LakeVoice journalists Ethan Walker and James Stitt drove to Angora to visit with birdhouse maker Daniel Rankin.

This is from the upcoming City Council Agenda for 04/25/11

$450,000 for computers?  I suppose they have to keep up with the $800 chairs each councilor has.  Anyone who works in technology / retail, does this seem like a lot of money?

11-0191R – RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH CITON COMPUTER CORPORATION FOR THE PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF LENOVO COMPUTER HARDWARE (LAPTOPS) AND RELATED EQUIPMENT AS NEEDED IN YEAR 2011, NOT TO EXCEED THE BUDGET ALLOCATION OF $150,000.

11-0194R – RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH INSIGHT PUBLIC SECTOR, INC., FOR COMPUTER HARDWARE AND RELATED PRODUCTS AS NEEDED IN YEAR 2011 NOT TO EXCEED THE BUDGET ALLOCATION OF $100,000.

11-0196R – RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH SOFTWARE HOUSE INTERNATIONAL (SHI), INC., FOR COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE AS NEEDED IN YEAR 2011, NOT TO EXCEED THE BUDGET ALLOCATION OF $200,000.

you can view the whole thing here

http://www.duluthmn.gov/clerk/council/agenda11/a110425.htm

Recent articles on LakeVoice:

Local volunters give wild animals a second chance

Beaner’s brings in famous and never-before-heard acts

AmeriCorps funding cuts may leave Duluth education without tutors and mentors

Duluth native makes music out of junk

Iraq and Back: Part 2 Sgt. Matt Peterson

Spring fishing at Lester River

West Duluth Beaner’s Central started as a 16-year-old’s dream

Totally Warped: Traditional art with a conceptual, modern twist

Animal Allies volunteers changed their lifestyle to help the community

LakeVoice News is a weekly online publication produced by UMD journalism students. The stories are reported on and written by students, but the content is for the community. If you have a story idea or would like to submit photos you can email us at [email protected].

See it. Hear it. Read it.

Make a music video and win a free pass to homegrown!

We’re looking for filmmakers, aspiring filmmakers, and anyone who has ever wanted to put pictures to music.

Kick off  is April 19 at 7pm at the Homegrown Chicken Shack: 202 E. Superior St. – the same night as the Homegrown volunteer training. Filmmakers, etc, will draw songs at random and have until May 1 to create a video from the song (we can draw for you if you can’t make it tomorrow). We’ll play the finished work at Zinema 2 the Monday of Homegrown week. Everyone who turns in a video gets a free pass.

Let me know if you are interested or want me to draw a song for you.
annie at freerangefilm.com

What if, in an effort to show the world that we are sore losers, everyone in Duluth stops using Google and instead starts using the search engine AltaVista? I was able to find AltaVista quickly by doing a Google search and was pleased to find it still exists. I remember using it after my modem finished dialing up.

I tested it out by typing in “perfect duluth day” and found this site was the first result… below something called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

In your face, Google! The mayor can change the name of his kid to AltaVista, though his friends will just call him “Alt.” And, yes, I did steal this idea from a crappy weeknight sit-com.

TIME Magazine’s 2002 Person of the Year and FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley will be in Duluth tomorrow for 2 events:

At noon on the steps of the Duluth Federal Building, she’ll headline a Stand with Brad! rally to support accused Wikileaks whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning. The 23-year old Army intelligence specialist is facing brutal pre-trial punishment at Quantico for allegedly leaking information about war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At 7:30pm in the Mitchell Auditorium at St Scholastica, Rowley will deliver the final lecture of the school’s Terrorism and Human Rights series, on the topic of Obama’s Response to Terrorism. Free and open to the public.

For more details, visit northlandantiwar.com.

When I was in kindergarten a stranger with one arm warned me sternly against ever using fireworks. But next week I’m turning 30 and apparently the terror of that day has receded in my memory because I’m ready to celebrate!

Where can a girl (responsibly and legally) get fireworks in these parts? A Google search turned up a number for an Arrowhead Fireworks (just rings), and I already tried that place in Superior that advertises the thrilling combination of fireworks, wild rice and lobster tails (they were closed for the month).

Middle Falls of the Brule River

If you’re a whitewater kayaker or one of those dudes fishing ALL DAY LONG at the mouth of the Lester, you already know this: North Shore rivers have blown out their cover of ice and are running hard. Snowfall was well above average this year, and as the days warm up that snow has turned into torrents of milky-brown water headed down to Lake Superior.

But if you’re just a regular non-kayaker or non-angler, you can follow the North Shore spring melt online. You might not know your hydrograph from your hippogriff, but you can still see that something’s happening up the shore.

Heard the song sparrows this morning-SPRING is HERE! Young people (ages 2-5) and their parents are invited to join us at Hartley this Saturday, April 9, from 10am-noon for the Saturday Sprites Spring Sing Along. Duluth folk musician Robi Meyerson will lead this singing, dancing, and playing party. Cost is $10 per family. Call 724-6735 to sign up.

Fascinating story featuring three of Duluth’s grooviest naturalists/contractors/activists/publishers, from Lake Superior Magazine. If you like birds, ships OR Lake Superior, take a read. It’s written by Sparky Stensaas, stars a handsome ship captain and his floating forest, and even pulls in legendary bird watcher Jan Green.

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos last week for LakeVoice News. You can check out your pictures at the Week in Photos page on LakeVoice.

If you would like your pictures from the Duluth area to be showcased you can email us at [email protected].

Along with the photo submission please write a caption for it that explains what is going on in the picture, who is in the picture, where the picture was taken, and who took the photo.

LakeVoice News is a weekly online publication produced by UMD journalism students. The stories are reported on and written by students, but the content is for the community. See it. Hear it. Read it.