PDD News Sieve Posts

Chester Creek Concert Series 2022 band applications sought

The 39th season of the Chester Creek Concert Series will run Tuesday nights from June 14 to Aug. 16 at Chester Park. Bands interested in playing a 90-minute set on one of those Tuesday can apply with Duluth Parks and Recreation.

As a part of the application process, bands are asked to provide a bio, contact information, up to three sound samples and other information.

MNDOT names eight more plows for 2022


After tallying 60,000 votes, MNDOT has named eight more plows in the fleet. They join Plowy McPlowface and Duck Duck Orange Truck from last year’s naming contest. In Duluth, you can be on the lookout for No More Mr. Ice Guy to be clearing the roads.

America’s Curling Heroes in Parade Magazine

“A humble Midwestern team” that “made curling cool” is on the cover of this week’s Parade magazine.

The U.S. men’s Olympic curling team members pictured are, left to right: John Landsteiner, Duluth; Chris Plys, Duluth; John Shuster, Superior; John Landsteiner, Duluth; Colin Hufman, Minneapolis; and Matt Hamilton, McFarland.

Radisson restaurant and bar rebranding

The Duluth News Tribune reports the Radisson Hotel Duluth-Harborview is rebranding its top-floor rotating restaurant and its ground-floor drinking establishment. The restaurant will become the Apostle supper club and piano lounge; the bar will become the False Eyedoll retro Tiki bar.

Alan Sparhawk and Nat Harvie in Talkhouse

Musicians Alan Sparhawk and Nat Harvie talk about how Duluth informs both their music and their outlook on the website Talkhouse, a media outlet where artists share firsthand perspectives and offer insight into their creative work.

DECC COVID-19 testing tips

In the midst of the Omicron-variant surge the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center has published an “Insider’s Guide to COVID Testing.” Best walk-in hours? From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Parking? Free in the DECC lot if you tell the attendant that’s what you’re there for.

R.I.P. Louie Anderson, sitcom Duluthian

Comedian Louie Anderson died today at age 68. Part of his credentials in the entertainment industry is a CBS sitcom set in Duluth. Six episodes were produced; five were aired in 1996.

Condemned Esmond building gutted by fire

The Duluth Fire Department tweeted this photo at 7:55 a.m. noting a heavy fire on the second floor of the Esmond building.

The former Seaway Hotel, more recently known as the Esmond building, burned for seven hours today while fire fighters struggled in sub-arctic temperatures to extinguish it. The condemned structure at 2001 W. Superior St. in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood has been vacant since 2020 with future plans for demolition and redevelopment.

Two Superior warehouses destroyed by fire

Warehouses at 1507 and 1515 N. First St. in the North End of Superior were destroyed by fire this morning. The Blatnik Bridge was temporarily closed due to smoke from the blaze.

Superior looking to save Princess Theatre

The building at 1310 Tower Ave. in Superior — known in modern times as the home of Frankie’s Tavern — is the subject of a feasibility study to determine the cost of saving it. The Superior Telegram reports it was built as a theater.

Roy Halvorson: Christmas Tree King

From the December 1957 issue of Flying magazine, “the world’s most widely read aviation magazine,” comes the story of Duluth’s Roy Halvorson, “Christmas Tree King.”

Sherman Associates plans to develop Duluth Armory

Plans are in place for the Duluth Armory at 1305 London Road to “serve as an economic, cultural and entertainment hub for northeastern Minnesota,” according to a news release from the Armory Arts and Music Center. The organization announced a partnership on Monday with Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates to rehabilitate and develop the armory building, targeting an opening in 2024.

Missing Person: William Terry

Update: Deputies from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office located the deceased body of William Terry today. He appears to have died by suicide. Terry was reported missing from his residence on Munger Shaw Road in Grand Lake Township on Dec. 6; he had not been seen since Nov. 27. The township is adjacent to Hermantown, about six miles northwest of Duluth.

Deputies had searched Terry’s home on Dec. 6, but after receiving new information concerning the layout of the residence, a follow-up search was conducted and the body was located in a previously undiscovered hidden room. No foul play is suspected.

R.I.P. Ben Boo

Former Duluth mayor and Minnesota representative Ben Boo died on Dec. 1 at age 96.

Boo was Duluth’s 35th mayor, holding office for two terms from 1967 to 1975. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992. He also directed the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District and the Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission in between his political terms.

Cross-country skiers push for Duluth to be ‘fluoro wax-free city’

As the national SuperTour race hits Spirit Mountain in Duluth this weekend, Minnesota Public Radio delves into the potentially harmful effects of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances found in the fluorinated ski wax used by elite cross-country ski racers.