PDD News Sieve Posts

Duluth’s North Star Festival and Golden Jubilee of 1920

The Duluth Public Library’s Vintage Duluth blog has published a feature on Duluth’s North Star Festival and Golden Jubilee, which took place 100 years ago. The events marked Duluth’s 50th year as a city.

R.I.P. Mark Sertich, world’s oldest hockey player

Duluth’s Mark Sertich, the world’s oldest hockey player, was still skating on his 99th birthday in July. He died on Monday from complications of a stroke.

Duluth 2020 Primary Election Results

Absentee ballots will continue to be accepted after election day, but below are the statewide numbers for races relevant to Duluth with all precincts reporting.

Jade Fountain tiki bar opens Aug. 7

The new Jade Fountain tiki bar has its grand opening scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. The space will be limited to 50 patrons at a time due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19. Drinks will be pre-made for additional safety.

City Pages honors Mary Bue and Sam Cook

Former Duluth-based musician Mary Bue and Duluth News Tribune columnist Sam Cook were honored by City Pages this week in its annual Best of the Twin Cities issue.

Duluth 2020 Primary Election Sample Ballot

Depending on where you live, your ballot might look slightly different than the sample shown here. All Minnesota ballots, however, have a slate of partisan races that are divided on the front and back, and it’s potentially confusing.

Confronting racism with a ‘hello’

An exotic village on the Lester River

Barbara Kiser, a former Duluthian who has lived in London since the 1980s, has published an essay that prominently references the Lester River Fish Hatchery. The article appears on Arizona State University’s Zócalo Public Square, which syndicates “ideas journalism.”

Article link: Where I Go: From Northeast London Back to Duluth

Missing Person: Maxwell Willis

Update: Maxwell Willis and his vehicle have been located. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the citizen tipsters who contacted law enforcement, which led to his whereabouts.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing person from the Ely/Winton area. Maxwell Willis has not been heard from since June 18, and family and friends are concerned for his welfare.

Willis was last seen in the Winton area — about 80 miles north of Duluth — driving a black 1995 Chevy Tahoe with larger tires, bearing Minnesota license 6CD551.

Anyone who knows of Willis’s whereabouts, has seen him or his vehicle, or has had contact with him, is asked to contact the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office by calling 911.

Max Mason pardoned in century-old rape case

The Minnesota Board of Pardons has approved the posthumous pardon of Max Mason, a circus worker convicted of raping Irene Tusken in 1920. The incident in Duluth is better known for the fates of three others accused: Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie, all three victims of a lynch mob.

Duluth 2020 Primary Election Primer

Minnesota’s presidential primary is three months in the past, with Joseph Biden winning the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nomination and Donald J. Trump unopposed as the Republican Party nominee. Other parties will field presidential candidates on the General Election ballot on Nov. 3, but the Primary Election on Aug. 11 will have no presidential candidates. There are also no city of Duluth or Duluth School Board races, although one school board candidate is running unopposed.

Duluthian questions if it necessary for protesters to be black

It seems nothing is “too soon” for the Onion. Amid protests and riots following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, the satirical news website published a story with a Duluth dateline in which a “local man” questions “the necessity of protestors being black.”

Duluth’s Lark o’ the Lake Café won’t reopen

2016 photo by Lissa Maki

Representatives of Lark o’ the Lake Café announced on Facebook yesterday that their eatery in the Greysolon Plaza will not reopen. It has been closed since mid-March, when Minnesota restaurants were ordered to cease dine-in service as part of the Stay-at-home Order related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Noodles the black bear visits Miller Hill Mall

Ryan Carlson, a security officer at Duluth’s Miller Hill Mall, shot this image of a black bear trying to pay a visit to the Noodles & Company restaurant at the mall’s main entrance around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Katie Altrichter Kaz, the mall’s general manager, posted the image on Facebook and wrote that she’s named the bear Noodles and considers it the mall’s new mascot.

A Homegrown Cameo

During Dance Attic’s Virtual Homegrown show, festival founder Scott “Starfire” Lunt wandered into the yard to sing along on a few Homegrown favorites. You can find the whole Dance Attic outdoor set at this link.