News and Current Affairs
Sherman Associates plans to develop Duluth Armory
Plans are in place for the Duluth Armory at 1305 London Road to “serve as an economic, cultural and entertainment hub for northeastern Minnesota,” according to a news release from the Armory Arts and Music Center. The organization announced a partnership on Monday with Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates to rehabilitate and develop the armory building, targeting an opening in 2024. (more…)
Missing Person: William Terry
Update: Deputies from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office located the deceased body of William Terry today. He appears to have died by suicide. Terry was reported missing from his residence on Munger Shaw Road in Grand Lake Township on Dec. 6; he had not been seen since Nov. 27. The township is adjacent to Hermantown, about six miles northwest of Duluth.
Deputies had searched Terry’s home on Dec. 6, but after receiving new information concerning the layout of the residence, a follow-up search was conducted and the body was located in a previously undiscovered hidden room. No foul play is suspected.
R.I.P. Ben Boo
Former Duluth mayor and Minnesota representative Ben Boo died on Dec. 1 at age 96.
Boo was Duluth’s 35th mayor, holding office for two terms from 1967 to 1975. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992. He also directed the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District and the Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission in between his political terms. (more…)
Duluth’s Best Bread announces second location in soon-to-be former Blacklist space, crowdfunding campaign underway
Brothers Michael and Robert Lillegard of Duluth’s Best Bread say customers are eating faster than they can bake. The video for a new crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo includes the long-anticipated announcement that the Lincoln Park bakery is adding a second location in the Downtown Duluth space presently occupied by Blacklist Brewing. Blacklist is planning a move into the former Carlson Book building. (more…)
Cross-country skiers push for Duluth to be ‘fluoro wax-free city’
As the national SuperTour race hits Spirit Mountain in Duluth this weekend, Minnesota Public Radio delves into the potentially harmful effects of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances found in the fluorinated ski wax used by elite cross-country ski racers.
KUMD is now WDSE 103.3 FM “The North”
After 64 years of affiliation with the University of Minnesota Duluth, 103.3 FM is now a product of the Duluth Superior Area Educational Television Corporation, the public media organization that also owns WDSE/WRPT-TV, the Duluth area’s PBS affiliate. (more…)
PDD Quiz: November 2021 in Review
Shake off the post-Thanksgiving slump and exercise your brain with some current affairs trivia!
The next PDD quiz will look at Twin Ports Christmases of yore; it will be published on Dec. 12. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Dec. 9. (more…)
Kingsbury Creek has a new bridge, snowmobile trail restored
The bridge over Kingsbury Creek in West Duluth that was washed away in the Historic Summer Solstice Flood Disaster of 2012 has been replaced. The snowmobile route that runs across the bridge and snakes through the hillside south of Interstate 35, roughly from Keane Creek to Knowlton Creek, has also been restored after years of neglect. The lost ridgeline snowmobile route is part of the St. Louis River Corridor snowmobile trail system and links to the Hermantown trail system.
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division and the Hermantown Night Riders are hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the bridge on Dec. 17.
Planetary distress call recorded by UMD Observatory (UPDATE: with reply)
The Richardson Brothers: Planetary Distress Call
"Mayday, mayday, mayday! Come in, anyone, or anything! This is Jim Richardson, the Lake Superior Aquaman of Duluth, Minnesota, USA, transmitting a planetary distress call from the M-Class planet Earth..."
richardsonbrothers.libsyn.com
AP: University of Minnesota, Duluth – The UMD observatory at the Swenson College of Science and Engineering has recorded a planetary distress call. The audio has been obtained by the Richardson brothers of Duluth, shared here. God help us all. (UPDATE below!)
Duluth General Election Results 2021
With all precincts reporting, the results are …
Duluth At-large City Councilor
Top two candidates are elected
Terese Tomanek | 7,959
Azrin Awal | 6,882
Joe Macor | 6,131
Timothy L. Meyer | 1,302
Write in | 108 (more…)
PDD Quiz: October 2021 in Review
Happy Halloween, folks! Treat yourself to this current events quiz and see how many of this month’s headlines you remember.
The next PDD quiz will explore Superior Laws (a complement to the September quiz on Duluth laws); it will be published on Nov. 14. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Nov. 11. (more…)
Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point restoration completed
The Bong Bridge spans the background in this view of Grassy Point wetlands.
A three-year habitat-restoration project on the St. Louis River in West Duluth was completed this month. Sediment contaminants at Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point have been remediated and heavy equipment has been removed. (more…)
Former ‘RecyclaBell’ recycled into apartments
Developer Mike Poupore stands outside the historic Northwestern Bell Telephone building at 1804 E. First St. The building housed the RecyclaBell all-ages music venue from 1993-1997. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A look inside a newly-restored building that helped foster the 1990s Duluth indie rock scene is featured in a series of historic property video tours launched on the internet this week.
The Duluth Preservation Alliance explores changes in five iconic properties that once served city businesses and local government during a 2021 Virtual Historic Properties Tour available now on its website. The project provides a first look inside the newly remodeled Northwestern Bell telephone exchange building at 1804 E. First St. — which later housed an unlikely but locally significant music venue called the RecyclaBell from 1993 to 1997. (more…)
Wouldn’t we all rather have sex in Duluth?
About once a year, satirical news website the Onion references Duluth in a story. The 2021 example appears in a list of “What Your Partner Is Actually Thinking During Sex,” published this week. (more…)
Tap on Tower opening Oct. 15
Self-pour taproom set to open in Superior - Superior Telegram | News, weather, sports from Superior Wisconsin
The owner of Duluth Tap Exchange will launch Tap on Tower, expanding the self-pour concept across the Twin Ports
superiortelegram.com
Jordan DeCaro, the entrepreneur who opened Duluth Tap Exchange in 2020, is poised to launch his second self-pour drinking establishment. The Superior Telegram reports that Tap on Tower is slated to open Friday, Oct. 15, at 1106 Tower Ave.
The location is the Schiller Building, formerly the home of Sclavi’s Italian Restaurant & Bar, which opened and closed three times between 2009 and 2018.
Duluth 2021 General Election Sample Ballot
General Election Day for the city of Duluth and Independent School District #709 is Tuesday, Nov. 2. Early voting is already underway. (more…)
Duluth Electric Fetus merchandise up for auction
What’s left of the Duluth Electric Fetus? Sadly, only nostalgia. And just like when the store was open, it’s all for sale. Auction Masters of Osseo launched the Electric Fetus (Duluth, MN) online auction this week. Bidding ends at 6 p.m. on Oct. 11. (more…)
PDD Quiz: September 2021 in Review
Fall into this month’s quiz of local-ish headlines and happenings!
The next PDD quiz will celebrate the season by exploring local spookiness; it will be published on Oct. 17. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Oct. 14. (more…)
Minnesota’s Mountain-biking Trail Boom
Minnesota Public Radio reports that professional builders have constructed more than 100 miles of mountain-biking trails in northeastern Minnesota in the past five years.
Duluth’s Ten Most Endangered Properties in 2021
The Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railway Dock #5 has not been used since 1985. The Duluth Preservation Alliance has listed it as an endangered property. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
A slowly disappearing neighborhood rich in Native American history, a large building once home to a radical labor college and an iconic, unused iron ore dock are included in a list of places historians fear may disappear from the Duluth landscape.
The Duluth Preservation Alliance released a Top 10 Most Endangered Places list during an event outside the soon-to-be demolished Esmond Building in Lincoln Park Saturday, Sept. 25. The list, regularly compiled by the group, is designed to raise preservation awareness and encourage the reuse of historic properties. (more…)
Warrior Brewing’s stout takes silver at Great American Beer Fest
Co-owner and head brewer Ben Gipson and his wife Emily show off Warrior Brewing’s silver medal from the Great American Beer Festival. (Photo via Warrior Brewing Company)
Duluth’s newest brewery is also its newest medal winner. Warrior Brewing Company was awarded the silver medal for its Barbarian Imperial Stout at the Great American Beer Festival. The Lincoln Park neighborhood business released its first batch to liquor stores in June.
It’s the fifth year in a row that a Duluth or Superior brewery has won a medal at the festival. (more…)
PDD Quiz: August 2021 in Review
Test your memory of this August 2021 headlines with this week’s current affairs quiz!
The next PDD quiz will take a look at weird Duluth laws; it will be published on Sept. 12. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Sept. 8. (more…)