PDD News Sieve
Bue headed to Taos, releasing EP in May
City Pages reports former Duluthian Mary Bue will soon be living in an adobe casita at Taos, New Mexico, as part of a three-month artist-in-residence program offered by the Wurlitzer Foundation. She’s performing a send-off show Saturday at the Icehouse in Minneapolis with Alan Sparhawk and Molly Maher. In May she’ll release an EP, The Majesty of Beasts, which was recorded in Nashville.
City Pages: Mary Bue powers through band split, divorce with desert session, yoga
The cost of adding solar panels to a Duluth home or business
The Duluth Shines! solar application launched this week, allowing Duluthians curious about the viability of including solar in their home or business energy mix to use an interactive map to find results for installation sizing and cost. UMD’s Geospatial Analysis Center is in the process of digitizing a few remaining neighborhoods in the city, and expects the application to cover all buildings in Duluth by February. (more…)
R.I.P. Fizzy Waters, Crabby Ol’ Bill’s
Two Duluth businesses owned by Steve and Susan Smith are closed. Fizzy Waters was a specialty soda and candy shop that recently moved from Canal Park to West Superior Street. Crabby Ol’ Bill’s was a food stand that operated out of an old boat in Canal Park. (more…)
Vikings add Duluth’s C.J. Ham to roster
The Minnesota Vikings announced today rookie running back C.J. Ham of Duluth has been signed to the team’s 53-man roster.
Ham joined the Vikings during rookie camp on a tryout basis and signed to the practice squad after final roster cuts. He played high school ball at Denfeld, graduating in 2011. At Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., he totaled 2,662 rushing yards, 949 receiving yards and 35 total touchdowns in 43 games.
Minnesota (7-7) visits Green Bay (8-6) on Saturday. (more…)
Homegrown band registration ends Christmas night
Duluth-area musicians interested in performing in the 2017 Homegrown Music Festival must make their intentions known by filling out a registration form at duluthhomegrown.org. The deadline is Dec. 25 at midnight. The eight-day festival runs April 30 to May 7.
Paulucci complex sold for $7 million
Business North is reporting, via Finance & Commerce, the Paulucci Building at 525 S. Lake Ave. in Canal Park was sold in November for $6 million.
The buyer: Star PB LLC
The seller: Etor Properties LLC
The story notes that “in a second related transaction, Star PB LLC paid $1 million to Buckeye Corp., another private investment entity, for a 16,000-square-foot retail and office building next door, at 501 Lake Ave. S.”
The Paulucci Building is named for the late Duluth businessman Jeno Paulucci. It was built in 1915 by Gowan-Lenning-Brown, a wholesale grocery firm. The neighboring structure was built in 1909 as the Buckeye Building for National Biscuit.
Vikre Distillery is the most prominent business operating out of the two buildings.
South Shore Brewery expands into Washburn
After a 102-year absence, the steam plume from a brewery has returned to the Washburn skyline. On Nov. 30, South Shore Brewery’s kettle fired up its inaugural batch of Nut Brown Ale, which will be bottled on Solstice Wednesday, Dec. 21.
South Shore Brewery was founded in May 1995 with brewing facilities in the basement of the Deep Water Grille in Ashland. It was northwestern Wisconsin’s first microbrewery and the state’s seventh. Bo Bélanger, South Shore’s original brew master and president, bought the business in 2004.
In February he expanded operations into Washburn, opening the Lake Superior Tap House, a satellite tasting room and retail outlet. The recent move of the brewing facilities to the Washburn operation was done with the goal to make the brewery more efficient and competitive while increasing output.
In addition to the expanded brewing facility, the Lake Superior Tap House features a tasting room with a variety of South Shore beers on tap, windows that look into the brewery, and a shuffleboard table handcrafted from a piece of bowling lane preserved from the old Super Bowl Lanes, which previously occupied the building.
Petitioning to Change Duluth in 2016
What do people want to change about Duluth? Well, according to change.org — as of 9 a.m. on Dec. 6 — 5,471 people want the University of Minnesota Duluth to save the American Indian grad program, 1,100 people want the city to stay the enforcement of parking violations targeting Duluth college students, 313 people want to stop harsh LED street lighting, 140 people want Duluth to pass a Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights, 13 people want a Trader Joe’s franchise to locate here and six people want to bring a Costco store to Duluth. (more…)
Sarah Krueger – Northern Air 5-track EP
Duluth musician Sarah Krueger “holed up for a couple evenings in St. Paul” in November with her “good homie Jordan Taylor to record some holiday songs.” The result is the five-song EP Northern Air. Listen here for free, or name your price to download from Bandcamp.
Emily Haavik – “New Beginning Girl”
Duluth native Emily Haavik returns home from the Twin Cities next weekend to release her debut album You Were the City. The CD release party is Dec. 11 at Beaner’s Central.
The album was recorded last winter by Jason Wussow in the basement recording studio at Beaner’s. According to Haavik, the song “New Beginning Girl” is the “catchy” one.
Low – “Some Hearts (at Christmas Time)”
Duluth band Low released a new Christmas song today. The band is touring the United Kingdom during the first half of December.
To friends who have moved away and friends who have passed on this year. To one and all, especially those who are alone, we wish you a Merry Christmas and new hope for the new year. May we all find ways to lift each other. — With love, Mimi, Alan and Steve
The digital single is available from Sub Pop Records.
Dead Man Winter – “Destroyer”
Trampled by Turtles frontman Dave Simonett will release a new album with his side project, Dead Man Winter, on Jan. 27. The album is titled Furnace and the first single, “Destroyer,” is embedded above.
“Destroyer is about … well … destroying,” Simonett told American Songwriter magazine. “I wrote it while confronting the feeling that every time I get some stability in my life, career, relationship, artistic, my tendency is to fully tear it apart. I should really stop doing that. Sometimes it honestly feels like I’m allergic to happiness. Or maybe chaos is where I am ultimately most comfortable. Though, to be honest, I’d hesitate to ever call myself comfortable. Life’s a funny little devil, ain’t it?”
Dead Man Winter will perform in Duluth on Feb. 18 at Pizza Lucé.
Thanksgiving weekend opioid overdoses prompt investigation
The Duluth Police Department issued a news release today notifying the public of six drug-related overdoses occurring since Thanksgiving as result of the use of opioids. There have been no deaths, but the overdoses have prompted an investigation.
Opioids are substances that act on brain receptors to produce morphine-like effects. They come in tablets, capsules or liquid and are typically used to treat pain. Common opioids include heroin and prescription drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.
The DPD warns against using these drugs — particularly synthetic derivatives — because their content and purity is often unknown and can cause overdose deaths.
Duluth native Nides in New Yorker
The Nov. 14 issue of The New Yorker magazine features an article (clearly written before Election Day) on “the Democrats’ fight over finance.” The focus of the piece is on Thomas R. Nides, “who is seen as a contender for a prominent position in a Clinton Administration.”
Nides is a Duluth native and 1979 graduate of East High School. From 2011 to 2013, he served under Hillary Clinton as deputy U.S. secretary of state for management and resources.
Bellisio Foods sold for a billion
The Wall Street Journal reports the Minneapolis-based and Duluth-founded Bellisio Foods company is being sold “for nearly $1.1 billion.” The business started by Duluth’s wealthiest man will soon be owned by Thailand’s wealthiest man.
Jeno Paulucci founded the company in 1985 as Luigino’s, producing frozen food brands such as Michelina’s. The corporate name changed to Bellisio Foods in 2007. Paulucci died in 2011. He sold Bellisio Foods to Centre Partners the day before he died. Charoen Pokphand Foods in Bangkok, owned by Dhanin Chearavanont, expects to close on its purchase of the company within 180 days.
Russell Prather’s “Rope” takes Arrowhead Regional Biennial prize
Russell Prather’s “Rope.” Photo by Tim White.
Russell Prather’s “Rope,” a hanging piece made with acrylic on layers of polyester film, took the $1,000 first-place prize at the Duluth Art Institute’s 61st Arrowhead Regional Biennial last week. Prather is a professor at Northern Michigan University who teaches British literary and visual culture of the 18th through 20th centuries. (more…)
DNR will close French River Hatchery
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced in a news release today it will close a 1970s-era fish hatchery in Duluth Township.
The French River Cold Water Hatchery, located on Lake Superior two miles north of Duluth, needs $8 million in capital investment to address failing equipment, according to the DNR. It also consumes 10 percent of the energy used by the agency statewide.
A hatchery was first established at the location in 1919, originally known as the Lake Superior State Fish Hatchery. The French River Cold Water Hatchery was built in 1975 to conduct the majority of fish propagation. Since 1962, the DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have planted about 300,000 six-inch lake trout along the North Shore each year, resulting in a 250 percent increase in lake trout netted during surveys, according to the DNR. (more…)
Duluth 2016 General Election Results
Donald Trump wins the presidency nationwide. Hillary Clinton takes Minnesota, barely; in Duluth she nearly doubles Trump’s vote total.
Rick Nolan holds his congressional seat by just over 1,000 votes. Democrats and incumbents fare well in Duluth overall.
With 4,120 of 4,120 Minnesota precincts reporting, below are the unofficial statewide results in races relevant to Duluth.
President and Vice President of the United States
Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine – 1,363,704 | 46.41%
Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pence – 1,320,895 | 44.96%
Gary Johnson and William Weld – 112,767 | 3.84%
Evan McMullin and Nathan Johnson – 53,021 | 1.8%
Jill Stein and Howie Hawkins – 36,916 | 1.26%
Write in – 27,095 | 0.92%
Dan R. Vacek and Mark Elworth, Jr. – 11,275 | 0.38%
Darrell Castle and Scott Bradley – 9,454 | 0.32%
Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart – 1,668 | 0.06%
“Rocky” Roque De La Fuente and Mic – 1,428 | 0.05% (more…)
Listen: Gaelynn Lea’s Deepest Darkness, Brightest Dawn
Classically trained violinist and songwriter Gaelynn Lea‘s holiday album Deepest Darkness, Brightest Dawn will be released Friday, Nov. 11, and she performs Saturday at Beaner’s Central with the Brothers Burn Mountain. Click above to hear the full album. (more…)
Jon and Erin Otis: Barrel Brokers
Duluth Barrel Works owners Jon and Erin Otis are the subjects of a new profile story in The Growler magazine. The story details how Duluth Barrel Works buys, sells and repurposes solid oak barrels from wineries in California and bourbon distilleries in Kentucky. Jon converts some into rain barrels and breaks others down to create unique tables, benches, stools, candle holders and more.
Hoops Brewing will launch in 2017
Former Fitger’s Brewhouse master brewer and current Bev-Craft lead consultant Dave Hoops will open a beer hall in the Waterfront Plaza building in Duluth’s Canal Park business district. Hoops Brewing will occupy the former Timber Lodge Steakhouse space at 325 S. Lake Ave., opening in spring 2017.
“I’ve always wanted to build a boutique brewery and I’m doing this the way I dreamed of doing it,” Hoops told The Growler magazine, which broke the story before Hoops Brewing issued a news release. “I don’t have any aspirations of being real large. I want to be a destination beer hall, really servicing local, very limited distribution.” (more…)
Beer finally flowing in Duluth Lakeside at Amity Coffee
Prohibition has finally ended. Amity Coffee became the Lakeside neighborhood’s first seller of over-the-counter alcohol today. In June the Duluth City Council repealed a more than 125-year-old neighborhood liquor ban.
At left, barista Nate Pykkonen pours a Bent Hop Golden IPA, one of two Paddle Paddle Brewing tap beers at Amity. Bottled and canned beers are also available, as well as wine.
Hermantown Zen House moving to former Sala Thai location
The Duluth News Tribune reports the Hermantown Zen House restaurant in the ICO convenience store at Maple Grove and Haines roads is moving to Duluth’s Woodland neighborhood. Zen House manager Joe Shortino told the paper ICO sold the property and the rumored buyer is Kwik Trip. An ICO official told the News Tribune a sale is pending, but would not disclose the buyer.
Zen House’s new location will be 4023 Woodland Ave. Sala Thai occupied that building before moving to 114 W. First St. in 2015.
Kaszuba leaves Brewhouse for Bev-Craft
Frank Kaszuba announced recently on Facebook he is leaving his position as head brewer at Fitger’s Brewhouse. His new employment is with Bev-Craft, a Superior-based consulting firm that helps new breweries by providing “development assistance, brewhouse planning, recipe formulation, ingredient selection, brand creation, and sales planning and assistance.” (more…)