Duluth Normal School May Queen and Her Court.
On April 2, 1895 — 125 years ago today — Minnesota Governor David. M. Clough signed legislation approving the creation of the State Normal School at Duluth. It would be seven more years before classes were held, but nonetheless, the University of Minnesota Duluth traces its beginning to that moment in 1895.
Pak’s Green Corner, a Thai-fusion restaurant in Superior, has announced it will close on March 29. The restaurant’s lease ends at the end of May, but COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders in Wisconsin and Minnesota pushed forward plans to shut down.
“What will we do next?” a letter to customers from the Pak’s team asked. “We will keep you posted by our Facebook page.”
The restaurant opened June 1, 2018 at 1901 Tower Ave. in Superior, the former location of Kenny Wong’s Oriental Express. Pak’s previously operated for two years in West Duluth, where it found instant acclaim. It was voted Perfect Duluth Day’s best new restaurant in 2013 and was featured on the national television show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in 2014.
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation division has released guidelines advising citizens how to use city parks and trails in a manner that will reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. March and April are also the months when snow is melting and natural-surface trails can be easily damaged.
So, where is it OK to hike and how is it done safely?
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office is looking for assistance in locating Patrick Robert Lubina to check his welfare.
Lubina was last seen on March 10 at his residence on Strizich Road in French Township, about 90 miles northwest of Duluth. He is believed to have left his residence on foot.
Lubina is described as 6-foot-4-inches tall, 190 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. He might be wearing a blue jean jacket with a cream-colored collar.
Anyone with information about Lubina’s whereabouts should contact the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office via 911 or 218-742-9825.
Perfect Duluth Day readers might remember a post featuring an unusual story from 1903 about a crazed Finlander and unwanted dentistry. Minnesota filmmaker Joshua Carlon is exploring a short documentary about the event and is looking for any descendants of the parties involved who would be interested in being interviewed on camera regarding the incident.
The only named parties in the event are the Finlander John Simonson, Police Chief Troyer, Officer O’Neill and one victim, a Mrs. Elaison of 329 St. Croix Avenue.
If any PDD readers are related to this event or have connections to anyone who might be, please reach out to Josh at josh @ jcarlon.com.
In the statewide race, with 4,110 of 4,110 precincts reporting, Joe Biden is the projected winner of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor presidential primary.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Nomination for President of the United States
Joseph Biden – 287,553
Bernie Sanders – 222,431
Elizabeth Warren – 114,674
Michael R. Bloomberg – 61,882
Amy Klobuchar – 41,530
Minnesota’s 2020 Presidential Nomination Primary will be held on March 3. Voters must pick a team: Republican or Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. The Republican sample ballot is above, DFL is below. The Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party and the Legal Marijuana Now Party are not participating in the nomination primary.
KUMD has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent with Duluth-Superior Area Educational Television Corporation that could lead to the station being acquired and operated by WDSE-WRPT.
Duluth photos took first and second place in the Artsy/Altered category of Lake Superior Magazine‘s 25th Annual Photo Contest. Lou Nicksic of Bellingham, Wash., shot the first-place ship image in Canal Park. Dan Lee Vander Ark of Duluth shot the second-place image with the Bong Bridge in the background. Numerous Duluth photos received honorable mention in various categories.
Galleries of all the winning photos and runners up can be seen on lakesuperior.com. The winners are featured in the magazine’s February/March issue.
The overall grand prize went to Shannon Hart of Williamston, Mich. for an image of Lake Superior at Miners Castle in Munising.
The restaurant options on London Road in Duluth are changing: Beijing Restaurant is reopening this week after a fire kept it shuttered for more than a year. Valentini’s Vicino Lago Italian Restaurant will close later this year as the business transitions to a new Hermantown location.
Actors Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are featured in the New York Times series “20 Odd Questions” today, promoting their new movie Downhill. When asked to name the “most underrated destination in America,” Louis-Dreyfus gave a nod to Quetico-Superior country, responding:
“The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. I went canoeing and I loved it. It is just unfathomably beautiful.”
The Upper Deck Restaurant at 1415 N. 46th St. in Superior has been closed for more than a year. Its contents were auctioned off on Jan. 31. According to the Superior Telegram, the new owner will be turning the building into an airplane hangar.
WDSE-TV will begin broadcasting the PBS Kids channel on Friday, Jan. 31. It will occupy channel 8.5 in Duluth; WIRT viewers in the Hibbing area will find it on channel 31.5.
The network features educational programming all day, and is available for live streaming at pbskids.org. Some notable programs include Arthur, Sesame Street and Wild Kratts.
It’s WDSE’s fifth channel, joining PBS North (8.1), Create (8.2), Explore (8.3) and MN Channel (8.4).
The primary PBS channel, PBS North, will continue to feature a PBS Kids daypart during the week and on weekend mornings. The schedule of children’s programming on PBS North will be different from PBS Kids.
Another cruise line is planning stops in Duluth. WDIO News reports that Viking Cruises plans to bring its Viking Octantis, currently under construction, to port here multiple times in 2022. Two weeks ago the Duluth Monitor reported Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will bring the Hanseatic Inspiration to Duluth twice this summer.
