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Duluth primary election is today
For my Duluth readers, the Zenith City of the Freshwater Seas holds its primary election for mayor and 5th District city council today. Eight candidates for mayor include: Thomas Cooper, John Howard Evans, Howie Hanson, Chuck Horton, Emily Larson, James Mattson, Robert D. Schieve, and John Socha. The top two vote-getters will advance. That’s a lot…
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Mountain bike fever in Northern Minnesota
Last week I traveled down to the Cuyuna Range to work on a story about outdoor recreation and economic sustainability. While I was down there, phones were buzzing as organizers there learned the International Mountain Biking Association had elevated the region from a Bronze-level ride center to Silver, an elite level for a place that…
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Duluth city elections set for 2015
Duluth, the regional center and media hub of Northern Minnesota, holds odd-year elections. As such, filing just closed for this year’s city and school board offices in the Zenith City. Peter Passi reported about this in the Duluth News Tribune. The big political story in Duluth is still the decision by popular Mayor Don Ness…
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Brick Rolled: new look for downtown Duluth’s Superior Street
The first time I went to downtown Duluth, Minnesota, I was a kid and among the things that stood out to me was the brick face of Superior Street. Whatever brick streets or sidewalks we had on the Iron Range had long been scraped up before my time and the concept was novel. This year, after…
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Howie Hanson re-enters Duluth mayor race
Duluth blogger and city councilor Howie Hanson will resume his campaign for the city’s top job. He had announced his withdrawal from the race, but has changed his mind. He joins Emily Larson, boxing promotor Chuck Horton and auto mechanic Jim Mattson as announced candidates to succeed popular Mayor Don Ness, who is not seeking re-election. Filing doesn’t…
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Open Duluth mayor race now a contest
At long last, City Councilor Emily Larson has an opponent in the open 2015 Duluth mayor’s race. Chuck Horton, a boxing trainer and promotor, announced his campaign this week. Larson, a DFLer, would still considered a favorite against the more conservative Horton in the generally liberal city of Duluth. But Horton is (pun intended) a fighter. His…
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New NFL team in Duluth, Minnesota?
This week in deeply implausible ideas, a Proctor city councilor has announced he’s bringing a resolution to Monday night’s meeting launching a bid to attract an NFL franchise to the nearby Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin. Proctor City Councilor Travis White is also bringing a resolution calling for the building of a stadium for this purpose. You can read…
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The distant barons of Duluth and the Iron Range
As readers here know, we in Northern Minnesota are living in a time of speculation and bewilderment over the machinations of distant industrial powers. The regional economy of the Iron Range is dangling on a bouncing string pulled by unseen actors. But this is nothing new. Same now as it ever was. Zenith City Online, a…
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Larson cruising in Duluth mayor race
Duluth City Councilor Emily Larson continues to clear the field in the race to succeed Duluth Mayor Don Ness in this fall’s election. On Tuesday, former Lt. Gov. and State Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon announced she would not run for Mayor, and endorsed Larson in the process. Earlier in April, St. Louis County Commissioner Chris…
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City mulls animal layoffs at Duluth zoo
The Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, Minnesota, is a place of special memories for those of us who grew up in Northern Minnesota. On one hand, it was “our zoo,” the first place where we laid eyes on exotic animals like you see in the storybooks and subject of our youthful curiosity. On the other,…
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Duluth Mayor opens Homegrown with pothole rock anthem
That’s right, the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival opened last night and runs all week in the Zenith City of Lake Superior, home to so many people who are in bands that the 2020 census might create the first Member of Congress elected by multi-band bass players and shiftless drummers experiencing creative differences. By all means,…
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Some icons, surprises in Labovitz award-winning businesses
Several Northern Minnesota entrepreneurs were honored today as the University of Minnesota-Duluth Center for Economic Development named this year’s winners of the Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards. You might recognize some of the businesses on the list, while others might surprise you. Among the honorees was Bergquist Imports, proprietor of the iconic orange Swedish horse…
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On fate and one last good deed
The city of Duluth is still shaken up by a deadly bus accident that occurred on Superior Street last Tuesday. The driver of one Duluth Transit Authority bus experienced a medical emergency which caused that bus to careen out of control on Superior Street, striking another DTA bus. One man was killed and nine were injured in the…
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Ugly ship probably has a nice personality
Great news, everyone! The first ocean-going vessel, or “salty,” of the season was slated to arrive in the Lake Superior Port of Duluth today. The Maltese grain ship, the Kom, passed beneath the Aerial Lift Bridge and it was just … … stunning. Sure is … yellowish. I, uh, gotta check if I got my dip/tet…
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KUMD ‘NorthFest’ welcomes April in style
The independent public station 103.3 FM KUMD in Duluth will launch its first ever “NorthFest” on Wednesday, April 1 with live music all day on the campus of the University of Minnesota at Duluth. The lineup features excellent representatives of the growing Duluth music scene, including several past (and future?) guests of my Great Northern…