I’m aware of trafficking, now what?
January is considered “Trafficking Awareness Month” or so the many e-mails and invites to special events are telling me. As a social worker and previously as a domestic violence/sexual assault advocate I have been inundated with trafficking discussions, forums, conferences, and trainings. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. However I feel as though now I am fully “aware” of trafficking and that the social-work community as a whole is very “aware” of trafficking in the Duluth area. My question is what do I now do with this awareness to help survivors of the industry and to prevent such things from happening to new victims? What is currently being done by local sexual assault groups such as PAVSA to combat trafficking and how can a social worker, or anyone for that matter, jump in and help?
Please don’t infer that I am in any way downing the efforts to inform people about trafficking — the more who know the better. But I do feel like there is a lack of discussion about action steps, and as a person whose clients and own family members have been affected by this issue I’d like to know less how to make people aware and more about how to do something about it.
Bobcats and Eagles
From Wildwoods, about recent admits. We get fewer in the Winter, but they are more interesting, as cases. (more…)
Minnesota concludes wolf hunting and trapping season
I feel some relief at this news, at the same time that I know, it’s the relief you get when your reprieve, you know, is temporary. No matter what you think about wolves, trapping is a terrible, unethical, destructive way to hunt. –David
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Down on Raleigh Street
Slideshow by Roger Nesje with music by Steve Johnson, paying tribute to old Two Street in West Duluth.
Poll: Best Local Album of 2013
Among the roughly four-dozen albums released by Duluth-area musicians in the past 12 months, 19 received mention in our call for nominations for Best Local Album of 2013. So now we attempt to identify the strongest in the field and ask you, dear reader …
[poll id=”60″]
This poll is now closed. These six albums advance to the final poll.
Cars & Trucks – Theatre Stardusk
Christoph Bruhn – Weekends on the Frontier
Tim Kaiser – Microphone Obscura
Low – The Invisible Way
Southwire – Southwire
Ryan Van Slooten – Victory March
2013 Demo Reel – Higher Base Media
Higher Base Media is a Duluth-based action sports media group that creates videos to promote local action sports in an attempt to get more people involved in these activities. We hope you all had a great year and enjoy our best footage from 2013!
2013: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
Click on any thumbnail to see the full-size image.
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This week: auld lang syne… or something like that… I’ve forgotten
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
How are you ringing in the new year on Tuesday? Here are some options:
- There’s a New Year’s Eve Bash going on all day at Beaner’s. The line up of musicians starts at 6:30 a.m.
- CASDA is having their annual dance at Barker’s Island.
- The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra is Dancing and Romancing at the DECC.
- R. T. Quinlan’s is having a Semi Formal Dress Ball which will likely be slashed by the Ball Slashers.
If you take a cab and leave your car downtown Tuesday night, don’t worry. It’s free parking on Wednesday.
The Bulldog Men’s Hockey team plays an exhibition game at Amsoil Arena on Friday.
Jason Schommer does a one man show about his encounters with celebrities in Starstruck at the Teatro Zuccone on Saturday.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Best … er, any fried chicken in Duluth?
Where can you get a good fried-chicken dinner in Duluth and/or the surrounding area? I’m not referring to KFC, or any take-home places, but a sit-down restaurant that serves fried-chicken diner that’s fresh and hot and doesn’t get cold by taking it into the house from the car during our cold winters. I’ve been searching and I’ve come up with nothing, I even found a post here that’s from a month shy of a year ago:
However, the closest thing listed, Sammy’s, only has wings now, (which are great), but is not a real fried (or broasted) chicken dinner, no matter how many you eat. Cassidy’s down in Hinckley had a decent one, but last time I was there they no longer serve it and vaguely said they might bring it back at times. It seemed more commonplace when I was a kid, but no one seems to have a good fried-chicken dinner anymore, at least around here, because I see them all the time on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Fresh batch of suggestions welcome!
Greysolon Plaza overhang collapses
Photo via Fox 21 News
At about 8:15 p.m. the front awning of the Greysolon Plaza collapsed, presumably from the weight of snow. There are no reports of injuries. (more…)
The Boomchucks – “When I’m Missing You”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMuDZuQqR-U
New video for a song from their 2010 self-titled album.
Vice Does Enbridge
“It’s been three and a half years since Enbridge’s Line 6B pipeline ruptured in Marshall, Michigan, leaking more than 843,000 gallons of diluted tar sands bitumen into the Kalamazoo River. It was the largest on-land oil spill in the history of the USA, and remains, so far, as the largest spill of tar sands oil ever. Yet despite Enbridge’s immense, ongoing clean-up operation, which has spanned more than three years, cost over a billion dollars, and removed significantly more oil from the river than the company will admit it spilled, those living in Enbridge’s sacrifice zone have more questions than answers-even as most areas of the river have been re-opened for public use. High on the list of concerns is a chilling refrain: What are these chemicals that work crews have been dumping into the river in massive quantities, and are they dangerous?”
Minnesota Shoplifting Detain/Restrain Laws?
Does anyone know the laws regarding detaining/restraining suspected shoplifters? I walked out of the mall tonight and found three Younkers loss-prevention staff holding a woman face-down in the snow, with their knees on her back attempting to handcuff her while she was telling them she couldn’t breathe.
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Day after Christmas, I
Life of a Sailor: The Winter
Tip Telep’s video of life aboard the Interlake Steamship Co.’s flagship merchant vessel Paul R. Tregurtha — the longest ship on the Great Lakes. Music: “Whole Wide World” by Big Tree.
Favorite Duluth Albums of 2013
Oh, isn’t it just so typical to ask a question like this at the end of the year? Well, with something like four-dozen albums released by local musicians in 2013 it’s hard to keep up. Someone has to inform the general public of what’s essential. And that someone is you. Let your preferences be known in the comments.
And yes, this is leading into a poll.
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
On this chilly morn, the blue light of the moon reveals the carnage left on the battlefield of the War on Xmas. Last year’s Apple product, the old tube television, and mounds of torn wrapping paper clutter the otherwise barren landscape. Though the media pundit generals have refused to sign the Declaration of Armistice, the conflict is over. The body count was surprisingly low- a Christmas miracle, one might even say. According to official reports, there was only a single casualty. Ironically, it was a Salvation Army bell-ringer who was assaulted by a “true believer” who was so insulted by the charity worker’s exhortation of “Happy Holidays,” that they had no other choice but to punch them in the face. We can only pray that the Peace holds — and that cooler heads will prevail. In closing, let us wish a Happy Birthday to Albino Jesus.
Insane Footage of Lake Superior in December
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM-Pl4Jz19Y
All your band wants for Christmas is a Homegrown gig
Band registration for the 2014 Homegrown Music Festival opens Christmas Day. Performers interested in playing the festival, which runs April 27 to May 4, must complete the online registration before Jan. 31.
This year’s Homegrown Winter Fiasco will take place Jan. 17 and will feature nine Homegrown artists playing at three Duluth music venues. The Winter Fiasco is a pre-festival showcase celebrating Homegrown volunteer sign-up and band registration. The Winter Fiasco shows are all free events and will feature volunteer sign-up stations and festival staff on site to answer Homegrown inquiries.
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Manheat Eats Low Breaker
Rough video from the Duluth Does Low concert — Dec. 12, 2013.
Merry Christmas.
This week: ‘Tis the week of Christmas
‘Tis the week of Christmas and, here in Duluth,
Rubber Chicken has a revue which is most uncouth.
Bentleyville‘s lit up from bottoms to tops
and there’s Open Ice Skating for teens and for tots.
Magic‘s all around! (Well it is on Friday nights.)
And Fairlawn Mansion is all done up in lights.
CHUM’s holding a vigil to remember the homeless
who can’t find a room, like modern Marys and Josephs.
Winter Camp at Camp Miller will stave off the chills
with sledding, ice fishing and cold weather skills.
There’s outdoor trail hiking at Jay Cooke and Gooseberry
and indoor brew touring if that’s way too scary.
And all day Wednesday, my words you’ll be marking,
have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the free parking.
Star Trek – The Northern Frontier
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9l0-znJiY
From Star Trek: Enterprise, season 3, episode 1, “The Xindi,” first aired Sept. 10, 2003. Because of this, Duluth has a short entry in Memory Alpha, the repository of all things Star Trek on the interwebs.