News and Current Affairs Posts

People of “Doolith,” you’ve been warned

Northern Lights Express Survey

There is a survey listed on the Minnesota Department of Transportation page for the Northern Lights Express(NLX). The Northern Lights Express is a proposed high-speed passenger rail project that would provide rail service between Minneapolis and Duluth. If constructed, NLX will operate on approximately 155 miles of existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail corridor.

The survey closes on March 15. It doesn’t take long to fill out.

This Week in Lake Voice

Catch up on Lake Voice stories about art, the outdoors, and cuddly animals.

A mouthful of ugly: sea lampreys in the Great Lakes
Tour Duluth: How many kilometers can you ski in one day?
Duluth artist sculpts passion into career
Fishing on Superior Ice: Dedicated anglers doing what they love
Animal Allies shelters itself from the winter
Ice caves boost local economy
Lakeside dance studio owner works alongside family

We’d love to hear your lake voice; share your stories by e-mailing lakevoicenews @ gmail.com.

Enbridge

Why is Enbridge banging out “we’re great on safety” ads on Pandora lately – oh, I get it.

Video: Duluth State of the City Address 2014

Whole Foods Co-op in West Duluth, a/k/a WFC – Denfeld

Here’s how the Whole Foods Co-op broke the news about its new store on Feb. 24:

Whole-Foods-Denfeld

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The future location of Duluth’s second Whole Foods Co-op will be 4426 Grand Ave. It will be a 7,000-square-foot store.

jefferson-bus

It’s not the snowfall, it’s the snowdrifts

“It’s not the snowfall, it’s the snowdrifts.” I just realized that’s kind of a northcountry version of “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”

I give yesterday’s storm about a 6 out of 10 for Duluth snowstorms in terms of intensity and general nastiness. However, I think this might be the biggest drift I’ve encountered in the 12 years I’ve been at this house.

Ice Dam Cam

The shovel cam has been repurposed into the ice dam cam. It’s not nearly as fun as the shovel cam, it’s frustratingly hard to use, depressing and doesn’t get much done.

Getting to the Bottom of the Proposed Polymet Mine Part 2, Winona LaDuke

After much, much hand wringing and editing and processing and sweating and arguing with myself, here is a passable video of the lecture by Winona LaDuke that was delivered on Feb. 8 at the College of St. Scholastica. I think that the message she is sharing is important to hear and try to understand, whether or not you agree with her conclusions. One of her central theses seems is that people have been living and thriving in this region for thousands of years and in the past 100 or 200 years there have been significant and undesirable, even toxic, changes to the land, the waters, and the creatures and people who populate this region.

Getting to the Bottom of the Proposed Polymet Mine, Part 1

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I’m hoping that this video, featuring Paula Maccabee of Water Legacy, will be the first of several that I will be able to share over the next few weeks.

Twenty-two consecutive days below zero

Dylan Super Bowl Commercial

I was probably one of the few who enjoyed seeing Dylan in the Super Bowl commercial last weekend. That being said, I was a little confused about the song choice, “Things Have Changed.” For an advertisement that was supposed to spark renewed faith in the American auto industry, Chrysler picked a song that is clearly about not giving a sh*t anymore. Also, last night the Northland’s NewsCenter mis-reported that this commercial was set to “I Want You,” which was actually featured in a yogurt commercial in 1996, not the Super Bowl commercial.

R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

He was, by far, our best actor working. I am so saddened by the loss.

Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead in NYC Apartment

Duluth knows how to do snow removal, but where does it all go?

I was very impressed to happen upon this epic snow removal operation on Second Street on Thursday at about 11 a.m.

You might be able to see in the photo that this clean-up convoy of sorts includes numerous heavy construction vehicles stretching from where this was taken at about Second Avenue East, all the way back to Fourth Avenue West.

NorShor: Duluth’s big bet on Old Downtown

“Ghosts and spirits make the place. So when you sit down and play a place like the NorShor, not only do you have a group of people sitting around you, but you have another community of history sitting around you, too.” — Charlie Parr

Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Stage set for restoration of NorShor Theatre in Duluth