Summer of ’65: I-35 Route Proposed on DM&IR Railway
Fifty years ago — Aug. 12, 1965 — the DNT reports the St. Louis County Legislative delegation will explore a proposal to route Interstate Highway 35 over Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway right-of-way. The great I-35 debate, of course, wouldn’t ultimately be settled for another two decades. (more…)
Summer of ’65: Duluthian Talked Off High Bridge
Fifty years ago — Aug. 11, 1965 — the DNT reports a 25-year-old Duluth man stood perched atop the center span of the Duluth Superior High Bridge — now known as the John A. Blatnik Bridge — threatening to jump to the water. “The incident was apparently brought about by a family argument,” the paper noted. “His mother talked him down from his lofty stand.” (more…)
Lake Superior North Shore Cruise
Video by Aaron Goodyear.
Summer of ’65: NLRB Sets Hearing in Labor Dispute
Fifty years ago — Aug. 10, 1965 — the DNT reports the National Labor Relations Board will hold a hearing on charges of unfair labor practices against six Duluth waterfront unions engaged in a labor dispute. (more…)
This Week: fruits, veggies, pies, meat and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
Farmers’ market season chugs along, with markets in Hermantown, Superior and downtown Duluth, Duluth MakerSpace is having a kids’ clothesmaking class, Randy Lee’s Big Time Jazz Orchestra plays the last of Superior’s Bayside Sounds concert series, Martin Zellar hits the Red Herring and Lord Stanley’s Cup is on display at Amsoil Arena.
William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and the similarly pie-concerned Sweeney Todd are both going up at the Duluth Playhouse, the Grill Wars of 2015 will be fought at Bayfront Park, the art fair Art in Bayfront Park will hit the same location and the Kraus-Anderson Bike Duluth Festival gets underway at Spirit Mountain.
Invasive weed control in Fond du Lac
In the ditches of Fond du Lac, near Perch Lake, wild parsnip is flowering and going to seed. In southeastern Minnesota this weed fills every ditch and uncultivated field and I believe this is poised to do the same in our region. I think that with five or 10 willing volunteers it could be possible to prevent or delay this invasion. I have not seen this plant growing in other areas, so perhaps if this patch is dealt with we might avoid a larger problem. The highway department has been made aware of this weed and for now is not mowing the area to avoid spreading the seed farther. The highway department does not have a plan to deal with this year’s seeding plants.
This Sunday, Aug.9, at 11 a.m. I will be in the ditches of Fond du Lac near Perch Lake cutting individual plants with a pruning shear and carrying them up to the roadside to be bagged. The job is too large for me alone and I would like to ask for help. If you can help please show up at 11 a.m. wearing long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and gloves. Some people do have skin reactions when dealing with this plant. If you have a pair of functional pruning shears please bring them. I will bring extra shears. Depending on the crew size I hope to spend no more than two or three hours with this task. I can be reached by e-mail at hanlondm @ gmail.com or by phone at 218-722-4990.
Summer of ’65: Ground Breaking Set for New YMCA
Fifty years ago — Aug. 9, 1965 — the DNT reports there will be a groundbreaking ceremony the next day for a new $1.4-million Duluth YMCA. (more…)
Ark of the Anthropocene Retrospective
Remember Sean Connaughty’s roughly 4,000-pound “Ark of the Anthropocene” sculpture, which was dropped into the Duluth Harbor last summer and floated for about three days before sinking? Well, a little video retrospective has emerged. (more…)
Summer of ’65: Weather Pushes Folk Festival to Armory
Fifty years ago — Aug. 8, 1965 — the DNT reports the 18th annual Duluth International Folk Festival abandoned its home at Leif Erikson Park to avoid rainy conditions, moving the party across the street to the Duluth National Guard Armory. (more…)
A serial killer stalks Duluth
In the pilot episode of Hannibal (2013), a serial killer is murdering young college women around Minnesota. Laurence Fishburne and Hugh Dancy travel to Duluth (which apparently has train service) to investigate. Hannibal Lecter gets involved, for some reason. He and Dancy share breakfast in a Duluth motel room, then visit a Duluth construction site. A woman’s body is found in Hibbing, impaled on deer antlers. Dancy figures out who the killer is using amazing leaps of logic. The serial killer (who happens to be a member of the Building Trades, which is not surprising) is eventually cornered at his home.
All in all, business as usual in Duluth.
Selective Focus: Summer
Kip Praslowicz, “divers-diving”
Judging from friend’s accounts, this has been an atypical, consistently beautiful summer here. It is my least favorite season; too immoderate, languid, febrile. Still, I had my first (ever) swim in Superior, took in ballet outside the library, saw a film at a farm about Japanese dwarves, and laid in lots of grass. Best summer I’ve had since boyhood, though I’ve yet to do my annual roll down a steep hill- Leif Erikson, Chester Bowl? (more…)
Summer of ’65: Weather Steals Show from Portorama Parade
Fifty years ago — Aug. 7, 1965 — the DNT reports a “powerful nor’easter” threatened to put a damper on the annual Portorama Parade, but some 30,000 spectators toughed out the inclement weather. (more…)
Palimpsest
Artist Jan Kather, who teaches photography and video art at Elmira College in Elmira, N.Y., recently produced this video memoriam for worshippers killed in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
Local relevance: An image from the 1920 Duluth lynchings is included.
Summer of ’65: Duluth Moving Toward Fifth Avenue Mall
Fifty years ago — Aug. 6, 1965 — the DNT reports the Duluth City Council is reviewing a proposal for the development of a $1 million mall at Fifth Avenue West in the area where the Radisson Hotel and Duluth Public Library were later built. The context of the story seems to indicate the discussion is not about a shopping mall, but instead something like the decorative median with trees that stands in the middle of the avenue today. (more…)
Four recent changes in West Duluth
Spirit Valley Days are underway in West Duluth. Here are a four observed changes in the neighborhood in recent days:
- Construction for the new Kwik Trip on Raleigh Street and Grand Avenue has kicked into high gear. The building went up late last week, making a fall opening seem likely.
- Around the same time the Kwik Trip went up, the former Auto Stop four blocks away was demolished. It had closed roughly five years ago. Materials for the Grand Avenue reconstruction are piled on part of the property at present.
- Wild West Liquor at 318 N. Central Ave. closed its doors at the end of July. There is a for-sale sign in the window. All four West Duluth liquor stores that operated before Super One Liquor opened in 2010 are now gone. Liberty Liquor closed when Super One acquired its building. The former Spirit Bottle Shoppe closed in 2012 and became Shake It, a nutritional protein shake and juice bar. The old Sportsman’s Liquor at 3904 Grand Ave. is now the Law Office of Jessica L. Sterle.
- Kosta’s Gyros abandoned its operation at the Minit Mart (formerly Little Store, still brandishing the Little Store name) on Central Avenue. Word has it there’s a new Kosta’s by Menards in Hermantown.
Also, the Duluth News Tribune reports that Community Action Duluth plans to build a greenhouse at the former Westminster Church location on Grand Avenue near Denfeld High School.
Summer of ’65: Norwegian seamen face Twin Ports soccer team
Fifty years ago — Aug. 5, 1965 — the DNT reports of Norwegian seamen giving the Twin Ports soccer team “an hour of stiff competition … with the local booters squeaking out a 1-0 victory.” (more…)
The Power of Place
Place matters. It is our soil for sinking roots. Each contribution—150 years of them in Duluth—has been like individual leaves falling to the ground, gradually producing a rich, alluvial-like cultural soil.
We are all responsible for conserving culture, while simultaneously adding to its richness.
Economy and culture in the Twin Ports, though the two need not be distinguished, is increasingly based on neighborliness rather than on a cutthroat sense of competition.
Read the full column for some simple suggestions to spur us on:
Summer of ’65: Du Lhut’s Statue on Way Here
Fifty years ago — Aug. 4, 1965 — the DNT reports a bronze statue of Daniel de Gresolon, the Sieur Duluth, is on a ship at Leghorn, Italy, and due to arrive in Duluth in about three weeks. It will be installed in the courtyard at the University of Minnesota Duluth. (more…)
Duluth National Citizen Survey Results 2015
According to the results of Duluth’s annual National Citizen Survey, conducted by the National Research Center, 76 percent of Duluth residents believe the city’s overall reputation has improved in the past ten years.
From the news release:
“This decade of successes is really only the beginning stages of a renaissance in Duluth,” says Mayor Don Ness. “Our sustained sense of confidence in Duluth is the key to turning our recent wave of accomplishments into long-term stability and vibrancy.”
Based on this year’s NCS and the compelling story of the recent surge in Duluth development and redevelopment, Duluth received the honor of the Voice of the People Award for Transformation in Built Environment by the NRC. The award is only given to cities that best use the survey responses to help drive community improvement. Duluth residents reported the most notable improvement in satisfaction with built environment compared with all other participating jurisdictions — another indicator of the national significance of Duluth’s story.
Low – “What Part of Me”
Ones and Sixes, the new album by Duluth band Low, is scheduled for worldwide release on Sept. 11.
Land of 10,000 Stories covers Duluth ad cycle
Local tween entrepreneur on KARE-11 in the Twin Cities, in “12-year-old entrepreneur is pedaling profits.”
(Auto-starting embedded video after the jump.) (more…)
Fat bikes at mouth of Lester
Saturday night we were enjoying a picnic dinner on the gravel bar on Lake Superior at the mouth of the Lester River, when along come three guys on fat bikes. They rode on the gravel bars and through the water. They entertained and we cheered.
Summer of ’65: Brunette Awarded Seaway Laurels
Fifty years ago — Aug. 3, 1965 — the DNT reports on the ongoing Portorama Festival, with the crowning of Miss Seaway VI LaVonne Rae Englund. The “19-year-old hazel-eyed brunette” won the pageant held at Denfeld High School. Runners up were Laurel Josephine Cahill and Joyce Diane Hietalati. (more…)