Lest anyone driving by the Central Administration Building, aka Old Central High School, fear the cool sandstone wall is being replaced with ugly concrete blocks, let it be noted that the 120-year-old brownstone blocks are being restored and will return.
Brainerd Police Chief
Corky McQuiston
Bass Lake Fire Department Chief Marvin Mullet
Superior City Attorney
Frog Prell
Itasca County District Court Judge Korey Wahwassuck
The filing period for Duluth city and school board offices closed on July 21. Below are the offices up for grabs and the names of those who filed. The Primary Election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Duluth Mayor
(Top two candidates advance to General Election)
Thomas Cooper
John Howard Evans
Jane Hammerstrom Hoffman (withdrew)
Howie Hanson
Chuck Horton
Emily Larson
James Mattson
Robert D. Schieve
John Socha
At-large Duluth City Councilors
(Two positions; no primary in this race, all four candidates advance)
Jim Booth
Elissa Hansen
Noah Hobbs
Kriss Osbakken
First District Duluth City Councilor
(No primary in this race; both candidates advance)
Gary Anderson
Karl Spring
Second District Duluth City Councilor
(No primary in this race; candidate is unopposed)
Joel Sipress
Third District Duluth City Councilor
(No primary in this race, both candidates advance)
Jay Cole (withdrew)
Barri Love
Em Westerlund
Fifth District Duluth City Councilor
(Top two candidates advance)
Allan Beaulier
Derrick Ellis
Jay Fosle
Janet Kennedy
At-large Duluth School Board Member
(Top two candidates advance)
Alanna Oswald
Jim H. Unden
Renee K. VanNett
District Two Duluth School Board Member
(Top two candidates advance)
Jane Hammerstrom Hoffman
David Kirby
Charles Obije
District Three Duluth School Board Member
(No primary in this race; both candidates advance)
Loren Martell
Nora Sandstad
A cool story crossed news desks yesterday. Duluth is once again on the national radar as a very special place. Last year Outside magazine gave us kudos. Now it’s Livability.com. Here are the details.
I’m aware the “Minnesota accent” varies as you move north through the state, but apparently it also varies west-to-east in Duluth. But don’t take my word for it. I’m a transplant, twice.
Chris Handsone and Esther Derby have launched a LocalWiki for Duluth and Superior. Similar to Wikipedia in general, the LocalWiki effort is intended to “collect, share and open the world’s local knowledge” by allowing anyone to create and edit information about where they live — “their local government, the history of their neighborhoods, streets, social movements, noteworthy local figures, social services, schools — every facet of life in their community.” Check out the Explore Duluth/Superior LocalWiki at localwiki.org/duluth/_explore.
Cookie Temptations & Coffee House has done a soft open in the Fitger’s Complex. The sign indicates it will open on July 1, but customers were being served on Monday. The small coffee shop has no seating and is, more or less, situated in the hallway of the ground floor of the Fitger’s Brewery Complex.
Perfect Duluth Day is twelve years old today – Monday, June 29, 2015. The official celebration is at the Red Herring Lounge tonight at 8 p.m. Because it’s our dozenth birthday, there will be complimentary doughnuts from A Dozen Excuses Donuts. Serving as video DJ will be Lake Superior Aquaman. And there will be prizes and merriment as usual.
PDDXII Facebook invite (consider yourself invited)
Thanks to all of you for helping to keep Perfect Duluth Day perfect!
On Feb. 2, 2013, the Vietnamese Lotus Inn planned to close its doors for good. A little over two years later, owners Steve and Cuc Allen have reopened with a new name, VN Coffeehouse.
Loll Designs and Bent Paddle Brewing Company are teaming up to release Lollygagger Pale Ale in the coming weeks. It states on the can that 5 percent of sales will be donated to Cyclists of the Gitchee Gumee Shores, a group with the mission to improve cycling opportunities in the Twin Ports. The contribution will be split between Loll and Bent Paddle. The new can design was a collaboration between Bent Paddle owners and Loll graphic designers. Cheers to drinking beer for a great cause. The beer should hit liquor stores by mid July.
These droppings were six feet from my front door this morning on North 42nd Avenue West in West Duluth.
A new billboard has popped up on Grand Avenue in West Duluth with fighting words issued from St. Paul. Duluth, many will recall, claimed the title of “Craft Beer Capital of Minnesota” back in February 2013.
The Look at Lakeside newsletter turned three years old with its 18th issue, published a few weeks ago (six issues per year). The newsletter is online at lookatlakeside.com. It was interesting to get a tour of the masonic lodge in Lakeside. How many buildings do we drive by often but haven’t been in? Maybe I’m a curious person but it’s interesting to me to think about all the people who have been in a place over the years.
A recent news release from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that “foresters are seeing many silver maples and some elms with stunted or no leaves and an abundance of seeds this spring. These trees are not dead and will rebound over the next couple of years.”
The image above is of a tree I planted last fall that hasn’t produced leaves this spring. I can’t remember what kind of tree it is, but I think it’s a northern pin oak. The DNR lists elms, maples, ashes and oaks as potential stunted bloomers.
The Duluth News Tribune reported on Monday that rates have changed at three parking lots in Canal Park. Two examples are the Northwest Iron lot (between Grandma’s Saloon and the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace) and the Lighthouse lot (near the lighthouse pier). The minimum rate is now $3 for three hours, up from last year’s $2 for two hours.
The DNT notes:
Parking Operations Specialist Mark Bauer said the city decided to make the changes to streamline the parking process.
“Instead of trying to interpret and guess how much time you’re going to be there, we thought it would be easier to just simply pay for this three-hour block of time,” Bauer said. “It simply covers you up to that three-hour limit.”
There has been no word yet on whether hotels in the area will be streamlining their processes by invoking a three-night minimum stay or whether bars will enforce a three-drink minimum for customer convenience.
