Bitching Posts

Duluth has a lot to answer for

I do not sit comfortably with publicly rebuking the City of Duluth whether or not I am half a continent and an ocean away. I tried discretion to no avail. While I accept that nobody owes me answers, there is somehow justification in demanding them.

Neighborhood book burner strikes Little Free Library

“Well I never!” What a way to start the day. Here at Loaves & Fishes on Jefferson Street, someone decided to set our Little Free Book Library on fire this morning! An officer happened to be driving by and she noticed flames emanating from the library so she stopped, grabbed her fire extinguisher, and extinguished the flames. Who thinks it’s a good idea to burn free books? Seriously.

The streak is over! A level III predatory offender has been released to a Duluth neighborhood that isn’t the West End

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.

Usual pot hole complaint: What’s the deal?

Is there a schedule that I’m not aware of for pot hole filling? I feel like the weather has been warm enough lately for filling, but I have yet to see a single crew out. Are they waiting for all the snow to melt? Do they fear another snow storm and the plows it will bring? Have we decided to simply switch to gravel roads because they would be smoother?

My already fragile and poorly designed suspension is crying.

Does Mayor Ness realize that the tourism tax is taxing the residents of Duluth?

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.

Transistor tran bashing?

I can’t help but bring up the Transistor‘s latest cartoon that has spurred a lot of commentary in the Facebook world.

The cartoon has a male figure with the words “She had a dick” in a speech bubble above his head. The bottom of the cartoon makes the statement, “Best reason to break up.”

Is this really the best humor Duluth’s got to offer on the front of its premier arts/culture zine? It is hurtful and tasteless. For posing as such an open-minded literary mag, this cartoon is discriminatory toward our transgender community.

Winter Wasp Woes

I have wasp problems. At least, I think they’re wasps … could be hornets, I hope not. Anyway I know I have nests in the porch ceiling pretty bad, but it’s possible they are also in the walls too. How bad? I’m afraid to know, but the real problem started last year on New Year’s Day, a couple hours into 2013.

Someone wrote a headline like this once and it was shared on Facebook. Then something amazing happened …

Do you miss the days on Facebook when all the clickbait headlines your friends shared were numbered lists?

The National Weather Service has issued an erect nipple advisory for northeastern Minnesota. Be careful out there.

Minnesota Shoplifting Detain/Restrain Laws?

Does anyone know the laws regarding detaining/restraining suspected shoplifters? I walked out of the mall tonight and found three Younkers loss-prevention staff holding a woman face-down in the snow, with their knees on her back attempting to handcuff her while she was telling them she couldn’t breathe.

Snow emergencies?

I just don’t get it. When Duluth gets more than a couple inches of snow, we plow one side of the street, and the following Sunday we plow the other. For example, if 13 inches of snow falls on Monday, the parking side remains unplowed until Sunday. You can’t park on the side that was plowed, and the side you must try to park on won’t be plowed for days!

WTF? Is there any logic behind this? Coming from Minneapolis, it’s absolutely bizarre. The “second” plowing happens no matter what — why wait until the following Sunday to do the rest?!

Give or take some of the rules, here’s the reasonable plan.

Is there a term for those jagged ice formations on Duluth streets?

It’s probably the worst on Grand Avenue in West Duluth, but above is a shot on Fourth Street in the Central Hillside. You know what it is and obviously it pisses you off, but what is it called? Duluth has probably never experienced it before to an extent worth coming up with a name for it.

A news release today from the city of Duluth refers to it as “caked-on ice.” Is that good enough, or does someone have a better term?

Duluth’s first double-header roller derby

If any of you missed the Harbor City Roller Dames first double header and Women’s Flat Track Derby Association sanctioned bout at the DECC, you missed some amazing roller derby action (twice as much as usual).

Could Duluth lose Christmas City status?

This story is four days old, but I just heard about it and it’s pretty much the biggest controversy in the history of Duluth, so it needs some space on PDD.

Apparently the commentators of the Christmas City of the North Parade telecast — Michelle Lee, Kevin Jacobsen and Barbara Reyelts — did their announcing in front of a green screen inside the Northland’s NewsCenter studio. And they still wore jackets.

This revelation, of course, has me fearing that Santa Claus might strip Duluth of its Christmas City of the North status and perhaps bestow it on Superior or Thunder Bay.

Woodland School Song

While wondering the halls of Woodland Middle School, I came upon the school song.

The school is slated for destruction in the very near future. I can hardly wait for the Chipotle or other chains that they will force upon us.