the home and community spaces, Carolyn Olson works with gouache, pastel and oil to create narrative paintings. Her work has included scenes from laundromats, overnight parking areas, community gardens and food distribution locations. The subjects in her work are often presented with unrealistic body proportions to bring out different energies in the characters or accentuate the task at hand.

Art Carolyn Olson, Painting, Selective Focus

Webber Hospital under construction in West Duluth in 1926

Paul Lundgren May 08, 2026 No Comments

One hundred years ago today — May 8, 1926 — the Duluth Herald reported on construction of a new hospital in West Duluth. Webber Hospital opened at 5601 Grand Ave. in March 1927.

History Roaring Twenties, West Duluth

West Duluth Snake Orgy

PDDTV May 07, 2026 No Comments

These garter snakes on the edge of Waabizheshikana Trail in West Duluth have formed a “mating ball,” with the males competing for a little time with the female, who is releasing irresistible pheromones.

Outdoors, Videos Snakes

Making it Up North: Scott Murphy

PDDTV May 06, 2026 No Comments

Local painter Scott Murphy shares the raw, honest truth about his creative journey. From the high-pressure world of painting 17 years of billboards to the surreal hallucinations of a coma following a major accident, his work is a reflection of a life lived in “low gear” but high intensity.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.

Videos Making it Up North, WDSE-TV - PBS North

Writers Speak Out: Power to the People

Liz Minette May 06, 2026 No Comments

Writers Speak Out: People Have the Power was held at Wussow’s Concert Cafe on April 21.

Art, Politics, Videos Poetry

Palomino: Trampled by Turtles Live at First Avenue

PDDTV May 05, 2026 1 Comment

Trampled by Turtles has released to YouTube a 2020 documentary featuring the band performing all the tracks from the 2010 album Palomino, with commentary on the process of writing the songs.

The documentary is directed and edited by Charlie Berg.

Music, Videos Trampled by Turtles

Selective Focus: Homegrown 2026 (The Weekend)

Paul Lundgren May 04, 2026 No Comments

Select images via Instagram from the final three days of the Homegrown Music Festival.

Music Homegrown Music Festival, Instagram, Selective Focus

Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 2: The Windsor Hotel and Surrounding Businesses

Matthew James May 03, 2026 No Comments

This ten part series takes a detailed look at life on Superior Street on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1907 based on a single photograph. The first part of the series provided background details on the photograph itself. Part two focuses on the bottom right corner of the photograph, relating to the contentious history between the city and the owner of the Windsor Hotel and telling the stories of the surrounding businesses.

History, Photos Detroit Publishing Company

Rollers earn kickball win in dramatic 10th inning

Paul Lundgren May 02, 2026 No Comments

Coach Kaylee Matuszak celebrates with her team at Wheeler Athletic Complex after the Rollers defeated the Rawkers in extra innings to win the 2026 Homegrown Kickball Classic. (Photo by Seth Roeser)

Despite two controversial calls pushing the game into extra innings, Matuszak’s Rollers finally bested Rohrbaugh’s Rawkers in the 2026 Homegrown Kickball Classic at Wheeler Athletic Complex Field 2. The final score was 6-2.

A full story will appear here after the intrepid reporter recovers from the festival.

El Karnwie-Tuah steps into a big kick early in the game. (Photo by Seth Roeser)

Infielder Israel Malachi lets one slip between his hands late in the game. (Photo by Seth Roeser)

Rawkers pitcher Chad Lyons was back on the mound despite announcing his retirement from kickball in 2025. (Photo by Seth Roeser)

Umpire Jason Beckman (center) hears both sides of the debate from Rollers coach Kaylee Matuszak (left) and and Rawkers player Ryan Nelson (right). (Photo by Seth Roeser)

During the “7th Inning Sip,” Zach Kerola opts for a different vice., (Photo by Set Roeser)

Camren Eidenschink-Ziebol straps on the Most Valuable Player belt while being congratulated by Coach Matuszak. (Photo by Seth Roeser)

Music, Sports Homegrown Music Festival, Kickball

Postcard from Somebody’s House

Paul Lundgren May 02, 2026 1 Comment

This undated postcard shows Somebody’s House, a restaurant at Duluth’s Mt. Royal Shopping Center operated by noted cookbook author Beatrice Ojakangas. It opened in February 1966.

History Gallagher's Studio of Photography, Postcards

Making it Up North: Lenore Lampi

PDDTV May 01, 2026 No Comments

Ceramicist Lenore Lampi discusses the transition from being an art teacher to a full-time artist, the inspiration behind her “Scrolls Interrupted” series, and the unique techniques she uses to bring her sculptures to life — including the use of furniture gilding wax and birch-inspired motifs.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.

Art, Videos Ceramics, Making it Up North, WDSE-TV - PBS North

Selective Focus: Homegrown 2026 (The First Five Days)

Paul Lundgren May 01, 2026 No Comments

Select images via Instagram from the first five days of the Homegrown Music Festival.

Music Homegrown Music Festival, Instagram, Selective Focus

First footage ever of a cougar with kittens in Minnesota

PDDTV Apr 30, 2026 No Comments

For the first time in more than 100 years, evidence of cougars reproducing in Minnesota was documented in video captured by the University of Minnesota’s Voyageurs Wolf Project. The clips show a female cougar with three large kittens.

Outdoors, Videos Cougars, Voyageurs National Park

Making it Up North: Northernly School for Music

Mystery Photo: Guns, Booze and Cards

Selective Focus: Chosen Family & Mutual Aid with Carolyn Olson

Webber Hospital under construction in West Duluth in 1926

West Duluth Snake Orgy

Making it Up North: Scott Murphy

Writers Speak Out: Power to the People

Palomino: Trampled by Turtles Live at First Avenue

Selective Focus: Homegrown 2026 (The Weekend)

Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 2: The Windsor Hotel and Surrounding Businesses

Rollers earn kickball win in dramatic 10th inning

Postcard from Somebody’s House

Making it Up North: Lenore Lampi

Selective Focus: Homegrown 2026 (The First Five Days)

First footage ever of a cougar with kittens in Minnesota

Categories

Categories

Tags

Tags