PDD News Sieve
Glensheen set to hit 100,000 attendance mark for 2015
From the Glensheen Facebook page:
This Saturday we will reach over 100,000 visitors for the first time since the 1980s.
To put this in perspective, we had only 56,000 visitors in recent history. Many thought this resurgence would not be possible. We are very thankful to all who have helped us turn the curve, especially you our guests.
Bonnie the wild bobcat trapped at the DECC
From Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay’s Facebook page:
When I heard about a man in a mental health crisis looking for a bobcat in downtown skywalks and in the convention center I knew it wasn’t true. Then I saw these pictures. You can’t make this stuff up … nobody knows how this wild animal made it into the convention center. It was trapped by the DNR and Wildwoods inside the convention center.
Toasty’s Downtown Duluth location open
The Duluth News Tribune reports Tom and Rachael Hagen opened their second Toasty’s Grilled Cheese Shop on Dec. 11. The new location at 220 W. Superior St. is best known as the former home of Mr. Nick’s Famous Charburger and the short-term location of seven different failed restaurants since 2002. The Downtown Toasty’s will be open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5 pm., offering a similar menu to the Hillside location — sandwiches, soups and salads.
Story link: Toasty’s opens new downtown Duluth location
Duluth Retiree Health Care Unfunded Liability: 2005 to 2015
Ten years ago today the New York Times ran a story titled “The Next Retirement Time Bomb,” which focused heavily on Duluth. The story opened by noting Duluth’s estimated unfunded healthcare liability in 2002 was $178 million. It concluded by stating the figure had ballooned to $280 million in 2005. Worse yet, though not mentioned by the NYT, the liability was projected to hit $417 million by 2015.
Where does Duluth stand one decade later? A state auditor’s report released last summer shows the liability has dropped to an estimated $129 million.
“The support of city staff, city unions, city councilors, community leaders and the Minnesota Supreme Court were critical to this success,” Duluth Mayor Don Ness said in a June news release. “But the foundation of the effort was a core group of five citizen volunteers serving on a task force (created when I was on the city council) that provided a 15-point road map to solving what was thought to be an unsolvable problem. That volunteer effort is the basis for the significant $288-million reduction in our liability today.”
Low on World Cafe
NPR’s World Cafe has been doing a “Sense of Place Minneapolis” series. Duluth band Low was featured yesterday, Dec. 10.
Lark o’ the Lake Ice Cream Coffee Café open in Greysolon Plaza
The Duluth News Tribune reports the new Lark o’ the Lake Café opened in the Greysolon Plaza on Nov. 27. Owners are Sandra Ettestad, Mark Marino and Don Monaco.
“The menu includes coffee and espresso drinks, smoothies, pastries, deli sandwiches, soups, salads and old-fashioned ice cream desserts,” the DNT article notes. “Prices are affordable, with most lunches less than $10. The cafe has Wi-Fi and is close to getting a wine and beer license.”
Duluth News Tribune: Lark Café opens at Greysolon Plaza in Duluth with a focus on aviation
Superior exploring possible “exposition district”
Business North reports an economic development group called Better City Superior intends to seek state permission to create an “exposition district” to attract new developments, such as a 150-room hotel, 20,000-square-foot convention center, 50,000-square-foot water park, a sports field house, a movie theater and a corporate campus.
Business North: “Better City Superior announces growth vision“
Red Fox near Duluth Harbor
Rich Hoeg was out looking for snowy owls on the Duluth waterfront and came up empty … except for this red fox sighting. For more photos check out Hoeg’s 365 Days of Birds blog.
Duluth musician has fortuitous random connection in Norway
Via Vestnytt, a newspaper published in Straume, Norway, PDD reports: “Det magiske Kallestadmøtet i luften.”
Duluth musician Jamie Kallestad performed at the the Glesvær Kafe yesterday. Translators, sort that out and share your wisdom.
Mayor Ness profiled on MinnPost
“Don Ness doesn’t want to be America’s most popular mayor anymore,” reads the headline of a feature on the Minneapolis-based nonprofit news website MinnPost. “Ness, at 41, is doing what is inconceivable to some: stepping away from politics indefinitely at the height of his career — a move that has left many in Duluth and around the state wondering: Why?”
On Twitter, Ness offers an alternate title for the story:
Twin Ports Joyride: Reduced-cost taxicab rides on the west side
A program designed to provide $7 taxicab vouchers to tipsy bar patrons in western Duluth and Proctor has been ramping up exposure leading into the holidays. Twin Ports Joyride is funded by participating bars, beer wholesalers and other donations. (more…)
St. Louis River Corridor Parks Survey
Community input is being sought by Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Department to develop mini-master plans for eleven neighborhood parks in the St. Louis River Corridor: Historical, Fond du Lac, Blackmer, Smithville, Riverside, Norton, Keene Creek, Grassy Point, Merritt, Harrison and Piedmont. Preliminary concept plans have been developed for the parks following public meetings held in September and October.
An online survey is available at the City of Duluth website. (more…)
Lost cat in Chester Park area
Moses is a white cat with a grey patch on the top of his head. He is missing the tips of his ears.
He was last seen on Oct. 31 in the area of 20th Avenue East and Eighth Street, across from the Central Little League baseball fields. Moses is unfamiliar with this area and is likely hiding under a deck, shed, low-hanging hedge, wood pile or something similar.
If you find Moses, contact the owner at 763-458-3388 or email [email protected]. Do not attempt to catch him. He is shy and terrified of new people.
Reward: $500.
Missing Person: Jonathan Beckman
Update: Jonathan Beckman and two other young males who ran from the Northwood Children’s Services West Campus last night were located and brought back to Northwoods by Duluth Police today.
The big, fat EIS
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Forest Service have released the final environmental analysis of Minnesota’s first proposed copper-nickel mine. It’s 3,576 pages long. Click here for an overview on the DNR website and to find links to download the full 263 MB of wholesome review process. A 30-day public review period begins Nov. 13 and ends Dec. 14. Update: Deadline for submitting comments has been extended to Dec. 21.
PolyMet proposes to develop an open-pit mine and processing facilities for the extraction of copper, nickel and platinum elements, with an estimated 20-year lifespan for mine operations. The proposed mine would be located in the St. Louis River watershed on the eastern edge of the Mesabi Iron Range, about 6 miles south of Babbitt and about 1 mile south of the existing iron-ore Northshore Mine. Processing of the ore would take place at a former industrial site, the LTV steel plant in Hoyt Lakes. (more…)
Duluth 2015 General Election Results
Emily Larson cruises to victory in the mayoral race. Elissa Hansen, Noah Hobbs, Gary Anderson and Em Westerlund are new city councilors. Alanna Oswald, David Kirby and Nora Sandstad join the school board.
With all 34 precincts reporting …
Duluth Mayor
Emily Larson – 15,352 | 72%
Chuck Horton – 5,862 | 27%
Write in – 125 | 1% (more…)
Arts & Economic Prosperity in Duluth
A study released on Monday suggests the nonprofit arts and culture sector in Duluth generates over $36 million annually in total economic activity. Arts & Economic Prosperity in the City of Duluth, MN is a follow up to the statewide study Creative Minnesota: The Impact and Health of the Nonprofit Arts and Culture Sector. Highlights are above, fine print is below, and the full text of both studies are linked in the sentence previous to this one. (more…)
Scrap Tire Mulch on Duluth Public Schools’ Playgrounds
Last week Duluth Parents for Healthy Playgrounds presented the results of a test conducted by St. Paul-based Legend Technical Services on a sample of rubber mulch from the playground at Lester Park Elementary School. The test found 12 chemicals listed by the Minnesota Department of Health as “chemicals of high concern,” but the chemicals were at levels not considered hazardous.
From the report’s executive summary:
Our test does not account for possible interactions or “synergistic” effects of the 12 “chemicals of high concern,” nor for carbon nanotubes. Given the variety of chemicals different tire manufacturers use, and the variability of the tire brands in Rubberific mulch, the eight grams from Lester Park Elementary that were tested may account for only a few of the estimated 12,000 tires in the whole playground.
Link to the full report: Scrap Tire Mulch on Duluth Public Schools’ Playgrounds (PDF)
Project manager wanted for 10-month media collaboration
The journalism program at the University of Minnesota Duluth is looking for a part-time project manager to assist in coordinating the “One River, Many Stories” media collaboration project.
Funded through a Knight Foundation Fund grant from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, the project will test ways media collaboration can inspire innovation and nurture engagement among professional journalists, educators and citizen storytellers in the Duluth-Superior community. In April 2016, the media in northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin will give special attention to one topic: The St. Louis River. Newspapers, television and radio stations, local bloggers, photographers, videographers, university, college and high school journalism programs, and citizen storytellers will produce news articles, documentaries, podcasts and other media about the historic St. Louis River corridor.
North Country Trail nears connection to Superior Hiking Trail
A new 4-mile section of the North Country National Scenic Trail, located 17 miles southwest of Superior, opens Saturday, bringing the trail another step closer to connecting to Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail.
The new segment crosses the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s MacQuarrie Wetlands in western Douglas County and features scenic overlooks of the Nemadji River Valley and the basin of Glacial Lake Duluth. It also crosses a section of Douglas County Forest and Wisconsin DNR lands.
Grey Timberwolf near Brighton Beach
Ken Greshowak sent PDD this photo shot near Brighton Beach on Sept. 27.
Mayor Ness banned from Labor Temple’s Wellstone Hall for life
From the Sept. 16 issue of Labor World:
Without opposition a motion was made, seconded, and carried to ban Don Ness from the Duluth Labor Temple’s Wellstone Hall for life.
Duluth cat potentially ready to freak out
The latest Duluth dateline in The Onion newspaper reports “It impossible to tell what sounds will freak out cat.” Apparently, “there seemed to be no clear pattern to the animal’s responses,” according to local pet owner Wendy Vogl. “I can slam the front door and he’ll just sit there licking himself, but then he’ll hear thunder and run out of the room immediately.”
Duluth ranks among “Best College Towns to Live in Forever”
College Ranker has sorted the nation’s college towns based on how “things like community, neighborhoods, schools” and other aspects create a place that is “attractive in retaining students who graduate from local colleges.” Duluth came in at #22. For some reason, UMD is the only one of the handful of colleges in the area that receives a mention in the text.
