News and Current Affairs Posts

Speaking of Northland’s NewsCenter …

Jun 06, 2010 5 Comments

I am taking this moment to shamelessly plug two stories from last week. Both Renee Passal and myself profiled the Superior-based Genesis Attachments.

The company supplied the gigantic steel shears used to cut the bleeding Deepwater Horizon oil pipe last Thursday.

Fun Fact*

For me, doing this story brought out the unavoidable side of my imagination that creates terrifying, ocean-dwelling robots armed with savage instruments of war.  (Not that they truly exist, but if they did, we humans could outfit them with some crazy shit).

Admittedly, Passal with WDIO had the story first.  And I’m not saying that my version is better.  However, think of it this way:

Could you resist a story about gigantic, robot-controlled, underwater cutting tools?

-MS


News and Current Affairs ,

Western Middle School site. Discuss.

Jun 04, 2010 1 Comment

As a hardcore environmentalist and a Red Plan critic, I am rather befuddled by all the talk of an EIS for the Western Middle School.

To be quite honest, the Western Middle School on the chosen site is the one part of the Red Plan I actually support. As an avid outdoor explorer, I think I’ve made tracks in just about every wild spot in Duluth, this one included. I can tell you the “pristine field” critics talk about is mostly an invasive buckthorn hell. Putting a middle school there, if done right, could lead to ecological restoration and native landscaping to improve a highly disturbed ecosystem.

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News and Current Affairs, Outdoors

Putting the BP F*ckup in perspective

Jun 03, 2010 24 Comments

What if it was in Lake Superior?


News and Current Affairs

Emergency Protest against Flotilla Murders 5pm Tuesday

May 31, 2010 15 Comments

On Tuesday, June 1, at 5 p.m., peace and justice activists in Duluth will gather at the Federal Building to denounce the Israeli government’s assault on the Gaza Freedom Convoy and call for an end to U.S. aid for Israel.

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News and Current Affairs, Politics

Bill and Ted’s Oil Drilling Adventure

May 31, 2010 2 Comments

Stupid stupid stupid oil industry! If you thought all this crap was bad today, it was equally bad in 1979 (“equally bad” as in “the exact same fucking problem”).

That was Then, This is Then


News and Current Affairs

WTF?!? (Puppy Edition)

May 28, 2010 6 Comments

A warning to all dog owners out there: some asshole is going around Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood poisoning dogs (DPD, DNT, Strib, Fox21, MPR). Unlike the dog-napper rumors, this appears to be real.

Watch your doggies, bring them to the vet if you notice symptoms, and keep an eye out for suspicious people giving your pets “treats.”


News and Current Affairs

Three years of road rage (and wide open left lanes)?

May 26, 2010 34 Comments

Since we have to endure this “mega-project” for so long, we better all get on the same page.

I’m one of those who follows the signs that say USE BOTH LANES when backed up and TAKE TURNS AT THE MERGE, which means take turns at the merge to me. I’m pretty sure these signs, their positioning, and the whole setup have been thought out and planned to make the situation as easy as possible for everyone.

Despite those instructions, it seems a majority of people decide to fall in line to the right, maybe assuming they’re eventually going to have to merge anyway. This creates a very long backup in the right lane and a wide open left lane up to the merge, which leads to angry drivers in the right lane who see others cruising by them in the left lane. If a majority of us would actually drive through this the way I think it was intended, I think it would be a lot smoother, similar to the second merge going west from downtown, where traffic spreads out a little and left laners can seamlessly get right without anyone having to slow down at all.

I bring this up after seeing the attempts by some to take up both lanes and actually getting swerved at yesterday for using the wide open left lane. Thank goodness the kids weren’t in the car. Seriously who “fake swerves” their vehicle at another moving vehicle?

Am I wrong here? And if not, how do we get everyone through this as intended? I’ve seen letters to the DNT addressing this and basically saying the same thing I am, obviously without impact.


News and Current Affairs

2010 Minnesota Governor Race

May 25, 2010 21 Comments

You’ve got until Tuesday, June 1, to pick a running mate and file your candidacy for governor in Minnesota.

Your list of opponents will surely grow in the next week, but here’s the lineup so far:

Tom Emmer & Annette T. Meeks (Republican)
Ole Savior & Todd “Elvis” Anderson (Republican)
Margaret Anderson Kelliher & John Gunyou (DFL)
Mark Dayton & Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL)

Congratulations to Ole Savior for being more hilarious than ever this time around.  Elvis Anderson? Really? Wow.

By the way, in Wisconsin the list of candidates for governor is up to 20 already. Lieutenant governor candidates run separately in Wisconsin. There are 10 of them, including Superior Mayor David Ross.

And how about the crazy scramble to run for Prettner Solon’s Minnesota Senate District 7 seat now that she’s running for lieutenant governor? No one has filed yet, but that one is bound to get interesting.

Oh, and I apologize in advance for provoking a discussion of politics.


News and Current Affairs, Politics

Duluth Google Fiber Movie!

May 19, 2010 147 Comments

Thoughts?


News and Current Affairs, Videos

Tour of Old City Hall

Apr 28, 2010 12 Comments

A wonderful video tour of Old City Hall made by Dan Hartman. Very cool. Can’t wait for it to be done!


News and Current Affairs

Council says yes to purchase of NorShor

Apr 26, 2010 66 Comments

Predictably, it was a 6-3 vote. The easy part is over. Now the work begins. This ought to be interesting.

Challenge #1: Actually close the sale.

Challenge #2: If the strip club agrees to move out, will it open somewhere else? Wherever “somewhere else” might be, that’ll be a fun little controversy.

Challenges #3 through #209: Figure out how to fix the place up, get someone running it who can make it work, and everything that comes up along the way.


News and Current Affairs

Downtown Ace Hardware closing

Apr 24, 2010 24 Comments

Losing Daugherty Hardware was bad enough. Now Ace Hardware downtown is closing. The big-box stores cannot compare, and downtown takes another hit. Poop!


News and Current Affairs, R.I.P.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Apr 23, 2010 7 Comments

This didn’t make a lot of news, and that’s a shame. Thanks Rep. Laine.

NEWS RELEASE
New Law Gives Minnesotans a Natural Choice for Care of Deceased

Saint Paul, Minnesota – Governor Pawlenty has signed into law changes that will give Minnesotans a more natural choice in how they care for their deceased loved ones. Under current law, a body must be embalmed if there is a public viewing, but State Rep. Carolyn Laine (DFL – Columbia Heights), who authored the bill, said this practice is largely unneeded. The new law permits dry ice to be used for public viewing of a deceased body within private property, such as a home, church or funeral parlor.

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News and Current Affairs

More NorShor Details

Apr 20, 2010 64 Comments

I was going to post this as a response in a previous thread, but made it a post instead…

There are questions about the sale price.  Legitimate questions, $2.6 million is a lot of money.  Between the three buildings, there is a lot of value.  This is both a fair price and makes economic sense for the city.  I’ll share our value assessment with you.

First, we have examined the sq ft comps in the neighborhood.  There is 40k sq ft of commercial / office space in the Temple and Annex space.  The average per sq ft cost for sale in old downtown is $37.75 based on building sales of Coney Island Bldg and Gardner Hotel (and other area building sales).  I think we could make a strong case that the Temple is a much more valuable property than those, but using this standard, the value of the commercial and office space would be $1.5 million.

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Art, News and Current Affairs, Politics

NorShor and Temple Opera Block

Apr 19, 2010 53 Comments

On Saturday Eric Ringsred signed a purchase agreement to sell the Temple Opera Building, NorShor Theatre, and NorShor Annex to DEDA for $2.6 million.  The sale is contingent on approval by DEDA and the Council.  It’s my intent to make the NorShor the crown jewel of the downtown, to make it the center of a regional arts and entertainment district.

There is a lot of discussion on this, let me fill in with a few thoughts:

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Art, News and Current Affairs, Politics