News and Current Affairs

On Thursday, LakeVoice will release its first ever photo issue. For this issue, LakeVoice staff will go out into the community to capture snapshots of people living their lives in Duluth. The project is inspired by Humans of New York. The goal is to share stories of people’s everyday lives through photos. LakeVoice would like to invite you to join in the project.
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The Duluth News Tribune reports the state of Minnesota is withdrawing from a research project regarding mercury pollution in the St. Louis River, even though much of the river’s fish are inedible to women and children, and despite the fact that 1 out of 10 North Shore infants have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood.

The article states that sources of mercury in the environment are well known. They include power plants, taconite plants and sulfate pollution (like the pollution from sulfide mining).

Officials from the MPCA said the state first needs more research on how mercury behaves in nature, but later in the article the proposed study is said to have included new research on how mercury behaves in the environment. Huh? It seems this research would be especially timely due to proposed copper-sulfide mining in Northern Minnesota.

This week, LakeVoice releases its fifth spring issue, featuring stories on Mentor Duluth and its search for volunteers, the Re-Leaf Duluth program and its plan to replenish the city’s landscape, the Duluth Transit Authority’s plans for a new station and the changes that are coming to next year’s Bentleyville season.
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DTA buses are sliding all over the place and bus service might be stopped before the end of the work day.

The Duluth Police Dept. reports that slippery conditions and poor visibility have contributed to over 20 crashes within the past two hours. The department is asking that residents stay home and only travel if necessary.

The zoo is closed. Goodwill is closed. Open skating at the Heritage Center is cancelled. The Duluth Parks and Rec clean up event at Chambers Grove Park is cancelled. Assume most things aren’t happening.

The poor dummy is high up in a tree on the Western Waterfront Trail just south of Indian Point Campground. I invoked the Fire Dept., but the location of the tree was determined to be too tricky for rescue, and, so I’m told, cats always come down on their own … eventually.

First Covenant Church
St. Michael’s Catholic Church
US Bank Building
Superior Public Library
Peace in Christ Church
Asbury United Methodist Church
First United Methodist Church
Mariner Mall

There is one week left to enroll in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-3. For dates and details visit cps3twinports.org

There are a bunch of posts promoting radical leaders who advocate racial genocide on the Un-fair Campaign’s Facebook page! Yipes! Is this what Duluth has come to?

I just headed down to Goodwill to pick up a suitcase. I’m heading to Scotland to work on an organic vegetable farm for a couple of months. As I was coming back up the hill, I happened to look at the freeway and the thought came to me: Why is it that there are no solar photovoltaics on the south-facing sides of the freeway? What a perfect spot. Out of the way, not doing anything. Some places 20 to 30 feet from the ground to the road bed. South facing. Don’t have to take anything down. We own the right away. Why don’t we do something like that in Duluth? Apathy, ignorance, afraid of change, sold out to power companies, scared, need the money for hockey rinks … what’s the reason? I just don’t get it.

This is a revolution that is sweeping the world. The cost of solarvoltaics is cheaper then fossil fuels in some places. We can’t even try something so small as one solar street light. For 15 years I’ve been going on this rant. Is it going to be another 15 years? Is Duluth going to be that far behind the rest of the world? I just don’t get it.

I was at Super One in Kenwood last week, and a local Boy Scout troupe was bagging groceries. I didn’t want to give them a hard time, but I am opposed to the organization’s stand on gay rights, and so I finally said to the Scout Master adult, “Look, I’m not going to give you any money because of your stand on gay rights,” and offered to bag my own groceries (nicely, I hope). The Boy Scouts both proceeded to bag my groceries. I thanked them and said, “When your organization’s stand on gay rights changes, I’ll give you all the money I have.” Whereupon one of the young Scouts told me, “Well, actually, there is a movement at Minnesota State Scout Headquarters to change the State Scout charter in support of gay rights,” etc., and this kid looked totally excited about it! Then his Scout Master comes up and starts running his hand under the young man’s uniform collar, as if to shut him up, in a vaguely threatening manner.

Anyway, I profusely thanked this (very brave for incurring his Scout Master’s wrath) young man for the information, and I told him I certainly hope Minnesota Scouts does change its position.

I haven’t researched this yet, as I then went home and got extremely sick, so if anyone knows about it, please let me know. And thank you, brave Boy Scout, for the information!