News and Current Affairs
Candidate Forum: Duluth School Board At-large
The League of Women Voters of Duluth hosts a Primary Election Candidate Forum for ISD 709 Duluth School Board At-large candidates. The candidates present at this forum are Kelly Durick Eder, Jane Hoffman, Loren Martell, Amber Sadowski and Harry Welty.
Pat Castellano is the moderator. The video was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television Studio on July 22.
Candidate Forum: Duluth City Council District 2
The League of Women Voters of Duluth hosts a Primary Election Candidate Forum for Duluth City Council District 2 candidates. The candidates present at this forum are Chris Adatte and Diane Desotelle. Candidate Pierre Tournier was unable to attend.
Katherine Kane is the moderator. The video was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television Studio on July 21.
PDD Quiz: July 2025
Beat the heat with this week’s current events quiz, which tests your knowledge of local headlines.
A soccer-themed PDD quiz rolls your way on Aug. 17. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat@gmail.com by Aug. 14. (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…)
Historic Duluth Woman’s Club building will become B&B
The Duluth Woman’s Club, 2400 E. Superior St., was constructed in 1910 by Duluth Edison Power company founder Alexander W. Hartman. It had been owned and maintained by the Duluth Woman’s Club since 1936. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A Superior Street mansion that long served as a meeting place for the Duluth Woman’s Club has been sold to a Washington couple with plans to establish a bed and breakfast in the Turn-of-the-Century property. (more…)
PDD Quiz: June 2025
Go the distance with this week’s current events quiz!
An outdoorsy quiz treks your way on July 13. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat@gmail.com by July 10. (more…)
Lincoln Park salad shop moves to Lakeside; adds dining room
Ritual Salad owner Cori Zastera poses in the doorway of her new restaurant location in Lakeside. Zastera and friend Jenna Wersal, left, were prepping the building for paint June 11. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A year after opening in Lincoln Park, a popular grab-and-go lunch counter and mystic shop is moving to a bigger building in Lakeside.
Ritual Salad & Apothecary plans to open a new restaurant in a former driving school at 4501 E. Superior St. this month. The business debuted last spring in a tiny, renovated building on the corner of Superior Street and 18th Avenue West. The move will increase indoor seating capacity from five to 25. (more…)
New loan program designed to save historic Duluth buildings
Demolition of the former Pastoret Terrace on First Street and Second Avenue East has led to a new city fund supporting historic downtown Duluth building preservation.
Historic downtown Duluth buildings are now eligible for city-funded improvement loans after a legal battle over a fire-damaged-but-treasured 19th century townhouse demolition established the assistance program.
The city of Duluth recently added a $1.4 million Historic Fund to its long-running economic development initiative known as the 1200 Fund. To launch the new project, the city plans to make $400,000 in low-interest, partially forgivable loans to historic building owners for property work in 2025. The application process opened May 5. (more…)
PDD Quiz: May 2025
Get your brain in gear with this week’s PDD quiz, which reviews May 2025 headlines and happenings!
The next PDD quiz, in honor of Father’s Day, will be published on June 15. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat@gmail.com by June 7. (more…)
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…)
More Cross City Trail detours expected in Lincoln Park
This portion of the Cross City Trail in Lincoln Park follows Michigan Street near Interstate 35. It reopened in 2024 after the original trail there was demolished in 2021 during the Twin Ports Interchange project, which redesigned what was known at the time as the I-35 “Can of Worms.” (Photo by Paul Lundgren)
Temporary detours for a section of the Cross City Trail in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood are expected later this year when the West Superior Street Reconstruction Project begins. (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…)
Upset Duluth: Famous Kaylee Edition
The latest addition to Perfect Duluth Day’s ongoing “Upset Duluth” series features a true innovator in the field. Kaylee Matuszak flashes her frown in not one, but two photos in the Duluth News Tribune story “Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center to face peak season with skeleton crew.”
Upset Duluth, of course, highlights Duluth News Tribune photos of people who are upset. Usually the photo subjects appear with arms folded or gesturing with their hands in some way, but Matuszak deploys two new techniques: arms behind the back and staring forlornly into the distance. It’s simply exceptional work. Further props to DNT photographer Wyatt Buckner for capturing the displeasure.
PDD Quiz: April 2025
Test your knowledge of recent headlines with this month-in-review quiz!
A PDD quiz for the birds soars your way on May 11. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat@gmail.com by May 8. (more…)
Future of Duluth’s Galley Hop still unknown
Graphic of participating galleries for the 2016 Gallery Hop, including Duluth Art Institute, Siiviiss of Sivertson Gallery, Lake Superior Art Glass, Washington 315 Gallery and others. Photo courtesy of Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop on Facebook.
Five years after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of what would have been the 30th annual Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop, no plan is in place to bring the event back. But its organizers are still considering some type of reboot. (more…)
Sunshine Cafe gets new life as training space for entrepreneurs
Family Rise Together Executive Director ChaQuana McEntyre stands outside the Sunshine Cafe, 5719 Grand Ave. The social service organization purchased the diner and will remodel it to serve as a food-service industry small-business incubator. (Photo by Lissa Maki)
A shuttered building that once housed a landmark West Duluth cafe won’t reopen with breakfast specials and counter seating but new owners will use the space for a program to train ambitious food entrepreneurs and deliver meals.
St. Louis County records show the former Sunshine Cafe, 5719 Grand Ave., was purchased in December by the Duluth social service organization Family Rise Together for $230,000. The nonprofit started renovations on the historic building this winter and has launched a fundraising campaign to install a state-of-the-art, commercial-grade kitchen inside the space. (more…)
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.
PDD Quiz: February 2025
A lot has gone down in this short month; how much of it do you remember? Check your recall with this week’s PDD current events quiz!
St. Patrick’s Day will be the theme of the next PDD quiz, which comes your way on March 16. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat @ gmail.com by March 13. (more…)
Oliver Inn adds lounge and four new guest rooms
The Snively Lounge and four new guest rooms are being added to the 13-room Oliver Inn in Downtown Duluth. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
A new lounge featuring antique chandeliers, a forest of ferns and a make-your-own-music stage is part of a hotel expansion project inside a history-filled Downtown Duluth landmark.
The Snively Lounge is expected to open along with four new ground-floor guest rooms at the Oliver Inn, 132 E. Superior St., later this spring. The remodeling project replaces space formerly occupied by Wasabi Duluth, a Japanese restaurant that closed Dec. 31 and consolidated operations in Superior. (more…)
Beloved Lakeside book store may be lost to building demolition
St. Michael’s Catholic Church plans to close and demolish its Lakeside Professional Building this summer. Gabriel’s Used Bookstore, located in the building’s basement, will close this spring if it cannot find a new location. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
Plans to demolish a business center housed in a historic Lakeside school building will displace several organizations, including a beloved bargain book store, this spring.
St. Michael’s Catholic Church announced in December the Lakeside Professional Building, 4915 E. Superior St., has been deemed structurally deficient and will be demolished later this year. The project means the church will close its volunteer-run Gabriel’s Used Bookstore, which has been located in the building basement since 1994. (more…)
PDD Quiz: January 2025
Test your memory of this month’s headlines with the first PDD Quiz of 2025!
A Valentine’s-themed quiz comes your way on Feb. 9. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at alisonlinnaemoffat @ gmail.com by Feb 6. (more…)
BBC: Duluth as climate refuge
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g334eppm7o
The spotlight is on Duluth in this BBC article on “climate havens.”
Zenith Basecamp set to open ‘indoor glamping’ travel hub
Zenith Basecamp, at 27th Avenue West and Superior Street, features a hostel, retail store and cocktail bar. Free Air Life Co opens its outdoor store Saturday, Jan. 25. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).
The adventure begins this week as a new travel center featuring an adventure hostel, outdoor clothing retailer and cocktail bar opens in a historic Lincoln Park office building.
Zenith Basecamp, 2631 W. Superior St., will see Free Air Life Co. welcome customers to its ground floor retail shop Saturday, making it the first business to open inside the renovated property. The second floor hostel started taking reservations last week and will greet its first guests in March. Meanwhile, workers are completing construction on a new interior space that will house Altitude Cocktails and Wine Bar. (more…)
Grant Glad showcases ‘middle ground’ with compilation album
Grant Glad, host of the music podcast Glad You’re Here, is trying to highlight a particular tier of local artists.
“I’ve been trying to find the artists that some people know and other people might not know and try to shine a spotlight on them. And then not have that spotlight be useless because you’re shining it on everybody,” Glad said. (more…)