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Emily Larson announces bid for Duluth mayor
At 12:30 p.m. today in front of the Duluth Library, City Councilor Emily Larson will announce her plans to run for mayor of Duluth. Larson becomes an early entrant in what could become a fascinating campaign to succeed popular incumbent Don Ness, who is not seeking re-election. Larson, a DFLer, is currently president of the…
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Duluth mail center to close this spring
The United States Postal Service is planning to close the mail sorting center in Duluth, Minnesota, on April 18. This according to a Dec. 10 Brady Slater story in the Duluth News Tribune. Duluth’s closing will be followed by similar closings in Bemidji, St. Cloud and Mankato on July 11, 2015. Mail in those centers…
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‘Rattling Ray’ rings in big numbers for Duluth Salvation Army
With the holidays approaching, there is no shortage of schmaltzy Christmas-themed news packages on local TV airwaves. Still, sometimes they hit the spot, especially in this case. Our friend Ray Rogers is from Hibbing but moved to Duluth a few years ago. He’s confined to a wheel chair because of cerebral palsy, but is bar…
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New route, same cold for Duluth’s Christmas City parade
Tonight at 6:25 Duluth, Minnesota, hosts the Christmas City of the North Parade, a longstanding tradition of one of the local TV stations, NBC affiliate KBJR-TV (aka Northland’s NewsCenter). Designed to elicit holiday cheer, and excitement for the shopping season, the Christmas City of the North Parade has always been something of a paradox. For one thing, it’s…
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Duluth library faces dramatic, expensive fate
I’m 34, pushing 35. The other day I was thinking, hey there Me! I’ve lived some good life and still have plenty to go. Good for Me! Thanks, Me! And then I read this story about the 34-year-old, almost 35-year-old Duluth Public Library. Peter Passi reported in Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune on a grim view…
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Marking 39 years since the sinking of the Fitz
Today, ceremonies will be held in port cities across the Upper Midwest to commemorate the largest shipwreck in the history of the Great Lakes: the Nov. 10 sinking of the iron ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald. Some years I talk about this date, and some years I don’t. It caught my attention this year because my…
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Mayor Don Ness will not seek re-election in Duluth
This morning Duluth mayor Don Ness announced on social media that he would not seek a third term. He had hinted months ago that he was leaning against running, but said a formal decision would be made in the fall, about one year before the Fall 2015 election (I had written then about why it…
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Remembering my mentor and friend Mike Simonson
UPDATE 2: Mike’s full obituary ran in the Wednesday Duluth News Tribune. I was honored that his wife Jennifer asked me to write this, with her expert editing. UPDATE: Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 4831 Grand Ave., in Duluth. Visitation will be held…
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The lights are on in Duluth
This piece in the Duluth News Tribune shared a fascinating find: photographic evidence of one of Northern Minnesota’s most iconic folk legends from the economic collapse of the early 1980s. As the story goes, shown to be true in the above snapshot, someone put up a billboard up on I-35 that year imploring “would the last one…
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Howie Hanson enters Duluth mayoral race; Ness responds
Though Don Ness has yet to announce whether he would seek a third term as mayor of Duluth, Minnesota, he nevertheless has a challenger today as blogger and city councilor Howie Hanson made an early announcement that he would run for mayor next year. Duluth city elections are held in the fall of odd years. Usually,…
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Turn, turn, turn, D’oh!: 1,000 foot ship runs ashore in Duluth
The 1,000-foot freighter Paul A. Tregurtha ran ashore Saturday near Bayfront Park in the Port of Duluth, Minnesota, causing quite a stir in the Zenith City and prompting a localized surge in social media references to freshwater coal-hauling vessels. Hung up for more than three hours, the Tregurtha was freed with the help of two tugboats.…
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Floating concrete art project sinks in Lake Superior
The Ark of the Anthropocene at Duluth Harbor September 2014 #arkoftheanthropocene pic.twitter.com/m8JMMAeVbK — Sean P Connaughty (@SeanConnaughty) September 5, 2014 Last week, a floating concrete sphere sank in the Duluth harbor on Lake Superior. That’s weird. But it gets much weirder. The concrete sphere was an art project by Minneapolis artist Sean Connaughty called the…
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Shhhhcrerrrr-rrrsssssshhhh-owaaaaaaa: Duluth Air Show
“What troubles you, my dear?” Arthur peeled off his black sock, pale skin shining in the darkened room. His pensive wife stared out the window of their Victorian mansion. “Shhhhcrerrrrrrrsssssshhhhowaaaaaaa?” she asked. “Oh, my Angel, whatever would cause you to ask that question. Of course I love you.” “Schhhooooooooowwwwwwwaaaaaaashhhhh!” she bemoaned. “This again? My dear, we cannot…
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DNT: Twin Ports seagulls need vitamins
The iconic Twin Ports seagulls of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, remind me of a colony of ants or bees — best considered a single organism rather than as a multitude of individuals. This mass of scavenging port birds have entered into a symbiotic relationship with the french fry dispensing tourists at the Head of the Lakes. The birds…
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On Duluth, Don Ness and keepin’ it fresh
This weekend, Duluth Mayor Don Ness told his Facebook followers that he was leaning against running for a third term as leader of northern Minnesota’s largest city. Ness is famous for making important statements and breaking news on social media; it’s one of the things that has made him so popular in a city once better…