Peter Passi
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Duluth-based Cirrus Aircraft recently took another big stride toward bringing its first jet aircraft, the Vision SF50, to market. Ben Kowalski, a Cirrus spokesman, provided an update on the company's...
A proposal to designate portions of the St. Louis River estuary as a National Water Trail system recently has caused waves in Duluth's angling and boating communities. That's largely because of misunderstandings about what's being proposed, said Hansi Johnson, director of recreational lands for the Minnesota Land Trust, who has been working on the project.
"Watch the top boys," said Ralph Andres under his breath, as watched city workers lift and unload his creation from a trailer Tuesday morning, with only inches to spare. Andres painstakingly built the intricate scale model of the Aerial Lift Bridge just placed on display in the front window of the Great Lakes Aquarium. Measuring in at about 9 feet wide and 4 feet tall, the structure will fill the view. The project took about five years to complete, and Andres, who will turn 88 tomorrow, undertook it as an act of gratitude.
The Duluth City Council considered several proposals Monday night before deciding how best to hold the proliferation of vacation rental properties in check. Councilors suffered from no shortage of ideas, including: • Adopting stricter parking requirements • Restricting the proximity of new vacation rental units to existing ones • Placing a new city-wide cap on the number of vacation rental permits to be issued each year
Although the first quarter of the year is typically one of the softest for tourism in Duluth, City Treasurer Brian Hansen said local hotels, motels, restaurants and bars remain well on track to meet aggressive growth expectations in 2016. During the first three months of this year, the city collected nearly $2.2 million in tourism taxes — 7.7 percent more than during the same period in 2015.
The city of Duluth is moving to appeal a decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to designate the Carter Hotel property sovereign land, subject to the jurisdiction of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. No longer would the property be subject to local property taxes, and the footprint of the land under the band's control would grow to include more of downtown Duluth than just the Fond-du-Luth Casino.
The bonding bill introduced by the Minnesota Senate Monday contains funding for a veritable laundry list of projects here in the Northland, but the city of Duluth came up short on its top request — $21 million to replace leaky downtown steam lines with a new and more efficient hot-water heating system. Duluth Mayor Emily Larson expressed disappointment that the Senate bill didn't include funding for the steam system but said she remains hopeful.
Babett Sandman noted that while May Day is traditionally a time when people celebrate the arrival of spring, the term also refers to a distress signal, and that's the reason why she chose May 1 as a day to honor and remember missing, murdered and trafficked Native American women. A crowd of supporters joined Sandman Sunday afternoon to pray, pay tribute and remember lost loved ones in front of the DeWitt-Seitz Building. The event culminated with a silent walk, crowned by a ceremony in which flowers were cast into Lake Superior.
Brandy Ream, executive director of Spirit Mountain Recreation Area, reached out to members of the Duluth City Council individually this week to apologize for a previous misstatement and to set...
Cirrus Aircraft Corp. co-founder and former CEO Alan Klapmeier soon will be back in court, battling the company he once led. On April 19, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to...
