News and Current Affairs Posts

Amtrak wants to return passenger service to Duluth with funding from Biden’s infrastructure proposal

Apr 04, 2021 2 Comments

Amtrak’s North Star parked at the Duluth Depot, July 19, 1981. (Photographer unknown)

It’s been 36 years since Amtrak ended its 10-year run of passenger service from the Twin Cities to Duluth. This past week the company, which provides medium and long-distance service in the contiguous United States and nine Canadian cities, announced a vision for up to 30 new routes, including a return to Duluth … if Congress passes President Joe Biden’s $2-trillion infrastructure proposal.

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History, News and Current Affairs

PDD Quiz: March 2021 in Review

Mar 28, 2021 No Comments

Test your trivia smarts with this month’s current affairs quiz!

The next PDD quiz will be another installment in a series exploring Duluth parks; it will be published on April 11. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 11.

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News and Current Affairs

Duluthian’s film starring Bob Saget in production

Mar 18, 2021 No Comments

Duluth’s Matthew Dressel is in the Cayman Islands working on a feature-length film starring Bob Saget, the Duluth News Tribune reports.

Dressel was featured on Perfect Duluth Day in a 2019 Selective Focus post and his short movie Just Coffee appeared on PDD in 2018.


News and Current Affairs

AP: University of MN Anomalies Department tests gravity-refracting material in Duluth

Mar 05, 2021 1 Comment

The Arthur M. Anderson fitted with gravity-refracting hull invented by Dr. Mallard McPurdy of UMD

AP: University of Minnesota Duluth – The university’s Anomalies Department worked closely with the local Institute for Sideways Research to develop the space-age material necessary for hovering ships, seen lately in the skies over this Midwestern beach town. The hulls of cargo ships (called “ore boats” on the inland seas) were irradiated with strangelet particles discovered by UMD’s Dr. Mallard McPurdy in 2018. These particles were later commercialized by the Institute for Sideways Research which specializes in gravity refraction. The Institute’s founder, Dr. Horace Zontal, explained, “With this innovative particle, we were finally able to refract gravity a full 180 degrees in the hull of the revered Arthur M. Anderson.” The shipping lanes of the world are expected to be revolutionized in the coming years to take advantage of the new phenomenon. Dr. McPurdy estimated, “Costs will be slashed by two-thirds leading to cheaper commodities for all humanity.”


News and Current Affairs, Photos , ,

Amazing Grace grocery transition complete; sit-down cafe service and music will return after pandemic

Mar 01, 2021 2 Comments
Connor Riley - Amazing Grace Cafe + Grocery

Connor Riley – Photo by Lissa Maki

Amazing Grace Bakery and Cafe, a Canal Park mainstay over the past 25 years, is branching out into the grocery business in 2021. Owner Connor Riley said sit-down dining and music will eventually return to Amazing Grace, but for now he’s focused on the new boutique grocery store aspect of the business, which opened in January.

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News and Current Affairs, Restaurants , ,

PDD Quiz: February 2021 in Review

Feb 28, 2021 No Comments

Test your memory of February 2021 headlines with this week’s current events quiz!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the next PDD quiz will look at Irish (and Irish-adjacent) things in the Twin Ports; it will be published on March 14. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 11.

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News and Current Affairs

Duluth’s Sharon McMahon on the Daily Show

Feb 26, 2021 No Comments

Former government teacher Sharon McMahon appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Monday, sharing why she started her fact-based Instagram account @sharonsaysso and explaining how she separates fact from conspiracy, breaking down the difference between a lie and bias.

The Duluth News Tribune reports McMahon was president of the political science association at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She taught in St. Paul, the San Francisco Bay area and a Maryland suburb of D.C. before returning to Duluth.

Duluth News Tribune: “Duluthian appears on ‘The Daily Show,’ CNN for her viral Instagram account that slays conspiracies, promotes facts”


News and Current Affairs, Videos

Ice Angler Rescue

Feb 09, 2021 3 Comments

Ice anglers rescued after ice sheet breaks away from shore.

KBJR. WCCO-TV. Star Trib. Duluth News-Tribune.

I was skating that ice 48 hours ago, so I’m going to crawl under my bed now.


News and Current Affairs, Outdoors , ,

Warrior Brewing Company: Coming to Duluth This Spring

Feb 05, 2021 1 Comment
Matt Caple and Ben Gipson in front of the stainless brew kettle

Matt Caple and Ben Gipson – Photo by Lissa Maki

A new veteran-owned brewery is moving into the former Lake Superior Brewing Company space at 2711 W. Superior St. Owners Matt Caple and Ben Gipson plan to have Warrior Brewing Company up and running by April to be sure their product makes it to liquor stores before summer.

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News and Current Affairs ,

PDD Quiz: January 2021 in Review

Jan 31, 2021 No Comments

The first month of 2021 is in the books! See how much of it you remember with this week’s current events quiz!

The theme of the next quiz, which will be published on Feb. 14, is “I Like it in Duluth.” Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Feb. 10.

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News and Current Affairs

National Geographic: Saving the Great Lakes

Jan 27, 2021 No Comments

Duluth and Lake Superior were featured in the cover story of the December issue of National Geographic magazine. (No, that’s not Duluth on the cover image; it’s the Empire Bluff Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. Yes, the article has been out for two months; we’re behind on our reading.)

The article delves into a variety of environmental stressors threatening the Great Lakes, including invasive species, toxic chemicals, agricultural pollutants and coastal development. The full article is available on nationalgeographic.com, but it’s behind a paywall, so get your subscription dollars ready.

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News and Current Affairs , ,

Shredded aluminum cans found on Park Point beach

Jan 23, 2021 No Comments

The city of Duluth and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers are urging caution for anyone using Park Point beach between the shipping canal on the lakeside to 13th Street South as pieces of shredded aluminum cans have been found. The cans are believed to have been inadvertently deposited when dredge materials were placed on the far north beach section this past fall. Dredge material was placed on the beach after the Park Point Community Club and Park Point residents approached the city and other partners with shoreline erosion concerns exacerbated by high water levels.

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News and Current Affairs

Shuttered Park Point church orchestrates big land sale

Jan 17, 2021 No Comments

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church sits on just under one acre of land adjacent to Lake Superior on Minnesota Point. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A historic church building perched on Lake Superior beachfront property is up for sale and the top bidder will win the largest developable site available in the Park Point neighborhood.

Our Lady of Mercy/St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church officials will open bids for Our Lady of Mercy church, 2002 Minnesota Ave., on Feb. 1. The small neighborhood church was closed in July 2016 and its nearly one-acre lakeside parcel was listed for sale three months ago. The asking price is $650,000.

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News and Current Affairs

Despite pandemic challenges, Duluth area sees new crop of restaurants and bars in 2020

Dec 29, 2020 No Comments

Kai Soderberg stands outside the Jade Fountain in March, prior to remodeling the former Chinese restaurant and opening it as a tiki bar in August. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A surprising number of intrepid entrepreneurs opened new restaurants and bars in the Duluth area in 2020, despite the global pandemic. One notable trend is the number of new Black-owned businesses.

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News and Current Affairs, Restaurants

A look at Duluth-area food and drink spots we lost in 2020

Dec 29, 2020 No Comments

Left: Maggie’s restaurant in Bayfield marked 40 years in business in August and announced its closure in October. Right: The Crooked Spoon Cafe in Grand Marais was destroyed by fire in April. (Photos via Facebook)

The scourge of COVID-19 has challenged restaurant and bar owners at every level. The temporary closures during the pandemic are too long to list, and the industry outlook for 2021 is filled with uncertainty, but surprisingly few businesses announced they were calling it quits in 2020.

Two of the region’s most notable restaurant losses occurred in small towns away from Duluth, and COVID-19 was perhaps only loosely to blame.

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News and Current Affairs, R.I.P., Restaurants