News and Current Affairs
Explore Duluth/Superior LocalWiki
Chris Handsone and Esther Derby have launched a LocalWiki for Duluth and Superior. Similar to Wikipedia in general, the LocalWiki effort is intended to “collect, share and open the world’s local knowledge” by allowing anyone to create and edit information about where they live — “their local government, the history of their neighborhoods, streets, social movements, noteworthy local figures, social services, schools — every facet of life in their community.” Check out the Explore Duluth/Superior LocalWiki at localwiki.org/duluth/_explore.
New coffee shop in Fitger’s complex
Cookie Temptations & Coffee House has done a soft open in the Fitger’s Complex. The sign indicates it will open on July 1, but customers were being served on Monday. The small coffee shop has no seating and is, more or less, situated in the hallway of the ground floor of the Fitger’s Brewery Complex. (more…)
Happy dozenth birthday to us
Perfect Duluth Day is twelve years old today – Monday, June 29, 2015. The official celebration is at the Red Herring Lounge tonight at 8 p.m. Because it’s our dozenth birthday, there will be complimentary doughnuts from A Dozen Excuses Donuts. Serving as video DJ will be Lake Superior Aquaman. And there will be prizes and merriment as usual.
PDDXII Facebook invite (consider yourself invited)
Thanks to all of you for helping to keep Perfect Duluth Day perfect!
Vietnamese Lotus Inn is back … as VN Coffeehouse
On Feb. 2, 2013, the Vietnamese Lotus Inn planned to close its doors for good. A little over two years later, owners Steve and Cuc Allen have reopened with a new name, VN Coffeehouse. (more…)
Lollygagger Pale Ale: Bent Paddle and Loll Designs collaborate on new beer to support local bikers
Loll Designs and Bent Paddle Brewing Company are teaming up to release Lollygagger Pale Ale in the coming weeks. It states on the can that 5 percent of sales will be donated to Cyclists of the Gitchee Gumee Shores, a group with the mission to improve cycling opportunities in the Twin Ports. The contribution will be split between Loll and Bent Paddle. The new can design was a collaboration between Bent Paddle owners and Loll graphic designers. Cheers to drinking beer for a great cause. The beer should hit liquor stores by mid July.
Is this bear poop on my front lawn?
These droppings were six feet from my front door this morning on North 42nd Avenue West in West Duluth.
St. Paul gets all up in Duluth’s craft-beer capital-proclaiming face
A new billboard has popped up on Grand Avenue in West Duluth with fighting words issued from St. Paul. Duluth, many will recall, claimed the title of “Craft Beer Capital of Minnesota” back in February 2013. (more…)
Lake Superior masons, past Portorama leader and more in the Look at Lakeside newsletter
The Look at Lakeside newsletter turned three years old with its 18th issue, published a few weeks ago (six issues per year). The newsletter is online at lookatlakeside.com. It was interesting to get a tour of the masonic lodge in Lakeside. How many buildings do we drive by often but haven’t been in? Maybe I’m a curious person but it’s interesting to me to think about all the people who have been in a place over the years.
Dead tree or stunted bloomer?
A recent news release from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that “foresters are seeing many silver maples and some elms with stunted or no leaves and an abundance of seeds this spring. These trees are not dead and will rebound over the next couple of years.”
The image above is of a tree I planted last fall that hasn’t produced leaves this spring. I can’t remember what kind of tree it is, but I think it’s a northern pin oak. The DNR lists elms, maples, ashes and oaks as potential stunted bloomers. (more…)
Canal Park parking has been … um … streamlined
The Duluth News Tribune reported on Monday that rates have changed at three parking lots in Canal Park. Two examples are the Northwest Iron lot (between Grandma’s Saloon and the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace) and the Lighthouse lot (near the lighthouse pier). The minimum rate is now $3 for three hours, up from last year’s $2 for two hours.
The DNT notes:
Parking Operations Specialist Mark Bauer said the city decided to make the changes to streamline the parking process.
“Instead of trying to interpret and guess how much time you’re going to be there, we thought it would be easier to just simply pay for this three-hour block of time,” Bauer said. “It simply covers you up to that three-hour limit.”
There has been no word yet on whether hotels in the area will be streamlining their processes by invoking a three-night minimum stay or whether bars will enforce a three-drink minimum for customer convenience. (more…)
Canadian wildfire haze over Duluth
Forest fires burning across Saskatchewan are making for a rather psychedelic afternoon.
Great Lakes Trail
If all the existing trails, trails under construction and trails in the planning phases in Duluth aren’t quite enough, here’s a rather ambitious plan that would upset a few local backyards. The Detroit Free Press reports of a plan for the “Great Lakes Trail” — a 10,900-mile trail spanning at least eight states and two Canadian provinces, following the shores of the five Great Lakes.
World’s longest marked trail proposed around Great Lakes
As the Great Lakes states were admitted into the Union, the federal government granted them the lake beds and waters of the Great Lakes up to the ordinary high-water mark — from the point on the bank or shore where continuous wave action has made a distinct mark, to the water.
This was affirmed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1894, in the Shively v. Bowlby case. The justices found that lands below the high-water mark were “for the benefit of the whole people.” (This may come as news to owners of $750,000 lakefront homes whose deed tells them the shoreline is theirs.)
Rhubarbarism
Once upon a time I would not have guessed that I’d ever witness somebody stealing rhubarb, but yeah, that’s what this guy did behind our neighbors’ garage this afternoon. (more…)
Happy tick season to all
Ticks are most active from mid-May through mid-July.
- Walk in the center of trails.
- Conduct frequent strip searches.
- Tweeze ’em and torch ’em.
Beware the gadfly’s sting
Duluth News Tribune photo by Clint Austin
In your face, petty tyrants! The First Amendment rules!
Duluth News Tribune: Duluth School Board may opt against removing Johnston
Duluth Reader: Stop swatting the gadflies
Old Klearflax warehouse is a-comin’ down
As previously reported on PDD, Walker Display has moved its operations out of West Duluth, and its former location on Grand Avenue is being demolished to make way for a Kwik Trip convenience store. The demolition process has revealed the former exterior of the building’s west side — a reminder that it once served as a warehouse for Klearflax Linen Rugs Co. (more…)
Apparently the mayor was too focused on sharks
Photo by Ken Greshowak
Last we heard, someone was dressed in a bear suit in front of City Hall, trying to coax this poor critter down from the tree.
Missing Person: Helge Rohm
Update: The Duluth Police Department reports that Helge Rohm has been located and is safe.
The Duluth Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 72-year-old Helge Rohm. He is a Duluth resident and was last seen in the area of Second Avenue East and Sixth Street on Saturday, April 19.
Rohm is a 6-ft.-tall, 190-lb. white male with blue eyes and white/grey hair. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Violent Crimes Unit at 218-730-5050.
8-Bit Classic Collection brings back the oldies
Out with the old video-game shop, in with the older video-game shop. After a spur-of-the-moment decision to buy the Game Galaxy store at 28 W. First St., Jim Mattson changed the focus and the name, opening 8-Bit Classic Collection on Feb. 1, specializing in vintage video games. (more…)
Duluthians conquer Switzerland’s “Wall of Death”!
Congratulations to Rick Kollath and Dean Einerson who topped out this morning on the mythic North Face of the Eiger, one of the most sought-after plumbs in alpine climbing (even Clint Eastwood failed spectacularly here in The Eiger Sanction)! The Eiger has claimed more than its share in terms of sensational mountain tragedies, but you can’t keep a good team from the Great Plains down. This ascent is testimony to the physical and mental grit of these two paragons of Duluth climbing, not to mention the world-class local training facilities at Superior Kettlebell Gym and Casket Quarry. Well done, lads!
Homegrown Field Guide 2015
Cover art by Heidi Blunt.
The Red Door brightens Duluth’s East Hillside
Photos by Jamie Merideth
Hibbing native Sharon Kangas has been a Head Start teacher and cosmetologist. Now she’s an entrepreneur. In September 2013 she opened the Red Door, an ornate consignment shop in Duluth’s East Hillside neighborhood. (more…)
Jade Fountain purchased by owner of neighboring restaurant
Bill Kalligher has been owner of Gannucci’s Italian Market for four years. During that time the three-decades old West Duluth eatery expanded in both size and scope, and in October was featured on the cable television show Diners, Drive-in and Dives. Last week Kalligher expanded his holdings by acquiring one of the area’s oldest restaurants, Jade Fountain.
Located at 305 N. Central Ave., two doors down from Gannucci’s, Jade Fountain has been a staple in West Duluth since George Wong opened it in 1968. Wong sold it in 1997 to Sick Cheung Lee, who had just immigrated to the United States. Lee died in November and his widow Kwok Chun Mak was looking to sell. (more…)
Popular Minneapolis chef will open resort restaurant in Pengilly
Sarah Master has announced she will leave her position as executive chef at Minneapolis’ Café Barbette to open a restaurant and resort 75 miles outside of Duluth in the Iron Range city of Penguilly. Her partner in the venture is Dan Beckwith, who had been working as the financial controller of Bryant-Lake Company.
Mr. Roberts Resort is expected to open on June 1 at 28179 East Shore Drive. A news release announcing the plans refers to it as “a unique combination of a full-service restaurant, bar, cabins and RV sites, all situated in a bucolic setting on Swan Lake in Northern Minnesota.”
(more…)