Queries

Going without garbage service

I use Hartel DBJ as my garbage hauler and it is a great company, but I hardly produce any waste during a month. I am wondering if anyone in Duluth goes without garbage service. Can a person bring trash to a collection site and pay a fee whenever the garbage can is full? How about recycling? Are there places to bring those items?

I called WLSSD yesterday and they said they don’t take household waste and a person must have a provider to take away trash.

Duluth neighborhood boundaries?

I was just thinking, of course Duluth itself has clearly defined boundaries, but how about all the neighborhoods within? You always kind of know about where you are, but where does say the Heights turn into Kenwood or Norton Park turn into Morgan Park, etc. Are there even really boundaries? Thoughts?

I’m aware of trafficking, now what?

January is considered “Trafficking Awareness Month” or so the many e-mails and invites to special events are telling me. As a social worker and previously as a domestic violence/sexual assault advocate I have been inundated with trafficking discussions, forums, conferences, and trainings. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. However I feel as though now I am fully “aware” of trafficking and that the social-work community as a whole is very “aware” of trafficking in the Duluth area. My question is what do I now do with this awareness to help survivors of the industry and to prevent such things from happening to new victims? What is currently being done by local sexual assault groups such as PAVSA to combat trafficking and how can a social worker, or anyone for that matter, jump in and help?

Please don’t infer that I am in any way downing the efforts to inform people about trafficking — the more who know the better. But I do feel like there is a lack of discussion about action steps, and as a person whose clients and own family members have been affected by this issue I’d like to know less how to make people aware and more about how to do something about it.

Minnesota Shoplifting Detain/Restrain Laws?

Does anyone know the laws regarding detaining/restraining suspected shoplifters? I walked out of the mall tonight and found three Younkers loss-prevention staff holding a woman face-down in the snow, with their knees on her back attempting to handcuff her while she was telling them she couldn’t breathe.
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What’s with the new rail cars?!

Did anyone notice some odd-looking rail cars on the train tracks along I-35 this morning? They appear to be of particularly odd shapes and not like anything I’ve seen before in the area. Any info from PDD? I was driving to work so I was unable to snap a quick photo. They sure look mysterious like some type of submarine or large underground tanks.

Old Central Clock

Has anyone else noticed that the old Central High School clock has stopped?! I hope it’s going to be fixed. I enjoy hearing the bells ever 15 minutes.

Ideas for Charity Giving for the Holidays

This year for Christmas my family decided to skip the gift giving and donate to local charities. I’m looking for ideas — whether it’s “adopting” a family for Christmas, donating winter clothes, food shelves, etc. I know there is a lot out there in the Twin Ports I could donate to, but thought I would ask PDDers for ideas that maybe I never thought of. Thanks for your help!

Who remembers Scarlett Feed Store on First and Second avenues east?

I’m looking for a description of it (my memory is not always to be trusted) or, even better, old photos. I remember it from when I was a child, so that would have been in the mid-to-late 1960s, maybe even 1970s. I don’t remember when it closed but it had been there since the late 1800s.

What are we naming this storm?

The Cyber Monday Snowopolis?

Name Origin of Clough Island

Does anybody know who is the “Clough” behind the name of Clough Island?

Lefse-perate

Too much?

I’m looking for gluten-free lefse. Has anyone seen any around?

Good activities for visiting relatives

I have three coming over for Thanksgiving, including a conservative brother in law. Here’s what I have so far: comedy at Dubh Linn, Karpeles Manuscript Museum, Duluth Art Institute and Bentleyville. Hockey game? For the girls: pedicures, possible drag show? I have lots of fun eating places lined up; may need more other stuff. I know — we can sit around and play cards and board games, too.

Gift Guide?

Is there a gift guide out there for (very) small businesses to advertise in?

I don’t have much of a budget so I can’t buy into big fancy ones, but there must be something out there for the little guys. Help?

(This is not a ploy to get free advertising. It’s a real question.)

“Awareness Now”

I’m looking for information about a public activist campaign from the 1960s called “Awareness Now,” or something like it, possibly co-sponsored or sponsored by the Duluth chapter of the NAACP.

If you can help, post below or email!

Milk Prices

First of all, it’s a little ridiculous that milk costs different prices at different fat contents. This is not standard throughout the rest of the state (I do, however, find it quite humorous that most of us are willing to pay more for better tasting beer, but not better tasting milk). Does anyone know why 2% has been so much cheaper than other kinds of milk lately? Usually milk here gets progressively more expensive at higher fat contents, but the past few times I have gone grocery shopping 2% has been almost a dollar cheaper per gallon than even skim milk.

Wood rings?

Does anyone know of a local jeweler/craftsperson who makes wood engagement rings? A friend has a loose diamond that he’d like made into a ring for his sweetie, preferably in wood.

The Never-ending Duluth ISP Problem

Charter is getting nastier. I’m getting frustrated. In the vain hope that something has changed in the world of ISPs in Duluth, I did a web search from a link in a previous PDD post from a few years ago.

Surprise Surprise. Something has changed.

Does anybody have any experience dealing with Air Fiber? From their website they don’t seem to be as big of jerks as the other guys. And that they might actually give me what they say they will.

Thoughts?

Where to buy We Accept the Challenge?

Does anybody know where I can buy a copy of “We Accept the Challenge” either new or used?

Band Practice Space in Duluth?

My new band is not able to practice anymore in the basement we were using. We are starting to look elsewhere for a place to practice. We already know about the Clubhouse. We are waiting to find out if there will be an opening. Does anyone know anywhere else we can ask? We are loud so we obviously need a place that doesn’t care about that or is soundproofed.

Does anybody know of any West Junior High yearbooks?

I’m looking for a yearbook from West Junior High from around the year 1938. I’ve checked DPL and all round the school district. I’m wondering if anybody has one laying around in an attic somewhere.

Before Big Daddy’s Burgers …

I’ve been to Big Daddy’s Burgers in Piedmont a couple of times and liked it, I need to go again sometime. However, I have a memory of another diner, an even smaller one, just next door to Big Daddy’s, (to the left at the end of the building). When I was kid, likely in the mid-to-late 1980s, my Grandma took me there when we were visiting my Great Grandma at Viewcrest nursing home. I may have only been there once, maybe twice, but it made an impression, mostly due to it’s size, it was the very definition of a hole-in-the-wall diner. There was a lunch counter that ran most of the length of it, the cook made the food right behind it, I don’t think there were even any tables, just the counter since it was so small.

Does anyone remember this place, the name, and I know this is stretching it, but perhaps pictures? It’s just one of those childhood memories that has stuck with me, and I’d love a little history? Thanks in advance!

Feeling assailed by feline

Does Animal Allies have a bad-kitty pickup service?

Call for HG2013 Photos

A blustery fall day seems like a good day to get an early start on Homegrown 2013 photo wrangling for next year’s Field Guide. With an earlier start, hopefully this can evolve into better curation and collaboration. Send me stuff & questions: transistormag [/] gmail.

Homegrown is also in the process of planning a website / photo archive / history overhaul, so we will be looking for a “motherfucking sub-committee” for that, if I remember my meeting notes correctly seeking input.

Thanks!

Mitch’s & Grill

mitchs-and-grill

Is there a more slapped together billboard in Duluth?

Looking for a specialist in preserving antique needlework

We inherited an old piece of needlework. It is probably about 50 years old, maybe older. It could be as much as 100 years old. We have it, but in a move the glass broke and we need it to be re-framed/matted — whatever you do to keep a piece like this looking good. Who do I call, where do I go to begin tracking down this?