Breaking ice for the start of Duluth harbor spring

Today is the spring equinox. Here in Northern Minnesota, this event signifies something about daylight but little about weather. We’ve been having arguments with one of our boys about how the “first day of spring” doesn’t legally absolve you from wearing a jacket. But there’s another sure sign of spring on display in the Port… Read More →

Heroes on ice: Team Shuster homecoming today

By now you might know about the dramatic Olympic men’s curling tournament comeback that led to a historic Gold Medal for the United States. Team Shuster returns home to Duluth, Minnesota, today. Team USA was led by skip John Shuster, a Chisholm native now living in Superior, and rounded out by John Landsteiner, Tyler George… Read More →

Duluth gains sharp new arts venue, promise of another

After several years and $18 million in renovation, downtown Duluth’s NorShor Theater reopened this week with a local production of “Mamma Mia,” the ABBA musical. That show is sold out for two weeks. And while ABBA is great, most folks in the Zenith City are just excited for the addition of a dazzling new downtown… Read More →

Top features of new ‘millennial hotel’ coming to Duluth

Duluth may soon get another new hotel, this one targeting a “millennial” clientele with cheaper, smaller rooms and large shared spaces. “Cheaper, smaller rooms” might sound like “Motel 6,” and “large shared spaces” might sound like “an abandoned warehouse,” but this is different. For instance, the hotel is called Tru by Hilton. “Tru by Hilton”… Read More →

Duluth Lakers play zone outside harbor

Basketball fans sometimes wonder, what the heck is a Los Angeles Laker? The well informed might know that this once venerated (now down-on-its-luck) franchise used to be the Minneapolis Lakers, though that still doesn’t tell most what a Laker is. A laker is a ship or vessel confined to a freshwater lake or lake system…. Read More →

MN Sunday liquor basically fine, nothing special

There’s a lady who smokes outside this one liquor store I drive by fairly often. I think she works there. She was out there again last Sunday. That got me wondering, how are Sunday sales going? Well, the local paper was a step ahead of me. I saw this later that day. A Nov. 26… Read More →

Elections nudge Duluth political scene, but not much

Off-year elections generally only get attention because of “what it all means.” The year-round political speculation industry loves a taste of something real to add some heft to the conjecture. So we can look at yesterday’s election and say that Democratic success in New Jersey and Virginia means something. President Trump’s unpopularity seems to be… Read More →

Lake Superior wave breaks records

By now you’ve heard your fill of Gordon Lightfoot’s wonderful but perhaps overplayed masterpiece, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The 42nd anniversary of the iron ore ship’s sinking in an early winter storm will be marked Nov. 10. The song’s iconic line “when the gales of November come early,” was on many lips this… Read More →

State Senator named director of Lake Superior Zoo

Soon, State Sen. Erik Simonson will tame ravenous beasts, feed ferocious predators, and see that no harm befalls innocent tour groups. And then when he comes home to Duluth he’ll run a zoo. Simonson, a Duluth Democratic-Farmer-Laborite, was named the executive director of the Lake Superior Zoo today. He will accept early retirement from his… Read More →

Minnesota bug clouds tripping radar balls?

Here in Northern Minnesota, the deer flies are always bad this time of year. They’re worse this year. Everybody’s talking about deer flies. And they may have even showed up on radar. But first, some thoughts about radar. Every day I pass by the Nashwauk Radar Ball, a mysterious white orb overlooking Highway 65 north… Read More →