News and Current Affairs
R.I.P. Dr. Robert Powless
Dr. Robert Powless (Photo by Ivy Vainio)
Dr. Robert Powless, former director of the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Minnesota Duluth, died on April 25. (more…)
PDD Quiz: April 2020 in Review
Another month is nearly at an end as Duluth inches toward summer. Put your memory in gear for this month’s quiz, which reviews April headlines!
The next PDD quiz will test your ability to identify area buildings based on architectural details; it will be published on May 17. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 12. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Craft Alcohol During the Pandemic
Ursa Minor Brewing has offered curbside beer and pizza pickup via a drive-by canopy since April 8.
Small businesses have been struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 outbreak. Local craft beer, cider and spirits purveyors are finding ways to persist by distributing products through a variety of takeout, curbside pickup and delivery options. (more…)
New York Times: Preus’ new novel for youth “charming”
Duluth author Margi Preus gets positive ink in the New York Times Book Review for her new novel for young people, The Littlest Voyageur.
Fire in Grand Marais: Crooked Spoon Cafe engulfed
A fire broke out in downtown Grand Marais during the noon hour at the Crooked Spoon Cafe, 17 W. Wisconsin St. The blaze spread to two adjoining gift shops, Picnic and Pine and White Pine North. All three buildings were destroyed. (more…)
PDD Quiz: March 2020
Well … it sure has been a month. Take a brief reprieve from everything else going on by testing your knowledge of local headlines.
The next PDD quiz, on Superior parks, will be published on April 12. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by April 9. (more…)
Iconic Jade Fountain will see new life in West Duluth
Kai Soderberg stands outside the Jade Fountain restaurant at 305 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth. Soderberg is leasing the space where he will open a tiki bar this summer. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A long-running and largely unchanged Chinese restaurant — which closed for almost five years — will be reborn under new ownership as a tiki lounge when nightlife returns to normal in Duluth. (more…)
Muddy Trails and COVID-19: Duluth Hiking in Spring 2020
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? (more…)
Missing Person: Patrick Lubina
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.
Climate>Duluth: Nicolette Slagle
Host Tone Lanzillo interviews Nicolette Slagle of Honor The Earth. This is show #8 in the Climate>Duluth series recorded at Duluth Public Access Community Television’s studio in City Hall.
Lofts planned for historic Lincoln Park furniture building
The building on the corner of 19th Avenue West and Superior Street was home to six different furniture stores during a 120-year span. New owners plan to remodel it for upper-level apartments and street-level retail shops.
A $6 million apartment project has been announced for a former furniture store in the booming Lincoln Park Craft District, the third of three massive neighborhood furniture stores to undergo changes in the past year. (more…)
Climate>Duluth: Eric Enberg
Host Tone Lanzillo interviews Eric Enberg of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. This is show #9 in the Climate>Duluth series recorded at Duluth Public Access Community Television’s studio in City Hall.
PDD Quiz: February 2020 in Review
Give your brain a workout with this current events quiz!
The next PDD quiz will test your knowledge of Prohibition in the Twin Ports; it will be published on March 15. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 10. (more…)
Former plasma center building in Lincoln Park finds new life
East West Property Management principals Alex Rogers, left, and Frank Rush have moved their company headquarters to Lincoln Park. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A Lincoln Park building that housed a plasma donation center for almost three decades is now home to a growing Duluth area property management company. (more…)
UMD considering sale of KUMD radio station to WDSE-TV
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.
After months lying in wait, Boreal House open in West Duluth
Katie Fast, left, and Julie LaTourelle stand outside their new drinking establishment last summer, before remodeling work began. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
Duluthians Katie Fast and Julie LaTourelle will open the doors to West Duluth’s newest drinking establishment at 3 p.m. today. The Boreal House at 330 N. 57th Ave. W. sits adjacent to the neighborhood’s oldest drinking establishment, the Kom-on-Inn. (more…)
Beijing reopens; Valentini’s on the move to Hermantown
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. (more…)
Ursa Minor offers Duluth’s first non-alcoholic craft beer
Ben Hugus with Ursa Minor’s new NA beer – Photo by Lissa Maki
Ursa Minor Brewing quietly became the first Duluth-area craft brewery to offer a non-alcoholic beer option back in December. The brewery’s Constellation Cream Ale, is now available sans intoxicants. (more…)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in NYT: BWCAW “unfathomably beautiful”
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.”
Upper Deck restaurant at Bong Airport will become hangar
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. (more…)
WDSE-TV launching fifth channel, PBS Kids
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. (more…)
Former Franklin Foods facility in Lincoln Park sold, eyed for possible hotel or apartment development
Property on the 1900 block of West First Street that once served as a milk processing facility could soon be redeveloped. It shares an alley with popular new enterprises in the Lincoln Park Craft District such as Flora North, Hemlock Leatherworks, Duluth Folk School, OMC Smokehouse, the Noble Pour and Duluth Tap Exchange.
A national hotel and apartment builder has purchased a large, blighted property inside the trendy, fast-growing Lincoln Park Craft District.
Northridge Accommodations LLC purchased the former Kemps dairy at 1928 W. First St. on Dec. 30. According to Minnesota Department of Revenue records, Franklin Foods sold the property — advertised as the largest contiguous site available in Lincoln Park — for $450,000. (more…)