Tag: Duluth

  • Pro-Horton song warns of Duluth’s potholed heroinscape

    Pro-Horton song warns of Duluth’s potholed heroinscape

    We haven’t discussed the Duluth Mayor’s race in a while, partly because city council president Emily Larson is so widely expected to rout boxing trainer and drug counselor Chuck Horton next Tuesday. But Horton’s supporters aren’t letting up, as evidenced by the most jaw-dropping local political media I’ve experienced in a very long time: Behold,…

  • Creative space the next frontier for libraries?

    Creative space the next frontier for libraries?

    This is a follow-up on my Oct. 11 column “Thinkers, tinkers, and 3-D printers,” which explores 3-D printing and efforts to support local innovation and ideas in Iron Range economic development. After that piece went to print, I learned more about how maker spaces are becoming the vogue. For one thing, I was not aware that Duluth,…

  • How mean is Lake Superior?

    How mean is Lake Superior?

    Last week, Lake Superior Magazine ran an interesting infographic story titled “How Big is Lake Superior?” (Big). The centerpiece was a news graphic showing the outline of Lake Superior placed over the eastern sea board, a span stretching from Baltimore to Boston. The rest of the story talked about how much water was in Lake Superior.…

  • Developer considers Duluth Armory renovation

    Developer considers Duluth Armory renovation

    The Duluth News Tribune reported last week that a new developer is considering purchasing the Duluth Armory for redevelopment as a cultural center and concert venue. From the story by Peter Passi: The Armory Arts and Music Center, a local group of people working to save the building on London Road between 13th and 14th…

  • Larson wins majority, Horton advances in Duluth mayor primary

    Larson wins majority, Horton advances in Duluth mayor primary

    Duluth city councilor Emily Larson won a large majority in Tuesday’s primary election. She and conservative boxing promoter Chuck Horton will advance to the Nov. 3 general election to replace popular outgoing Mayor Don Ness, who opted not to seek re-election. The Duluth News Tribune and WDIO teamed up to report election results and, near as I…

  • ‘Fantasy News Team’ draft for Duluth, Minn., TV market

    ‘Fantasy News Team’ draft for Duluth, Minn., TV market

    A Duluth radio station is sponsoring a unique online poll that would “draft” the mid-sized media-market’s “Duluth TV Fantasy News Team.” Mix 108 is hosting the online balloting, which includes “positions” like anchor, meteorologist, sports anchor and reporter. Visitors can vote once per day. In looking at the list, I am reminded of how much turnover there has…

  • Duluth primary election is today

    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…

  • Mountain bike fever in Northern Minnesota

    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…

  • Duluth city elections set for 2015

    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…

  • A tale of two junkyards

    A tale of two junkyards

    I was raised in the 1980s and early ’90s on a family-owned junkyard along the storied Iron Range Highway 7 on the edge of the Sax-Zim Bog. Two trailer homes rested upon these swampy grounds: one filled to the ceiling with hubcaps and the other which housed my family. The steam cloud from Eveleth Taconite filled…

  • Free dental clinic in Duluth swamped; our state’s dental denial

    Free dental clinic in Duluth swamped; our state’s dental denial

    Yesterday hundreds of low income or underinsured people flowed into the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center to lay on folding tables to receive free dental care from the nonprofit Minnesota Mission of Mercy. John Lundy describes the event, which continues today, in Saturday’s Duluth News Tribune. One way of looking at a story like this is to say that it’s good…

  • Brick Rolled: new look for downtown Duluth’s Superior Street

    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…

  • Howie Hanson re-enters Duluth mayor race

    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…

  • Great Northern Radio Show live Saturday from Grand Marais

    Great Northern Radio Show live Saturday from Grand Marais

    (To the tune of “Do You Know the Way to San Jose“) Do you know the way to Grand Marais? I’ve been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way. Do you know the way to Grand Marais? I’m going back up the North Shore to Grand Marais. 61 is a great…

  • Great Northern Radio Show in Grand Marais on 6/13

    Great Northern Radio Show in Grand Marais on 6/13

    On Saturday, June 13, we’ll broadcast a new edition of my Great Northern Radio Show live from the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais, Minnesota. We’re really excited about this one for a few reasons. One, the location. It’s a summer weekend in one of the most beautiful parts of Minnesota. Two, the…