Robert and Michael Lillegard
The majority of corner bakeries have been casualties of the modern demands of life, which prioritize convenience over quality. A pair of Duluth entrepreneurs is turning the corner bakery model on its head with a limited menu of artisan products, a mix of wholesale, retail and subscription sales and just the right amount of wit.
The Hillsider, a nonprofit neighborhood newspaper aimed primarily at the Central and East Hillside of Duluth, will resume publishing in October, according to general manager and editor Naomi Yaeger.
Yaeger is returning to The Hillsider after a five-year stint as editor of the Duluth Budgeteer News. She previously served The Hillsider from May 2006 to January 2011.
“I miss journalism so bad. I miss being out there and just pulling everything together,” Yaeger said. “I enjoy listening to people and hearing their stories and I enjoy telling other people those stories in an accurate way. … I have a passion to do this.”
Kevin Evans, CEO of Duluth Whiskey Project LLC, is interested in opening a distillery at the former Franklin Foods facility on the 1900 block of West First St. in Duluth’s West End. The Duluth News Tribune reports the Duluth City Council could vote tonight on a resolution authorizing up to $50,000 for Barr Engineering Co. to conduct an environmental investigation of the former Arrowhead-Kemps dairy operation, which closed in 2013. The property is listed by Holappa Commercial Real Estate at $450,000.
A new loan program designed to spur the revitalization of older stock commercial buildings and create jobs in West Duluth and West End business districts is detailed in a brochure released by the city of Duluth and the Duluth 1200 Fund Board. The program is intended to help with commercial building acquisition or improvements in the form of a loan up to $50,000 with opportunity to have up to one half of the balance forgiven, assuming program requirements are met.
The maximum amount of the loans will range between $10,000 and $20,000 per job created, up to the $50,000 limit. The loans are only available for commercial buildings in the 55806 and 55807 zip codes. The buildings must be owner occupied (not leased) by a small business committed to creating two or more full-time equivalent jobs within two years. Further details are available in the brochure below.
The former Wild West Liquor building, at left, is being remodeled and new owners plan to open a used book store there next summer.
A Carleton College professor and his wife have purchased a former West Duluth liquor store and plan to open a used book shop in a business district targeted by city officials for redevelopment.
Bob and Angel Dobrow of Northfield bought the Wild West Liquor building, 318 N. Central Ave., in July for $214,000 and plan to open Zenith Bookstore in the space next summer. The couple, along with friends and family, have gutted the 1890s building and exposed its original floors, tin ceilings and brick walls. They will eventually fill the store with thousands of books from their collection, recent purchases and new finds.
August is waning. How’s your short term memory? How much do you remember of what happened in and around Duluth this month? Let’s find out.
Monty Lee Wilkes
We mourn the passing of Monty Lee Wilkes, local boy who made good.
With photos by Duluth’s Derek Montgomery.
Tim and Naomi Nelson pose inside the Cedar Lounge just off Tower Avenue in Superior.
Trailblazing craft brewery owner and longtime Duluth bar developer Tim Nelson is ready to launch his newest drinking establishment in a historic, working waterfront neighborhood on the Superior side of the Twin Ports.
The Cedar Lounge, 1715 N. Third Street, just off Tower Avenue, opens in the shadows of the Harvest State Co-op grain elevators Friday, Aug. 26. Nelson and his wife, Naomi, purchased the historic bar building in December and the property has undergone a seven-month restoration.
As the Duluth school district struggles to find money to pay for the insanely expensive Red Plan, a similar situation is playing out to the north. In 2009, St. Louis County School District officials and consultant Johnson Controls argued that closing several old schools and building new consolidated schools would result in significant savings for the school district. Anyone who followed that publicity campaign could not have failed to notice marked similarities with Duluth’s Red Plan, which was also pushed by Johnson Controls.
In fact, as Marshall Helmberger points out in a recent Ely Timberjay story, almost all of the claims and promises have turned out to be worthless.
Bob Collins reported this week for Minnesota Public Radio that “Duluth dodged Google’s fiber optic bullet.”
Six years after Duluth came up short in its bid to be a test community for ultra-high speed internet connections, the experiment is looking like an expensive boondoggle. After digging up a half-dozen cities to lay fiber-optic cables, the company is now shifting into plans to transmit fast internet through the air.
Duluth native C.J. Ham is the Minnesota Vikings leading rusher over the first two preseason contests. He has gained 60 yards on 20 attempts, including a game-winning touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in week one. He also has three receptions for 27 yards.
“It’s been a dream come true,” Ham told WCCO-TV. “Just having the opportunity to be in the NFL and be with the team I grew up watching, it’s a dream come true.”
Duluthians don’t typically venture north of Hermantown to eat dinner, but now there’s a reason for the ride. The Cast Iron Bar and Grill opened three months ago in the old Le Grand Supper Club space in the Pike Lake area.
The tall ships are coming! How much do you know about the ships coming (or not coming) to this year’s festival? Let’s find out!
Our next quiz will be on August 28 and it will be the month in review. Send your August in Duluth related questions (and answers) to lawrence @ perfectduluthday.com by Wednesday, August 24 at noon.
Minnesota’s State Primary election will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 9, in all election precincts within all cities, towns and unorganized areas of St. Louis County. Shown above is the state partisan side of the ballot for the Duluth area. Shown below is the state and county nonpartisan side of the ballot.
