Dog Water Rescue Emergency
Video from the Oct. 2 rescue in the Duluth Ship Canal after a dog jumped onto and over the pier wall into the water. The United States Coast Guard, Duluth Fire Department, St. Louis County Sheriff’s rescue boat and Duluth Fire Boat Marine 19 all responded.
Meanwhile, the bulk carrier Algoma Niagara waited to depart through the canal. (more…)
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 7: The Odd-numbered Side of Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West
Superior Street in 1907 (Photo from the Library of Congress)
Part seven of this ten part series examining a single photo in depth looks at the businesses on the odd numbered side of Fifth Avenue West and Superior Street. It looks at the group of stores that were replaced by the Holland Hotel and reveals their direct connection to that hotel. It also looks at the stores occupying the ground floor of the Lyceum Theater and explains why the lit up sign across Fifth Avenue appears to say “See the Welcome.” (more…)
Lake Superior’s Nazi U-boat Wreck
Notes of UMD Professor Joseph Marrow on discovering and exploring the World War II wreck of the U-61 in the waters off Duluth, 1975:
“The shifting silts of the lake floor parted, revealing the submarine, rising from its secret history on a wave of sand 200 feet beneath the surface. Our sonar scans detected it and we dove it a week later. By the wreck of a small fishing boat, it was the U-61, the old Nazi training sub repurposed late in the war for a desperate suicide terror mission. Long regarded as a Great Lakes myth, the 150-foot-long wreck lay deep in America all along, deep enough to require technical diving skills to access it. The conning tower hatch was open and my team and I swam inside, passing our tanks ahead of ourselves to fit through. Our lights revealed human remains stirred by our arrival. A severed limb in a white jacket sleeve greeted us, the Captain’s arm had thrown its last salute. Corpses floated around dressed in German seaman’s garb — oiled leather trousers, worn pullover sweaters — suspended like bad dreams. I read their faces: shock, anguish, resignation. (more…)
Tidal Playlist: Chair Kickers Music
A new playlist on the music streaming service Tidal features tracks from Duluth’s Chair Kickers Music label. It was assembled by Nathan Amundsen, whose music project Rivulets released two albums on the label. Listening to the tracks on the playlist in their entirety requires creating a Tidal account; otherwise it plays 30-second snippets.
Chair Kickers Music — sometimes rendered as “Chairkickers’ Music” or “Chairkicker’s Union Music” — was founded by Duluth’s Alan Sparhawk in 1999 and since then has put out 22 releases.
Ian Alexy – “What is Mine”
A new video for an old track by Ian Alexy. The song “What is Mine” is from the 2012 album Born on the Day of the Dead.
Postcard from the Rustic Bridge at Lester Park
This undated postcard of the rustic bridge and pavilion on the Lester River in Duluth was published by the Tom Jones Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, which was active from about 1900 to 1917. The cedar bridge was built in 1898. The ravages of weather limited its life. The upper deck was removed in 1916, and the lower deck was removed in 1931.
Jonathan Thunder’s Dream Lake Vibes
Duluth’s Jonathan Thunder presents an hour’s worth of ambient wave sounds blended with a mix of piano jazz playing under a surreal full moon illuminating Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum on the Shores of Lake Superior.
Looking Back at A & Dubs with Syl and Sandy Hantz
The reopening of the A & Dubs drive-in restaurant in June was huge news for just about anyone who grew up on the west side of Duluth over the past 75 years. The seasonal burger spot had been a summer tradition for untold scores of people over the decades, but health issues forced its owners to keep the business closed in 2024 and 2025.
When new owners took over in 2026, it launched another era for the long-beloved Lincoln Park institution. It was a big change: Syl and Sandy Hantz had operated A & Dubs since 1979. Prior to that Sandy’s parents, James and Lois Kent, ran it for 20 years. (more…)
PDD Quiz: September 2026 in Review
Close out the month with a look back at September headlines and happenings.
The next PDD quiz highlights spooky season shenanigans; it will be published on Oct. 11. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat @ gmail.com by Oct. 8. (more…)
Duluth-area bands ready to do the Dead
Traxx and Rokkyn Nelson-Kavajecz of Born Too Late, seen here playing at Duluth Does David Bowie show in 2025, are part of the lineup at Duluth Does the Dead at Sacred Heart Music Festival on Sept. 26. (Photo by Michael Anderson)
When the pioneering jam band Grateful Dead rose to counterculture stardom in the 1970s, upcoming Minnesota musicians like Israel Malachi and Paul Metsa were listening and learning. Malachi recalls having a fondness for the 1969 album Live/Dead when he was 12 years old. Metsa turned 18 in 1973, the start of what he feels were the Deads’ peak years.
Five decades later, Traxx Nelson-Kavajecz of the band Born Too Late is in the same shoes Metsa and Malachi wore in the 1970s at the start of their musical journeys. At age 19, he’s only familiar with a few Grateful Dead songs, but will join his elder counterparts and a lineup of about two-dozen acts on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Sacred Heart Music Center to pay tribute to the iconic rock band famous for fusing rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, country and jazz improvisation. (more…)
More about the poetic lives of Sheila Packa and Tracy Gilsvik
Sheila Packa is a poet laureate of Duluth and a friend. Her poem in the fall/winter 1996 edition of North Coast Review is paired with a poem by Tracy Gilsvik. I think they work in health, now, but I want to know more about their poetic lives. (more…)
Atlas Games in Proctor
I’m always thrilled to explore publishing companies in Duluth and its environs. In Proctor, one of the coolest publishers in the region brings board games, card games and role-playing games to press. Atlas Games has announced its next role-playing game project, and it reminds me that we have an industry leader creating fun in a suburb of Duluth. (more…)
Video Archive: Impromptu Hadjis Reprise, Aug. 16, 2014
Here’s video of a semi-reunion of the Duluth band Hadjis from a 2016 wedding reception at Rex Bar. Enjoy! (more…)
Who were Mary Dragich and Heidi Ash as poets?
I’m seeking information about poets who appear in an old issue of North Coast Review, a Poetry Harbor publication.
Today, two poems, one by Heidi Ash. Is this possibly the chocolatier? Can anyone help me fill in some details here? The other is by Mary Dragich, who has a few articles about her in the Duluth News Tribune (and appeared to have been married to my former colleague, John Pastor). But what about their literary lives? Were these their only or best poems? (more…)
Climate>Duluth: Dave Mann and Karen Hannah
Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews Dave Mann and Karen Hannah of Third Act Minnesota.
The program was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television studio on Sept. 3.
Excavating Literary History in Duluth: John R. Donahue
I’m reading an issue of North Coast Review from 1996 and seeking information about poets whose works appear in the magazine.
Today, John R. Donahue. Is this possibly the Jesuit who has written 28 books? Can anyone help me fill in some details here? (more…)
Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad: Tracking the Original Line from Thomson to New Duluth, Parts 3 and 4
Part three of the Minnesota Bricks series mapping the original route of the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad covers the area from the Minnesota Power’s Thomson Hydro Station to the Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth. Part four briefly covers the short segment from Fond du Lac to Commonwealth Avenue in New Duluth.
Excavating Literary History in Duluth: Astrid Rose Francel
After every library book sale (the next one is in Superior in a few weeks), I post on Perfect Duluth Day about the poets whose works are being deaccessioned. Over the next few days, I will ask about poets appearing in North Coast Review, a Poetry Harbor publication.
First up, Astrid Rose Francel. There is a popular novelist named Astrid Rose, and there is an actress named Rose Francel. But I can’t find Astrid Rose Francel. Can anyone help? (more…)
Video Archive: KDLH-TV 1986 Weekend News Clip
This KDLH-TV evening news clip is from Sunday, Sept. 21, 1986 — 40 years ago today. It includes the famous segment on Duluth punks that appeared on Perfect Duluth Day in 2015, along with a follow up report on the aftermath of the American Spirit ’86 Road Rally. (more…)
Excavating Literary History in Duluth: Sally Ockwig Larson
I’m reading books secured at the most recent Duluth Public Library book sale. Over the next few days, I will ask about poets appearing in North Coast Review, a Poetry Harbor publication.
Today, Sally Ockwig Larson. (more…)
American Spirit Road Rally started and ended in Duluth in 1986
Jim Liautaud stands by his 1963 Ferrari on Sept. 20, 1986, outside Grandma’s Saloon & Deli. (Photo by Dave Ballard for the Duluth News-Tribune & Herald, from a microfilm version of the newspaper)
With a nod to The Cannonball Run, a popular movie from 1981 starring Burt Reynolds, the drivers of 27 high-performance sports cars once raced through Hibbing, Ely and other cities along a 320-mile course that started and ended in Duluth. The American Spirit ’86 Road Rally took place on Sept. 20, 1986 — 40 years ago today. (more…)
Ripped at Curly’s Bar in 2001
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five years ago the Sultan of Sot visited Curly’s Bar at 2013 W. Superior St. in Duluth and composed this article for the Sept. 19, 2001 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper. ]
OK, for anybody considering going to Curly’s, here are two very important things to consider: 1) It’s located right next to the infamous Seaway Hotel. 2) Everybody there thinks that I — I, Slim Goodbuzz, rum-slugging sleazoid boozehound extraordinaire — they think that I am a cop.
Anyway, I step into Curly’s on a Wednesday night, and everybody appears to be “gettin’ some,” and I don’t mean sex. I mean the clap. All of the West End skanks are out in full regalia. We got your curly-mulleted dopers, your hookers, your rock-bottom alcoholics, your perverts, your predators, your Yoshiko’s Sauna regulars, all of them. And me. (more…)
Historic building tour features eastside icons, Carnegie library
Dennis Lamkin stands in the dining room of the “Highpoint” home. Lamkin and Jon Niemi purchased the property in 2003 and the home will be part of the 2026 Duluth Preservation Alliance Historic Properties Tour. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
After exploring the west side of Duluth last year, history lovers will tour two grand mansions, several repurposed landmarks and a century-old church clustered on the city’s eastern side this weekend.
The Duluth Preservation Alliance’s 2026 Historic Properties Tour is from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20. The annual self-guided event raises funds for the nonprofit organization and its mission to protect and preserve Duluth’s unique architectural heritage. Tickets are $32. (more…)
Postcard from the Railroad Yards in Duluth
This postcard shows the railroad yards on Rice’s Point in Duluth circa the very early 1900s.
Selective Focus: Moquah Bar
It’s called “The Plywood Palace.” About 60 miles southeast of Duluth — not far from Washburn and Ashland, in the unincorporated Wisconsin community of Moquah — sits the diviest dive bar known to mankind. (more…)