OUR VIEW

Our view: Fond-du-Luth Casino partnership is about more than money

There’s no denying Fond-du-Luth Casino’s mutual benefit to the city of Duluth and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

October 28, 2009

Our view: Find your way to help Duluth’s youths

Findings in the report — “Investing in our Children, Investing in our Future,” available beginning this afternoon at unitedwayduluth.org — are quite sobering. They include that half of Minnesota children entering kindergarten aren’t ready, that students of color and low income graduate at rates stunningly lower than the average, that by 2020 only a fourth of all Minnesotans will have bachelor’s degrees when 36 percent had achieved that level of education in 2006, and that Minnesota ranked 30th in per-pupil spending.

October 27, 2009

Our view: Flying even higher

The economic boost the Northland can expect from the December arrival of a new airline just keeps growing. In an editorial Monday, Duluth Airport Authority Executive Director Brian Ryks said the addition of just one regional jet operation equates to $4 million in annual economic impact for a region. Turns out that should have been a $4 million impact per daily flight — meaning that United Airlines’ launching on Dec. 17 of twice-daily direct service between Duluth and Chicago (with connections available from Chicago to virtually anywhere) will have an expected economic impact on the Northland of $8 million a year.

October 23, 2009

Our view: Deadline Tuesday for elections submissions

Election Day is 11 short days away — but only four days remain to submit a letter for publication consideration in the News Tribune.

October 23, 2009

Our view: For Duluth City Council, At Large: Stauber, Hartman

They couldn’t be more different.Jim Stauber is an entrenched City Council member of eight years. Dan Hartman is a council candidate for the first time. Stauber is Republican and a staunch conservative. Hartman is a DFLer with liberal leanings that belie his insistence of being moderate. Stauber has been a vocal critic of many of Mayor Don Ness’ initiatives. Hartman was endorsed by Ness.

October 22, 2009

Our view: For Duluth City Council, 4th District: Gauthier

Kerry Gauthier is no stranger to the Duluth City Council’s 4th District. He has lived the past 17 years not far from Lincoln Park, near where his grandfather once called home. And he has watched a neighborhood stare down fear from crime and rebound with projects like the Heritage Sports Center and Clyde Park.

October 21, 2009

Our view: For Duluth City Council, District 2: Patrick Boyle

Patrick Boyle quickly demonstrated a strong grasp of issues, a common-sense approach to problem-solving, and the importance of leadership.

October 20, 2009

Our view: Duluth can welcome back airline competition

Duluth International Airport is about to get a bit busier. And how can that be anything but positive? Positive for travelers, certainly, but the benefits will extend also to Northland economic development efforts and businesses that already are here when, in a little less than two months, United Airlines launches twice-daily direct service between Duluth and Chicago. The new-to-Duluth carrier will join Delta Airlines, the only carrier that has been providing daily scheduled flights in and out of our region.

October 19, 2009

Our view: Are H1N1 vaccine fears unfounded?

The headlines are telling a troubling tale. There was this on yesterday’s front page: “Flu cases accelerated four-fold.” Yet there was this atop Page 1 earlier in the month: “1 in 3 parents would decline swine flu shot.” Decline? Why would a parent refuse medical care to protect their child from illness, a shot in the arm or mist in the nose that could potentially save their child’s life?

October 16, 2009

Our View: Do the math, and get vaccinated

After six long months of H1N1 (swine flu) pandemonium, we finally have a vaccine (for the flu, not the pandemonium).

By Abel Gustafson , October 15, 2009

Endorsement schedule

October 14, 2009

Our view: For Duluth School Board 4th District: Laura Condon

Voters in western Duluth’s District 4 can lead the way by returning School Board member Laura Condon, recognizing she has her priorities straight, her homework done and her focus on the future where it belongs.

October 14, 2009

Our view: For Duluth School Board District 1: Ann Wasson

Where does School Board challenger Marcia Stromgren stand on education — or on anything, for that matter? Fortunately for District 1, incumbent Ann Wasson is a known quantity who helped formulate, with public input, and adopt a long-range facilities plan Duluth has needed for decades. And she has courageously stood by the plan, making necessary and well-considered tweaks as it is being implemented.

October 13, 2009

DNT endorsements schedule

The Duluth News Tribune will make School Board and City Council endorsements this week and next.

October 13, 2009

Our view: Nothing ‘trite’ in blending our schools’ traditions

While far from the most pressing issue related to the finally-getting-done overhaul of Duluth’s aging, inefficient school buildings, the question of what to call the surviving high schools remains critical. When three high schools become two, at stake are all those things that tie us, emotionally, to our schools, those things that remind us we’re part of something bigger than ourselves, that we’re part of a history, a heritage. A community. At stake aren’t just colors and mascots and names. At stake is how each and every one of us sees ourselves and how we identify with the place where we live.

October 12, 2009