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NY Times tale of two cities: Duluth & Superior
The Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, are front and center in a must-read New York Times story today about the veering political paths of these two neighboring states. Minnesota and Wisconsin have become political science experiments in what happens when one party gets to enact its agenda with full legislative majorities and…
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Big mag lauds Duluth Mayor Don Ness
Twin Cities Business Magazine named Duluth Mayor Don Ness its Person of the Year last week. The Gene Rebeck feature may be found here. Here’s an excerpt: Ness points to the vibrancy in Mankato and Rochester, smaller Minnesota cities that have experienced a “virtuous cycle of growth.” By contrast, “Duluth had been in a vicious…
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Great Wall of … Asian Carp?
MinnesotaBrown.com has been the internet’s one-stop-shop for those casually interested in the threat of Asian carp species to the fresh waters and Great Lakes of the Upper Midwest, but who do not want to be bothered with excessive “fancy science.” But the fancy science is out there, and a recent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
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County board, state house races heat up east Duluth
The special election to replace the late Steve O’Neal on the St. Louis County Board of Commissioners will be next Tuesday, Jan. 14. District One includes much of eastern Duluth, where they’re also gearing up for an open state House race after the announced retirement of Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth). The Dist. 1 county commissioner…
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Mesabi Miner crashes into Great Lakes ice-breaker
WDIO reports that the Mesabi Miner, a major Great Lakes ore ship hauling taconite pellets off the Minnesota Iron Range, crashed with a U.S. Coast Guard ice cutter near the Straits of Mackinac Sunday morning. The 220-foot ice-breaker the Hollyhock was badly damaged in the accident, while the 990-foot Mesabi Miner suffered some damage. These…
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Northern Minnesota colder than Mars this week
It’s cold in northern Minnesota. How cold is it? It is reported that temperatures in Duluth and surrounding region of northern Minnesota have been colder than Mars this week, according to reports from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on the Red Planet. Embarrass and International Falls were both under 40 below (F) Thursday night, while the…
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Forum Communication to buy Brainerd newspaper
Forum Communication, the company that owns the Fargo Forum and Duluth News Tribune, has purchased the Brainerd newspaper, the Dispatch. Forum has been expanding its reach into Minnesota after buying the DNT a couple years ago. Like most newspaper companies, it is known for cutting costs, striving for higher profits. It’s also known for stepping…
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Last ‘saltie’ to leave Port of Duluth this afternoon
The last “saltie” (ocean-going) vessel of the year will depart this afternoon from the port of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. Here’s the news from the Duluth Port Authority: Duluth, Minn. (Dec. 19, 2013) – The last oceangoing vessel to call on the Port of Duluth-Superior for the 2013 shipping season is expected to depart…
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Bentleyville to stay open through Jan. 4
The Bentleyville Festival of Lights attraction in downtown Duluth will stay open past New Years until Jan. 4, organizers say, to make up for several days lost to extremely cold conditions last week. Bentleyville is an annual tradition for many in northern Minnesota. We went the day after Thanksgiving and were surprised to see a…
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First winter storm bears down on Duluth, Iron Range
A three-day winter storm is underway here in northern Minnesota. That sounds worse than it is. It will snow gently but steadily for three days, resulting in predicted snow totals of about a foot. But the plow drivers will be out. These are weekdays, so relatively little overtime is required. Track the storm if you…
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Northern MN’s Locally Laid eggs up for Super Bowl ad
UPDATE: Voting continues today through tomorrow (Dec. 1). I’ve been impressed with Locally Laid’s grassroots campaign to drive “Vote Lola” supporters to the Intuit ballot page. One of the other companies up for the competition, GoldieBlox, got some big attention and then some big blowback for its demo ad, which was cool but barely showed…
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Duluth Mayor Don Ness will decline pay hike
Last night the Duluth City Council voted 5-3 to increase the mayor’s salary by 25 percent. The proposal was advanced by City Councilor Sharla Gardner, who said that the salary hasn’t been increased since 2000. Today, Duluth mayor Don Ness said that he would not accept the pay increase, saying that adjusting the salary might…
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Christmas City of the North charade
Last Friday night brought the annual frozen spectacle of the Christmas City of the North Parade in downtown Duluth, Minnesota. What’s to say about the Christmas City of the North Parade? It’s a holiday parade with floats and high school bands from throughout the region. What makes it different? Special? Nothing, except for one thing.…
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Bentleyville flips switch on Northland holiday time
Bentleyville opened this weekend at Bayfront Park in downtown Duluth, Minnesota. The annual “Festival of Lights” display is a major event for many families, who enjoy the free holiday event featuring millions of lights and holiday cheer. Bentleyville’s opening weekend included the skydiving entrance of Santa Claus, a spectacle that went much better than…
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Northern MN Team Shuster wins USA curling trials
With the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia approaching quickly, here’s some exciting news for curling fans. The northern Minnesota-based Shuster “rink” (curling-speak for “team”) has won the USA Curling trials and advances to an international tournament in Germany to determine if Team USA qualifies for the Olympics. They are favored to do so. Team…