News and Current Affairs
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…)
PDD Quiz: January 2020 in Review
Test your knowledge of local headlines and happenings with this week’s PDD current events quiz!
The theme of the next quiz will test your knowledge of notable Twin Ports bathrooms (really!); it will be published on Feb. 9. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Feb. 5. (more…)
Viking Octantis cruise ship plans Duluth stops in 2022
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.
St. Louis River remedial action plan open to public comment
A draft version of the 2019 St. Louis River Area of Concern Remedial Action Plan is available on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource’s website. Public comments are being accepted through 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 21. (more…)
JamesG brings the Heely tricks on TikTok
Who’s that guy wearing the University of Minnesota Duluth hoodie while doing Heely tricks on Tik Tok? It’s James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG. The former Duluthian is generating views by the thousands on the short-form mobile video service, while performing stunts on wheeled sneakers around the Twin Cities area.
Check it out at tiktok.com/@jamesmakesmusic.