News and Current Affairs Posts

Know Your Candidates: 2022 County Sheriff Race

As promised following the initial coverage of the St. Louis County Sheriff race in the primary election, the embedded PDF below contains in-depth interviews with the two remaining candidates, Jason Lukovsky and Gordon Ramsay, about issues that are important to LEAN Duluth. The Law Enforcement Accountability Network is a volunteer-run data-analysis group and public communications resource for organizers working for police accountability.

Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winners for 2022

Ojibwe homesteads, shipwrecks and working class haunts provide just some of the backdrops for works honored by this year’s Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards.

Duluth 2022 General Election Sample Ballot

The Minnesota State General Election will be held on Nov. 8. Above is the front side of the ballot for Duluthians on the western side of the city. Those on the eastern side will see candidates for Minnesota State Representative for District 8B instead of 8A. Duluthians living in the center of the city will also see the St. Louis County Commissioner race for District 1 on their ballots. A few Duluthians on the western edge of the city will also vote on the Minnesota House of Representatives District 3B. And the backside of everyone’s ballot has numerous judicial races.

Warrior Brewing opens tap room

The Duluth News Tribune reports Warrior Brewing Company opened a tap room at its Lincoln Park neighborhood brewery on Sept. 24. The brewery began producing off-sale beer for distribution in cans and bottles in 2021.

PDD Quiz: September 2022

With the month coming to an end, it’s time to test your memory of headlines and happenings with a PDD current events quiz!

A Halloween-themed PDD quiz will creep your way on Oct. 16; submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Oct. 11.

Climate>Duluth: Mark Hertsgaard of Covering Climate Now

Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews Mark Hertsgaard of Covering Climate Now about how the organization collaborates with journalists and newsrooms to produce more informed and urgent climate stories, to make climate a part of every beat in the newsroom — from politics and weather to business and culture — and to drive a public conversation that creates an engaged public.   

Recorded at Duluth Public Access Community Television’s studio in City Hall, September 2022.

Climate>Duluth: Annette Olson of Climate Steps

Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews Annette Olson of Climate Steps about the personal, political and social steps to fight climate change. 

Recorded at Duluth Public Access Community Television’s studio in City Hall, September 2022.

Cirrus investing $15 million in Duluth ‘innovation center’

Minnesota Public Radio reports Cirrus Aircraft plans to invest $15 million in a new “Innovation Center” at the former Northwest Airlines maintenance base. The company said it plans to hire 80 additional engineers over the next three years.

Greater Denfeld Foundation thriving after 50 years

Peyton Bradbury, left, was awarded a Marie V. Saltwick Scholarship and the Greater Denfeld Foundation Health Science Award at Denfeld Honors Night in May. He’s in the nursing program at Umass Boston. Xander Schroeder, right, received an Armond Hauge Scholarship, a Greater Denfeld Foundation Award and the Matt Kero #4 Memorial Scholarship. He’s at the University of Minnesota Duluth studying computer science.

Public school students in western Duluth who pursue post-secondary education have found a wealth of scholarship money available in recent decades. It’s all because of groundwork laid 50 years ago, and the generosity of generations of Denfeld High School graduates.

The Greater Denfeld Foundation has been reducing the financial burden of college for Denfeld students since 1972, and has grown to be one of the largest public school scholarship funds in the country. It presently manages more than $8 million in assets according to board president Gary Eckenberg, who graduated from Denfeld in 1968. More than $2 million in scholarships have been awarded to date.

Mid-century modern work highlighted in Duluth home tour

The Hart House at 1545 Skyline Drive soon after construction was completed in 1952. The Chester Bowl ski jump can be seen in the background to the left of the house. (Photo courtesy of Aethan Hart)

The legendary Frank Lloyd Wright may not have been the architect but his influence is all over a striking little house tucked into a wooded lot just around the bend from Chester Park.

Known as the Hart house, the property at 1545 Skyline Parkway will be one of six featured homes in the 2022 Duluth Preservation Alliance Historic Properties Tour beginning at 11 am Sunday, Sept. 18. The annual event allows ticket holders to roam around inside some of the most beautiful homes in the city, this year featuring a collection of unusual mid-century modern works.

Council approves demolition of Astoria Hotel

Another contributing building to the Duluth Commercial Historic District could soon be gone. The Duluth City Council voted to reverse a decision by the Heritage Preservation Commission to block the demolition of the former Astoria Hotel at 102 E. Superior St. The two-story white brick building housed the Chinese Dragon restaurant, Hucklebeary store and Old Towne Antiques until the end of 2021, when the building’s new owner, ZMC Hotels, terminated the leases.

The building was constructed in 1905 and was recently listed on the Duluth Preservation Alliance’s list of the city’s most endangered places.

Lincoln Park trades print shop for restaurant, tea and spices

JS Print Group moved into the Lincoln Park neighborhood about five years ago. The business then outgrew the location at 1927 W. Superior St. and moved this summer to a larger facility in the Central Hillside.
(Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

A fast-growing print shop has moved out of Lincoln Park for a bigger building and plans are in the works for two new businesses — including an Indonesian restaurant — to take over the prime Superior Street location.

Duluth’s Ten Most Endangered Places in 2022

The Duluth Preservation Alliance has announced its 2022 list of the ten most endangered places. The intention is to raise awareness about historic properties that are likely to be lost. The organization previously released endangered properties lists in 2021 and 2017. An interactive story map for the 2022 list is available at arcgis.com.

PDD Quiz: August 2022

It’s nearing the end of the month, which means that it’s time for PDD’s current events quiz!

The next PDD quiz will look at bygone Duluth school buildings; it will be published on Sept. 11. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 7.

Duluth’s Building For Women featured in abortion-access article

“For nearly three decades, long before the fall of Roe v. Wade, the blond brick Building for Women in Duluth, Minnesota, has been a destination for patients traveling from other states to get an abortion. They have come from places where abortions were legal but clinics were scarce and from states where restrictive laws have narrowed windows of opportunity.”