Lark o’ the Lake Ice Cream Coffee Café open in Greysolon Plaza

Lark Cafe ownersThe Duluth News Tribune reports the new Lark o’ the Lake Café opened in the Greysolon Plaza on Nov. 27. Owners are Sandra Ettestad, Mark Marino and Don Monaco.

“The menu includes coffee and espresso drinks, smoothies, pastries, deli sandwiches, soups, salads and old-fashioned ice cream desserts,” the DNT article notes. “Prices are affordable, with most lunches less than $10. The cafe has Wi-Fi and is close to getting a wine and beer license.”

Duluth News Tribune: Lark Café opens at Greysolon Plaza in Duluth with a focus on aviation

News and Current AffairsRestaurantsGreysolon PlazaLark o' the Lake Café

This Week: fishing, beer, Krayzie Bone and more

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Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:

Amber Burns has an art show at the Zeitgeist building, there’s help available for people wanting more info on MNsure, UWS holds its 18th annual Choral Concert, Fairlawn Mansion is a-twinklin’, Zenith City Cabaret puts on its December show and Santa is making a stop at Mr. D’s.

Krayzie Bone from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (not that other Krayzie Bone you’re thinking of) is playing the Red Herring, there’s a Men as Peacemakers fundraiser featuring several performers, Warm Up to the Brews 2015 is going down (also with bands attached), fans of ice fishing, snowmobiles and holidays should make some time to hit the DECC, the Minnesota Ballet is crackin’ nuts, Rubber Chicken Theater makes with the local holiday yuk-yuks, guitarist Lonnie Knight is in town and the Fractals play a holiday fundraiser for kids.

Events
Fond-du-Luth Casino: Friday
Downtown Duluth: Movies in the Park

Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad will run in 2016

LSMRLake Superior & Mississippi Railroad, which recently made VacationIdea magazine’s list of the “25 Best Things to See & Do in Duluth, Minnesota,” has been notified that the U.S. Steel clean up on the St. Louis River won’t start until the fall of 2016. So rail tours along the shoreline will return next summer.

Come on out and volunteer. You will meet some great people while having fun along the St. Louis River!

News and Current AffairsLake Superior & Mississippi RailroadSt. Louis River

The Ripsaw’s Demise

Ripsaw Dotygate Ripsaw Duluth's Lingering Shame Ripsaw Magazine Minnesota Exporers Ripsaw 2005 Clough Island

It was Dec. 6, 2005 when the plug was officially pulled on the Ripsaw, Duluth’s experiment with having a newspaper similar to City Pages or Isthmus. It didn’t last long, but it was good while it lasted. (more…)

HistoryMediaRipsaw
Weis Eye Center
Lake Superior Harvest Festival

Video Archive: Bill Flannagan – “In the Pines”

Yet another clip recorded live at R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon during open mic night on Sept. 16, 1995.

MusicVideosBill FlannaganR.T. Quinlan's SaloonVideo Archive

Meet Emily Larson, Duluth’s next mayor

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Ever on the lookout to meet interesting people, I reached out to Emily Larson a few days before the election by attempting to invite myself over for dinner with the family. To sweeten the deal, I offered to assist with meal prep and do the dishes. Wishing to protect the privacy of her family, she declined my generous offer. She did, however, carve out nearly two hours from her busy schedule for the sake of an unconventional interview. In the process, I acquired a friend. You can read more from my exclusive interview at Ed’s Big Adventure.

PoliticsEmily Larson
Pizza Luce: Dililio
Ashwabay Alliance / Big Top Chautauqua

Superior exploring possible “exposition district”

Superior Exposition DistrictBusiness North reports an economic development group called Better City Superior intends to seek state permission to create an “exposition district” to attract new developments, such as a 150-room hotel, 20,000-square-foot convention center, 50,000-square-foot water park, a sports field house, a movie theater and a corporate campus.

Business North: “Better City Superior announces growth vision

News and Current AffairsBetter City SuperiorSuperior

Selective Focus: Food

Erin Naughton-Garrison

Erin Naughton-Garrison, “Drag Queen Baby Shower Buffet”

Nice. I was expecting perfectly-plated smart phone grabs from local restaurants, and instead received a group of highly original interpretations on this week’s theme. Erin’s da Vinciesque tableau was especially arresting, and I appreciated the subtext of food as a tradition we convey along generations. Staying with the elemental, next week’s theme will be “air.” (more…)

ArtPhotosSelective Focus
Grandma\'s YAF MN Mile
Fond-du-Luth Casino: Friday

My Time with Arrowhead Regional Arts Council

Photo of me and a friend during my time in Duluth.

Joni Van Bockel and a friend during her time in Duluth.

Hi, I’m Joni Van Bockel. In June I left the Twin Cities to work and intern for the wonderful folks at the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. This internship has been an extremely valuable learning opportunity for me both as a professional seeking a career in the arts and as a young artist. (more…)

ArtARAC

Exhibition Drive Holiday Sound & Light Show

The Kern family’s holiday sound and light show at 2725 Exhibition Drive in Duluth runs nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. through Dec. 31. Video by Steven Gold.

VideosChristmas
Grandma\'s YAF MN Mile

Bagley Nature Area Population Boom?

lean-to shelter

It looks like there is a population explosion in UMD’s Bagley Nature Area! A couple elaborate shelters with exquisite details are inhabited — yet nicely hidden from the prying eyes of neighbors. At the time of my visit, the residents must have been in class but they did leave a fresh deer hide behind to greet me. I give them an A+ in civil engineering!

OutdoorsBagley Nature AreaUMD

PDD Video Lab: “Windows” at the Tweed

Sharon Louden’s exhibition is on display at the Tweed Museum of Art through May 29.

Pick your favorite soundtrack from the choices below and play it along with this silent video.

ArtVideosVideo Lab
Pier B Resort: Rise and Dine
Pizza Luce: Dililio

Cornucopia 2015: A Remarkable Harvest!

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A week ago we hosted an outstanding event at the Red Herring Lounge: Cornucopia 2015. The evening featured some of the best live music our area has to offer, both Emily Larson and Don Ness, live painting, tap dance, local brews, and more. Unbridled joy, like running with wild horses, marked the evening. A goal was to showcase and celebrate the abundant talent our area produced in 2015. This year’s harvest, if you will. Additionally, we wanted everyone to experience just how accessible these local “celebrities” really are. There are no little people. You can read more about this one-of-a-kind evening, the busiest Tuesday ever at the Red Herring Lounge, at Ed’s Big Adventure.

EventsRed Herring Lounge

College of St. Scholastica 2015 Christmas Video

Sledding, sweets and a warm fire. All the good stuff.

VideosChristmasCollege of St. Scholastica
Pizza Luce: Dililio

Cones

Video by Will Smyth, featuring a bunch of cones. Some are clearly in Duluth. Some are probably not.

ArtVideos

Red Fox near Duluth Harbor

Red-Fox-Park-Point-2 Red-Fox-Park-Point-4

Rich Hoeg was out looking for snowy owls on the Duluth waterfront and came up empty … except for this red fox sighting. For more photos check out Hoeg’s 365 Days of Birds blog.

OutdoorsPhotosFox
Vision Pro: Clear Vision
Lake Superior Harvest Festival

Nathan Gustavsson of Hermantown

Since the shooting in the Twin Cities at the Black Lives Matter protest, it was revealed that one of the suspects is from Hermantown.

Nearly 1,000 people marched to City Hall on Tuesday, less than a day after five protesters were shot near a Black Lives Matter demonstration, an apparently racially motivated attack that pushed Minneapolis into the national spotlight.

Minneapolis police said Tuesday that they have arrested three men in connection with the shooting. Allen Lawrence “Lance” Scarsella III, 23, was arrested in Bloomington. Sources said Nathan Gustavsson, 21, of Hermantown, and Daniel Macey, 26, of Pine City, were taken into custody after they turned themselves in. All three suspects are white. Earlier Tuesday, police arrested a 32-year-old Hispanic man in south Minneapolis, but he was later released because, police said, he was not at the scene of the shooting.

Minneapolis Star Tribune: 3 men in custody, 1 released in Minneapolis 4th Precinct protest shooting

A friend of mine in the Cities wanted to know how that revelation played out up here.  To be honest, his question was the first I’d heard.

Thoughts?

News and Current AffairsHermantown

Duluth National Snocross 2015

Video by Max Fierek.

SportsVideosSnowmobilingSpirit Mountain
Grandma\'s YAF MN Mile
Glensheen Lantern Tours 2026

This Week: lots o’ music, whiskey, comedy and more

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Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:

Rockapella 2015 is in the house: Home Free stops at the DECC for some vocal-only action, people can taste a bunch of whiskeys at the Kitch to benefit the DSSO, Superior Siren plays the Red Herring with Coyote and Black Diary, Mary Poppins flies into Duluth, pop-country guy Chris Young comes to the Amsoil and Chris Monroe shows her latest stuff.

Kate Isles releases her first solo album, Rubber Chicken presents its latest Duluth-centric holiday production, Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute comes to Weber Music Hall, Charles Dickens serves up some ghostly justice to the ultimate one-percenter, a bunch of bands comprised of people who didn’t ask to be stuck together perform and Sacred Heart is holding a holiday fundraiser.

Events

Bald eagle stuck in trap rescued by hunters


 

Two brothers grouse hunting in Canada rescued a bald eagle with its talon stuck in a trap and then took a selfie with it. They posted video of the rescue on Facebook, the freeing of the talon took about four minutes. (more…)

News and Current AffairsOutdoorsBirds
Ashwabay Alliance / Big Top Chautauqua
Glensheen Lantern Tours 2026

Video Archive: Fromunda Trio at R.T. Quinlan’s

The trio of Tina Ludwig-Laxen, Jay Johnson and James J. Myers Jr. performing at R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon during an open mic on Sept. 16, 1995.

MusicR.T. Quinlan's SaloonThe FromundasVideo Archive

Elvis – A Day in Duluth

Elvis - A Day in Duluth bootleg Elvis - A Day in Duluth bootleg back cover

A previous post on Perfect Duluth Day reveals a Led Zeppelin bootleg from the 1960s is incorrectly labeled as “Live in Duluth.” Well, it turns out there is an Elvis Presley album titled A Day in Duluth that has every indication of being authentic. (more…)

MusicBootlegsQueries
Glensheen Lantern Tours 2026
Ashwabay Alliance / Big Top Chautauqua

Duluth musician has fortuitous random connection in Norway

Jamie KallestadVia Vestnytt, a newspaper published in Straume, Norway, PDD reports: “Det magiske Kallestadmøtet i luften.”

Duluth musician Jamie Kallestad performed at the the Glesvær Kafe yesterday. Translators, sort that out and share your wisdom.

MusicJamie Kallestad

Kristy Marie and the Forget Me Nots Indiegogo Campaign

Kristy Marie and the Forget Me NotsDuluth band Kristy Marie and the Forget Me Nots is working on a new album of “ethereal folk music” titled Maiden America. Contributions are being sought through an Indiegogo campaign to acquire a “mastering ear contributing to the completion of the sound” and to pay CD-printing costs.

MusicVideosCrowdfundingKristy Marie
Lake Superior Harvest Festival
Glensheen Lantern Tours 2026

Black Lives Matter

Video by April Robinson from a November 2014 protest in Duluth.

Videos