This video montage shows highlights from a year’s worth of critters passing though the intersection of a remote hiking trail and a deer trail in Voyageurs National Park. The footage is from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park.
My friend and former student Kevin Stanke recently shared his final project in the Master of Professional Studies program at the University of Minnesota Duluth. His work sets out to increase people’s connection to nature and to embolden bicycle use as a primary form of transportation. He’s given me permission to share it here.
Two canoeists paddled into the Duluth Ship Canal Thursday morning. They took turns standing up in the canoe, getting out and standing on a chunk of ice. They took photos of each other.
Jake and Jessica Hway, owners of Chilly Dogs Sled Dog Trips, have built a life centered around a 90-dog pack, focusing on older dogs that still have a passion for the trail.
Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.
I have just learned that the Tolkien Society sponsors an annual Tolkien Reading Day on March 25. The text below is a press release. Would anyone like to help plan a Duluth event for next year?
Does an organization in the Duluth area have ICE Out yard signs available? I’d rather get something local than order something online.
The Soo Locks, gateway to Lake Superior, are scheduled to reopen for the 2026 shipping season on March 25. This aerial video offers views of the winter layups in Wisconsin as the “Sleeping Giants” prepare to wake.
The video begins at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, where several vessels sit quietly in winter layup. Also in Superior are a pair of 1000-footers — Indiana Harbor at the Lakehead Pipeline dock and Burns Harbor at Elevator M. The video closes with scenes from Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay.
This undated postcard, created by the V.O. Hammon Publishing Company, shows the St. Louis County Courthouse in Downtown Duluth, which opened in 1909.
Last month, I led a class at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s University for Seniors titled “The Pursuit of Better Possibilities.” We explored how all of us can lead more meaningful and resilient lives in our 60s and beyond. In the class, we talked about the importance and value of being creative and connected as well as discovering ways to simply be present and curious.
During the last session, I showed an interview with Dr. Jane Goodall on Netflix where she spent the last six minutes looking directly into the camera and shared her last message to the world. This interview was not aired until after her death. Goodall talked about how each of us has an important role to play on this planet and that our lives matter. She reminded us that we are part of the natural world and proposed that we can make a difference in addressing climate change and responding to the destruction of the biodiversity on the planet. She encouraged us to do everything possible to make the world a better place.
In that same session, I played a scene from the movie Patch Adams where the main character is standing before a medical review board defending himself and declaring his desire to become a doctor. When a member of the board addresses their concerns about his nontraditional approaches to helping patients and dealing with death, Patch states that death is not the enemy but that the most terrible disease of all is indifference.
The second video release from Toby Thomas Churchill’s new album Nighttime offers helpful instruction for dealing with the past.
Still from Nik Nerburn’s “Going Out For Cigarettes.”
The Minneapolis Institute of Art has announced former Duluthian Nik Nerburn will have work on exhibit there March 21 to June 21.
Melissa Weisser and Tammy Underwood talk about how Alt Creative has grown into a vibrant arts collective of 50 creators.
Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.
Here’s the rundown of new works from the Duluth-area music scene in 2026. More will be added as they are announced.
The Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships program in the University of Minnesota is a model for university-community interactions, and I feel lucky to be a part of it. Our “statewide coordinating committee” meeting was held March 5, and the room was on fire.
Steve Solkela challenges viewers to count the instruments as he sings the 1931 country-western song “When the Cactus is in Bloom,” written and originally performed by Jimmie Rodgers.
