The National Football League announced today that Minnesota will host Super Bowl 52 in 2018. The Vikings, Saints and Colts gave 15-minute presentations to team owners in Atlanta, Ga. and after the voting the Vikings won the bid. Full details and video at nfl.com.
In a move sure to stun future generations while staying true to his Lutheran and Epsilon roots, the Minnesota house and senate led by Governor Mark Dayton, winning the big one for his home team, finally signed into law a bill sponsored by Hibbing’s very own Carly Melin, a fine example of Range woman herself, attractive and learned, also with probable Scandinavian and German heritage, with neither of them having ever had any actual experiences or contact with the Cannabis plant themselves, on their persons or with any of their families or friends therein …
The state bonding bill that passed the Minnesota Senate today includes funding for Wade Stadium and NorShor Theatre renovation, and construction of a water-delivery system for Spirit Mountain.
“Restoring Wade Stadium will ensure the iconic ball field will continue to be enjoyed by players and fans for decades to come,” Duluth Mayor Don Ness said in a news release. “The Spirit Mountain water project will allow the ski hill to get off of the city’s treated water, saving money and opening up other potential development in the western part of town. The NorShor Theatre & Arts Center will serve as a catalyst for new development in old downtown.”
Before the summer tourist season officially begins, a number of the Duluth Attractions partner up to create discounts for US — the locals.
Coupon sheet available for download at duluthweek.com.
You may have noticed some blue kids hanging out along the Lakewalk if you were brave enough to go outdoors today.
April is Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month and First Witness spends each day engaging the community in efforts to make our community a safe place for children to grow and thrive. This is our third year for individuals and businesses to come together and show that We Stand with Kids. Over 300+ blue kids were sponsored this year. The donations go directly to services to child abuse victims and their families for supportive services after a disclosure has been made.
The blue kids are figurines cut out from wood, the size of a typical lawn sign. The color is blue because blue is the color of Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention month. The display is along the Lake Walk today (May 5) beginning at Leif Erickson from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m..
We hope you will consider stopping by to check it out and show your support. Rumor is Starbucks donated some coffee to help keep you warm!
Home sweet home? photo: Deb Holman
April 27, 2014
TO: Duluth Mayor Don Ness
Duluth City Council
FROM: Concerned people of Duluth
At its first meeting of the year, the Duluth City Council, with the support of Mayor Ness, unanimously passed a resolution supporting a Homeless Bill of Rights and committing the City to take bold action to end homelessness.
Three months later, the city has not appointed a single person to the Human Rights Commission, the body tasked with implementing the resolution. In recent days, Mayor Ness has been quoted by the Duluth News-Tribune calling housing projects for the chronically homeless a “distraction,” and urging Duluth to “stay focused on market-rate housing.”
The Federal Communications Commission is once again planning to put an end to net neutrality. I can’t weigh in on the geek end of this issue, but it is surely a bad idea, considering that print and broadcast media are so tightly controlled, with six corporations owning 90 percent of U.S. media. Big Money should not be able to control internet traffic. What to do?
The public is encouraged to participate in the 2014 Community Needs Survey conducted by the city of Duluth. It takes five minutes and will help develop an understanding of the needs of Duluth neighborhoods and identify potential improvements in services for low-income residents. The survey will be open through May 7.
Paper surveys will also be available at all three Duluth Public Library branches or copies can be requested from:
Michael Palermo
mpalermo @ duluthmn.gov
Community Development
City Hall, Room 407
Duluth, MN 55802
The Duluth Police Dept. announced on Tuesday a level III predatory offender has been released and is living on the 700 block of Boundary Avenue in Duluth’s Bayview Heights neighborhood, on the Duluth/Proctor border. It marks the end of a streak in which eight consecutive sex offenders released in Duluth chose to live in the West End neighborhood. This was over a span of exactly one year, going by the dates of DPD news releases — April 8, 2013 to April 8, 2014.
A trio of highlights from the past week in Lake Voice News:
Lake Voice News is a student-run publication focused on bridging the gap between UMD students and the Duluth community.
The Agen Block at 601 Tower Avenue — better known as the Tyomies building — is now home to a candy store. Sweeden Sweets opened on Jan. 24, serving up home-made chocolates, fudge and candy. An ice cream “jerk bar” is under construction in the other half of the ground floor, and is expected to open this summer.
Today in the Duluth News Tribune there is an article about our mayor wanting to bring back a .5 percent tax on our restaurants, hotels, and other amenities. My question is how do we as citizens of Duluth then get exempted from that tax? Should we not go to our local restaurants? Should we not go to Canal Park and support our local businesses?
This just seems unfair to those who live here to have us pay an extra tax to use our own local amenities. I’ve read that we pay very high taxes in our community compared to others, which made me wonder why we don’t get cards to exempt us from “tourist” taxes. This tax would go for the next 15 years and fund development of West Duluth. Well, that’s great, but what about us here in the Endion area? I can see taxing the hotels to get the tourists, but taxing restaurants makes me want to take my local money elsewhere.
I don’t think it is fair to those of us who live here, and if this is a push by our mayor there should be a way to exempt anyone who has a local identification.
Maude Barlow published a report on March 17 about plans to make the Great Lakes a carbon corridor for oil from the tar sands of Alberta and the fracking wells of North Dakota. Mayor Don Ness recently stated his support for more pipelines, saying his previous commitments to lowering carbon emissions were irrelevant because “the pipeline makes no impact on carbon consumption in the city of Duluth.”
I think Mayor Ness is a good mayor with a good heart, but this sounds like sophistry considering the global nature of climate change. And it may show the type of compartmentalization of thought we all indulge in to protect ourselves from larger truths.
Mayor Ness also recently stated on MPR that he was not well-enough informed to have an opinion on shipping oil by tanker across Lake Superior. I hope he will appreciate a lot of respectful pressure from his constituents on this issue, because here’s the deal: On one end is Tar Sands and fracking devastation and on the other end are climate-changing emissions. In the middle is a lot of fresh water we would be absolutely mad to put at risk. Now is the time to stand up for the big lake we all love and depend on.
Sad to see the Duluth~Superior Magazine cease publication, announced today in a Duluth News Tribune story. DSM made Duluth feel classy. Jim Heffernan comments on his blog (Jim Heffernan’s Blog) on his six year stint writing for this print magazine headed by former Duluth News Tribune publisher, Marti Buscaglia.
