News and Current Affairs
Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point Habitat Restoration Project
There’s good news for people who like to geek out with lengthy environmental assessment worksheets and pages upon pages of support documents. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is accepting public comments through April 18 on the EAW for the Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point Habitat Restoration Project in West Duluth.
The graphic above is an interesting nugget from the documents. It shows aerial views of the Kingsbury Bay area, where Kingsbury Creek enters the St. Louis River estuary near Indian Point Campground. The 1948 version shows a wide open beach; the modern view shows a marshy swamp filled with invasive narrow-leaved cattails. (more…)
Video: Duluth State of the City Address 2018
For those who missed it last week or want to relive it this week, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson’s Ides of March State of the City Address from the NorShor Theater is now available in a 40-minute video.
Aces on First under new ownership
Cade Grover – Photo by Lissa Maki
Customers may have noticed a few changes at Aces on First. Two seasoned Duluth mixologists have taken over the popular downtown drinking establishment and dance club at 113 W. First St. (more…)
Bent Paddle’s new taproom will open April 12
Bent Paddle will transition from its old taproom at its brewing facility to a new one across the avenue during the month of April. The new space, located in the former Enger & Olson Furniture store building at 1832 W. Michigan St., has been under construction since November. (more…)
Way up North, Gay up North
Duluth newscasters Dan Hanger and Edward Moody share their stories of being gay news anchors in Lavender magazine.
Ursa Minor Brewing will stress variety, quality
The Ursa Minor Brewery team includes, from left, General Manager Andrew Scrignoli, Head Brewer Mark Hugus and Chief of Operations Ben Hugus. The brewery plans to hire 10 employees.
The newest brewery in Lincoln Park will feature a patio, a pizza oven and a plan to create adventurous, small-batch beer in a former cracker factory.
Ursa Minor Brewing announced this week it will open a five-barrel brewing operation, tap room and offices at 2415 W. Superior St. Brothers and co-founders Ben and Mark Hugus said they hope to begin serving thirsty customers by mid-summer. (more…)
Canning is underway at Earth Rider Brewery
Earth Rider Brewery announced today that 12 oz. cans of its beer will be available at retail outlets beginning Thursday. Until now Earth Rider beer has been exclusively available in crowlers (32 oz. cans) from the Cedar Lounge taproom and on draft at local restaurants and taverns.
Cans will be available in the Twin Ports initially and expand this summer to include the South Shore to Ashland, North Shore to Two Harbors and other points within the Lake Superior watershed.
Four Earth Rider flagship styles will be put into cans initially: Superior Pale Ale, North Tower Stout, Precious Material Helles and Caribou Lake IPA.
Ursa Minor Brewing plans summer opening in Duluth
Duluth’s West End neighborhood will soon be home to three breweries. Ursa Minor Brewing expects to open this summer, joining Lake Superior Brewing Company and Bent Paddle Brewing in the burgeoning Lincoln Park Craft District.
The founders of the new brewery are brothers Ben and Mark Hugus. (more…)
Twisted Pastries Coffeehouse opens March 12
Annette Jacobson – Photo by Lissa Maki
A new business will bring caffeination, pressed sandwiches and unique sweet treats to Superior. Twisted Pastries Coffeehouse, at 1418 Tower Avenue, opens Monday. (more…)
Missing Person: Hunter Goeden
Update: Hunter Goeden returned home March 9 and is safe.
The Duluth Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Hunter Joseph Goeden, a 14-year-old male who is approximately 5-foot 8-inches tall, 115 pounds with blue eyes and blond hair. Goeden did not return home from school on March 8. He was last seen wearing a purple/green plaid shirt, white jogging pants, a Seahawks cap, gray Nike shoes and thick blue glasses.
Movies could soon return to West Duluth
This graphic from Meyer Group Architecture shows the vision for restoring the West Theater. Image via Robert Boone.
Movies could be returning to West Duluth for the first time in 40 years. Restoration of the former West Theater at 319 Central Ave. is poised to commence according to building owner Robert Boone. (more…)
Don’t thank him; just write
If you fling a certain line at Air Force veteran Eric Chandler, expect a pleasant smile masking irritation. He might nod in recognition. And if that’s all you got, the conversation is over.
“Thank you for your service.”
“Who are you thanking?” he asked earlier this year when talking about the growing gap of understanding of the U.S. military experience with that of civilians.
“We’re all complicit,” Chandler says with a serious tone. He could go on for hours on this topic, he says. There’s a deal made in a constitutional republic: Citizens ask for protection with a standing army and some answer the call by enlisting. But it’s not a service contract, Chandler says. “It’s not like the cable guy.”
“It should feel more invested” all around, Chandler says. “Thank you for your service” rings as hollow as any other jingoistic notion of the military’s role in American society. When people don’t know what it is you do or have done, platitudes mean nothing, he says. People are less interested in “who is in the military” over just passing along jingoistic notions of it, he says. (more…)
PDD Quiz: February 2018 in Review
Go for the gold with this month’s PDD Quiz and test your knowledge of local current events.
The next PDD quiz, on extreme weather, will be published on March 11. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by March 8. (more…)
Oakhold Farmhouse Brewery “will not become a reality”
A planned brewery in Midway Township outside Duluth will apparently not come to fruition. Equipment from a disreputable manufacturer could be partially to blame, but there has been no official statement from the owners regarding what ultimately brought the project to a halt. (more…)
Martha’s Daughter restaurant opening Feb. 14
Photo by Wolfskull Creative
Martha’s Daughter, the Duluth restaurant replacing the Original Coney Island could open as early as next week. The eagerly anticipated chef-owned eatery has one final health inspection to pass on Friday. If all goes smoothly, the restaurant will open on one of the busiest dining nights of the year, Valentine’s Day. (more…)
R.I.P. West Duluth Video Vision, Mariner Mall Younkers
Two longtime Twin Ports stores will soon close. Fox 21 reports the West Duluth Video Vision store will close this week. The Duluth News Tribune reports Younkers in Superior’s Mariner Mall will close within 12 weeks. (more…)
Tadpole Sourdough: Bread by Subscription
Tina Higgins Wussow – Photo by Lissa Maki
An entrepreneurial Duluthian has turned her passion for bread making into a business. Tina Higgins Wussow launched Tadpole Sourdough, a community supported bakery, out of her East Hillside home last fall. (more…)
PDD Quiz: January 2018 in Review
How much do you remember about the first month of 2018? Quiz on and test your knowledge of local current events!
The next PDD Quiz, “Love (Or Like), Duluth Style,” will be published on Feb. 11. Please send question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Feb. 8. (more…)
The Dexter Project
Dexter Ojeda is a 10-year-old Duluth boy who has a rare form of cancer that has no cure. One of the last items on Dexter’s bucket list is to star in a horror movie. Duluth’s Death Calm Studios and Dexter Ojeda’s family are determined to make Dexter’s wish come true, but they need help make it happen.
Former Duluthian Emily Lewis to appear on Jeopardy!
A 2011 alum of the College of St. Scholastica will appear on TV’s Jeopardy! game show on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The program airs at 5 p.m. in Duluth on the CBS affiliate KBJR channel 6.2.
Emily Lewis graduated from St. Scholastica with three majors — mathematics, economics and finance. She currently lives in San Diego, where she works as a merchandise planner for Petco.
Jeopardy! is a pre-recorded program and the Jan. 30 episode has already been shot, but Lewis isn’t allowed to share any details about her appearance before the air date.
Lower Chester Park Mini-Master Plan draft released
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division is requesting public comment on the Lower Chester Park Mini-Master Plan draft until Jan. 31. There is also a supplementary survey for the plan that members of the public are encouraged to complete.
Following the public comment period, a final draft of the plan will be reviewed and voted on by the Duluth Parks Commission on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. in Duluth City Hall, Council Chambers. For more information about the plans, visit the Parks Planning webpage at duluthmn.gov.
One of Duluth’s first four parks, Chester Park spans approximately 131 acres between 13th and 15th avenues east and stretches from Kenwood Avenue to Fourth Street, where Chester Creek runs under the street and, a few blocks later, disappears underground before emerging near Leif Erikson Park, where it empties into Lake Superior. Lower Chester Park, specifically, is located at 15th Avenue East and East Fifth Street and is about two acres in size.
Creative Minnesota releases report on arts economy
Creative Minnesota has released its second biennial economic report. The effort is a collaboration of arts and culture funders in partnership with Minnesota Citizens for the Arts with the goal is to “create solid, hard data about the arts sector.” The data is collected for “analysis, education and advocacy.” (more…)
Lower Spirit Mountain Riverfront Park Site Plan released
The nine-page Lower Spirit Mountain Riverfront Park Site Plan was presented to the Duluth Parks Commission on Jan. 10 and the city’s Parks and Recreation Division is seeking public comment on it until Jan. 31. A final draft of the plan will be presented and voted on at the Feb. 14 Parks Commission meeting.
The site sits below the BNSF Railroad, opposite Tallus Island in Duluth’s Riverside neighborhood, and has approximately 1,500 ft. of shoreline to the St. Louis River. (more…)
Upset Duluth: Vikings Fans at Mr. D’s
This is perhaps the most painful addition to PDD’s ongoing “Upset Duluth” series, in which we feature Duluth News Tribune photos of people who are upset.
Story link: “Vikings fans’ optimism turns to disappointment“
Fitger’s Brewhouse hires new head brewer
Alex “Coke” Chocholousek – Photo by Lissa Maki
The new year ushered in some changes at Fitger’s Brewhouse. Alex “Coke” Chocholousek stepped into the role of head brewer on Jan. 1. Chocholousek is the fifth brewer to head up operations at the Brewhouse and says he looks forward to continuing the brewpub’s legacy of quality and innovation. (more…)