PDD News Sieve
DuluthiLeaks: MacArthur Elementary PTA Budget for 1979-80
For the seventh edition of DuluthiLeaks — Perfect Duluth Day’s series in which public documents are presented as if they contain secret information leaked from an anonymous whistle blower — we present the Laura MacArthur Elementary School Parent Teacher Association’s proposed budget for the 1979 to 1980 school year.
Chuck Haavik – “Nothing to Say”
Duluth’s Chuck Haavik has a new EP, Friend For the End of the World. The single “Nothing to Say,” embedded above, features Dave Mehling on electric guitar, Emily Haavik on backing vocals and Luke Mirau on drums. Mehling produced and mixed the album.
Haavik’s EP release show is Dec. 27 at Wussow’s Concert Cafe.
Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winners for 2025
Eight books in four categories have been recognized for this year’s Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards, which celebrate books that substantially represent the history, culture, heritage or lifestyle of northeastern Minnesota. (more…)
Unpaid air traffic controller sending all planes to Duluth
Unpaid Air Traffic Controller Now Just Deliberately Sending All Planes To Duluth, Minnesota For Laughs | Babylon Bee
LOS ANGELES, CA — Norman Shelby, an air traffic controller who works out of LAX, reportedly coped with his missing paycheck as a result of the government shutdown by deliberately sending planes to Duluth, Minnesota, for laughs.
babylonbee.com
An article on The Babylon Bee satirical news website reports that an air traffic controller who works out of Los Angeles International Airport “reportedly coped with his missing paycheck as a result of the government shutdown by deliberately sending planes to Duluth, Minnesota, for laughs.” (more…)
Duluth 2025 General Election Results
With all precincts reporting, here are the unofficial results for Duluth municipal and school district races. (more…)
R.I.P Todd Eckart
News broke today that Duluth musician Todd Eckart was one of two people killed in a head-on automobile collision in the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 53 at Berg Park Road in Amnicon Township on Oct. 22.
Eckart was one of the city’s busiest performers, playing gigs at virtually every possible venue. Below is just a small sampling of his vast array of gig posters. (more…)
Duluth 2025 General Election Sample Ballot
General Election Day for the city of Duluth and Independent School District #709 is Tuesday, Nov. 4. The sample ballot above does not reflect what an actual ballot will look like in any part of the city. Some voters will not see any district races; others will see either District 1, 2 or 4 races on their ballot.
R.I.P. Lakeside Professional Building
Demolition of the Lakeside Professional Building began in August. (Photo by Gina Temple-Rhodes)
The Lakeside Professional Building, formerly St. Michael’s School, is no more. St. Michael’s Catholic Church announced in December that the building at 4915 E. Superior St. had been deemed structurally deficient and would be demolished. The tenants, which included Gabriel’s Used Bookstore and the Sami Cultural Center, cleared out in the spring. Gabriel’s had operated out of the building’s basement since 1994.
The Secret Life of Data Centers
Agate reports that cities around Minnesota — including Farmington and Hermantown — have signed non-disclosure agreements with developers for projects that might be data centers. The article notes the Hermantown facility is “multiple buildings totaling nearly two million square feet” and the description of the project is “so vague that the Minnesota DNR objects that citizens would have trouble offering any comments because it’s unclear what the proposal is.”
Agate is an online magazine covering nature, science and conservation.
Duluth 2025 Primary Election Results
With 34 of 34 precincts reporting, here are the vote totals.
Duluth At-large City Councilor
Top four candidates advance to General Election; two will be elected
Terese Tomanek – 3,192
Jordan Johnson – 2,468
Derek Medved – 2,129
Asher Estrin Haire – 811
Zachary Davis Moder – 721
Duluth Second District City Councilor
Diane Desotelle – 1,055
Christopher Adatte – 224
Pierre Tournier – 41
Duluth At-large School Board Member
Top four candidates advance to General Election; two will be elected
Amber Sadowski – 3,036
Kelly Durick Eder – 2,680
Harry Welty – 1,477
Loren Martell – 1.027
Jane Hoffman – 970
Duluth 2025 Primary Election Sample Ballot
Duluth’s primary election ballot on Aug. 12 includes citywide races for at-large seats on the city council and school board, and a school district referendum question. Citizens in the Endion, Congdon, Chester Park and Kenwood neighborhoods will also vote on the Second District City Council race.
The general election on Nov. 4 will include three more races — Fourth District City Council, District One School Board and District Four School Board.
Alfred Merritt on the beauty of the Head of the Lakes
We passed through the old Superior entry into Superior bay about 2 p.m. on Oct. 28, 1856. I wish that you could have seen how beautiful the Head of the Lakes looked at that time. It was practically in a state of nature. The Indians were there, with their wigwams scattered up and down Minnesota and Wisconsin points, with the smoke curling from the top of the wigwams, and their canoes skimming along the waters of the bay or hauled upon the shore. Fish and game were in abundance. Tall pines and hardwood trees were growing on the hillsides and down to the water’s edge, and with the leaves of the hardwood trees turned as they were in the fall, what a beautiful sight it was. I have many times wished that I had a picture as it looked then, or a gift of language to describe the beauty of the Head of the Lakes as I saw it as a boy of 9 years old.
— Alfred Merritt
On July 24, 1925 — one hundred years ago today — the Duluth Herald published the reminiscences of Duluth pioneer Alfred Merritt. The text was excerpted from Merritt’s autobiography, which had been penned 10 years prior. (more…)
R.I.P. Loiselle Liquor / Lake Superior Liquor Cabinet
The former Loiselle Liquor store in Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood was demolished last week. It was the oldest liquor store in Duluth, established in 1934. The store was sold in 2022 and took a new name — Lake Superior Liquor Cabinet — but eventually closed. The building was sold to Essentia Health in April. (more…)
The Way it Was in West Duluth
Alan Terway (left), bartender at Mr. D’s Spirit Valley Bar and Lounge, 5622 Grand Ave., talks with retired bartender Johnny Matheson of Superior. Matheson tended bar there in the 1940s and ’50s, when it was called Teve’s West Duluth Bar and Grill. (Duluth News Tribune & Herald photo by Charles Curtis, 1985)
And now, a look back at a look back. Forty years ago today — July 18, 1985 — the Duluth News-Tribune & Herald published a special Community Herald section with several stories about West Duluth. The cover story delved into neighborhood bar nostalgia. (more…)
Duluth to Liverpool in One Bottom
On June 19, 1920 — 105 years ago today — Scientific American published an article by Robert G. Skerrett editorializing in favor of the “Great Lakes being opened to the sea so that ocean-going craft can steam from Duluth to the Atlantic and thence along our neighboring seaboard or afar to the markets of Europe.” (more…)
Disturbing lack of ‘ope’ etiquette roils Duluth community
Midwesterner Arrested For Squeezing Past Someone Without Saying 'Ope!' | Babylon Bee
DULUTH, MN — Local midwestern man Dave Netters was arrested for squeezing past someone at a grocery store without saying the obligatory "Ope!"
babylonbee.com
Duluth has once again popped up as a dateline in The Babylon Bee, a satirical news website. The story reports that “Dave Netters was arrested for squeezing past someone at a grocery store without saying the obligatory ‘Ope!'” The story concludes by noting “Netters had pleaded not guilty on account of being from Missouri.”
Duluth 2025 Primary Election Primer
The filing period for candidates vying for Duluth City Council and Independent School District #709 School Board runs from May 20 June 3. The primary election is Aug. 12; the general election is Nov. 4. (more…)
We’ll always have Duluth
Today’s Daily Cartoon in The New Yorker references Duluth. The comic is by Jason Adam Katzenstein.
Earth Rider lands gold at 2025 World Beer Cup
Superior’s Earth Rider Brewery won a gold medal in the oatmeal stout category at the World Beer Cup, held May 1 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. North Tower Stout, an ale with malty accents of chocolate, coffee and dark fruit balanced with a restrained hop presence, earned the award. The beer has now won three medals in its category at the World Beer Cup, having previously won a gold medal in 2022 and a bronze medal in 2018. (more…)
Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners – “Dashboard Dandelion”
Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners have finished recording their next album, Two Trees, which will include the single “Dashboard Dandelion.” The band has Kickstarter campaign underway to raise money for mixing, mastering and releasing the new record.
Canada fights back, boycotts Duluth
In addition to imposing 25% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, Canada is boycotting “vacation hubs like Oshkosh and Duluth.” That’s according to the satirical news website The Onion.
Maria Bamford displaced by L.A. fires
Sincere apologies for any inconvenience, but due to being displaced from the California fires, I need to cancel these upcoming dates.
If you have tickets, you will be contacted by the venue about rescheduling dates, or you can get info from https://t.co/mUIj4kbaRN.
❤️Thank you pic.twitter.com/87DwWuVIeC
— Maria Bamford (@mariabamfoo) January 17, 2025
According to several social media posts today, Duluth native Maria Bamford has canceled four upcoming comedy shows on the East Coast due to being displaced by the wildfires in Los Angeles, where she has been a longtime resident. Her website lists the tour resuming on Jan. 31 with a string of shows in California.
Duluth 2024 General Election Results
With 4,103 of 4,103 precincts reporting, here are the statewide general election results for races relevant to Duluth.
—FEDERAL OFFICES—
President and Vice-President of the United States
Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz – 1,653,657
Donald J. Trump and JD Vance – 1,514,261
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan – 24,426
Jill Stein and Samson Kpadenou – 16,669
Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat – 15,620
Write in – 13,269
Cornel West and Melina Abdullah – 3,508
Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia – 3,423
Shiva Ayyadurai and Crystal Ellis – 3,226
Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter – 857 (more…)
Duluth 2024 General Election Sample Ballot
This sample ballot is specific to Duluth’s western neighborhoods. Races for Minnesota State Representative and St. Louis County Board of Commissioners vary throughout the city. (more…)
Minnesota Historical Society acquires Wing Young Huie archive
A collection of 5,000 photographs by Duluth native Wing Young Huie will soon be available online through the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. The images capture a view of community life in Minnesota.
The first part of the collection, 965 images and supporting material, is already available in the searchable Collections Online database and the Gale Family Library. The full archive of 5,000 photographs and related material will become publicly available over the next five years.