News and Current Affairs
R.I.P. Carter Hotel
The Duluth News Tribune reports the vacant Carter Hotel building at 17 N. Second Ave. E. will be torn down. The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will replace it with a surface parking lot for its Fond-du-Lac Casino. (more…)
Duluth top city for paycheck stretching, according to indeed.com
Indeed.com released a report today entitled, “US Cities Where Salaries Go Furthest: 2018.” Of 185 metro cities, the one that topped the list for stretching the buying power of a paycheck is Duluth. (more…)
Will they take the “Duluth” out of the Duluth Harbor South Breakwater Outer Light?
The West Central Tribune of Willmar reports the Willmar City Council is considering bringing the Duluth Harbor South Breakwater Outer Light to the west-central Minnesota community.
Story link: Could a lighthouse soon light the way for boaters on Willmar’s lakes? (more…)
New sign celebrates Snively Monument
A new informational sign will be installed at the recently refurbished Snively Monument on West Skyline Parkway. The Duluth Preservation Alliance will hold a sign dedication ceremony on Monday, Aug. 13, 3 p.m., at the Snively Monument, located just east of the Stewart Creek Bridge on the scenic roadway. (more…)
PDD Quiz: July 2018 in Review
As another month of summer comes to a close, we look back at the events that made headlines. Quiz on to test your knowledge of July happenings!
The next PDD Quiz, on Duluth murals, will be published on Aug. 12. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Aug. 9. (more…)
Cancer battle pushes sale of iconic West Duluth store
Joel Russell stands outside Central Sales, a surplus store his family has owned for more than 30 years.
An iconic and ruggedly unique surplus store in the heart of West Duluth has been put up for sale as its longtime owner prepares to fight a serious health issue. (more…)
Silent hero of Boundary Waters blowdown subject of new movie
The heroic story of a man who led one of Minnesota’s largest disaster rescue efforts will be told in a motion picture planned for release in 2019. (more…)
Duluth Screen Printing will celebrate Flagship store July 4
Anthony Rogentine, GM, chats with a group of customers as they enter the store. Photo by Alex Byom.
Duluth Screen Printing Co. recently opened a multi-purpose shop in Canal Park called Flagship. The new space is serving as a retail store and office for the company, which has its main production facility in Duluth’s East Hillside.
A launch party for the new Flagship store will be held on Wednesday, July 4. The location is 345 S. Lake Ave., between Adventure Zone and Old Chicago. (more…)
Beleaguered Sound restaurant closed, but could reopen soon
Sound, the not-quite six-month-old restaurant occupying the ground floor of the former Duluth City Hall building at 132 E. Superior St., closed on Friday. Dennis Kempton, a public relations professional connected to the restaurant, announced on Facebook today that owner Alison Underthun has backed out of the project. A new group of partners will relaunch the business soon, according to Kempton. (more…)
Shanty Bottle Shop will have new owners
Shanty Bottle Shop owner Pam Crotty waves goodbye outside the front door of her business. Crotty has sold the store after nearly four decades in beer, wine and liquor sales.
An iconic, family-run East Hillside liquor store will change hands next month after four generations served the public’s rapidly changing tastes in beer, wine and spirits. (more…)
Thirsty Pagan hires new brewer
Kathleen Culhane – Photo by Lissa Maki
Thirsty Pagan Brewing in Superior welcomes a new brewer this week. Kathleen Culhane is relocating from the Twin Cities to the Twin Ports for the gig. Her official start date is June 25. (more…)
PDD Quiz: June 2018 in Review
Plenty of headlines made waves this month; do you remember the details? Quiz on to test your smarts!
The next PDD Quiz, on Buffalo Bill Cody’s dealings with Duluth, will be published on July 15. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by July 11. (more…)
Challenge: Describe other things like Rolling Stone describes Duluth
The way Ana Marie Cox describes Duluth in her article “A Night Among the Trump Believers Way Up North” really needs its own genre. Here’s a quote from the original piece to give you a sense of it:
Lake Superior’s merciless beauty crashes up against a town whose shoreside skyline is dominated by stolid, brutalist mid-century relics and precarious-seeming industrial shipping contraptions, rusty and mostly silent. Downtown, every surface is covered with a thin layer of grime. It is, in other words, Trump Country.
Genius, right? In the comments, leave your ideas for how Ana Marie Cox would describe other things in Duluth! (more…)
Lakewalk Galley in Canal Park officially opens Friday
Crabby Ol’ Bill’s is no longer crabby … or Bill’s. The landlocked food boat in Canal Park will officially reopen Friday, June 22, under new ownership and with a new name. Justin Steinbach of Vista Fleet is the new owner and Derek Snyder of Lake Ave Restaurant is running it. They have renamed the establishment Lakewalk Galley by Lake Ave Restaurant. (more…)
Freighter American Spirit runs aground near Aerial Lift Bridge
Photo by Mark Nicklawske
The Aerial Lift Bridge is closed to ship traffic after a 1,004-foot freighter ran aground in the Duluth harbor around 3:30 p.m. today. (more…)
Copper Crow Distillery open near Bayfield
The Arrowhead region’s supply of hooch expanded in April when Copper Crow Distillery opened on the Red Cliff Reservation about four miles north of Bayfield. It joins Vikre Distillery in Duluth as the area’s only makers of alcoholic spirits. (more…)
Toppers Pizza open in Duluth’s East Hillside
Toppers Pizza – Photo by Lissa Maki
Duluth’s East Hillside just got a bit cheesier. Toppers Pizza is holding a soft opening today and tomorrow. At the shop’s grand opening on Saturday it will give 50 people free pizza for a year. (more…)
Kickapoo Coffee will replace Big Water in Bayfield
Business North reports that Kickapoo Coffee will open this summer at 117 Rittenhouse Ave. in Bayfield. It’s the former location of Big Water Coffee Roasters, which closed the coffee shop last fall and slowly wound down coffee roasting operations in the following months. (more…)
Bubble Tea Company of Duluth open in Miller Hill Mall
Duluth has a Taiwanese pearl-milk tea shop. Fox 21 reports that Bubble Tea Company of Duluth opened in May at the Miller Hill Mall in the former Teavana location. (more…)
Duluth City Council has an open seat; here’s how to fill it
Duluth City Council President Elissa Hansen announced last month she will vacate her at-large council position on July 17 to focus on her new job as president and CEO of the Northspan Group. Hansen began her at-large term in 2016; her replacement will be expected to hold the position until January 2020.
Applications for appointment to Hansen’s soon-to-be-open at-large council seat are available in the city clerk’s office and online at duluthmn.gov.
Completed applications must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 9. Applicants will be interviewed by the council on Thursday, July 12, following the regular agenda session.
The process for filling the vacated seat was established by City Council Resolution 18-0471R, adopted by the Duluth City Council on June 11.
Corktown Deli & Brews and Love Creamery will open June 13
Two new eateries, next door to each other at 1906 and 1908 W. Superior St. in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, will officially open full hours on Wednesday, June 13. (more…)
Duluth Experience launches Lincoln Park Craft District tour
Lincoln Park Craft District Tour – Photo by Lissa Maki
The buzz around Duluth’s burgeoning Lincoln Park Craft District continues. Now the neighborhood has its own walking tour, where people can learn more about the area and some of the key entrepreneurs driving its growth.
The Duluth Experience developed the tour. The company, now in its fifth year, also provides including biking, brewery and kayak tours. Knowledgeable guides lead the Duluth-centric outings, which include interesting tidbits about the city as well as historical context. (more…)
Harbor Lookout: Duluth Port Ship Tracking
There’s a new website for those who like watching the ships roll in and then watching them roll away again. Saturn Systems, a Duluth-based software engineering firm, recently launched a shipping tracker at harborlookout.com. The site lists arrival and departure times and displays a map with icons showing ship locations.
Duluth News Tribune: New maritime website unveiled in Duluth
Pak’s Green Corner in Superior opens June 1
Pak Williams – Photo by Lissa Maki
The wait is nearly over for Twin Ports Thai food fanatics. After a three-year hiatus from the restaurant business, Kamolpak (Pak) Williams will reopen Pak’s Green Corner in a new Superior location on June 1. (more…)
Morgan Park coffee shop returning as Letica’s Iron Mug
Morgan Park’s only restaurant and beverage purveyor closed on May 25 after nearly four years in business. On June 9 it will reopen under new ownership. The Duluth News Tribune reports Mike Letica is the new proprietor of the Iron Mug. Johnny Northfield will manage the business. Building owner Paul Johnson, who founded the coffee shop, is a silent partner.
The DNT notes Letica plans to steer away from the Iron Mug’s previous food focus, pizza, and is instead planning inexpensive options like Taco Tuesday and 99-cent ice cream cones.