October 2024 Posts

Video: Steve Solkela in the Superior Spooktacular Parade

Superior Porchfest took part in the 10th annual Superior Spooktacular Parade on Saturday, represented by musician Steve Solkela. The video was made by Bret Holland.

Postcard from the Aerial Lift Bridge Circa the 1960s

This undated postcard, published by the W. A. Fisher Company, features a Kodachrome photo of the Aerial Lift Bridge circa maybe the early 1960s.

Selective Focus: The Photographic Eye of Eric Sturtz

Left: Eric Sturtz self portrait. Right: Stony Point.

When looking at Eric Sturtz’s body of work, it’s clear the natural world inspires him. His photographic journey has taken him to the Grand Canyon and the hills of South Dakota, as well as out of the United States to places like Iceland.

PDD Quiz: October 2024

Close out a month of tricks and treats with this week’s current affairs quiz.

A deep dive into Alan Sparhawk’s many music projects will come your way on Nov. 10. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Nov. 7.

Duluth Hillside Cam

The live view from one of the 11 Duluth Harbor Cam locations.

Ripped at the Duluth Athletic Club in 2004

[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to the Duluth Athletic Club Bar & Grill, 402 W. First St., and composed this article for the October 2004 issue of the Ripsaw magazine. The Duluth Athletic Club closed in 2008 after it was flooded by a toilet overflow.]

Tonight, in an effort to mentally prepare you for the upcoming presidential election, I ask this question: Where in the Twin Ports would George W. Bush go to get drunk? The answer, of course, is nowhere. Bush doesn’t drink. He used to drink, but then he flip-flopped and turned into an evangelical traitor to the cause.

John Kerry, on the other hand, might go to the Duluth Athletic Club Bar & Grill. After all, the DAC is a nice, clean, all-American place where any political figure could spend a quiet night without any controversy whatsoever. And a rich sonuvabitch like Kerry could certainly afford the overpriced drinks.

Anthony Bennett – “Happy Halloween”

Perfect Duluth Day’s own Tony Bennett has a hot new single burning up the Halloween charts.

Boylan Threatens Murder

One hundred years ago today — Oct. 25, 1924 — the Duluth Rip-saw newspaper published a front page story attacking Minnesota State Senator Mike Boylan. The article contributed to the 1925 creation of the Public Nuisance Law, also known as the “Minnesota Gag Law,” which made publishers of “malicious, scandalous and defamatory” newspapers or magazines guilty of creating a public nuisance, and allowed judges to stop the publication of those periodicals. A restraining order was placed on the Rip-saw in 1926. Publisher John L. Morrison fell ill soon after and died.

In 1931 the gag law was challenged by Jay Near, publisher of the Saturday Press in Minneapolis. The Supreme Court ruled the law violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects the freedom of the press.

Hellwig Hollow: An Inner Monologue

The Way There

  • Canyon? Is that up north?
  • Oh, it’s past Twig, just south of Cotton, gotcha!
  • I didn’t know they had a haunted thingy out there.
  • How the hell do you get to it?
  • No, I have never heard of the Dawghouse Bar & Grill, but I assume it is near the hollow?
  • Okay — park at the Dawghouse and a bus will shuttle us to the actual attraction.
  • I’m not super sure how this is going to be set up … but I guess we are just gonna have to go and find out.

Duluth 2024 General Election Sample Ballot

This sample ballot is specific to Duluth’s western neighborhoods. Races for Minnesota State Representative and St. Louis County Board of Commissioners vary throughout the city.

Minnesota Historical Society acquires Wing Young Huie archive

A collection of 5,000 photographs by Duluth native Wing Young Huie will soon be available online through the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. The images capture a view of community life in Minnesota.

The first part of the collection, 965 images and supporting material, is already available in the searchable Collections Online database and the Gale Family Library. The full archive of 5,000 photographs and related material will become publicly available over the next five years.

El Jefe Bar & Grill brings back flavors of Bucktales

Dee Morales is back in the restaurant business. He opened El Jefe Bar & Grill in early October.

There’s a familiar face in the kitchen of a new eatery in the Town of Superior. Dee Morales quietly opened El Jefe Bar & Grill in early October after closing Bucktales Cantina & Grill in the city of Superior, 12 miles north. El Jefe operates out of the same building that served as the original Bucktales.

PDD Shop Talk: Help keep the information flowing

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Two obvious things you should know about Perfect Duluth Day: 1) It could be better. 2) It could be worse.

The existence of this website depends heavily on the work of talented writers and reporters who deserve to be compensated. The funds to do that come from advertising sold to local businesses and donations from readers. The more cash that goes in, the more work that goes out. That’s why we occasionally toss up a post to remind everyone that donations are a big help.

Duluth Grill expands into West Duluth with new chicken eatery

Mural artists Kevin Ballecer, left, and Mela Nguyen are painting the exterior of Chicken n’ Whaaat?! on Central Avenue in West Duluth. The pair also painted murals for Burger Paradox on Superior Street. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).

A family-owned restaurant group that helped revitalize Lincoln Park will expand outside the neighborhood for the first time with a new fast-casual chicken eatery attached to a West Duluth gas station.

Is this man still in Duluth?

Yesterday my uncle was in Cafe Coco in Washburn, Wisconsin, and saw this poster on the wall. If I had to guess, I would say the person shown is a founding member of Colder by the Lake Comedy Theater. But does somebody know for sure?