News and Current Affairs
Great Lakes as Carbon Corridor
Maude Barlow published a report on March 17 about plans to make the Great Lakes a carbon corridor for oil from the tar sands of Alberta and the fracking wells of North Dakota. Mayor Don Ness recently stated his support for more pipelines, saying his previous commitments to lowering carbon emissions were irrelevant because “the pipeline makes no impact on carbon consumption in the city of Duluth.”
I think Mayor Ness is a good mayor with a good heart, but this sounds like sophistry considering the global nature of climate change. And it may show the type of compartmentalization of thought we all indulge in to protect ourselves from larger truths.
Mayor Ness also recently stated on MPR that he was not well-enough informed to have an opinion on shipping oil by tanker across Lake Superior. I hope he will appreciate a lot of respectful pressure from his constituents on this issue, because here’s the deal: On one end is Tar Sands and fracking devastation and on the other end are climate-changing emissions. In the middle is a lot of fresh water we would be absolutely mad to put at risk. Now is the time to stand up for the big lake we all love and depend on.
R.I.P. Duluth~Superior Magazine
Sad to see the Duluth~Superior Magazine cease publication, announced today in a Duluth News Tribune story. DSM made Duluth feel classy. Jim Heffernan comments on his blog (Jim Heffernan’s Blog) on his six year stint writing for this print magazine headed by former Duluth News Tribune publisher, Marti Buscaglia.
Northern Lights Express Survey
There is a survey listed on the Minnesota Department of Transportation page for the Northern Lights Express(NLX). The Northern Lights Express is a proposed high-speed passenger rail project that would provide rail service between Minneapolis and Duluth. If constructed, NLX will operate on approximately 155 miles of existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail corridor.
The survey closes on March 15. It doesn’t take long to fill out.
This Week in Lake Voice
Catch up on Lake Voice stories about art, the outdoors, and cuddly animals.
A mouthful of ugly: sea lampreys in the Great Lakes
Tour Duluth: How many kilometers can you ski in one day?
Duluth artist sculpts passion into career
Fishing on Superior Ice: Dedicated anglers doing what they love
Animal Allies shelters itself from the winter
Ice caves boost local economy
Lakeside dance studio owner works alongside family
We’d love to hear your lake voice; share your stories by e-mailing lakevoicenews @ gmail.com.
Enbridge
Why is Enbridge banging out “we’re great on safety” ads on Pandora lately – oh, I get it.
Video: Duluth State of the City Address 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kQRxEX98rU
Whole Foods Co-op in West Duluth, a/k/a WFC – Denfeld
Here’s how the Whole Foods Co-op broke the news about its new store on Feb. 24:
The future location of Duluth’s second Whole Foods Co-op will be 4426 Grand Ave. It will be a 7,000-square-foot store.
It’s not the snowfall, it’s the snowdrifts
“It’s not the snowfall, it’s the snowdrifts.” I just realized that’s kind of a northcountry version of “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”
I give yesterday’s storm about a 6 out of 10 for Duluth snowstorms in terms of intensity and general nastiness. However, I think this might be the biggest drift I’ve encountered in the 12 years I’ve been at this house.
httpv://youtu.be/1V4tdVVVYO8
Ice Dam Cam
The shovel cam has been repurposed into the ice dam cam. It’s not nearly as fun as the shovel cam, it’s frustratingly hard to use, depressing and doesn’t get much done.
Getting to the Bottom of the Proposed Polymet Mine Part 2, Winona LaDuke
After much, much hand wringing and editing and processing and sweating and arguing with myself, here is a passable video of the lecture by Winona LaDuke that was delivered on Feb. 8 at the College of St. Scholastica. I think that the message she is sharing is important to hear and try to understand, whether or not you agree with her conclusions. One of her central theses seems is that people have been living and thriving in this region for thousands of years and in the past 100 or 200 years there have been significant and undesirable, even toxic, changes to the land, the waters, and the creatures and people who populate this region.
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Getting to the Bottom of the Proposed Polymet Mine, Part 1
httpv://youtu.be/xjOYImaGgbE?t=3m12s
I’m hoping that this video, featuring Paula Maccabee of Water Legacy, will be the first of several that I will be able to share over the next few weeks.
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Dylan Super Bowl Commercial
I was probably one of the few who enjoyed seeing Dylan in the Super Bowl commercial last weekend. That being said, I was a little confused about the song choice, “Things Have Changed.” For an advertisement that was supposed to spark renewed faith in the American auto industry, Chrysler picked a song that is clearly about not giving a sh*t anymore. Also, last night the Northland’s NewsCenter mis-reported that this commercial was set to “I Want You,” which was actually featured in a yogurt commercial in 1996, not the Super Bowl commercial.
R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman
He was, by far, our best actor working. I am so saddened by the loss.
Duluth knows how to do snow removal, but where does it all go?
I was very impressed to happen upon this epic snow removal operation on Second Street on Thursday at about 11 a.m.
You might be able to see in the photo that this clean-up convoy of sorts includes numerous heavy construction vehicles stretching from where this was taken at about Second Avenue East, all the way back to Fourth Avenue West.
NorShor: Duluth’s big bet on Old Downtown
“Ghosts and spirits make the place. So when you sit down and play a place like the NorShor, not only do you have a group of people sitting around you, but you have another community of history sitting around you, too.” — Charlie Parr
Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Stage set for restoration of NorShor Theatre in Duluth“
2014 John Beargrease Aerial Drone Video
The PDD Drone was back in the skies yesterday capturing the start of the 30th annual John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. The weather was great and the winds held off just long enough to get in some air time above the race starting line at Duluth East High School.
Music courtesy of the4onthefloor (www.4otf.com)
Battery of a police officer or excessive force arrest? Here we go again.
Natasha Lancour was arrested in the parking lot of the Keyport Lounge on Jan. 5 for allegedly striking Superior Police Officer George Gothner. Above is the unedited dashboard-cam video; below is a report from WDIO-TV.
Created Equal at the Zinema
Yesterday, I spent five hours at the Created Equal event at Zinema 2. Below, I have links to the videos, if you want to watch from home.
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Vacant city council seat up for grabs
The Duluth City Council is accepting applications for the recently vacated Second District council seat previously held by Patrick Boyle, who recently was elected to the St. Louis County Board.
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Call Me Mental
Tomorrow I will be embarking on a story-telling campaign to break the stigma of mental illness. The project, ‘Call Me Mental,’ is a partnership between the Human Development Center and Lola Visuals. Stories will be released in episodes online along the trip and a feature length documentary will follow later this year.
We are also asking people to submit their stories, in any format, to our website. If you choose to remain anonymous, that is absolutely okay. You can also check out our Kickstarter if you would like to help support this project.
District 2 St. Louis County Commissioner Special Election Result
With 11 of 11 precincts reporting:
Patrick Boyle — 2,783 (65.5 percent)
Jim Stauber — 1,465 (34.5 percent)
Shipping Season Finale!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfZSqtUCea8
The tug, Heritage Marine, was busy breaking ice in a Duluth harbor slip in preparation for one of the shipping season’s last arrivals. Still photographs of the ice breaking may be accessed the NorthStarNerd’s Flickr stream.