News and Current Affairs Posts

Portion of Wisconsin Point could get National Register of Historic Places designation

Feb 25, 2019 1 Comment

The Superior Telegram reports the city of Superior and Wisconsin Historical Society are working to place a portion of Wisconsin Point on the National Register of Historic Places.

The story notes “the boundaries for the site would extend from the access road to the bird sanctuary on the bay side of Wisconsin Point and extend south to about Lot 15.” The site was a campsite and burial place for Ojibwe people until the 20th century.


News and Current Affairs , ,

PDD Quiz: February 2019 in Review

Feb 24, 2019 No Comments

Take a break from the neverending shoveling and give your brain a workout with this month-in-review quiz!

The next PDD quiz, on the history of Morgan Park, will be published on March 10. Please email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 7.

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News and Current Affairs

DNT coverage of the People’s Free Skate Rink on Lake Superior

Feb 23, 2019 1 Comment


News and Current Affairs, Outdoors

R.I.P. Lew Martin

Feb 20, 2019 No Comments

The Superior Telegram reports longtime broadcaster and public servant Lew Martin died Sunday after his 102nd birthday.

Martin began his career at WEBC Radio in the 1930s and transitioned to television in the 1950s. The Telegram reports “his first television broadcast came from the two-car garage that served as a makeshift studio beneath a transmitter. He served as an anchor at WDSM Channel 6 — later KBJR — for 16 years.”

Martin was on the Douglas County Board off and on from 1968 to 2012.

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

Essentia Fitness & Therapy Center will move to former Younkers

Feb 13, 2019 1 Comment

Essentia Health is investing $15 million in the purchase and remodeling of the 145,000-square-foot former Younkers department store at Miller Hill Mall in Duluth. The Essentia Health Fitness & Therapy Center will move into the first floor this fall. Plans are being developed for the rest of the building and will be announced when they are finalized.

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Redstone redevelopment nearly complete

Feb 06, 2019 No Comments

The mansion that was home to the Congdon family while Glensheen was built is being remodeled into luxury apartments. A news release from Heirloom Property Management announces the majestic Redstone Lofts will have “12 modern style loft apartments and a commercial space that will all be available for lease beginning early 2019.”

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News and Current Affairs

DLH passenger numbers up 13 percent

Feb 05, 2019 No Comments

Duluth International Airport announced today that 280,865 passengers flew through the facility in 2018, marking a 13 percent increase over 2017.

Both United and Delta saw increases, with United’s addition of the airbus flight in May leading to a nearly 30 percent increase year-over-year.

United offers three daily nonstop flights to Chicago and Delta offers five daily nonstop flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul. American Airlines is set to begin direct service to Chicago on May 23.

“We now have the three largest carriers in the country flying out of DLH,” Tom Werner, the airport’s executive director, said in a news release. “We’re hoping to use that momentum to add Denver to the growing list of places we fly and ways we connect our region to the world.”


News and Current Affairs ,

Endion Station to be converted into ‘brewtique’ hotel

Feb 05, 2019 No Comments

A former railroad depot will soon become Duluth’s first “brewtique” hotel.

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Perfect New Restaurant: Corktown Deli & Brews

Feb 05, 2019 No Comments

A Lincoln Park sandwich shop emerged as the hero in Perfect Duluth Day’s 2019 poll to discern the area’s best new restaurant. Corktown Deli & Brews won 43 percent of the runoff vote in a pool of three finalists that was narrowed down from a list of 25 nominees. Pak’s Green Corner and Martha’s Daughter were runners up with 33 percent and 24 percent of the votes, respectively.

Corktown Deli & Brews opened in June. Jeff Petcoff, the fast-casual restaurant’s general manager, was thrilled to hear the poll results. “That’s one of the biggest compliments you can get,” he says, “because readers and people vote on it; it’s a vote of confidence from everyone. It’s humbling and will help keep us going.”

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News and Current Affairs, Polls, Restaurants , ,

The BBC Interviews Duluth Cyclist Leah Gruhn

Feb 02, 2019 No Comments

Photo by Jeremy Kershaw

Leah Gruhn, geologist at Barr Engineering and avid Duluth cyclist, was the first woman to complete Northern Minnesota’s Arrowhead 135 mile race in record-breaking low temps on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

The BBC asked her how she did it.


News and Current Affairs

Glamourous Duluth

Feb 01, 2019 No Comments

Duluth’s Ashley Sullivan, sporting a Duluth Cider hat, is part of a feature in the online women’s magazine Glamour titled “Insanely cold polar vortex temperatures are literally freezing people’s eyelashes.” The article refers to a social media trend of people “posting commentary and photos of themselves turning into Elsa from Frozen simply by going about their lives in a polar vortex.”

“Depending on how cold it is, you can feel them freeze right away,” Sullivan told Glamour reporter Abby Gardner. “It doesn’t hurt and doesn’t affect your eyesight, but by the end of a hike, you get the pretty frost. The aftermath isn’t so pretty as the ice melts and mascara runs down your face. But it’s like Mother Nature’s art on while you’re outside, if you think about it. It’s like you’re your own snowflake with the frost vibrating to your own energy.”

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The Hopper Shuttle: Catering to Craft Beverage Fans

Jan 31, 2019 No Comments

The Hopper Logo

A new complimentary shuttle service will provide a link between Duluth’s craft beverage purveyors. Starting Feb. 8 the Hopper, a 15-passenger van, will run between Canal Park, Lincoln Park and Downtown every Friday and Saturday night.

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PDD Quiz: January 2019 in Review

Jan 27, 2019 No Comments

The first month of 2019 is nearly in the books; how much of it do you remember? Take this week’s PDD quiz and find out!

The next PDD quiz, on local sports teams and athletes, will be published on Feb. 10. Please email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Feb. 7.

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News and Current Affairs

Hiki Hut: Duluth’s little blue sauna on a trailer

Jan 14, 2019 No Comments
Whitney & Kelby Sundquist - Photo by Lissa Maki

Whitney & Kelby Sundquist – Photo by Lissa Maki

A little blue sauna on a trailer began popping up around Duluth late last year. The Hiki Hut has licensing similar to a food truck, but instead of food it’s serving up nourishing doses of heat and steam. Owners Whitney and Kelby Sundquist aim to encourage sauna appreciation as well as cultivate community.

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News and Current Affairs, Outdoors , ,

“Duluth” is a Small Drill-Hole on Mars?

Jan 05, 2019 4 Comments

Over the past few years Duluth has occasionally had colder temps than the temp measured on Mars on the same day. I have gleefully pointed this out to friends in the warm south when it happens.

But, if PDD covered this last year, I missed it — how a small test drill hole on Mars made by the Curiosity Rover get named “Duluth”?

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