Paul Lundgren
Goodbye Jitters, hello Bakehouse
Jitters Lake Superior Coffee & Tea House is no more. New sister-brother owners Katina and Pauly Petsoulis took over in February and launched a name change last weekend. The new Lake Superior Bakehouse at 102 W. Superior St. promises “small-batch baked goods all from scratch and small-batch house-roasted coffees.”
Although the look of the space is changing and the variety of baked goods and other foods expanding, Katina notes one thing will stay the same.
“A lot of Jitters regulars were loyal to the coffee,” she said. “We have the same roaster, Jesse Bamford.” (more…)
St. Paul gets all up in Duluth’s craft-beer capital-proclaiming face
A new billboard has popped up on Grand Avenue in West Duluth with fighting words issued from St. Paul. Duluth, many will recall, claimed the title of “Craft Beer Capital of Minnesota” back in February 2013. (more…)
The Keep Aways at Tom’s Burned Down Café
.. and then the woman with the green hair appears.
Dead tree or stunted bloomer?
A recent news release from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that “foresters are seeing many silver maples and some elms with stunted or no leaves and an abundance of seeds this spring. These trees are not dead and will rebound over the next couple of years.”
The image above is of a tree I planted last fall that hasn’t produced leaves this spring. I can’t remember what kind of tree it is, but I think it’s a northern pin oak. The DNR lists elms, maples, ashes and oaks as potential stunted bloomers. (more…)
Canal Park parking has been … um … streamlined
The Duluth News Tribune reported on Monday that rates have changed at three parking lots in Canal Park. Two examples are the Northwest Iron lot (between Grandma’s Saloon and the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace) and the Lighthouse lot (near the lighthouse pier). The minimum rate is now $3 for three hours, up from last year’s $2 for two hours.
The DNT notes:
Parking Operations Specialist Mark Bauer said the city decided to make the changes to streamline the parking process.
“Instead of trying to interpret and guess how much time you’re going to be there, we thought it would be easier to just simply pay for this three-hour block of time,” Bauer said. “It simply covers you up to that three-hour limit.”
There has been no word yet on whether hotels in the area will be streamlining their processes by invoking a three-night minimum stay or whether bars will enforce a three-drink minimum for customer convenience. (more…)
Canadian wildfire haze over Duluth
Forest fires burning across Saskatchewan are making for a rather psychedelic afternoon.
Select Images from the 1930 Denfeld Oracle
With graduation ceremonies taking place this week, we look back 85 years ago to see what the Denfeld class of 1930 looked like. That year the school’s Oracle strove to inspire students “with a steadfast purpose to build well upon the foundations of the past,” and was dedicated to “the spirit of industry and progress which has existed in the hearts and minds of the citizens of Western Duluth.” The inside folds of the book feature a “Decorative Map of Western Duluth, with which we begin this post.
The senior class held two successful paper sales, a Christmas card sale and a class play to fund the yearbook in 1930. The organizations that typically funded the Oracle instead gave money to the pipe organ fund; Denfeld’s pipe organ had been purchased in 1926 for $25,000.
Rich Mattson and the Northstars album out
Youa Vang has the story for City Pages: Rich Mattson & the Northstars channel Iron Range on new LP
Here is the iTunes link and the CD Baby link for the album.
Duluth release party is Friday, June 5, at the Red Herring.
Here is the link to PDD’s list of local albums released in 2015.
Great Lakes Trail
If all the existing trails, trails under construction and trails in the planning phases in Duluth aren’t quite enough, here’s a rather ambitious plan that would upset a few local backyards. The Detroit Free Press reports of a plan for the “Great Lakes Trail” — a 10,900-mile trail spanning at least eight states and two Canadian provinces, following the shores of the five Great Lakes.
World’s longest marked trail proposed around Great Lakes
As the Great Lakes states were admitted into the Union, the federal government granted them the lake beds and waters of the Great Lakes up to the ordinary high-water mark — from the point on the bank or shore where continuous wave action has made a distinct mark, to the water.
This was affirmed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1894, in the Shively v. Bowlby case. The justices found that lands below the high-water mark were “for the benefit of the whole people.” (This may come as news to owners of $750,000 lakefront homes whose deed tells them the shoreline is theirs.)
Spirit Mountain a finalist for $100K in online contest
Duluth’s Spirit Mountain is one of three locations in the running for the $100,000 prize offered by Bell Helmets to fund a trail-building project. Voting in the nationwide contest is being conducted on bellhelmets.com and will continue through June 4.
Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores is the nonprofit organization leading Duluth’s effort. Spirit Mountain is competing for the 2015 Bell Built grand prize against projects in La Grange, Calif. and Knoxville, Tenn.
Happy tick season to all
Ticks are most active from mid-May through mid-July.
- Walk in the center of trails.
- Conduct frequent strip searches.
- Tweeze ’em and torch ’em.
Duluth Milk Company
MPR News is running a series this week featuring photos by St. Paul native John Vachon, who worked for the Farm Service Administration and Office of War Information. From 1938 to 1943 he documented American life and how relief programs were helping those struggling through the Great Depression.
The image above is the only Duluth photo featured by MPR, but there are a few Iron Range and Beltrami County gems.
A look at Bunyan territory in 1939
Minneapolis’ milling history through John Vachon’s lens
Twin Cities streets at the end of the Depression
John Vachon captures Minnesota at work, 1939-1941
John Vachon captures Minnesota farm life at Depression’s end
Duluth in Stereoview
Ah, the stereograph — a nineteenth-century wonder in which almost identical photographs, side by side, can be viewed with a stereoscope and appear three-dimensional. On a website they just appear silly and pointless, but in this case there’s some fairly fancy historical scenes to browse. (more…)
Old Klearflax warehouse is a-comin’ down
As previously reported on PDD, Walker Display has moved its operations out of West Duluth, and its former location on Grand Avenue is being demolished to make way for a Kwik Trip convenience store. The demolition process has revealed the former exterior of the building’s west side — a reminder that it once served as a warehouse for Klearflax Linen Rugs Co. (more…)
Dude, don’t do it! You’ve got something to live for!
Don’t worry, after contemplating his life at great length he eventually wandered off the railroad track.
Homegrown 2015 Slideshow Retrospective
View the full set of 124 images from Homegrown 2015 on Flickr. (more…)
Northern Waters Smokehaus will open Woodland Avenue location
Northern Waters Smokehaus announced today a second location will open in the Mount Royal Shopping Center in Duluth’s Chester Park – UMD neighborhood, near the UMD campus. The space at 1608 Woodland Ave. was previously occupied by Bixby’s Café, which operated there from 1997 to the end of 2014.
Founded in 1998, Northern Waters specializes in smoked fish. Its tiny shop in the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace has won numerous awards over the years, including PDD’s Perfect Lunch Restaurant. The new location at Mount Royal is expected to open in the fall.
Apparently the mayor was too focused on sharks
Photo by Ken Greshowak
Last we heard, someone was dressed in a bear suit in front of City Hall, trying to coax this poor critter down from the tree.
Duluth up for bike park grant in latest online voting gimmick
Bell Helmets is awarding $100,000 to fund a trail-building project in one of nine U.S. cities in the latest online voting contest involving Duluth. Two cities have already been eliminated in the West Coast voting. Duluth is in the lead in the Central Region, which closes voting on Sunday, May 10. East Coast voting runs May 11-24. Voting in the finals will begin on May 25.
Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores is the nonprofit organization leading the effort to improve trails at Spirit Mountain.
Who won Homegrown 2015?
Photo by Melissa La Tour
Which band altered the most souls, inspired the most hedonism and deserves to wear the championship belt this year?
The poll is now closed. Here are the results:
Bratwurst – 12.7 percent
The Blasphemists – 10.2 percent
The Electric Witch – 6.8 percent
Sweat Equity – 5.1 percent
Various other bands – 65.3 percent
Is it the music, the artistry or the stinky meat? Duluth music fans continue to love Bratwurst … despite, or perhaps more so because of, this year’s controversy. (The band denies any involvement in the Pig Head on Statue Incident. Duluth police and the humane society are apparently investigating.)
Photo by Cory Fechner
Photo by Judy Weber
This is the third time in four years that Bratwurst has won Homegrown. It is also the third time in a row that the Blasphemists have finished second in the voting.
Missing Person: Helge Rohm
Update: The Duluth Police Department reports that Helge Rohm has been located and is safe.
The Duluth Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 72-year-old Helge Rohm. He is a Duluth resident and was last seen in the area of Second Avenue East and Sixth Street on Saturday, April 19.
Rohm is a 6-ft.-tall, 190-lb. white male with blue eyes and white/grey hair. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Violent Crimes Unit at 218-730-5050.
R.I.P. Verne Gagne
Wrestling icon Verne Gagne died late Monday night. In recent years he struggled with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Gagne was best known for operating the American Wrestling Association out of the Twin Cities. He was an accomplished amateur wrestler, 10-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and trained the vast majority of the superstars of the 1980s and ’90s. (more…)