Coming later tonight.

 

UPDATE: Post will be coming tomorrow instead of today. To many things going on tonight.

 

Post on today’s rally against the Governors cuts. An update on the another rally. Possible more.

Superior Mayor David Ross files for LT. Governor.

David Ross was hoping to hold off on his announcement to run for lieutenant governor till after labor day. That did not happen yesterday he made his plans public this after completing papers that allows him to campaign and raise money.

David Ross won a straw poll in the republican convention in May. He will announce a campaign staff starting next month. He will however hold his formal announcement till September 11th and that will take place at Barkers Island.

As I said before I wish he had a Mayor like Ross in Duluth. Ross has taken control after two bad mayors in superior and really improved the city. Well Duluth continues down a line of just okay Mayors. David Ross is heads and shoulders above all Duluth and Superior politicians.

I wish Mr. Ross the best.

Another Rally to take place.

Another rally is set to take place on July 27th at 5 pm. It will be held on the steps of the court house. That is all I am going to say about it right now.

You may hear more about it this weekend. I know more but am not sure how much the person wants out about it at this point.

I don’t talk much about this.

I don’t talk about the red plan much on this site. I leave that mostly for Harry Welty http://www.lincolndemocrat.com and others in the know on that issue. Check out Harry’s site listed above for the latest on the red plan.

I will say this however I am glad that the LDV group raised the money. To keep there law suit going.

Also when you vote in November I ask that you vote for candidates against the red plan.

It's official Coleman out Franken in.

Al Fraken in Norm Coleman out that is all I am saying on that.

2nd district council web pages.

As the races heat up I think we will do this more often. We will take a look at each candidates web page and see the differences in them. We will not agree there politics. We will judge who’s is better with content and other information.

That said lets take a look at the two candidates web pages that are involved the 2nd district race. Robert Wagner and Patrick Boyle.

First here are the two candidates address so you can check them out for your self if you wish. 

Wagner- http://www.wagnerforduluth.com/

Boyle- http://boyleforcouncil.com

What we are going to look at on the site is what they have up. Up coming events, issues, and things like that. Also we will going into the looks of the page.

As I said we are not going to talk about there politics in this post there for we will not say what they say about an issue just what they think is important maybe a little bit about why.

First lets take a look at Patrick Boyle’s web site. As you go there

e it is a simple format and it’s looks nice. Across the top of the page he has a tool bar that includes his stand on issues, about him, volunteer, news, contact. Down the right side he has events he will be at. 

When you click on the issues it has his thoughts on a few issues. They include public safety, water and gas, families and neighborhoods, job development there are a few others as well. The quality of the pictures on the site is good.

In my mind it is a good site.

Now on to Robert Wagner’s web site. The fist thing I notice about it is the night time setting on the page. Were it says his name at the top the moon is set behind it. The first thought I had was if he was going to ask that council meetings be held after 10pm.? The picture quality is poor on the page and when you click on the issue’s page it has a bunch of issues but no stands on there. It says under construction but it has been that way sense the page went up. It has been a while.

I like the use of the flag I also like the tool bar set up. One thing I wish he has was were he would be at events, fundraisers things such like that. It would allow people to know were and what is going on in his campaign.

The better more useful site right now is Boyle’s.

Hartman the front runner?

Many people are saying that Dan Hartman is the front runner right now for city councilor at large. Is he really the front runner or will he fizzle?

Hartman has been out campaigning for a number of month well others have not even started yet. Hartman is a great guy I however don’t agree with much of his politics. He most likely will win one of two seats up for election. He will have the power of three current councilors supporting him he also has the backing of the DFL and most likely will get the union endorsement.

Is it possible for him to fizzle out? Yes but I am not sure he will. I think he can and will be able to uphold a long campaign. He does seem to out much earlier then anyone however. Not sure why.

Rally against Governors cuts.

There will be a rally Monday July 6th at city hall. It starts at noon and will go till about 1 or so. The event is being hosted by the Twin Ports action coalition.

Well I don't agree with this message from the tpac I don't want to go and cover it for the blog. These are the type of events I want to start to cover for the blog and such events. If you know any please include me as a contact person. You can contact me with a press release or such at duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com .

Well I may or may not agree with your event is not a notable thing. I want to pass information on to the people. I will always be fair in any interviews that I do. I will cover the event with facts. I will also give my thoughts on the event.

Two new adds to the blog.

There are two new adds to the blog. One makes it a bit more user friendly. That is I have added a search bar to the blog. If you are looking for a certain thing you can find it easier by using the search box. You can also use it look what I have written about in the past by typing in a key word. The second one is you can become a follower of the blog.

You must be in a booster seat up to the age of 8.

Minnesota law requires that kids 8 and under must now be in a booster seat. This is the second straight law passed by the State of Minnesota that deals with safety in cars. The first was requiring to wear your seat belt this took affect a few month ago. The booster law starts this week.

Well I am one that normally does not like government intervention I am okay with both of these laws. Well I don’t think people should have to wear the belt if they chose not to it makes sense that you do. It is much safer if you do wear your seat belt. As far as booster seats it upsets me to no end that parents would not care about there children's safety.

I have seen way to many people with there kids not in seats and they should be. Not only that I have seen parents allow there kids to ride in the front when they are not old enough to do so.  With air bags in almost ever car these days you must be careful. Please use common sense people.

WTF?

Not a good week to be a famous person. This week we lost four icons, (well). the four losses mean a lot to different people.

The week started with the death of Ed McMann (86). Mcmann known mostly for being part of the Johnny Carson late night show. Also was a big part of the Jerry's kid telethon. McMann was a seasoned and very professional T.V. and radio personality. He also did many voice overs on commercials and movies.

Then Thursday came a two death day. Both Farrah Fawcet and Michael Jackson passed on. Fawcet (62) most well known for Charlie Angels. She was a movie star. I don't know much her to be honest.

Then I guess the biggest death this week was pop icon (to some) Michale Jackson (50) died. Jackson who was big in 80;s had many hit songs and was known for his moon walk. Jackson then had trouble later in his life.

Then today Billy Mays (50) died from what seems to be from a plane landing very hard and things falling on top of him. It seems like a possible concussion or some thing like that. Mays was well known for his sales pitches in many many commercials

To me the biggest lose of the week is Ed McMann. Most will disagree with me but so be it.

It was not a good week to be a superstar that is for sure.

Cruise ship. Duluth to Canada.

There has been rumor of a cruise ship coming to Duluth. It seems as if those are no longer rumors. It seems to fact now.

The ship is on it’s way here. It passed a inspection in N.Y. and will arrive in Duluth on July 4th.

Would you take a cruise from Duluth to Canada?

Michael Jackson dead.

I have nothing good to say about the man. The music he did was horrible and he was a horrible person. There you have you it what I think about MJ.

Two polls.

There is currently two polls up.

1. Should the Mayor blog or open a twitter account? There are five votes to this point. You still have 5 days to vote on it.

2. Do you mind if candidates put up campaign signs early? This poll just went up today.

Vote on both if you have not as of yet.

Wagner for council sign.

Duluth city council candidate Robert Wagner breaking yet another law. This one has direct implication to his big to be a city councilor. Does he not get it?

I did not see the sign but my wife did she was driving and send me a text is the 2nd district council up for election. I said yes. See said okay I saw a sign. When I saw he I asked who's sign it was. Robert Wagner she replied. My reply interesting.

You can not have signs out yet. It is illegal but for some reason it does not shock me that Wagner has at least a sign out.

Mayor to blog and or twitter?

It seems that Brandon Stahl of the Duluth News Tribune gave the Mayor some advice. He said that the Mayor should blog or twitter. Brandon said that this way the Mayor could refute any story or he could post the entire comment on his blog. As most news stories cut down what the Mayor said.

If I could give advice to the Mayor I would blog over twitter. A blog allows you to use as many words as you wish well twitter limits your use of words. Beside the fact I like a blog better then twitter. I think twitter is kind of dumb. Just my two cents.

I would however also encourage the Mayor to do one or both it would only give the public more access to government.

It came and it went.

Well as you would guess there has not been a lot of news the last few days. What has been the news is Grandmas marathon. I won’t say a lot about it as it was covered nicely at the DNT and ESPN radio.

The event went off with out a hitch other then the very hot weather. That kept the medical tent very busy. 

I was very glad that an American won the men’s race. It was the first time sense 1995. 

Read today's other post below this one. Mayors night canceled for the second time. There maybe more post later.

The grandmas marathon coverage sites:

www.webc560.com

www.duluthnewstribune.com

Mayor Nights canceled.

The Duluth news tribune is reporting that this month mayor night has been canceled. This is the second time that I know that the night has been canceled. There was no reason given for the cancelation.

It is a once a month meeting that citizens can have with the Mayor Don Ness. You are giving about 5 minutes to talk about what ever is on your mind with the mayor. The next one comes in July.

No skateboarding allowed.

The chicken council lead by councilor Sharla Gardner. Passed a complete ban on skateboarding in canal park last night. Not only did they ban skateboarding in the canal park area but they also voted to crack down on skateboarding city wide. It was a 6-3 vote last night to ban. The only councilors that voted against this were Fedora, Gilbert, and Fosle.

It seems that at least these three understand the issue’s that really matter to Duluth. The city faces major issues with it’s road’s, sewers and a budget crisis that could bank rupt the city. Yet councilor Gardner is banning skateboarding and passing that you can own chickens in the city. Get real Gardner it is time for you to go.

No need to worry about your grass.

The council stopped the mowing ordinance by 4- 5 vote. The councilors that supported the ordinance is Krause, Eckenberg, Gilbert and Stauber. These four councilors did not have a clue on the determent to this city this ordinance would have had on the city.

You can now have your grass as long as you like. You should still try to cut your grass when possible. It just makes things look nice.

The fact is however this ordinance would have been unenforceable and it was micro management at it’s worst.

Hold the phone.

Well it seemed for sure that if the lawn mowing ordinance by Krause was to pass it would become law. As two years ago current Mayor Don Ness voted for it as he was then a city councilor.

It now seems that Duluth Mayor Don Ness has some concerns about the ordinance. The mayor has concerns that there is not enough city staff to make the ordinance work. He also said that there is more serious issues facing the city. This is not the thing staff should spent time on.

You can read more here later. You can also read a great articale about it at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pages/buzz.

Interview set.

The interview is now set with custom cab owner Dan O'Hearon. It is set for Monday either late afternoon or early evening.

After the interview is complete I will be off to my softball so you can look for the interview to either be up late Monday night or Tuesday morning. It will also be posted on the interview page.

Custom Cab.

Custom cab to cut it’s night service. This after two cabs were robbed this week. Both happened this week. One on Monday night the other Wednesday night. 

I believe this is the right chose yet it will hurt there small business. Dan O’Hearon seems to understand what is important. That is the safety of his employees. Well it is a tough decision for him I am sure it shows that people really care about there business and there employees at the same time.

Dan basically is saying I will not put my business or employees in harms way tell this is resolved. That is great. When I do take a cab I always try to use custom cab. This will only make me use them more when needed. The only time I don’t use them is if there is a long wait, but this makes me thing I will wait for them.

I hope to get a chance to talk to Dan about this and I hope he gets his business up and running at full strength soon.

I encourage every one when you need a cab to call custom cab. 

If I was the owner of Carnival Thrillz

If I was the person in charge of thrillz I wonder consider cutting all ties with Robert Wagner. He is doing nothing but bringing your business down. I know that the economy is tight right now however the types of events he puts on are not ones you should want to get involved in.

He also clearing does not understand that you need a permit for these types of events. You always have needed one. If you wish to continue to do business with Wagner I would encourage you to make sure he has his permits well a head of time and he shows them to you. The permits are his responsibility  not your unless you are putting on the event. 

Now I would again cut ties with Wagner as to me this is not the type of event you would want at your place. Your business is suppose to be a family fun center. I would encourage you to do those type of events even after hours of regular business.

A second run in with cops.

Robert Wagner a candidate for the Duluth City Council 2nd district had yet another run in with the Duluth Police. For the second straight time the event took place at carnival thrillz.

This is now the second time with in a month that Wagner has had a run in with the cops. Both times for organizing a rave. Both times he did not have a proper permit to hold the event.

The first time was a campaign fund raiser that was a rave. Yes he held an fund raiser from 10- 2 am who in there right mind does that well running for city council.

More later.

Liar Liar.

At least if you are 3 rd district city councilor Sharla Gardner. Councilor Gardner has introduced an ordinance that would ban skateboarding, inline skates, and roller skates in business districts.

Gardner said that the ordinance did not ban anything. It was just cleaning up an old ordinance. That is a lie. Fact is with out the ordinance change the council could not legally pass the resolutions that ask to ban these activities.

Finds it funny…

I find it funny how the Duluth Huskies' are still promoting opening day at Wade Stadium. Oh yeah by the way opening day was June 1st.

They may want to start promoting current games rather then games that have already took place. They might get people to go to the games that way.

There web site is www.duluthhuskies.com .

Mow this part 2.

Okay well I am still awaiting emails I will do a second part anyway. This may turn in to a three of four part blog or more by the time it is all done.

Okay well some view this as an attack on “bad” landlords it can be viewed from many different ways. I don’t believe this is so much of an attack on landlords. I believe the city have passed many ordinances and resolutions that are attacks against landlords. This one sure hinderers to landlords and other however.

I am not sure that many councilors have thought about the effects of this ordinance should it pass. I believe it will however pass and that is very very unfortunate. At best this passes 5-4 it could pass with as many as 6 or 7 councilors voting in favor it.

Here we go, who will this hurt and what else could it do? This will hurt the elderly, those that don’t or can’t get a lawn mower. It will also pit people against each other.

Many elderly people still live in homes in Duluth. Many of them can’t mow there grass however. There are also many low income people that don’t or can’t afford to buy a lawn mower. We live next door to some one that does not have a mower. Her grass is well over 10 inches right now. She can’t buy a mower and the one she has does not work. Well I have mowed her lawn in the past and will when I can it is hard for me. I don’t have much time plus I already also help out or other lawns as well.

This is just a micro-mange ordinance that accomplishes nothing. It is unenforceable.  More later.

Mow this……..

Those of you that know me already know this. Those that don’t here it is for the first time maybe. Gary Krause is a very interesting person. Yes I like him however he is some times a lose cannon on the council, there are times you have no idea were he is coming from or were he maybe going.

Two years ago you may remember councilor Krause introduced an ordinance’s that called on people to mow there lawns. It seemed to be yet another attack on landlords. Well many property owners take care of there land some don’t. This goes for either rental or single family owned houses.

As you may remember this passed two years ago by a 5-4 vote but was vetoed by then Mayor Herb Bergson.  One of the few things I agreed with him on.

Now it’s back by the same councilor. The only change in the ordinance is your grass could be two more inches longer before it is deemed illegal. Two years ago the ordinance was if your grass was 8 inches then it was to high. That moves to 10 inches in this ordinance.

I disagree with this ordinance. I will have more on this later. In that post I will dive in to a few different things. I am waiting on some email reply’s.

Mayor Ness to balance the budget.

Mayor Ness said he has a way to balance the budget that would not pass the buck to the tax payers. The balanced budget erases a 6.2 million deficit.

Ness said he does not want to raise taxes any further for 2009. His plan would also avoid lay offs in the city. He also added that it does not cut city services.

The plan needs to be approved by the city council.

More on this later. 

Lew Latto can’t tell the truth.

I wonder how any one can trust any thing that Lew say’s. He can’t even tell the truth about him being fired. He keeps saying that he was on an extended vacation.

Now ever one knows that he was fired by Ron Stone yet Lew say’

 

I was on an extended vacation. Please Lew come out and say you were fired.

Lew is far from the tabernacle of truth when he can’t even tell the truth about his firing. Just come out and tell the truth Lew you were fired say it on the air. You can do it.

TELL US THE TRUTH LEW!!!!!!

No Governor Pawlenty.

After this term is over in 2010 Minnesota will have a new Governor. Yes that is correct Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has said he will not seek a third term.

This seems to open up his run for President in the next presidential election. Now I disagree with that this will help him. I think that him not being Governor is a bad idea. It is better to run for president as a current some thing (Governor) in this case. It seems to hurt you more when you run as a former what ever.

Now if he would have ran for a third term and lost that would have been worse but the fact is if he ran for a third term he would not lose no matter who the Democrats bring forward.

This will sure open the race on both sides and idea on who may run now? I would guess there is no shorted of candidates. 

The Duluth Huskies win.

The Huskies had there home opener last night at Wade Stadium. Well there was not a very big crowd the huskies fought on for a win.

The game was tied after nine innings at 4 with the St. Cloud river bats. It remained tied to the bottom of the 12th inning.

Tim Jobe was up with a running scoring position. Tim was not going to get any thing good to hit in his at bat. He did however make contact with one pitch.

He lined just over the head of the second basemen for the bat’s and won the game for the huskies 5-4.

Lew Latto return.

Lew Latto returned the the air yesterday after being fired a couple of month ago. The little bit I listened and what I have heard from other people the show has not changed at all. It is still the same old show.

It seems that Lew did not listen the the poll here.

If Lew Latto returns to the air waves were do you think it will be.

WDSM

  3 (23%)

KDAL

  2 (15%)

WEBC

  0 (0%)

FAN 1490

  0 (0%)

Lew don't come back please.

  8 (61%)

Much better.

I am doing much so post will be coming as things go on. I will hopefully post some today. I am also going to be cleaning up the site a bit today as well. I will be taking down the sports page and all will appear here on this site. I don’t write that much about sports.

I would have started to post again yesterday but it was my daughters fourth birthday and we spent the day with her. She got to plan the whole day it was fun.

Swine flu in Duluth.

Yesterday the Duluth News Tribune confirmed that a case of the swine flu had hit Duluth. No way every one panic.

A child in the school district is the first Duluth confirmed case. The person attends homecroft. There was not much other information.

Lets not panic people this seems to be reaction much like the common flu does.

This site is a joke.

This site a joke, www.redandnater.com more later.

Yes www.redandnater.com is a complete joke. My guess is on the Minnesota board at least for any Duluth comments they are not even radio people. They are want to be on the radio but can’t get a job. They just spread rumors and post under fake names.

You can’t trust a things said on it. If you are going there for real info don’t.

Where will Lew Latto go if he returns.

It seems that Lew may return to the air waves. As i said in a reply to an earlier post it seems he will return to WDSM. Well nothing is concrete as of yet.

Here is a list of where he could wind up at and the chance I think it will happen at that place. Also I will tell you about a couple of other dark horses but I don’t know how much a chance they have so I will not give a % to them.

WDSM radio 45% chance he will be back there. It seems like a fit for most of what he believes. Some may say that Lew is a republican only by name. Many think he is not conservatives enough. Yet I don’t know Lew may not hold the line on all the republicans social issues but he does on the fiscal issues.

WDSM offers one of the best fits with a talk format and a mostly republican listener ship. It was the place he last was before getting fired by ex market manager Ron Stone.

KDAL radio is another AM stations that Midwest Communications owns. There is a 45% chance that they just transfer him to this station. A “new” start for Lew at the station. It could relieve any bad vibes between the station and Lew if he was on a different station other then WDSM. It may also relieve an awkwardness between him and Brad Bennette if there is any. It would also allow Brad to keep a three hour program if that is what they desire.

KDAL also is a talk station. The listeners to it are not as much of republicans per say. It may fit Lew a bit better then WDSM. KDAL and WDSM also have many of the same listeners and the flip between the two stations.

WEBC ESPN radio there is a zero percent chance he winds up here. The station is no longer a talk station, it’s current format is sports. It is very very successful.

Many people say yes but what about the Tracy Lundeen show it does not fit the format. The deal with that is Tracy bought the hour it is his to do with what he wants. The advertisers on it our his own. He gets them for the show.

1490 the Fan here again it is a sports station. Yet there is a small chance he winds up here 5% is what I would say.

I say this only because the program director and Lew get a long very well. Mark may fair from the format for a couple of hours and bring an all talk show on board.

There you have it that is what I think. What are your thoughts.

Now the dark horse thoughts. There are two of them.

He could wind up on an FM talk station. Now I think that chance is gone. Ron Stone is the only person in Duluth that has ever talked about doing an FM talk station. Now that is is gone I don’t see it happening.

If it did there are only two company's that would do it. I give it next to no chance however. The two company's are MWC or red rock. Now if you asked me to pick one I would say at this point red rock would do it first before MWC. Why I say that is they could get Lew and some other local talent’s and give the two AM stations at MWC a run for there money. If MWC did do they could use Lew as there flag ship hours .

Again I don’t think this will happen at all.

He could do something online. There is a better chance of him doing this then going to an FM talk station. If he did something online he could then do it when ever he wanted and from were ever he wanted with worrying about what was going on at a radio station. Again I don’t think Lew would do this unless it was the last chance of him ever being on the air again.

LOL I know it is only 95% on the chances of being on the air combined with WDSM,KDAL, and the FAN. How about this the other 5% can go to not returning to the air at all. I don't believe that is going to happen however.

MWC employee.

A source that works at MWC told me a few things. This person will remain nameless as all of my sources do unless they want me to say who they are. For good reason this one did not want to be known.

The source told me that there was no word of Lew returning to WDSM or KDAL. However the new acting GM Susan Nash and Lew got a long. The source told me that most likely Mrs. Nash would be named the new GM soon.

She would be promoted with in the company. She was the sales manger there prior to taking the acting GM spot.

The source also confirmed to me that Ron Stone left on his own terms. He did not get fired by the station. Chew on the all you idiots that want to spread false information. Yes it pisses me off that there are people that will not report the truth. They just want to believe there in there our false thinking.

New poll.

There is a new poll. Please take a second and vote.

The question is: If Lew Latto returns to the air waves were will he be?

Lew Latto may return to the air waves.

www.lewlatto.com has a message on it that seems like he may be returning to the air waves soon. Yippee I am so excited.

Chicken man with a no vote.

Current President Obama may have voted many times to vote present well he was in Chicago politics. At least he voted. Unlike chicken man councilor Gary Krause.

Krause elected to not vote on the domestic partnership ordinance tonight. Why his excuse was lame. He said the city had no business in the issue as it should be brought up to the county as they deal with all the government licensees. 

The real reason he did not vote is because he did not want to up set anyone with how he would have voted. I have been one for a strong guide line on abstaining from a vote. Krause in my mind should not have been allowed to not vote on this issue.

There needs to be a very clear rule on when you can and can not abstaining from voting. You should not be able to not vote because you don’t want to. Like Krause did tonight.

Not at tonights council meeting.

I will not be able to go to tonight meeting. I will however be monitoring it on the radio and Brandon Stahl’s live blog when I can. A number of things keep me away from this very interesting meeting. A sick kid is one and there are others as well.

As always you can get my thoughts about the meeting on the blog either tonight or tomorrow.

A house fire call.

Okay so a call of a house fire comes in. You can bet that Mayor Don Ness or a city council candidate will not be there to help put it out. You can also bet that a member or the media would not be there to help put it out. Yet this weekend there was an event held for them to learn these types of things.

Some believe that this fire ops 101 course is just a part of the political game and helps with getting the fire unions endorsement. I will say I am not in that camp yet but close.

The fire department does this they say to dispose of mis -information that is around the city. Then this event should be open to the general public as well. They are the ones that have most of the mis- information. I agree that there is a ton of it. Any one who knows me knows how I feel about public safety. That includes the fire department. I do not stand like many other republicans do on this issue.

There is no way Duluth could have a volunteer fire department. There is no reason to even discuss that. I also agree with them on a number of other issues. I find my self not agreeing with councilor Stauber many times when he talks about the fire department. He is plan wrong.

The other think I did find interesting about this article is that the department said every council candidate is invited to the event. Fact is that is not true as I was not asked to attend when I ran.

I have not yet read the whole article as of yet. I will have more later when I finish reading it.

Posting

Posting has been made easier at least for now. Here is the deal anyone can now post. You don't have to register to post. I do however still have to approve all comments. I will be tougher now on approving comments. As always I can decline a comment for any reason.

I will not edit post. I will either approve the comment as is or I will decline to post the comment. I could decline but approve a later comment if the person has done what is asked to change there original post.

DEDA make up to change?

One can only hope that it does change. For the council to rule over DEDA is a very bad thing.

Councilor Stauber will again try to bring forward an resolution to change DEDA to a more citizen based board. It use to be a number of years ago then the council changed it to be just the city councilors on DEDA.

Councilor Stauber was going to try to do this earlier last year. The council was not going to back it so he pulled it. Now it seems councilor Gilbert may have changed mind and he may support it.

Councilor Stauber is looking at making DEDA an authority ran by more private citizens that have business back ground. He said that it would bring a much better experience to the authority.

The authority would be seven members under Stauber’s resolution. It would still have two city councilors but there would be 5 appointed spots that would be private citizens. They would be appointed by the Mayor but approved by the council.

Not much going on.

There is the Robert Wagner story from yesterday. I don’t have much to say on that other then he is a guy I want running the city. The other thing I will say is who has a fund raiser for a city council seat until 6am. Nothing ever good will come out of that.

Mayor Ness was to have a press conference with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman that has been canceled. It will be rescheduled for a latter date.

A day late.

Well as I said there would not be a many post last week. I would at least try to do a weekend recap. I was going to do that last night but I could not as I was very sick. Went to bed at like 6 pm. Here is it a day late.

 

Superior Mayor David Ross is thinking of running for LT. Governor. I think this would be great lose to Superior and this area. It would however be a huge for the State Wisconsin. I am hoping to get a chance to interview the Superior Mayor.

Ross has done a great job of improving Superior and planned key roles in improving our area as a whole.

Domestic Partner first reading. Jeff Anderson has an ordinance that got it’s first reading. It would set up a register for domestic partnership. It could come to a vote at next weeks meeting.

Jeff Anderson is Duluth first openly gay city councilor. He also apparently does not care if people want to support this ordinance or not. More on that later.

Ron Stone leaving Mid West Communications. I think I have covered that. I wish him the best in whatever he does. Look at other post for more on Ron Stone if you care.

There were some other things but I don’t remember what they were. If I remember I will post about it.

This week I should be able to post a bit more.

MWC and Ron Stone.

Okay so it seems many people don't think that Ron is leaving on his own. Lets be honest here and if he was to be fired he would not stay on tell the 15th. He would have been asked to leave immediately. Much like there previous market manager.

MWC much like other radio station in Duluth don't mess around when they get rid of there top people. They don't give them 2 weeks they are gone the day they find out.

As I have said before it seemed that the top management at MWC liked what Ron was doing. Now I don't think they like it all. They did however seem to approve with what he was doing with the
AM stations. If you remember I reported the truth about why Latto was let go. The heads at MWC told Mr. Stone that one personality had to be let go at each AM station.

Where I don't think they liked what the changes to the FM stations. I also don't think they liked some of the changes on the AM stations such as the sports changes. They have liked have the Bulldogs sports and it seemed that Mr. Stone was going to try to dumb that.

I sure wish.

******UPDATE***** Don’t expect many changes on the AM dial at MWC. This comes from a top person at MWC. Well they may make changes to there FM’s in Duluth.

 

I sure wish some blogs would report the news right. As I said before if Ron Stone left Mid-West Communications it would be his choice to do so. Ron has decided to leave the stations because of family. Anyone who knows Ron knows he is a huge family man and he is sick of the drive for the Duluth to the Cities every week.

when Ron took the job he said right a way he would not move his family up to Duluth. Many knew he would come and do what he thought was right to try to keep the failing MWC station. It did not work in his eyes. Now it is time for him to move on.

The Duluth News Tribune has the full story if you want to read it. www.duluthnewstribune.com, remember lets report it right he was not fired he left on his own.

So little time.

There has been a lot going on. I don’t have time to post however. I will try to get post up as I can. If nothing else I will do a week in review type post some time this weekend.

Check back however for post. Oh a couple of questions you can either answere with an email at duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com or comment here.

 

1. Do you like the post with or with out tages?

2. Should I let any one post? Meaning you would not have to register to post. I would still have to approve all comments. People seem to have issues with registering. Thoughts please.

Nice book.

At Lake Superior Collage to I picked up a book sitting on a table. I thought it was interesting it was put out by visit Duluth, www.visitduluth.com .

My problem with the book and it's location is this. It is LSC and most of there students are in the Duluth area and know about all the things to see and do in Duluth. This book was very nice and it could not have been cheap.

As I went around the school I counted the number of these bookes left at the school. I counted 50 I wonder how many they did drop off in the first place. What is the cost of these tourist info books? Why drop them at LSC? Should we not be looking to advertize out side of the city and get people to come here?

I am now wondering what the population of students is that are not in the Duluth area. I would consider the Duluth area to in clude Hermantown, Superior, Proctor? As far a the school enrollement goes everything else can be out of the area. I may have to try to find out.

Okay then!!!!

chicken people have there own site. Oh no, http://www.duluthcitychickens.org/ .

Look at the name of the site Duluth City Chickens enought said.

It does not look like any thing has been done to the site for some time now. It looks like it was an info site when the city was talking about this issue.

I wonder if any one has chickens in the city?

Matt Entenza to ensure Pawlenty will win.

Former DFL minority leader Matt Entenza said today that he will run for Governor in 2010. This is great news for Pawlenty should he decide to run again. I am not 100% sure he will.

Entenza did say today that he will fight on to the end. He will move on into the genral election even if he is not the winner of the endorsement. Entenza has always been a hot head and always about his self.

Here is a great post on why if Entenza does not get the endorsment he should not go on. I agree but hope he does fight on if he does not recieve it. http://tcdailyliberal.com/blog/2008/10/a-plea-to-matt-entenza-please-dont-do-it/.

This will most insure a win for Pawlenty should he decide to run in 2010.

The big ass.

Craig Samborski who owns secret service entertainment is the biggest ass. I have never cared for the guy. I wish the city would look for some one else to manage bayfront park and the parking lots around it.

Craig said that he will not allow people to park for free in his lots if the free lot at playfront is full. Here is the deal. If a family comes and say’s they are going to go to the park then let them park for free. Simple not that hard. He said it is to hard for his employees to figure out if people are using the park or going to the DECC or else were.

Wrong it should be simple. Look at the people and you also know what if there is something going on at the DECC or not, use your head.

As many people parking is hard to find at the DECC because of the construction. The DECC said they are doing a good job of making other parking arrangements to there customers. There are not but if that is what they want to believe okay I guess.

Now lets be fair to the DECC it is difficult parking in the canel. All I am saiing is lets tell the truth the DECC can not have a good parking system right now. I think most people understand this. We understand what is going on there.

As far as Graig and my thoughts on him it is not just this parking thing there are a number of other reasons I fell this way. The park has so much to offer and yet this guy does nothing.

What it shows me is how inept government is.  Find some one that knows what they are doing. I know this guys has ran hundreds of events and concerts blah blah blah……..

Johnson Controls win award.

Oh goodie. I received this email the other day and they want to exclaim how good of a company they are. Yeah right.

Email then the press release are located below.

 

Dear Duluth Community Leaders –

Imagine if your company were named one of the most ethical in Duluth.  What if that were expanded to one of the most ethical in Minnesota, or even the U.S.?  The attached news release takes that even further. An international organization has just named Johnson Controls to its “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list.  Of the 99 companies recognized in 2009, Johnson Controls is one of just 44 in the world to earn that honor in each of the past three years.

Ethisphere Magazine (http://ethisphere.com/wme2009/) said it was recognizing Johnson Controls "for going beyond legal minimums, introducing innovative ideas to benefit the public, and forcing its competitors to follow suit by consistently raising the bar for what it takes to be an ethical leader."

For the past two years you’ve heard opponents of the Duluth Public Schools’ long range facilities plan make inflammatory claims about the expertise and integrity of Johnson Controls, which has had an office in Duluth since 1956.  We just wanted to provide this credible perspective for you to consider the next time a small group of Duluthians tries to denigrate Johnson Controls.

News Releases
Johnson Controls Among 2009 'World's Most Ethical Companies'

MILWAUKEE, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls announced today it has been named for the third
consecutive year as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. The Institute
said it was recognizing the company "for going beyond legal minimums, introducing innovative ideas to
benefit the public, and forcing its competitors to follow suit by consistently raising the bar for what it takes to
be an ethical leader."
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081030/AQTH055ALOGO)
"Johnson Controls is honored to be named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies, recognizing our
commitment to ethics throughout our corporation globally," said Jerry Okarma, vice president, secretary and
general counsel. "Our leadership is dedicated to communicating the importance of ethics as a critical part of
running the company, and our employees strive to maintain the high standards we have set for ourselves."
Ethisphere, dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics,
corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability, published the WME rankings in Ethisphere
Magazine's Q1 2009 issue.

Through a rigorous, multi-step evaluation process, Ethisphere's researchers and analysts reviewed more
than 10,000 companies in order to determine the finalists.
"Johnson Controls has proven to be one of the world leaders in upholding high ethical standards, making it a
true standout in its industry, especially as unethical business actions and decisions grab headlines each
day," said Alex Brigham, executive director of the Ethisphere Institute. "The competition was very strong and
we applaud Johnson Controls for rising to the top. Their leadership and their employees recognize that
being ethical is not only the right thing to do, it is also good business practice and leads to more successful
and profitable operations."

The methodology for the WME ranking includes reviewing codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction
histories; evaluating the investment in innovation and sustainable business practices; looking at activities
designed to improve corporate citizenship; studying nominations from senior executives, industry peers,
suppliers and customers; and working with consumer action groups for feedback. The 2009 World's Most
Ethical Companies methodology committee, comprised of leading attorneys, government officials,
professors and organization leaders, was consulted early on in the 2009 WME process and had the
opportunity to review and comment on the methodology used to rate this year's nominees. Ethisphere
researchers further analyze information provided by the companies through questionnaires.
To view the complete list of the 2009 World's Most Ethical Companies, please visit http://www.ethisphere.org
About Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls is the global leader that brings ingenuity to the places where people live, work and travel.
By integrating technologies, products and services, we create smart environments that redefine the
relationships between people and their surroundings. Our team of 140,000 employees creates a more
comfortable, safe and sustainable world through our products and services for more than 200 million
vehicles, 12 million homes and one million commercial buildings. Our commitment to sustainability drives
Johnson Controls Among 2009 'World's Most Ethical Companies' - Apr 13, 2009 Page 1 of 2
http://johnsoncontrols.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=113&item=1882&printable 4/20/2009
our environmental stewardship, good corporate citizenship in our workplaces and communities, and the
products and services we provide to customers. For additional information, please visit
http://www.johnsoncontrols.com.
About Ethisphere Institute

The research-based Ethisphere Institute is a leading international think- tank dedicated to the creation,
advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption
and sustainability. The Institute's associated membership group, the Ethisphere Council, is a forum for
business ethics that includes more than 200 leading corporations, universities and institutions. The
Ethisphere Council is dedicated to the development and advancement of individuals on its membership
council through increased efficiency, innovation, tools, mentoring, advice, and unique career opportunities.
Ethisphere Magazine, which publishes the globally recognized World's Most Ethical Companies Ranking™,
is the quarterly publication of the Institute. More information on the Ethisphere Institute, including ranking
projects and membership, can be found at http://www.ethisphere.org.

Think before you say..

Everyone please think before you say some thing. Councilor Jeff Anderson has gotten a ton or good and bad comments toward him and his domestic partner ordinance. Regardless of your feeling on the issue there is no reason for a personal attack on Jeff or the gay community.

As I have said I am not sure how I feel about this ordinance as of yet. I hope to meet with Jeff on Friday. I have not heard if I will be or not.

Think before you say something would you wanted it said to your or about you. Please lets every one no matter your feeling be civil.

Jeff Anderson said the following in an email.

I emailed Jeff the other day asking him a couple of days about his ordinance. The ordinance deals with domestic partnership. 

I thought it was interesting so I thought I would share it with you.

 

1. What is the purpose of introducing this?

Because same-sex couples and different sex domestic partners have little access to legal recognition of their relationship and their families, a domestic partner registry can be used to assist employers who wish to make domestic partner benefits available to their employees.  I believe that the federal and state governments should be taking the lead on this.  Since they are not, I believe that local governments should in order to provide certain recognitions for all of our citizens.

2. If it is going to be largely symbolic then why do it?

It will undoubtedly be symbolic for some couples, but for others it will make it easier for them to receive benefits from their employers.  57% of Fortune 500 companies provide domestic partner benefits.  This will help our citizens who are unmarried, or cannot legally be married more easily access these benefits.  This is not a gay marriage proposal.  This is simply a registry, identical to the registry that Minneapolis has had in place since 1991; and the same as more than 70 other cities have in place.

3. What are some benefits this would bring to the city?

I think most people would agree that they want their city to be a welcoming city for all people.  This levels the playing field and helps bring some equality that currently does not exist.  Also, this will not cost taxpayers a dime.  People must pay to register which covers the costs associated with maintaining a registry.

It's important to note that the proposed registry does not create any special rights for same-sex couples.  The proposed registry would be open to both same-sex and different sex couples alike.
The proposed registry places no requirement on any business, or the City of Duluth itself (in fact state law prevents municipalities from providing domestic partner benefits to its employees).  However, if an employer chooses to do so, having a city registration mechanism may assist in the administration of their benefits program.

4. What kind of feed back have you been getting so far?

Good.  I have certainly received some negative feedback, mostly from people who don't understand the concept of the registry.  The majority of feedback I've received has been very positive and supportive.

Domistic Partner registrey

Duluth City Councilor Jeff Anderson wants to put forth an ordinance and an accompanying resolutions that would allow domestic partners to register at city hall.

Anderson said this would be mostly symbolic. If that the case then why do it? Many of you know that Jeff Anderson is the first openly gay councilor in Duluth history. I like Jeff he is an outstanding person. I don't always agree with him politically this may be one of those times. I however am not sure because I don't yet know enough about this.

I do however believe that marriage is between a man and a women now domestic partnership is not marriage.

Duluth Politics following a couple of stories.

Duluth Politics is following a couple of stories. Iwill be commenting on them soon. Keep looking back for more later.

More on Winson leaving the city.

A source told me yesterday that there were other issues that neither the Mayor nor Mark Winson were letting on. It seems that the main reason's that Mr. Winson said are partly true and not true say’s one city hall worker.

The person  told me that there were issues that the Mayor and Winson  did not agree on. They were major issue’s that could not be resolved between the two. Well they share the same desire to improve Duluth it is not the same way said this source.

It seems that Winson was not enjoying the job because it did not fit him any longer the source did conform that. They told me you could see it was not the same Winson that worked here before. You could see that from the beginning.

This source believes that Winson nor the Mayor wanted to lead on that there was political difference between the two and that is why it was not brought up.

They did want to stress however that Mark Winson and the Mayor were both great people and enjoyed working with each other for the most part. They seemed to be able to work well together even with some differences.

It seems that Winson to me would have said if there was an issue or not. I did however want to pass along this info just so you all can make up your own minds.

Gas prices to go up for summer driving.

As many of you know the summer time is the time many people take vacations and go on trips. With this most of the time you see increase in gas prices. This summer does not seem to be any different.

Triple A has said they expect gas to go up to around $2.23 per gallon around the country on an average. That is a far cry from the $4.00 it was a short time ago. In fact that is less 20  cents more then what gas is right now around the country.

What does this mean for Duluth drivers, it seems that Dultuh is one of the highest prices in State. I would guess we will see prices tap out at around $2.29 that will at this point be just about the average. 

This is just a guess as to what prices will be this summer. The triple a is good at this gas price thing however LOL we will see.

Pay to park at playfront park.

*****UDPDATE***** Just heard from a councilor and I was correct any changes such as charging for the playfront parking lot (lot A) would need to be approved by the city council.

 

I saw this on Brandon Stahl’s blog, http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pages/buzz.

It seems that they are charging for parking at play front. The small lot leading in to playfront has always been free. It should remain that way in my mind. I understand that they could possible be charging to park there now. The fee is $4.00. I am wondering if this is true.

If it is councilors do not know about it. If the city wants to charge for that lot  I believe that is something the council must approve. It is clear by Brandon’s story that at least one councilor did not know they may be charging for it.

It seems the reason they may be charging is because of the lose of parking at the DECC because of construction. I say oh well.

I will not pay to park there. I hope others do the same.

Just a note I will send an email to a councilor to see if my thought is right about needing the approval and let you know.

Poll question is up.

There is a new poll question. It involved Mark Winson who will be stepping down as the CAO of Duluth.

As many people know he was fired by former Mayor Herb Bergson. Then rehired by Mayor Don Ness. Now just two month on the job he is leaving again. He claims on his own. Do you agree.

Take time to vote on the right hand side of the blog.

Tea Party

I did not get to see any of the news coverage of the tea party as I had work last night. I have no idea what the numbers were that they used. If you heard I would like to know. As I said the DNT under estimated yesterday but that is okay. They used a number that one speaker tossed out as a guess and he could only see part of the crowd.

One women claims that she took a picture from the other side of the bridge. She said it looked like there was only about 200 hundred people she was way off. I would expect that from this person however.

The crowd was 1,000 people strong. It went almost down to the bridge and almost down to the fish tank on either side of stage. It was hard for me to tell once the event started as I was center stage. I walked around before and after the event however and it was clear that was much bigger then any one had expected.

There was about 15 speakers or so. Russ Stewart did a great job of expaining this was not a democrat or republican issue. It was an issue that all American’s needed to stand up to. There were also a couple of other speakers that did this as well. They are right.

This started under President Bush and it is just being continued by President Obama and this congress.

Great turn out at tea party.

I don’t have a lot of time but it was a great event with a huge turn out. I expect that estimates by the media will be low. There was easily 1,000 people there.

I guess there is a lot of people not happy with government and the way it is going on both sides.

 

****UPDATE****

Duluth News Tribune say’s there was about 700 people at the rally this is one wrong estimate by the media.

Live Blog.

I was going to live blog the Duluth Tea Party this afternoon. I have decided not to do that. One wrong move and in the big drink could go the computer. That would not be a good thing.

You will get my thoughts on it either before or after work depending on when I get home.

Reminder the tea party starts in about 2 hours behind the DECC. 12:15 or so start time.

Winson email.

Yesterday after I had learned that Mark Winson was leaving the city at the top aid to the Mayor I sent a short email to him.

The email basically said thanked him for all of his years of service. Also in the email I had said that I hope he is leaving on his own terms and it was not pressure from the Mayor or any one else in city hall.

Mr. Winson replied to my email. Again it was short there for a short reply.

“John, thanks for the note.  I am leaving of my own volition.  The job of CAO doesn't fit who I am anymore.  The Mayor and I have gotten along fabulously because we share the same desire to make Duluth a better and stronger community than it already is.”

Mark

I agree that both the Mayor and Mr. Winson share the desire to better Duluth. I also think for the most he and the Mayor did get a long. I however had heard that they did not agree on a few key points in the mayor’s plan. Well no one will tell me what those maybe, I wonder if this is why he is leaving.

Yes we need a strong Mayor and to this point I think Mayor Ness has done a pretty good job. No we don’t agree on everything. There are a number of things that I like however that he has done.

I wonder however is the Mayor to demanding on his CAO? This is the person that does the day to day operations of the city. Well the Mayor is off doing his job that entitles a lot on it’s own.

Keep in mind now this is the second CAO in one Mayor that has left that spot. Well it appeared that Lisa left because of issues with the council I wonder if that is the true reason? Lisa Potswald remains with the city in a different job.

Winson going going gone.

As John reported Mark Winson will be leaving the city again. This time it is on his terms he said. Well I am not sure about that.

John and I are both following this close. Neither one of us could believe it. We have talked on the phone about this mornning. It is to bad.

Mark will return to LSC were he left.

More later. I will try to have a post up some time tonight.

BREAKING NEWS: Winson leaving as top aid to Mayor Ness.

Mark Winson is leaving at the Mayors top aid. COA Mark Winson has said he will leave his position with the city. This will happen on May 8th.

I will have more on this later.

Lots going on.

Lots going on. I will try to comment later. I am way busy right now. I will try to post today. Other wise it will come tonight or tomorrow.

Crime up according to police.

In what was a brief discussion the other night a long time police officer told me that he has seen crime on the rise. He said that all types of crime were up in Duluth. He feels a big reason to this is the growing drug problem we face.

He said were he sees the big increase right now at this point is break inn’s. That will is to anything. Business, homes, cars ect…. He also said he believe that violent crimes have been on the rise, not nearly as fast. He did say however if we don’t get this drug issue in check we will see a huge in violent crime we will see those crimes go up with in the next three years.

He said with a young leader like Ramsey he is excited about department and hopes things will improve very fast.

MWC- Ron Stone- Lew Latto.

Just a follow up to the whole Lew Latto issue.

Another very reliable source tells me that it was MWC that made the decision and not Ron Stone to let Lew Latto go. The ownership of the mid-west tolds it Duluth market manger (Ron Stone) that one local radio show had to go on each of it’s two talk stations. Well the MWC ownership did not say they wanted Lew off the air. It seems that they left an impression to that affect.

The Duluth stations have been doing poorly and that is why they hired Ron Stone to take over there MWC Duluth stations. Stone has been a proven leader in there eyes.

The stations owed by MWC here in Duluth have been losing in the ratings to Gal West stations, they have also been losing advertisers.  It seems as if they are doing what they see fit. Stone is just the local manger doing what he is told.

Drastic changes by MWC will they pay off or hurt more?  BTW there is no truth to the rumor that Stone is getting fired. It seems that if he leaves it will be his choice to do so.

Police officer told me crime is up.

Tonight i was talking with a police officer. I will not/can not share his name. He told me that crime in Duluth was up. He has been on the force for a number of years.

More on this some time soon, now however it is off to bed.

Dumb resolution on council agenda for Monday.

I don’t want to say to much about this now. I think I am going to save most of my rant about this for my first segment on Danny Does Duluth. I am not sure however. You will have to turn to DDD on Tuesday to find out my final decision.

This is yet again our council putting it’s voice were it is not needed nor should it waste it’s time doing so.

The resolutions says that all elected officials will buy American when using stimulus money.  Now I agree that we all should buy American when we can. This resolutions again goes to far, http://www.duluthmn.gov/clerk/council/resord09/09-0217R.pdf.

Well I agree with parts of this it is not the Duluth City Councilors place. That is all I am going to say for now. Your thoughts always welcome.

Real community leader.

You  may have heard that there was a stabbing the other day. The stabbing took place in an apartment building on third street.

The stabbing happened in the afternoon. The incidents was over money. The person that did the stabbing Ritchie Rich has 17 criminal cases filled against him in 5 counties in Minnesota.

I would say lets keep this guy here. He sure seems like a real pillar or the community. Sure sounds like some one I want to live next to.

Some information came from the Duluth News Tribune. www.duluthnewstribune.com

Duluth Tea Party.

I am sure many of you have heard about this. Well I don't agree with the people putting this together. I do agree with the message. I think it is important to allow our government to over spend.

The government must spend some money. The way they have been spending over the last 8 years is insane. This has been both republicans and Democrats. The Republicans need to understand that they have been the one's in charge over the last 8 years at least with President Bush. He spend money on a war like a drunken sailor.

I am not sure if I will go this event or not. I do thinks it's message is an important one however. I wonder if the tea party will have any affect on any thing?

Hi Everyone.

I am the new guy here. John asked me to be a part of this blog. He said he wanted to have some one from the other side on his blog as well. Yes that means I am a democrat.

I wanted to just swing in and say hi and let you all know I will blog when I get a chance. It should be fun.

Another at-large candidate to announce.

Beth Olson will announce that she will run for city council at-large. She will be the second person in the last couple of weeks to do so. Beth however is much farther left then Dan Hartman is.

Beth Olsen will make her announcement Thursday April 9th, at 5pm. She will do so at the Harrison Community Center. I will have more later.

Almost a week and a half.

It has almost been a week and a half sense Lew Latto has not been on the air at WDSM. He was fired by management there.

There web site www.wdsm710.com still has him as on there. They have at least updated there shows that go across the top of the site he is not listed there. I guess you can’t ask for to much at one time.

There just has not been much going on.

Not much going on right now. There are a few things I was going to make comments on and may still we will see.

I will post when I find something interesting. As always thanks to all who read this blog. It is greatly appreciated. Now I just wish more would take part in the discussion LOL.

wonders why?

I wonder why blogs have to use fake names? Why can’t they say what they believe with there real name? 

Dan Hartman web site.

As I reported last night Dan Hartman is going to seek the at-large city council seat. There are again two spots up for bid this election.  One will be open well one is held by councilor Jim Stauber.

His web site has an introduction up I am not sure if he is going to do more today starting at 9 or not. In the piece he talks about how the council and Mayor are forward thinking and we need to continue that he says. Well I disagree with him on this thought that we have a forward thinking council.

He say’s we don’t need any drastic changes to move Duluth forward. Well I agree with this in part I also think we do need to stop electing those that don’t work for all of Duluth.  There are councilors on the council now that have an agenda and they want to push. No matter what it may do to the city. These councilors are on both sides.

Should there be anything new on his site starting at 9 I will pass it a long.

 

UPDATE: There is nothing new on the site. It is just the one video. I will have more on this later.

Tea Party specifics.

This is just a reminder about the Duluth Tea Party events. It will take place on April 15th. Yes that is tax day. It starts at 12!5 pm behind the DECC.

Dan Hartman will announce that he is a candidate for the At-Large City Council seat.

Dan Hartman who dropped out the 3rd district race in 2007 because he did not get the endorsement of the DFL will now seek a new seat.

Hartman is going to announce that he is running for the city council at-large seat.  There is two spots up one currently held by councilor Stauber. The other will be an open seat.

Hartman will have his announce on his web-site www.hartmanforcouncil.org.

More tomorrow on this.

Blast from the past.

As you know today is April Fools day. There is not much real news out today. Instead of pulling a prank I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some old post.

 

This was writtien. Friday November 30th 2007.  Your thoughts on if any of this post is true or not.  How do you think the Mayor has done up to now? 

Do we have to watch our wallets our do you think we are safe?

 

Friday, November 30, 2007

Mayor elect Ness showed his true colors.

Mayor elect Don Ness ran his campaign on bringing the community together. He also said that he will bring responsible spending back to city hall. Mayor elect Ness showed his true colors at the council meeting Monday night.
He showed that all of his promises were just that. He could care less about the average Duluthain. He is just going to spend your money and tax you out of your house. That was made way to clear on Monday night. The mayor elect did nothing but vote to raise our taxes and increase utility rates. The taxes will not benefit us at all either. They raised storm water run off by 17% and sewer rates went up 11%. Never gave a reason to why he voted the way he did. Like it or not that is what you get.
I wonder if this silent but deadly treatment is what he will take into the Mayor's office. If this is the type of Mayor he will be then we are in for a long four years. We may want to hang on to our wallets. The type of mayor that is needed now is one that can and is willing to work with a limited budget. To this point it is very clear that Mr. Ness is not willing to do this.
What is clear is that he wants to raise taxes so the city has money to fund unneeded things. These projects may indeed be good, however when you don't have the money you need to take a look at if they are needed.
He showed this again on Monday night with two other votes. One of the two votes was to not override the Mayors veto of the housing investment fund. Whether the fund is a good thing or not is debatable. I think it is in theory but I have some issues with it. Mr. Ness did not vote in favor or over ridding the veto because he thinks the project is a good one. It also helps many people out.
This is true however when we are in a budget crisis we need to focus on the core issues. I hate to say it but this is far from a core issue. The fact of the matter is our streets and sewers are falling a part. The police along with other emergency services are in need of man power and equipment.
The second vote was on if we should conduct yet another feasibility study for a high speed train to connect Duluth with the Cities. The study only cost us tax payers a small amount of $40,000 dollars.

Keep in mind we have already had three studies done. All of them said the project would not be a good one for Duluth to get involved in. I guess it is a classic case of "if you don't succeed; try, try again". This time we can all rest assured that the study will have the "right" results. The study will be conducted by the railroad authorities from many counties.

Mr. Ness said this was a critical vote and we need to support it because we have in the past. It is the wave of the future he said. Calling for a huge come back for trains.
Simple fact of the matter is this project will just be yet another fish tank . I mean G.L.A. ( Great Lakes Aquarium). The numbers will fall well short of the predictions and we will do nothing but subsidise the train.

Posted by John at 4:25 PM

Labels: Duluth City Council, Duluth Politics, Mayor Ness, True Colors

New poll.

The poll is will you take part in the Duluth Tea Party? It just went up so take time to vote.

Mayor’s night canceled tonight.

The mayor’s night  set for tonight is canceled because of the weather.

Mayor’s night is were citizens have an oppertunity to meet with the Mayor and talk about any issue(s) they wish to.  They get five minutes.

It happens every month.  The last Tuesday of the month.

Weather is horrible.

I am one of those people that will go any were is most any condition. Yet today I would not go any were if I don’t have to. It is bad.

There are accidents all over the place. Buses are having trouble moving and they are getting in accidents. 

If you do go out please be careful. 

Lake Superior College to go smoke free.

Lake Superior College is going smoke free. They are most likely one of the last Government building or colleges that to do so. I don’t remember what the date is.

The policy does not allow smoking in the parking lot, out side the building, in the school, in the woods on the property, and in your car.

 

Duluth Tea Party.

I will be hopefully interview some one from the group. I will be in contact with them this AM by email.

I would guess they would do the interview because they want to get the work out as much as possible.

I encourage people to think of going to this event. It will be a great event against our government and there endless spending on both sides.

Nettleton on lock down.

Nettleton was put on lock down yesterday. A call came in to 911 about 11 AM.  The caller had said a teacher had been shot. 

Cops ran in to the school and checked out the school. They went on every floor and in every room.  The school was cleared after a search showed no such thing as happening.

There was no teacher shot. Nor was there any sign of a student or adult with a gun on the property. This call took 12 police officers.

It turned out to be a prank yet the school and the cops did every thing right.  The kids remained calm as they were instructed to go in to rooms and under desks. Cops did a great job of getting there and doing there jobs.

The call that came in to 911 was made by a cell phone. There is no way to trace the call. The call sounded like it was a child but again there is no real way to tell.

Duluth Tea Party.

You may have heard of this event.  They now have a blog at http://duluthteaparty.blogspot.com/ . There is just one post now as the site went up today. 

I will have more as I learn more about the event here as well.

Duluth Politics on twitter.

We are now part of twitter.  You can follows on twitter here http://twitter.com/DuluthPolitics . Our twitter site will be used to have short post or thoughts. You will also see some personal things shared there. Such as what I am doing, did, plan on doing ect….

Link to Food Stamp Story in the Star.

http://www.startribune.com/local/east/42033327.html?elr=KArksUUUU

Here is a snipped of the story.

“The 317,000 Minnesotans relying on food stamps will get a 14 percent increase in their monthly benefits. For a family of four, that means a jump in maximum benefits of $80 a month to about $668.”

Okay well I believe the food stamp program is good. There are problems with it as well. One of the big issues I have that you can buy anything on it.  I am a huge believe that it should have a set program of things you can buy. 

There is also cash on some people’s cards and they can buy such things as beer and cigarettes with this side of the card. This is wrong.

Technorati Tags: Food Stamps,Minnesota,Star Trib,Stimulus,EBT

WDSM web site: Slaps Lew in the face.

Currently the web page for WDSM radio say’s Lew Latto is on the air. The way Lew was treated was wrong. Yes Lew has done it to his employees in the past.

It is however a big slap in the face to Lew. The station should have made sure it did not have him on the web page any longer.  As you know Brad Bennett is now on from 8-11 AM.  That is fine by me.  I know many people don’t like Brad’s show.  That is your right.  Isn’t it great to live in a place were you have the right to say what you believe?

The WDSM web page also have Lew still on the staff page again now you have fired Lew take him off your page.  Just another note there liners still stay Brad is on 9-11not 8-11 AM.

The WDSM web page is www.wdsm710.com . 

 

Technorati Tags: WDSM Radio,Lew Latto,Brad Bennett,Web Page

Food Stamp increase.

If you have read this blog for any time, you know what I think of the EBT system.

I believe there is a lot of problems out there. People find ways to get it that should not.

Any way on to what I want to say.  The first stimulus packages will arrive in Minnesota starting Wednesday.  What is it?

A 14% increase in the food stamp program. Great!!!!

More later.

No Lew Latto today.

Right now I am listening to WDSM and Brad is on.  It is clear he will be on now 8-11 AM.

Lew was to do his last show today.  That did not happen.  Mr.Stone did not allow Lew to have his final show today.  Here is what was on Lew’s web site today.

www.lewlatto.com

                    THANK YOU!

     This is a sad day for me.  Instead of hosting my final radio show, I must instead try to explain the details of my dismissal.  Before I do that, however, I would like to thank everybody for your wonderful support!

I have spent hours and hours these past two weeks answering a multitude of e-mails.  It is proof to me of the extended radio family which we all have been a part of.  Your kind words have been so gratifying!

     It was never my intent to go public with my dismissal, however after I learned in an e-mail from Ron Stone, the market manager for WDSM and five other local radio stations, that he had canceled my final broadcast today, I had no choice.  I consider his action an attack on my integrity.  I had assured Mr. Stone that I would not discuss my situation on the radio show.  I had not, as you all know, and would not have done so on my final broadcast!   Not being on-the-air today means I cannot personally say "goodbye" to the thousands of listeners who tune in daily. 

     Many of you have asked me why Mr. Stone canceled my show.  I cannot give a logical reason.  WDSM last fall had the best ratings the station has ever had in its current format.  My ratings have always been strong and as a radio station owner: never mess with success!  The many sponsors who have been on my show for years brought more revenue to WDSM than I was costing the station.  Perhaps I am not enough of a "patriot" for Mr. Stone.  Only he can answer that!

     I have no immediate future plans, except to relax for a while.  If Midwest Communications would like me to return to WDSM after Mr. Stone is gone, I would certainly consider it.

     Should any other opportunity present itself, I will post my future plans here on my web site. 

Thank you again for your wonderful support!

                                                               Lew

Chat With Other Tabernacle of Truth Listeners

00 Days, 01 Hours, 45 Minutes, 45 Seconds.

 

Note the clock on his site at the time still  had an hour and 45 minutes at the time. It does not seem like he has any current plans according to his web page.   More to come when I find something out.

New Lew info.

I just talked to a second source that is involved in radio. The source told me that there is  no truth to the Hog going to a talk station.  It has changed to a classic rock as of yesterday.

He said that Lew is in fact moving to 1490. I guess we will find out on Monday.

Also Brad Bennett’s show will now be three hours long 8-11 AM accourding to his report to me.

102.5 the hog going to hog talk?

Well some people have been talking, there for rumors have been around that the hog will go to an FM talk station.

If this was to be true this maybe were Lew Latto goes. Keep in mind I think this whole Lew Latto thing has been some kind of stunt all a long.  After developments over the last few days.

Now I think it would be a poor chose for MWC to do this.  The FM station in the Twin Cities is not going over the best. I wonder how they think it would work better in a smaller market.  The only think that may work is if it was mostly local talk show host.  People up here like local talk. I also think that if there were to change 102.5 to a talk station they would have to have balance both views expressed on the station.

I would  be a bit surprised if they did change the station to a talk format. With that said it is something Ron Stone has wanted to do for some time. He has more say at MWC then he did when he was GM at Clear Channel. Clear Channel never would have allowed a FM talk station up here.

The other thing is the hog is a pretty good station from what people tell me.  I don’t listen to it not my type of music. I wonder why they would change this? Yes I understand that if it went to a talk station it would not be called the hog any longer.  Although i like hog talk LOL.

Let the conversation and rumors go here.