News and Current Affairs
Kozy Fire: Let’s Do Something Together
Can we put a fundraiser together between now and Sunday? Here is what Chester Creek Cafe will do:
1.) Set up a bank account to receive donations to Kozy residents.
2.) Take the 7pm to 10pm shift for a multiple site benefit – we clean out the “library” room for concert-style seating and prepare a “Spaghetti feed” type meal to be sold for (say) $15 to $20 — all of which will go to the Kozy fund. Any donations of clothing or other stuff will be available for Kozy residents. Kozy residents will also get a free meal that night.
3.) We will give any participating musicians and performers (Fire spinners?) a $15 gift certificate and a free meal.
Can other restaurants take the later shifts – like we all move down to the Brewhouse or Burrito Union at 10pm and then finish up at Luce at midnight?
Those places would offer a similar deal? What do you all think?
Restaurants? Musicians?
Let me know if this is doable.
Fire at Kozy Apartments
Kozy Bar burning in downtown Duluth
A News Tribune reporter on the scene said the upper floors are fully engulfed and it appears the building could be completely destroyed.
Via DNT
Rod Grams’ revenge
Chip Cravaack news release:
NORTH BRANCH – The week after edging out Minnesota’s longest-serving Congressperson in state history, Congressman-elect Chip Cravaack has named Senator Rod Grams as his interim chief of staff.
“Senator Grams brings a wealth of knowledge expertise on Washington D.C. and the 8th District to our team,” Cravaack said. “His previous experience serving the state of Minnesota will be invaluable as we prepare to hit the ground running on behalf of all the residents of our district.”
Senator Rod Grams was elected to Congress in 1992 and then to the Senate in 1994.
Cravaack also announced that campaign consultant Tony Post will oversee the transition. Campaign communications director Kyler Nerison will continue in that position during the transition.
Scott Keenan Park?
So I was just reading this story from the News Tribune about changes in the Duluth Park system:
Duluth park plan says smaller is better
It mentions a number of potential changes to improve the park system. But one caught my eye. The article mentions the possible elimination of something called “Scott Keenan Park.”
So, I have a few questions. First, where is this park? Second, has anyone told Scott Keenan that his namesake park might be closing?
Duluth’s War on Renters
Reading the DNT yesterday I was dismayed to learn that the Duluth City Council is planning on another ordinance that will drive up rental costs, take units off the market, and generally make it harder to be a non-homeowner in Duluth.
There is no draft of the proposed ordinance available yet, so we are dependent on the DNT’s reporting of the plan, but it seems that the City Council wants to:
- Impose a conversion fee on any non-rental being turned into a rental property;
- Require an inspection of any property to be converted (the city admits it is years behind in inspections, so this would mean a longer delay on new rentals coming to market);
- Restrict occupancy to 1 person / bedroom (meaning a couple with 2 children would require a 4-br house);
- Fine landlords who do not provide off-street parking.
As a renter in Duluth I am pretty upset that my rent will go up due to these new rules (unless my landlord turns the front yard into a parking pad), and that somehow people think making it more expensive to live in town will reduce overcrowding in student housing. My wife and I live in a nice 2-br house, but it would be illegal to have her sister live in our spare bedroom when she is out of college for the summers. Does that make any sense to anyone?
The 300-foot rule already restricts the available rental housing stock in Duluth, driving up prices, do we really need to make it worse?
Cholera flaring up again
Word is in from our two favorite Duluth nurses in Haiti, cholera is spreading quickly after the rains. Please check out their blog at peacelovehaiti.blogspot.com to see pictures, hear stories, and help any way you can. Julie ended up in a ditch last night when her tower of cots collapsed. No pictures of that though!
Northern Lights Express Passenger Rail: Stimulus or Boondoggle?
There have been a number of posts on PDD in the past regarding the Northern Lights Express passenger rail project, which would create a 155-mile train corridor connecting Duluth to Minneapolis. With Congressman Jim Oberstar’s loss to Chip Cravaack in Tuesday’s election, and Cravaack’s stated lack of support for the project, the subject of the NLX seems worth revisiting.
However, I’d like to provide some special guidelines for commenting on this post, because we’ve seen in the past that there are some pretty passionate supporters and opponents of this project, and its pros and cons tend to get lost in personal attacks and partisan silliness.
So, let’s try a little experiment. What I’d like to see is three different types of comments.
1) Simple links to news and information related to this subject, without any commentary whatsoever.
2) Comments labeled “Pro” at the beginning, which list one good thing about the project.
3) Comments labeled “Con” at the beginning, which list one negative thing about the project.
Keep it brief, resist the urge to respond to other people’s comments, resist the urge to make multiple pro or con comments, resist the urge to bash Cravaack or Oberstar, resist the urge to comment about these guidelines.
Ready. Set. Go.
Straw Poll: Who Shocked the World More?
I woke up today with an otherworldly, twilight zone-like feeling similar to the one I had in November of 1998, like where I had to check multiple news sources to see if I was understanding the election results correctly and then check back again to make sure. Shocked I tell you. Shocked.
My question to the PDD brain trust: What was more shocking Jesse’s win or Chip’s? And you can do a “where were you” personal memory or two if you want for color and flavor.
Love, Wild Goose
Duluth 2010 General Election Results
With all precincts reporting, here are the statewide numbers for Minnesota races related to Duluth and St. Louis County. (more…)
Join LakeVoice in our election Tweets
The LakeVoice editing team will be Tweeting the local Midterm election today. Feel free to follow us below or on Twitter and add your own perspectives by using the hashtag #DuluthVotes10 (that’s Twitter talk).
Google map update
I just noticed that a new satellite image of my neighborhood is on google maps. The area used to be fuzzy and green; it was hard to see the houses clearly. Now we can tell that two people were getting out of my minivan when the image of my house was taken. It was taken sometime this summer.
The photo posted here is the Hartley Nature Center parking lot, not far away. The screen-grab doesn’t look as clear as it does originally. Maybe your house has been updated, too?
Author Jay Weiner to speak tonight at The Bookstore at Fitgers
Author Jay Weiner will be in Duluth tonight for a talk and book signing for his new book This Is Not Florida: How Al Franken Won the Minnesota Senate Recount.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
5:00-8:00 pm
The Bookstore at Fitger’s
600 E. Superior St.
Duluth, MN 55802
Amidst storm, vandals break into East High School
Why was school called off yesterday anyway?
Hillside Laundry
Just got the news … Hillside Laundry is burning.
This week on the Playlist
A unique blend of gypsy-bluegrass; cross-country experiences with Roadtrip Nation; landscapes by Sue Pavlatos and a sneak peek at the College of Saint Scholastica’s production of Twelfth Night are in the spotlight on The PlayList, Thursday, Oct. 28 at 9pm on WDSE-WRPT’s PBS North (8.1/31.1). (The PlayList is repeated Fridays at midnight.)
Sample Ballot for Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota 2010 General Election
This sample ballot is for House District 7B, so, depending on where you live, it might include some stuff you won’t get to vote on (like State Rep for 7B or State Senator for 7) and might not include some stuff you will get to vote on (like State Rep for 7A or 6B, or the big race for District 1 County Commissioner). So heads up on that.
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Sample Ballot for Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin 2010 General Election
Here it is, a sample ballot so all the folks in Douglas County can practice at home.
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Independence of Duluth News Tribune Political Endorsements
The recent DNT endorsement of Chip Cravaack, a conservative Republican who enjoys a lot of Tea Party support, made me want to tap the PDD community for information and discussion of the DNT endorsements over the years. The Fargo-based, private company Forum Communications became owner of the DNT in 2006. Since then, the DNT and the many other Forum newspapers overwhelmingly tend to endorse conservatives and Republicans as a bloc.
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Monahan Brothers Make it to D.C.!!
Remember back in May!?!?! Well, 3,100 miles later, the old guys made it! This photo was taken at the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, where organizers from movetoamend.org unfurled a ginormous (20×100 ft.) preamble to the Constitution for people to sign. It was quite a display, both visually and emotionally (I’m pretty proud of my pops). The crowd was receptive and security was … cooperative. Pics from the action made it into USA Today and the Washington Post. Anyway, what a day! If this is inspiring at all, consider signing the motion at movetoamend.org. If you’re curious, here are the rest of the pics from my epic political activism adventure:
Rowdy crowd at Oberstar/Cravaack forum
It was an emotional crowd at the Congressman Jim Oberstar and challenger Chip Cravaack forum on Tuesday, Oct. 19. A crowd filled the main level of the DECC Auditorium and didn’t heed the requests of forum moderators Dave Orman or Chuck Frederick to keep the event civil.
At the beginning Orman told the crowd that there had been a fist fight in the Skywalk (which this blogger thought was a joke, but apparently not). See more photos and the whole Hillsider blog post here.
Hillsider intern attends presentation about Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Our Hillsider intern, Sam Elmquist, attended a presentation about Domestic Violence. Here is his post.
Power and Control Wheel
October is nationally recognized as violence against woman awareness month. In honor of this I attended a presentation about physical violence against women, more particularly about a women’s shelter here in Duluth called Safe Haven. The shelter works with men, women, and children involved in abusive relationships. Safe Haven provides a safety net which allows women caught up in abusive relationships to come and stay at the shelter, hopefully allowing them the time they need in order to try and settle themselves as individuals. Specifically they give these women a place to stay and time to figure out what it is they want to do.
Various support groups help them realize the situation they are in and give them the chance to relate with other women who are going through similar circumstances. The shelter offers women looking for help up to thirty days to figure out what it is they want to do, this is not necessarily a time limit because the shelter is willing to make exceptions for women who need more time and are seriously committed to change.
Read the whole post here.
Dayton, Emmer and Horner answer Hillsider questions about Duluth’s workforce and economic recovery
Minnesota gubernatorial candidates at the Duluth Chamber of Commerce The Forum event on Sept. 7, which was held at the Duluth Playhouse. From left to right: Tom Horner – Independent, Tom Emmer – Republican and Mark Dayton – DFL. (Photo by Naomi Yaeger-Bishcoff)
In the Hillsider’s October issue, the three gubernatorial candidates were asked:
How do you perceive Duluth’s workforce meeting the required skills for economic recovery from this recession?
Here are their answers:
Duluth Farmers Market
The Market is still open through Oct. 31 from 7am – noon. Lots of pumpkins, squash, garlic, etc, and fresh herring from Lake Superior Fish Co. The wild rice is also in great supply and the chocolate truffles are too! 14th Ave. E. and Third St.