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Journalists should be ashamed of delicious Doritos™ air drop
ID: Hey, ego! Did you see that they’ll be dropping Doritos™ Heat Wave chips over the city of Duluth at noon today? All the TV stations promoted it on the news! You should blog about that. EGO: Yes, but I can’t report that. It’s just a free ad for Doritos. ID: Doritos™ — and what’s…
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Duluth-Superior Film Festival opens today
Summer movie season has arrived, and if you’re like me you’ve noticed a sea of derivative retreads slated for our cinema multiplexes. “Blah Blah IV.” “Blah Blah: The Remake.” “Blah Blah: Based on the Popular Video Game.” The film industry has always balanced its urge for creativity with its need for money. It seems money…
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There be titanium dioxide in them thar’ hills
If you’ve never heard of titanium dioxide, you’d qualify as normal. But you’ve probably used white paint, eaten red candy, or applied sunscreen before. All of those products use titanium dioxide. So do plastics and some electronics. The stuff sells at $3,200 per metric ton. Today, researchers release a report showing that the Iron Range region could…
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Dylan Fest 2017 honors Northern MN’s own Bob Dylan
Every May, Bob Dylan’s shared hometowns of Duluth, where he was born, and Hibbing, where he grew up, celebrate music, poetry and culture in his honor. This year, Dylan is fresh off his Nobel Prize for Literature. And while the former Bobby Zimmerman isn’t expected to appear at this year’s festivities, a full lineup of…
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FitBit names Duluth ‘fittest city in America’
In what’s either a tremendous bragging point or a disturbing product of a corporate surveillance state, FitBit announced this week that Duluth, Minnesota, is the “fittest city in America.” FitBit formed this conclusion from tracking fitness data like steps, activity and sleep duration from its customers across the nation. To be perfectly fair, all this…
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Short film shot in Duluth shows horror of modern workplace
What drives the modern worker? Is it money? Ambition. Or have we been conditioned to press on with increasingly meaningless office tasks in fear of what might happen if we ever stop? Perhaps, like the shark who must swim to survive, the office worker must print, copy and collate. “Take Your Non-Vaporous Apparition to Work…
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New band ‘Hazardous Weather Outlook’ opens Duluth Homegrown
The annual week-long Duluth Homegrown Music Festival opens today. Nearly 200 local bands will perform at venues throughout the Zenith City. Homegrown is a cornerstone of the Northern Minnesota music scene, showcasing the depth and variety of artistic talent in the region. That’s why the choice of opening band is such a surprise. This year’s…
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Study adds new fuel to mining vs. tourism debate
Iron Range newspapers and TV stations have given considerable air time to a study sponsored by a pro-mining group showing that while tourism provides more jobs in Northern Minnesota, mining, railroading and shipping provide far better paying jobs. From the Duluth News Tribune: The [Mining Minnesota] study found current iron ore mining and directly related…
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NASA scientist predicts future raid on Great Lakes water
Natural resources spur debate in Minnesota. Mining and forestry find their way into many controversies. But water? Well, people want it to be clean, but no one begrudges anyone a cool glass of water. Have another! Water your lawn if you want. No need, of course, because there’s plenty of water everywhere. This is, after…
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Higher and Higher: Duluth councilor looks up for development
The new 11-story Maurice’s Headquarters and Office Building in downtown Duluth added some heft to the skyline of this mid-sized metro in the Middle West last year. Now one city councilor is looking up, not out, for future development of the city. At-large city councilor Zach Filipovich has proposed a resolution for tonight’s Council meeting…
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Might as well jump: Indoor trampoline park slated for West Duluth
America’s Funniest Home Videos could broadcast an endless loop of trampoline accidents. Your local emergency room doctor owns at least one vehicle paid for by the victims of trampoline accidents. And yet, our nation’s fascination with trampolines continues. For some, trampolines provide the simple hope that the kids burn enough energy to at some point sit quietly or…
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Dylan talks hunting, fishing and Northern Minnesota in new interview
Like most who grew up on the Iron Range, Bob Dylan reminisces about hunting and fishing. He also insists there’s a profound difference between Northern and Southern Minnesota. Dylan, born in Duluth and raised in Hibbing, doesn’t give many interviews. When he does, they become their own art form. His answers, rarely direct, ebb and flow around some ambiguous concept,…
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Shipping season begins on Lake Superior
Never mind the equinox until the lakers leave the equi-DOCKS! Ha! Get it? The Lake Superior shipping season reopens today, marking the actual start of Northern Minnesota’s spring. Of course, we celebrated the vernal equinox this past Monday. That’s nice and all, but only big honking ships full of taconite and coal can really get…
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In Russia, accordion plays you
Russia seems to dominate political discussions these days. Overlooked in all this is the fact that, on better days, Russians lay down some tight folk music. This Sunday, March 12, accordionist Stas Venglevski and dulcimer player Tatyana Krasnobaeva will perform at the World of Accordions Museum and Harrington Arts Center across the bridge in Superior, Wisconsin. The show starts…
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The end of ‘Vanity’ stores, mainstay of Minnesota malls
KFGO Radio in Fargo reports that Vanity is closing all 140 of its stores in 27 states, including the ones found in malls across Northern Minnesota. The move is part of a bankruptcy that company executives from the 60-year-old Fargo-based clothing store chain blame on competition from online retailers. According to KFGO, Vanity employs up…