News and Current Affairs
Earth Rider lands gold at 2025 World Beer Cup
Superior’s Earth Rider Brewery won a gold medal in the oatmeal stout category at the World Beer Cup, held May 1 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. North Tower Stout, an ale with malty accents of chocolate, coffee and dark fruit balanced with a restrained hop presence, earned the award. The beer has now won three medals in its category at the World Beer Cup, having previously won a gold medal in 2022 and a bronze medal in 2018. (more…)
Upset Duluth: Famous Kaylee Edition
The latest addition to Perfect Duluth Day’s ongoing “Upset Duluth” series features a true innovator in the field. Kaylee Matuszak flashes her frown in not one, but two photos in the Duluth News Tribune story “Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center to face peak season with skeleton crew.”
Upset Duluth, of course, highlights Duluth News Tribune photos of people who are upset. Usually the photo subjects appear with arms folded or gesturing with their hands in some way, but Matuszak deploys two new techniques: arms behind the back and staring forlornly into the distance. It’s simply exceptional work. Further props to DNT photographer Wyatt Buckner for capturing the displeasure.
PDD Quiz: April 2025
Test your knowledge of recent headlines with this month-in-review quiz!
A PDD quiz for the birds soars your way on May 11. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 8. (more…)
Future of Duluth’s Galley Hop still unknown
Graphic of participating galleries for the 2016 Gallery Hop, including Duluth Art Institute, Siiviiss of Sivertson Gallery, Lake Superior Art Glass, Washington 315 Gallery and others. Photo courtesy of Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop on Facebook.
Five years after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of what would have been the 30th annual Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop, no plan is in place to bring the event back. But its organizers are still considering some type of reboot. (more…)
Sunshine Cafe gets new life as training space for entrepreneurs
Family Rise Together Executive Director ChaQuana McEntyre stands outside the Sunshine Cafe, 5719 Grand Ave. The social service organization purchased the diner and will remodel it to serve as a food-service industry small-business incubator. (Photo by Lissa Maki)
A shuttered building that once housed a landmark West Duluth cafe won’t reopen with breakfast specials and counter seating but new owners will use the space for a program to train ambitious food entrepreneurs and deliver meals.
St. Louis County records show the former Sunshine Cafe, 5719 Grand Ave., was purchased in December by the Duluth social service organization Family Rise Together for $230,000. The nonprofit started renovations on the historic building this winter and has launched a fundraising campaign to install a state-of-the-art, commercial-grade kitchen inside the space. (more…)
Canada fights back, boycotts Duluth
In addition to imposing 25% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, Canada is boycotting “vacation hubs like Oshkosh and Duluth.” That’s according to the satirical news website The Onion.
PDD Quiz: February 2025
A lot has gone down in this short month; how much of it do you remember? Check your recall with this week’s PDD current events quiz!
St. Patrick’s Day will be the theme of the next PDD quiz, which comes your way on March 16. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat @ gmail.com by March 13. (more…)
Oliver Inn adds lounge and four new guest rooms
The Snively Lounge and four new guest rooms are being added to the 13-room Oliver Inn in Downtown Duluth. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
A new lounge featuring antique chandeliers, a forest of ferns and a make-your-own-music stage is part of a hotel expansion project inside a history-filled Downtown Duluth landmark.
The Snively Lounge is expected to open along with four new ground-floor guest rooms at the Oliver Inn, 132 E. Superior St., later this spring. The remodeling project replaces space formerly occupied by Wasabi Duluth, a Japanese restaurant that closed Dec. 31 and consolidated operations in Superior. (more…)
Beloved Lakeside book store may be lost to building demolition
St. Michael’s Catholic Church plans to close and demolish its Lakeside Professional Building this summer. Gabriel’s Used Bookstore, located in the building’s basement, will close this spring if it cannot find a new location. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
Plans to demolish a business center housed in a historic Lakeside school building will displace several organizations, including a beloved bargain book store, this spring.
St. Michael’s Catholic Church announced in December the Lakeside Professional Building, 4915 E. Superior St., has been deemed structurally deficient and will be demolished later this year. The project means the church will close its volunteer-run Gabriel’s Used Bookstore, which has been located in the building basement since 1994. (more…)
PDD Quiz: January 2025
Test your memory of this month’s headlines with the first PDD Quiz of 2025!
A Valentine’s-themed quiz comes your way on Feb. 9. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat @ gmail.com by Feb 6. (more…)
BBC: Duluth as climate refuge
The spotlight is on Duluth in this BBC article on “climate havens.”
Zenith Basecamp set to open ‘indoor glamping’ travel hub
Zenith Basecamp, at 27th Avenue West and Superior Street, features a hostel, retail store and cocktail bar. Free Air Life Co opens its outdoor store Saturday, Jan. 25. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).
The adventure begins this week as a new travel center featuring an adventure hostel, outdoor clothing retailer and cocktail bar opens in a historic Lincoln Park office building.
Zenith Basecamp, 2631 W. Superior St., will see Free Air Life Co. welcome customers to its ground floor retail shop Saturday, making it the first business to open inside the renovated property. The second floor hostel started taking reservations last week and will greet its first guests in March. Meanwhile, workers are completing construction on a new interior space that will house Altitude Cocktails and Wine Bar. (more…)
Grant Glad showcases ‘middle ground’ with compilation album
Grant Glad, host of the music podcast Glad You’re Here, is trying to highlight a particular tier of local artists.
“I’ve been trying to find the artists that some people know and other people might not know and try to shine a spotlight on them. And then not have that spotlight be useless because you’re shining it on everybody,” Glad said. (more…)
Maria Bamford displaced by L.A. fires
Sincere apologies for any inconvenience, but due to being displaced from the California fires, I need to cancel these upcoming dates.
If you have tickets, you will be contacted by the venue about rescheduling dates, or you can get info from https://t.co/mUIj4kbaRN.
❤️Thank you pic.twitter.com/87DwWuVIeC
— Maria Bamford (@mariabamfoo) January 17, 2025
According to several social media posts today, Duluth native Maria Bamford has canceled four upcoming comedy shows on the East Coast due to being displaced by the wildfires in Los Angeles, where she has been a longtime resident. Her website lists the tour resuming on Jan. 31 with a string of shows in California.
PDD Quiz: 2024 in Review
Look back on the stories that made headlines in 2024 with this year-in-review quiz.
The first quiz of the new year, previewing 2025’s coming attractions, skis your way on Jan. 12. Please email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Jan. 8. (more…)
New restaurants brought a fresh wave of flavors in 2024
The Pali Platter from Falastin
If 2024 has a Twin Ports restaurant trend, it’s cultural cuisine. Two of the restaurants most anticipated by area foodies, Alto Pino and Falastin, brought unparalleled culinary options to Duluth this year. (more…)
Black Water Lounge, Chalet among 2024 restaurant closures
The Black Water Lounge featured live music in a classy atmosphere. The restaurant closed in July after a 15-year run in Greysolon Plaza. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
Downtown Duluth suffered blows to its dining scene over the past year with two restaurants leaving prominent, historic buildings while Hermantown will lose a landmark establishment at the end of the month. (more…)
Notorious Last Place on Earth owner Jim Carlson granted clemency; drug trafficking sentence ended early
Jim Carlson talks to a television reporter in front of his head shop, The Last Place on Earth, on Sept. 16, 2011. (Photo by Paul Lundgren)
A Duluth head shop owner convicted of federal drug trafficking charges more than a decade ago will have his sentence commuted in a sweeping clemency order issued by President Joe Biden Dec. 12. (more…)
North magazine expanding in 2025
Duluth real estate agent Tracy Ramsay published the premiere issue of North at the start of 2024. The lifestyle magazine will increase its territory beyond the Duluth area in 2025 to include northwest Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and parts of North Dakota.
Duluth realtor-turned-publisher Tracy Ramsay and her team are preparing to release the second issue of North magazine. The new lifestyle publication premiered in January, featuring articles about homes in the north country, local culture and more. (more…)
Duluth deserves better than a mismanaged tourism marketing contract
The city of Duluth is at a crossroads with its tourism marketing. After years of underwhelming performance from an out-of-town marketing firm, city leaders promised a better process and outcome this time.
City mismanagement, however, undermined that commitment. A poorly-planned and hastily-executed request-for-proposal process, confusing guidance and unnecessary delays have left Duluth with a troubling outcome: A recommendation to hire another out-of-town agency with no knowledge of the city’s tourism industry and significant client conflicts to lead Duluth tourism marketing for the next two years. (more…)
PDD Quiz: November 2024
Get your brain in gear and test your memory of current events with this week’s quiz!
A holiday-themed PDD quiz skis your way on Dec. 15. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Dec. 11. (more…)
Chester Park restaurant recycles ‘Pigeon House’
A Better Futures Minnesota worker removes shingles from the roof of the ‘Pigeon House.’ The home was purchased and recycled by owners of the nearby restaurant At Sara’s Table / Chester Creek Café. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
Deck-side diners at a popular Chester Park neighborhood restaurant are treated to glorious Lake Superior views but staff knew an abandoned house — in a direct line of vision — could easily spoil the scene.
The “Pigeon House” had to go — but not to a landfill. (more…)
Duluth 2024 General Election Results
With 4,103 of 4,103 precincts reporting, here are the statewide general election results for races relevant to Duluth.
—FEDERAL OFFICES—
President and Vice-President of the United States
Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz – 1,653,657
Donald J. Trump and JD Vance – 1,514,261
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan – 24,426
Jill Stein and Samson Kpadenou – 16,669
Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat – 15,620
Write in – 13,269
Cornel West and Melina Abdullah – 3,508
Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia – 3,423
Shiva Ayyadurai and Crystal Ellis – 3,226
Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter – 857 (more…)
Duluth 2024 General Election Sample Ballot
This sample ballot is specific to Duluth’s western neighborhoods. Races for Minnesota State Representative and St. Louis County Board of Commissioners vary throughout the city. (more…)
Minnesota Historical Society acquires Wing Young Huie archive
A collection of 5,000 photographs by Duluth native Wing Young Huie will soon be available online through the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. The images capture a view of community life in Minnesota.
The first part of the collection, 965 images and supporting material, is already available in the searchable Collections Online database and the Gale Family Library. The full archive of 5,000 photographs and related material will become publicly available over the next five years.