December 2013 Posts

I’m aware of trafficking, now what?

January is considered “Trafficking Awareness Month” or so the many e-mails and invites to special events are telling me. As a social worker and previously as a domestic violence/sexual assault advocate I have been inundated with trafficking discussions, forums, conferences, and trainings. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. However I feel as though now I am fully “aware” of trafficking and that the social-work community as a whole is very “aware” of trafficking in the Duluth area. My question is what do I now do with this awareness to help survivors of the industry and to prevent such things from happening to new victims? What is currently being done by local sexual assault groups such as PAVSA to combat trafficking and how can a social worker, or anyone for that matter, jump in and help?

Please don’t infer that I am in any way downing the efforts to inform people about trafficking — the more who know the better. But I do feel like there is a lack of discussion about action steps, and as a person whose clients and own family members have been affected by this issue I’d like to know less how to make people aware and more about how to do something about it.

Bobcats and Eagles

From Wildwoods, about recent admits. We get fewer in the Winter, but they are more interesting, as cases.

Minnesota concludes wolf hunting and trapping season

I feel some relief at this news, at the same time that I know, it’s the relief you get when your reprieve, you know, is temporary. No matter what you think about wolves, trapping is a terrible, unethical, destructive way to hunt.  –David

Down on Raleigh Street

Slideshow by Roger Nesje with music by Steve Johnson, paying tribute to old Two Street in West Duluth.

Poll: Best Local Album of 2013

Among the roughly four-dozen albums released by Duluth-area musicians in the past 12 months, 19 received mention in our call for nominations for Best Local Album of 2013. So now we attempt to identify the strongest in the field and ask you, dear reader …

What was the best local album of 2013?

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This poll is now closed. These six albums advance to the final poll.

Cars & Trucks – Theatre Stardusk
Christoph Bruhn – Weekends on the Frontier
Tim Kaiser – Microphone Obscura
Low – The Invisible Way
Southwire – Southwire
Ryan Van Slooten – Victory March

2013 Demo Reel – Higher Base Media

Higher Base Media is a Duluth-based action sports media group that creates videos to promote local action sports in an attempt to get more people involved in these activities. We hope you all had a great year and enjoy our best footage from 2013!

2013: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters

Click on any thumbnail to see the full-size image.

The National Weather Service has issued an erect nipple advisory for northeastern Minnesota. Be careful out there.

This week: auld lang syne… or something like that… I’ve forgotten

  

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

How are you ringing in the new year on Tuesday? Here are some options:

If you take a cab and leave your car downtown Tuesday night, don’t worry. It’s free parking on Wednesday.

The Bulldog Men’s Hockey team plays an exhibition game at Amsoil Arena on Friday.

Jason Schommer does a one man show about his encounters with celebrities in Starstruck at the Teatro Zuccone on Saturday.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Best … er, any fried chicken in Duluth?

Where can you get a good fried-chicken dinner in Duluth and/or the surrounding area? I’m not referring to KFC, or any take-home places, but a sit-down restaurant that serves fried-chicken diner that’s fresh and hot and doesn’t get cold by taking it into the house from the car during our cold winters. I’ve been searching and I’ve come up with nothing, I even found a post here that’s from a month shy of a year ago:

Best Fried Chicken in Duluth

However, the closest thing listed, Sammy’s, only has wings now, (which are great), but is not a real fried (or broasted) chicken dinner, no matter how many you eat. Cassidy’s down in Hinckley had a decent one, but last time I was there they no longer serve it and vaguely said they might bring it back at times. It seemed more commonplace when I was a kid, but no one seems to have a good fried-chicken dinner anymore, at least around here, because I see them all the time on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Fresh batch of suggestions welcome!

Greysolon Plaza overhang collapses

Photo via Fox 21 News

At about 8:15 p.m. the front awning of the Greysolon Plaza collapsed, presumably from the weight of snow. There are no reports of injuries.

The Boomchucks – “When I’m Missing You”

New video for a song from their 2010 self-titled album.

Vice Does Enbridge

Vice reports:

“It’s been three and a half years since Enbridge’s Line 6B pipeline ruptured in Marshall, Michigan, leaking more than 843,000 gallons of diluted tar sands bitumen into the Kalamazoo River. It was the largest on-land oil spill in the history of the USA, and remains, so far, as the largest spill of tar sands oil ever. Yet despite Enbridge’s immense, ongoing clean-up operation, which has spanned more than three years, cost over a billion dollars, and removed significantly more oil from the river than the company will admit it spilled, those living in Enbridge’s sacrifice zone have more questions than answers-even as most areas of the river have been re-opened for public use. High on the list of concerns is a chilling refrain: What are these chemicals that work crews have been dumping into the river in massive quantities, and are they dangerous?”

Minnesota Shoplifting Detain/Restrain Laws?

Does anyone know the laws regarding detaining/restraining suspected shoplifters? I walked out of the mall tonight and found three Younkers loss-prevention staff holding a woman face-down in the snow, with their knees on her back attempting to handcuff her while she was telling them she couldn’t breathe.

Day after Christmas, I

On the town after Christmas. My car needed work, so I dropped it at 4th Street Auto (discussed on PDD here) and decided to walk downtown from there — always fun.