News and Current Affairs Posts

Duluth 2019 Primary Election Primer

The filing period for Duluth city and school board offices has closed. Below are the positions up for grabs and the names of those who filed. The Primary Election will be held Aug. 13, and the General Election is Nov. 5.

Missing Person: Wahbinmigisi Robertson

Family members of Wahbinmigisi “Pennie” Robertson reported her missing to the Fond du Lac Police Department on Tuesday, May 28. Robertson was last seen on Mahnomen Road on May 24. Since then, family and community members have conducted searches and reached out to the news media and social media for assistance.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the investigation and began assisting the Fond du Lac Police Department today. Anyone with information on Robertson’s whereabouts is urged to call 911 or the Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division at 218-336-4350.

June 2 Update
Duluth News Tribune: Missing woman found dead on Fond du Lac Reservation

Duluth Coffee Company Canal Park satellite opens June 1

Maggie Gustafson and Eric Faust - Photo by Lissa Maki

Maggie Gustafson and Eric Faust – Photo by Lissa Maki

A trio of craft beverage purveyors will be sharing space in Canal Park starting Saturday. Duluth Coffee Company is opening a satellite coffee shop in the Ripple Bar on Lake Superior, which is adjacent to Hoops Brewing in the Waterfront Plaza at 325 S. Lake Ave.

KUMD station manager position still in limbo

Maija Jenson

When Maija Jenson transitions out of her role as interim station manager at KUMD in August it will mark the end of an era that started in 2008 when she was one of three major hires there. What the next era holds will likely be decided in the coming months.

The 62-year-old public radio station at 103.3 FM, operated by the University of Minnesota Duluth, is expected to learn soon whether the college will seek to hire a new general manager to guide it. Whether it does or doesn’t, KUMD will likely continue with its usual programming, but not hiring a new GM leaves its leadership in question and might put grant funding at risk.

“We have not made any final decisions yet,” UMD Marketing and Public Relations Director Lynne Williams said in a statement today. Williams is the university’s administrator of KUMD and reports to UMD Chancellor Lendley Black.

PDD Quiz: May 2019

Another month’s worth of headlines and happenings has nearly passed; how much do you remember? Test your smarts with PDD’s monthly current affairs quiz!

The next PDD quiz will cover Duluth in song; it will be published on June 9. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by June 6.

Nine final designs chosen for new Duluth flag

Options for the new Duluth city flag have been narrowed down to nine. Finalists were selected by the city’s volunteer flag committee with consideration of input received from an online survey, flag design principles, artist descriptions of the meaning, and overall sense that the flag represents Duluth.

Thirsty Pagan transitions to new location; grand opening June 8

Photo by Lissa Maki

Photo by Lissa Maki

Thirsty Pagan Brewing entered its 14th year of business on May 1. There was no fanfare, simply because owner Steve Knauss was so busy he forgot. Knauss and his staff have been working around the clock to ready the brewpub’s new spot at 1615 Winter St. for opening.

Grandma’s restaurant owner buys building in Lincoln Park

The owner of a well-known Duluth restaurant and several other Canal Park properties has purchased a historic building in a Lincoln Park neighborhood booming with new breweries, eateries and art galleries.

Fly High Duluth Flag

Duluth Flag Survey

Props to the person who answered “the phrase ‘fly high duluth'” on the city’s flag survey!

I’m also amused by “This town is dying. Thanks.” Savage, yet polite – quintessential Duluth!

Missing Person: Julian Daniel Decoux

On May 5 an adult foster care home in Canosia Township, about five miles north of the Duluth International Airport, reported a resident was missing. Julian Daniel Decoux was last seen outside the home earlier in the afternoon. Deputies and volunteers from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office searched the area around the foster home, aided by both canines and aerial drone technology, and did not locate Decoux.

The sheriff’s office is asking for help from anyone who may have seen Decoux or knows where he is.

Decoux was last seen wearing a bright green winter hat, an orange hooded sweatshirt, a black vest, black pants and new grey tennis shoes. Anyone with information should call 911 or contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division in Duluth at 218-336-4350.

Taco Arcada opens May 5 in Duluth’s Lincoln Park

Jeff Petcoff, Mike Atkinson (pinball mechanic/manager) and Tom Hanson - Photo by Lissa Maki

Jeff Petcoff, Mike Atkinson (pinball mechanic/manager) and Tom Hanson – Photo by Lissa Maki

A new establishment opening Sunday in the Lincoln Park Craft District will cater to adults who like to eat and play. Taco Arcada features an array of classic pinball and video games and will serve up Mexican-style street tacos.

Superior bakery brings donuts back to Duluth’s Lakeside

A Dozen Excuses owner Melissa Kingren serves up fresh sweet rolls at her Tower Avenue bakery in Superior.

Donuts are coming back to Lakeside. A Dozen Excuses bakery in Superior has leased space to open a satellite location at 4328 E. Superior St. in Duluth. Johnson’s Bakery closed its Lakeside outlet in March 2018 leaving the neighborhood without an independent donut shop for the first time since 1955.

Honking Tree case remains a mystery 10 years later

Left: July 2001 photo of the Honking Tree from the Two Harbors Forum website. Right: The modern remains of the Honking Tree stump between Larsmont Road and Isaacson Road southwest of Two Harbors. Photo by Mike Creger.

I asked Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson this month if there was anything new in the now 10-year-old Honking Tree case.

“You mean the white pine murder investigation?” he said straightaway.

PDD Quiz: April 2019 in Review

Photo by Jim Rosvold

Put your current affairs knowledge to the test with this edition of the PDD Quiz.

The next quiz, scheduled for May 12, will explore Duluth parks. Please email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 7.

Tweed director Ken Bloom to retire in June

Ken Bloom, director of the Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth since 2004, will retire in June. UMD’s School of Fine Arts made the announcement Friday afternoon, noting there will be a nationwide search for a new director.

Bloom will return to his lifelong photography career and continue to offer his accumulated museum and artistic expertise as a freelance curator and consultant.