Bitching Posts

I’m as lefty as most …

… but am I correct that the City Council agreed to forgive $305,000 in overpayments to retirees, then agreed to a 2.82 percent tax levy increase?

From DNT: Bentleyville days may be numbered?

Someone always has to try to ruin a good thing

922 percent tax increase? Really?

I moved to Duluth 18 months ago to take a great job with a great company and raise my family in a great city. I bought a modest house that sits on three very small lots within the city limits of Duluth. (My three lots would equal one “Hermantown” sized lot).

Well, the city raised the property tax on the two vacant lots by 922.2 percent! I now have to come up with an extra $752.26 per year in taxes.

Now I know why everyone kept telling me not to buy within the city limits of Duluth! Between the insane tax increase and the bizarre school redistricting red plan nonsense, I would have been better off in one of the surrounding suburbs.

Thanks. Rant over.

Upper Chester: Not so fast there people!

Duluth took a beating this past year. But thanks to everyone pulling together we’ve made a remarkable comeback. For proof, you don’t have to look any further than Chester Park. Thanks to the indefatigable Dan Proctor and others the Lower Chester trails are probably in better shape than they were before the floods of June, and that’s saying a lot considering the scope of the mudflows and washouts that ravaged pretty much every inch of the ravine.

Upper Chester, however, is another story. Despite good intentions, there’s been a lot of jumping the gun to clean up or improve things that one could make the argument has ended up doing more harm than good. I’m not going to run down the list, but the latest chapter seems to have taken place largely under the radar, and I think it deserves a public airing.

Business Ideas for Old Downtown

What type of business do you think would survive in Old Downtown once all of the storefronts are empty by the Last Place on Earth?

East Superior Street Parking

It seems to me that in recent years, with the additions of Zeitgeist Arts, Black Water Lounge, Carmody Irish Pub, Tycoons, etc. (not to mention the fabulous new product additions at the Last Place on Earth) the area surrounding the NorShor Theatre has gone from being a really easy place to find a parking spot to one where you either have to get really lucky or park in a ramp.

I mention this mostly just to stir up the pot so people can bitch about progress, but I also want to throw out two observational questions:

1) Are you like me and fear parking in ramps because so many TV shows and movies when you were growing up had scenes where people get ambushed and shot in parking ramps?

2) Doesn’t it seem like kind of trap that the Sheraton ramp is free at night … until 2 a.m.? So, you know, go get drunk — the parking is free. But make sure you move your car before you get a cab home.

You forgot something the other night …

Perhaps this brief rant is more appropriate for Craig’s List, but I’ll digress anyway … 

Last Place on Earth first-of-the-month sale

Drive by the Last Place on Earth today and watch your tax money going up in smoke!

Someone stole my kids pumpkins again!

I have had it. On and off over the years that I have lived on 43rd Avenue East my childrens’ pumpkins have been stolen. The first year they were smashed against our sidewalk after they had been carved. Another year they were just stolen. Last year we rigged them to spray water if they were moved and put up a sign as such; they were not stolen. This year we thought we could thwart the person by buying 70-pound-plus-size pumpkins from my brother-in-law figuring it would be too much effort to get a car to steal them. Well, this morning I come outside and all five of our extra large pumpkins are gone.

The kids are devastated. They picked out these “Cindrella” pumpkins from their uncle in Wadena and were really excited to carve them. Who does this type of thing? I’m going to drive around Lakeside during lunch today and look for them. If you stole them, please bring them back. You made for some very sad children this morning.

Stolen Yard Signs

My wife and I are disappointed. We have had a “vote no” sign in our yard for the past month or so. One was stolen, like other signs in the neighborhood. I saw one or two homemade signs to replace what were stolen. We told ourselves that paying another $10 for a replacement would just be more money to the cause, so we got another. We also put a bunch of staples in the new sign and connected it to a tree with wire. We figured that they would really need to work to take it. They did. Is this happening elsewhere in town (we are in Lakeside)? How can such behavior be anything but theft? I cringe when I walk by a yard with a “vote yes” sign, but I don’t steal the sign. I think somebody’s values are seriously out of whack. We are disappointed. It’s apparently not enough to limit the freedom to marry, but free speech is also out of bounds.

Roads and Poles

Is there any news about the Vermillion-Tischer road repair? Is there an estimated time of completion?

Also, I’m perplexed by Denfeld High School’s parking lot and traffic pattern with utility poles in the middle of a drive path.  What gives? When will that be fixed?

Hey, so how are those allergies treating you?

Graphic via pollen.com.

Oktoberfest 2012 not at Bayfront Park?

Does anyone know why Fitger’s is not having its Oktoberfest at Bayfront Park this year? It doesn’t really seem like an Oktoberfest if it’s going to be indoors. Here’s a link to some of the new details.

Minneapolis Fundraisers Haven’t Learned the Duluth Trick: Not Paying Artists

Fundraisers cost money?

Sad Summer

So there we are last night, my hubby and I, enjoying the warm Summer night driving east down Superior Street. I would say it is about 9ish or so. And there I see the saddest little child, looking tired and laying his head on his dad’s (I presume) shoulder. This child was dressed only in a diaper and was about 1 year old.

So what is the big deal you ask? Because this child was in front of the Last Place on Earth. Is it just me or is this way fucked up??? I know, I know the law is being changed and there is only so much the cops can do. But my God people think about your kids for one minute and don’t expose them to what I saw standing there last night on that sidewalk.

What a dark turn this particular area of Duluth has taken. If you don’t believe me, take a drive down Superior Street some evening and see for yourself. I hope you don’t see the same tired, sad little child I did, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you did.