News and Current Affairs
PDD Quiz: 2016 in Review
We bid farewell to 2016 with a recap of regional happenings.
Our next PDD Quiz, which will cover coming attractions in 2017, will be coming your way on Jan. 15. E-mail question ideas to Alison Klawiter at [email protected] by Jan. 11.
R.I.P. Fizzy Waters, Crabby Ol’ Bill’s
Two Duluth businesses owned by Steve and Susan Smith are closed. Fizzy Waters was a specialty soda and candy shop that recently moved from Canal Park to West Superior Street. Crabby Ol’ Bill’s was a food stand that operated out of an old boat in Canal Park. (more…)
New Vietnamese restaurant open in Superior
Fans of phở have a new place to enjoy the savory Vietnamese soup. Phở Cali Vietnamese Noodles Restaurant opened Dec. 17 in the former Lan Chi’s building at 1320 Belknap St. in Superior. (more…)
Brewhouse gets new master brewer
Ted Briggs, the new brew master at Fitger’s Brewhouse
Just Take Action announced Ted Briggs as the new master brewer for Fitger’s Brewhouse this week. “Mr. Briggs will continue to build on the great legacy of quality Lake Superior craft beer first initiated by Dave Hoops and later, Frank Kaszuba,” the company stated in a news release. (more…)
Paulucci complex sold for $7 million
Business North is reporting, via Finance & Commerce, the Paulucci Building at 525 S. Lake Ave. in Canal Park was sold in November for $6 million.
The buyer: Star PB LLC
The seller: Etor Properties LLC
The story notes that “in a second related transaction, Star PB LLC paid $1 million to Buckeye Corp., another private investment entity, for a 16,000-square-foot retail and office building next door, at 501 Lake Ave. S.”
The Paulucci Building is named for the late Duluth businessman Jeno Paulucci. It was built in 1915 by Gowan-Lenning-Brown, a wholesale grocery firm. The neighboring structure was built in 1909 as the Buckeye Building for National Biscuit.
Vikre Distillery is the most prominent business operating out of the two buildings.
South Shore Brewery expands into Washburn
After a 102-year absence, the steam plume from a brewery has returned to the Washburn skyline. On Nov. 30, South Shore Brewery’s kettle fired up its inaugural batch of Nut Brown Ale, which will be bottled on Solstice Wednesday, Dec. 21.
South Shore Brewery was founded in May 1995 with brewing facilities in the basement of the Deep Water Grille in Ashland. It was northwestern Wisconsin’s first microbrewery and the state’s seventh. Bo Bélanger, South Shore’s original brew master and president, bought the business in 2004.
In February he expanded operations into Washburn, opening the Lake Superior Tap House, a satellite tasting room and retail outlet. The recent move of the brewing facilities to the Washburn operation was done with the goal to make the brewery more efficient and competitive while increasing output.
In addition to the expanded brewing facility, the Lake Superior Tap House features a tasting room with a variety of South Shore beers on tap, windows that look into the brewery, and a shuffleboard table handcrafted from a piece of bowling lane preserved from the old Super Bowl Lanes, which previously occupied the building.
Superior record store announces closing, huge inventory for sale
Vinyl Cave owners Tom Johnson, left, and Tom Unterberger will close the Superior record store Dec. 31. They hope to sell the store inventory to a single buyer.
The largest used record store in the region will go out of business this month after owners struggled to meet the demands of younger music lovers buying and selling collectible vinyl on the Internet.
The Vinyl Cave, 1717 Belknap Street in Superior, will close its doors Dec. 31. Owners Tom Unterberger and Tom Johnson hope to find a single buyer for an inventory that includes more than 10,000 albums, 300,000 singles, rock memorabilia and vintage stereo equipment. (more…)
Adam Ruins Everything references Duluth
Adam Ruins Everything is at least the fifth television series to reference Duluth in 2016. Episode 23, which aired Dec. 6 on the cable network TruTV, features Adam Conover discussing “how deep Facebook’s tentacles really go,” with an example of a man who bought a “bacon double heart-attack burger” in Duluth after seeing an ad targeted through his Facebook likes.
Other shows that have referenced Duluth in 2016 include Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Robot Chicken, Vinyl and Lady Dynamite.
Petitioning to Change Duluth in 2016
What do people want to change about Duluth? Well, according to change.org — as of 9 a.m. on Dec. 6 — 5,471 people want the University of Minnesota Duluth to save the American Indian grad program, 1,100 people want the city to stay the enforcement of parking violations targeting Duluth college students, 313 people want to stop harsh LED street lighting, 140 people want Duluth to pass a Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights, 13 people want a Trader Joe’s franchise to locate here and six people want to bring a Costco store to Duluth. (more…)
ARCO Coffee celebrates 100 years
It’s remarkable for a family-owned business to withstand a century’s worth of cultural and economic changes, not to mention several generations of leaders. But Superior’s ARCO Coffee Company has reached this monumental achievement—100 years in business.
G.A. Andresen and W.J. Ryan founded the business in Duluth in 1916 as Andresen Ryan Coffee Company. Their names were later combined into the acronym ARCO. (more…)
Historical Trauma and Standing Rock
When I was young and more exciting than I am now, I started teaching Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus. One of the reasons Maus made its way into classrooms was that it was an immensely accessible introduction to the Holocaust.
But about halfway through the second time I taught the book, I realized that its special genius is not the way it tells the story of Vladek, a Holocaust survivor, but the way it tells the story of Artie, the son of a Holocaust survivor.
Perhaps this is clearest in the scene where Artie and his wife, Francoise, take Vladek to the grocery store so that Vladek can return a half-eaten box of cereal. (more…)
Mni Wiconi: The Stand at Standing Rock
“Mni Wiconi” is the Sioux term for “water is life.” This documentary was created by Lucian Read with support from the WK Kellogg Foundation.
Thanksgiving weekend opioid overdoses prompt investigation
The Duluth Police Department issued a news release today notifying the public of six drug-related overdoses occurring since Thanksgiving as result of the use of opioids. There have been no deaths, but the overdoses have prompted an investigation.
Opioids are substances that act on brain receptors to produce morphine-like effects. They come in tablets, capsules or liquid and are typically used to treat pain. Common opioids include heroin and prescription drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.
The DPD warns against using these drugs — particularly synthetic derivatives — because their content and purity is often unknown and can cause overdose deaths.
PDD Quiz: November 2016
[This quiz was embedded from a platform that is no longer available.]
As November draws to a close it’s time once again to test your knowledge on Duluth current affairs.
Duluth native Nides in New Yorker
The Nov. 14 issue of The New Yorker magazine features an article (clearly written before Election Day) on “the Democrats’ fight over finance.” The focus of the piece is on Thomas R. Nides, “who is seen as a contender for a prominent position in a Clinton Administration.”
Nides is a Duluth native and 1979 graduate of East High School. From 2011 to 2013, he served under Hillary Clinton as deputy U.S. secretary of state for management and resources.
Bellisio Foods sold for a billion
The Wall Street Journal reports the Minneapolis-based and Duluth-founded Bellisio Foods company is being sold “for nearly $1.1 billion.” The business started by Duluth’s wealthiest man will soon be owned by Thailand’s wealthiest man.
Jeno Paulucci founded the company in 1985 as Luigino’s, producing frozen food brands such as Michelina’s. The corporate name changed to Bellisio Foods in 2007. Paulucci died in 2011. He sold Bellisio Foods to Centre Partners the day before he died. Charoen Pokphand Foods in Bangkok, owned by Dhanin Chearavanont, expects to close on its purchase of the company within 180 days.
Positive Post-its at Denfeld
This is how Denfeld responds to hate #PostThePositive #TakeBackOurWalls ❤️ pic.twitter.com/k9OMUiyuuW
— Johanna Unden (@johannaunden) November 15, 2016
Last week racist graffiti referencing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was found in a female restroom stall at Denfeld High School. The student body responded this week, posting inspiring messages throughout the school. The movement was led by Denfeld’s student executive board and the video was posted on Twitter by Johanna Unden, the exec board’s student school board representative.
Awkward Duluth School Board Moment #5,109: A Point of Order
This clip features three-and-a-half productive minutes from the Nov. 9 Duluth Public Schools Human Resources and Business Committee Meeting.
DNR will close French River Hatchery
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced in a news release today it will close a 1970s-era fish hatchery in Duluth Township.
The French River Cold Water Hatchery, located on Lake Superior two miles north of Duluth, needs $8 million in capital investment to address failing equipment, according to the DNR. It also consumes 10 percent of the energy used by the agency statewide.
A hatchery was first established at the location in 1919, originally known as the Lake Superior State Fish Hatchery. The French River Cold Water Hatchery was built in 1975 to conduct the majority of fish propagation. Since 1962, the DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have planted about 300,000 six-inch lake trout along the North Shore each year, resulting in a 250 percent increase in lake trout netted during surveys, according to the DNR. (more…)
Duluth 2016 General Election Results
Donald Trump wins the presidency nationwide. Hillary Clinton takes Minnesota, barely; in Duluth she nearly doubles Trump’s vote total.
Rick Nolan holds his congressional seat by just over 1,000 votes. Democrats and incumbents fare well in Duluth overall.
With 4,120 of 4,120 Minnesota precincts reporting, below are the unofficial statewide results in races relevant to Duluth.
President and Vice President of the United States
Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine – 1,363,704 | 46.41%
Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pence – 1,320,895 | 44.96%
Gary Johnson and William Weld – 112,767 | 3.84%
Evan McMullin and Nathan Johnson – 53,021 | 1.8%
Jill Stein and Howie Hawkins – 36,916 | 1.26%
Write in – 27,095 | 0.92%
Dan R. Vacek and Mark Elworth, Jr. – 11,275 | 0.38%
Darrell Castle and Scott Bradley – 9,454 | 0.32%
Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart – 1,668 | 0.06%
“Rocky” Roque De La Fuente and Mic – 1,428 | 0.05% (more…)
Prince is Missing
A very important puppet that artist Mary Plaster created commemorating Prince at the request of Black Lives Matter in the Minneapolis May Day parade disappeared during Duluth All Souls Night. Please keep an eye out for this guy.
If you have any information about his disappearance please call 218-310-6289 or if you want to return him anonymously you can leave him back at the Duluth Depot, no questions asked.
Jon and Erin Otis: Barrel Brokers
Duluth Barrel Works owners Jon and Erin Otis are the subjects of a profile story in The Growler magazine. The article details how Duluth Barrel Works buys, sells and repurposes solid oak barrels from wineries in California and bourbon distilleries in Kentucky. Jon converts some into rain barrels and breaks others down to create unique tables, benches, stools, candle holders and more.
PDD Quiz: October 2016
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October 2016 is almost over so let’s see what you remember about what happened in and around Duluth.