FEMA rejects individual flood aid in Northland; state will appeal decision
The new Flame Nightclub at 26 N. First Ave. W. in Downtown Duluth opens on July 29.
The new Flame Nightclub at 26 N. First Ave. W. in Downtown Duluth opens on July 29.
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has started a project blog for its investigation into the Lake Superior barrels. The site lakesuperiorbarrels.wordpress.com will be used to update the public during the field work this summer.
On July 25, Duluth’s bicyclists and pedestrians in the Duluth Hillside area will be counted. The Healthy Duluth Area Coalition and Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Interstate Council are collaborating on the effort. From 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., volunteers will be out counting and surveying pedestrians and bikers at five locations. Volunteers are still needed, and people can sign up through the registration survey.
Comfort Systems, the utility provider in the city of Duluth, is offering a low-interest Home Energy Loan program for victims of the Northland Flash Flood who may need to replace furnaces, water heaters, or insulation in walls due to flood damage. The program offers low monthly payments, energy and costs savings for participants, and a low interest rate of 4.99%.
Tom Davis, one of the first writers on Saturday Night Live, died of cancer today. He was 59.
During the 1980s he appeared with his comedy partner Al Franken in three television commercials promoting Duluth.
There is less than a month to get the candidates straight for the Minnesota State and St. Louis County Primary Election on Aug. 14.
I stopped at the Lakeside Super One for groceries and saw that the Christian youth ministry “You Can Run But You Can’t Hide” had a table set up outside and was collecting money to “prevent teen suicide.” I didn’t immediately recognize the name of the group, but once I thought about it I realized it was this bunch.
Really? This group was labeled an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Law Poverty Center. I wonder if Super One realizes what this group represents. I will be calling and asking them that question. YCRBYCH representatives are very dishonest about themselves when they ask to speak at schools, and I would bet they don’t reveal their true agenda when asking to solicit.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
In the interest of fairness to Super One Foods, PDD’s moderators are inserting Super One’s response here with the submitted post rather than burying it in the comments. (It should be clarified that the early comments to this post occurred before this information was presented.)
According to Boyd Hanson, director of human resources at Miner’s Inc., which owns the Super One Foods chain, there was never proper approval for the You Can Run But Cannot Hide group to solicit in front of the Lakeside Super One … or any other Super One for that matter.
Hanson says the group presented itself to a Lakeside Super One employee as a Christian ministry with a mission to stop teen suicide. The employee said that would be fine, but when the store manager, John Radcliff, arrived he asked the group to leave because Super One has a no-solicitation policy.
“We allow the Salvation Army to ring the bell in our entrances … some of those kind of things,” Hanson said. “But generally speaking anything that would have any kind of a political or religious-type view we don’t allow to do that. … Why this group came to our store we don’t even know. … We just don’t get involved in those kind of things.”
The Duluth City Council recently approved spending $75,000 on a PR campaign to show people that the city is open for business post flood. I think it’s a dubious expense, though there are still people asking us how we are holding up and how we are getting around the city. But in reading a rather disjointed and breathless story in the Star Tribune today, I get the feeling that getting FEMA money will keep our city leaders from talking about rebuilding for a while:
From the Strib:
Said Duluth Fire Chief John Strongitharm, “When they see the scope of the storm, it would be difficult to think they would not be providing individual assistance. It’s had a major impact not only on the public infrastructure, but on people’s lives and homes.”
In Duluth, 10 inches of rain created the worst flash flooding in more than a century and hundreds of people were forced from homes by rising water. Roads buckled and washed out, sewers overflowed. Damage to public infrastructure has been estimated at $55 million.
“Any place there was a creek or culvert was destroyed,” Strongitharm said.
The Duluth Transit Authority is on a fast track for construction of its new Multimodal Transportation Center in downtown Duluth.
When it opens, the center will be a hub for multiple modes of transportation, including the main transit station for DTA buses and other inter-city bus lines, public and private parking, a reconstructed walkway between the downtown to the DECC and the first of its kind in Duluth, a bike station.
What this bike station looks like is where your help is needed.
When life gives you lemons, Sexhawk gives you lemonade. And a stirring anthem about last week’s flood: “Duluth is Still Afloat (In Our Hearts)”
Info from Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division:
– The COGGS mountain-biking trails are not open due to wet conditions. It is possible the trails will be open next week.
– Kingsbury Trail is closed.
– Western Waterfront Trail is passable. Hikers are asked to use caution.
– The Lakewalk is repaired and open to the public.
– Chester Trail is closed
– Lester Ski Trail is currently being surveyed for damage. Use with caution.
– Hartley Trail is open.
– Lincoln Trail is closed.
– Superior Hiking Trail can only be summed up section-by-section …
Cartoonist Chris Monroe discusses the flooding in Duluth, her 848 comics and the upcoming show at the Duluth Art Institute in this MinnPost article:
