City suppporting events.

There were a lot of good letters to the editor today, here are two more with have diffrent opinions on the same subject.

I don't care if people are gay but why must they make sure they are in the news. On the front cover of our paper and were every else they can go.

The city should not support any parade or any other event they may have. This does not mean they can't have the events because they can. The city should not support them publicaly however. If the city choices to do so as they have the last couple of years then the city MUST support all events if some one comes and says I want to have a parade to support the KKK and I want the city to support it then the MUST.


"Gay-straight alliance makes Duluthian proudMonday, Jan. 23 was a day I was proud to be a Duluthian. The front page of the News Tribune greeted me with a story about the gay-straight alliances in our public schools and their involvement in National No Name Calling Week ("Alliances renew gay students' lives").
I feel fortunate to reside in a community where students can take a courageous stand for tolerance and receive recognition on the front page of the local paper.
My thanks go out to those students. You represent the good in our society. Thank you for reaching out to others while standing up for yourselves and your friends. Thank you also to the Duluth News Tribune for giving those students a platform from which to speak.
Kudos to our community.
KELSY KUEHN"
DULUTH

The above letter I do agree with one point and that is no one should name call and we need to respect people.

The writer below is right why is that some groups and or people get more attion then your averge duluthian that does not care about or at least is not offended by this group but is offened that they must get on the front page or be the first story on the news or even get support from the city officaily.

Now I don't have a problem with our mayor or a city councilo going to one of these events as a private citizen but I do have an problem when the city supports these groups. As I said before if you as a city support one you must then support all.


"Some Duluth residents feel overlookedMr. and Mrs. John Q. Duluth have been productive citizens their entire lives. They have worked hard at their jobs, contributed to the community and raised wonderful children. Problem is, I don't seem to recall a front page article praising their efforts or celebrating their accomplishments.
However, every time there is a gay and lesbian event, it is splashed across the newspaper as if the Vikings just won the Super Bowl. Parades, festivals and workshops are treated as important and popular mainstream activities.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Duluth continue onward, living their underappreciated lives in relative obscurity.JEFF BUSHNELL"



Source: Duluth News Tribune, http://duluthnews.com

Alito confirmed

This is from msn,http://msn.com if you would like to read the whole story.


Senate confirms Alito for Supreme Court
58-42 vote was most partisan for top court nominee in recent history


Updated: 12:07 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2006
WASHINGTON - Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. became the nation’s 110th Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, confirmed with the most partisan victory in modern history after a fierce battle over the future direction of the high court.



So much for Alito crictis. I was not sure what to think of Alito I thought there were better picks but I am glad he made it after watching the hearings. The personal attack by those that did not want him on the court was very bad. v

Read the story Duke is referring to very carefully. Duke again tries to full you in to it being more then it should be.

This was on Duke Skorich's blog I know he does not think the partiot act is a good thing but you need to read this story carefully. I think this should pass, it is saying that were the person is in the restrict area or not you still would get arrested and you should it. If you don't have access to that area then don't go there.

Please click on the link. There are two of them both lead to the same story. Here is a link to Dukes site as well,http://northlandliberal.blogspot.com/.



"A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any "special event of national significance" away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter.



Under current law, the Secret Service can arrest anyone for breaching restricted areas where the president or a protected official is or will be visiting, but the new provision would allow such arrests even after those VIPs have left the premises of any designated "special event of national significance." The provision would increase the maximum penalty for such an infraction from six months to one year in jail."




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183147,00.html

Dont' allow city spending to get our of control.

Here is a great letter to the editor about the DECC's expansion. I agree totaly with the writer.




Limit city's spending; vote no on DECC tax
Let me see if I have this straight: The city of Duluth is on the brink of bankruptcy with unfunded obligations of $295 million for the employee retirement health-care fiasco, yet the citizens of Duluth are being asked to borrow even more to expand the DECC?
I'm sure a new arena at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center would be a positive addition to the city ("Pawlenty denies DECC expansion bond," Jan. 18).
I would support it, but the situation is analogous to this: Suppose I was personally on the brink of bankruptcy, yet I sought a second mortgage to make a substantial addition to my house. What bank would lend me the money? And, what kind of fool would I be to borrow even more money when I was about to go bankrupt in the first place?
In February, we are being asked to vote for an increase in the sales tax on food and beverages to fund the DECC expansion. Yet our city leaders seem oblivious to the fact that the city is on the brink of bankruptcy.
Though I would like to see this expansion of the DECC, fiscal prudence dictates not borrowing more money when we are already in a financial crisis. Maybe we should be marshaling our limited resources to put our financial house in order instead of continuing to borrow even more money and strap ourselves even further to pay for more spending.
When one is going bankrupt, he ought not further load up the credit card. Or, maybe that is why we are on the brink of bankruptcy in the first place.
I, therefore, will vote no on the food and beverage sales tax increase. I encourage other prudent citizens to do the same.
DAVID H. SORENSON
DULUTH


Source: Duluth news tribune,http://duluthnews.com

Hatch done?

This is from Minnesota Democrats Exposed, http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/.

This is a bit of a surprize to me. I thought for sure in articales that I have read that Patty would run with Hatch. I wonder if this is a big deal to the Hatch camp? Does now end his run? I never thought he had much of a chance anyway to come out as the democrats canidate but we will have to wait and see. Others thought Hatch did have a chance this year at being there canidate.

What does this truely mean for his camp?


HATCH FOR GOVERNOR SINKS LOWER; WETTERLING SAYS NO TO JOINING TICKET
Wetterling won't join Hatch in raceShe rules out bid for lieutenant governorChildren's safety advocate Patty Wetterling has turned down Attorney General Mike Hatch's offer to be his running mate on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party ticket next fall.But Wetterling is still considering running for Congress.Hatch, a DFL candidate for governor, said Monday that Wetterling called him over the weekend and told him she would not run for lieutenant governor because she did not believe that would be the most effective way for her to promote the interests of children."I agreed that lieutenant governor is not the best office to pursue children's issues," Hatch said.Wetterling was not available for comment Monday, but her campaign spokeswoman, Carol Butler, confirmed that the former U.S. Senate candidate had told Hatch she would not be his running mate."She is considering Congress," Butler said, and Wetterling will make an announcement about her political future soon.After Wetterling withdrew from the U.S. Senate race on Jan. 20, DFL activists suggested that she could run for secretary of state. But Butler said that is not an option."She was never seriously considering running for secretary of state," Butler said. "That was just one of those wacky rumors that somebody floated."That leaves the 6th District congressional seat as an option. She ran for the seat in 2004 and lost to U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, a Republican who is running for the U.S. Senate this year. The 6th District runs from Afton and Stillwater through the northern suburbs to the St. Cloud area. Elwyn Tinklenberg, former mayor of Blaine and former state transportation commissioner, is the only announced DFL candidate in the 6th District race. He has said Wetterling has assured him several times that she would not run for the seat again this year. Source: Pioneer Press, January 31, 2006

Kicking Democrats, even with in the party?

This came from slate magizenhttp://slate.com so it is written with a left leaning objective. I still want your thoughts on this however, I found this articale interesting and thought I would post it for comments and see what everyone else thinks of it.



Kick Me, I'm a DemocratThe game politicians play.By Michael KinsleyPosted Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006, at 3:47 AM ET
It seems to be time once again to play Kick the Democrats. Everyone can play, including Democrats. The rules are simple. When Republicans lose elections, it is because they didn't get enough votes. When Democrats lose elections, it is because they have lost their principles and lost their way. Or they have kept their principles, which is an even worse mistake.
Democrats represent no one who is not actually waiting in line for a latte at a Starbucks within 150 yards of the east or west coastline. They are mired in trivial lifestyle issues like, oh, abortion and gay rights and Americans killing and dying in Iraq, while the Republicans serve up meat and potatoes for real Americans, like privatizing Social Security and making damned sure the government knows who is Googling whom in this great country. Just repeat these formulas until a Democrat has been sent into frenzies of self-flagellation, or reduced to tears.
There is always a pick-up game of Kick the Democrats going on somewhere. But something about the Alito confirmation—the pathetic and apparently surprising inability of 45 Democratic senators to stop 55 Republicans from approving anyone they want—seems to have made the game suddenly a lot more popular.

How dire is it for the Democrats? George Will noted on TV the other day that they have lost five of the past seven presidential elections. This baseball-like statistic—"Democrats have lost X of the past Y elections"—has been one of Will's favorite tropes over the generations. But why now five out of seven? Two out of the past four would be equally accurate, and not nearly as grim. If you take a longer view, things get grimmer again. In fact, you can measure back from the present to any of the past 20 elections (which takes you back to 1928) and only once (starting in 1932) do the Democrats come out ahead. But this hardly supports Will's contention—and everyone else's—that things went to hell in the 1960s. If this exercise has any meaning, they've been in hell continuously since 1936.


And then there is election of 2000. We can argue forever (and will) about who won that election, but if the question is whose views attracted more voters, there is no dispute that the answer is the Democrats. Attributing 2000 to the Democrats means they have won two of the past three elections, three of the past four, and a non-apocalyptic three of the magic seven.
The official illustration of the Kick the Democrats movement is a map of the United States, showing huge swaths of red with just a few tiny accents of blue. Of course this gives an unrealistic advantage to big states with few people. But then so does our electoral system. The deeper flaw is the assumption that everybody in red states is red and ditto the blues. A map showing red and blue people, not states, would look a homogenous purple. John Kerry got 43 percent of the vote in states that went for George Bush, and Bush got 45 percent in Kerry states. Liberals are not nearly so rare and so culturally isolated as the official map would suggest. This is little comfort to Democrats when it comes to the math of winning elections. But it does suggest that endless self-flagellation about their values and beliefs may not be the best strategy for turning things around.
This is not an argument for complacency. Obviously the party that has lost the White House, both houses of Congress, and now the courts needs some new ideas and new energy. But it seems undeniably true to me—though many deny it—that the Republicans simply play the game better. You're not supposed to say that. At Pundit School they teach you: Always go for the deeper explanation, not the shallower one. Never suggest that people (let alone "the" people) can be duped.
Nevertheless, I've been impressed all over again the past couple weeks with the Republicans' skill at political stone soup—making something out of nothing. In this case it's a remark by Hillary Clinton comparing Congress to a plantation. Near as I can tell, the alleged objection to "plantation" is—by analogy to the Holocaust—that any metaphorical use of the word is an insult to the real slaves and their descendants. This particular stone soup would be overheated even if the ingredients were fresh and sincere. But the fuss is obviously cynical, coming as it does from people (talk-radio jockeys, the editors of the Wall Street Journal—you know the type) who usually stalk the microphones in order to denounce excessive sensitivity and its smothering effect on political debate.
What's especially impressive is how the get-Hillary campaign was not even slowed by the discovery that Newt Gingrich had used the same metaphor back when he was somebody. A hilarious op-ed this week in the Wall Street Journal explained that while Hillary's remark was "pandering" and patronizing ("Must blacks have their slave past rubbed in their face … ?"), Gingrich "had the good taste to cast himself as a slave who would 'lead the slave rebellion.' " Well, each to his own good taste, I suppose.
But that metaphor of a corrupt plantation seemed more familiar than just one of Newt's old ravings. And indeed the Wall Street Journal editorial page has used it more than once. In 2001, for example, the man who now runs that page, Paul Gigot, wrote (in reference to Sen. Joe Lieberman) about "how…the black liberal establishment can punish a Democrat who strays from their plantation." The previous year, an editorial about the Massachusetts congressional delegation actually carried the headline "The Liberal Plantation."
And then (just to show what a little Googling can do), there was a small 2001 item in the Wall Street Journal's news section about Vice President Cheney spending the weekend shooting quails at the "plantation" of a rich Republican contributor. Hillary Clinton uses the word "plantation" while Dick Cheney actually goes to one. But that's the Democrats for you: all talk and no action.

Is some advertising bad?

"Sex tape ad was inappropriateI was shocked to see an advertisement for a sex instruction tape in the news pages of the Jan. 27 News Tribune. Do I need to go into how inappropriate it is to publish this type of advertising? Is your paper turning into Playboy or Penthouse? Are you so desperate for advertising revenue you have to run this kind of advertising?
KRIS PAPAS " Source: http://duluthnews.com


The above comments were in today's paper on the opion page. Now I am making these comments having not seen the ad the writer is talking about.


I don't care what people have to advertise this is a free country and they should be allowed to do so. Any company that takes ads should be able to take anything they see fit. Now yes maybe some things should not appear in papers and such but I am guessing this ad was not over the top. People buy any number of items and the advertisers should not be discriminated against for what they are selling.

DECC expansion.

I suspect that the DECC expansion project referendum will now pass. There was only a small amount of people at this rally however they will not need a lot of supportes as this is a special referendum and turn out will be very low. With a new group backing this project and Steve Sviggam endorsting the project I think it will pass.

I still am not in support of this tax and will vote no and encourge others to do the same. This tax will not be taken off the books once the expansion is payed off. Remember this was said about the extra sales tax when the DECC was first built.



Posted on Mon, Jan. 30, 2006
Rally for DECC referendum support draws about 150 people
BY SCOTT THISTLE
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A broad cross-section of Duluthians gathered today to show their support for a proposed increased to the city's restaurant food and beverage sales tax.
Voters on Feb. 28 will be asked to approve adding .75 percent to the existing 1.5 percent tax. The proceeds will be used to help pay the city's share of a $67 million expansion of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
Both the DECC and the University of Minnesota Duluth, which uses the DECC as home ice for its men's and women's hockey programs, also would help pay the local share of the expansion costs.
State political leaders, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and House Speaker Steve Sviggum, have said a citywide show of support for the tax hike would build support in St. Paul for the expansion. The state is being asked to finance $33.5 million of the project during the coming lawmaking session, which starts on March 1.
"One vote equals four," said M. George Downs before about 150 people gathered in the Great Lakes Ballroom of the Downtown Holiday Inn.
Downs, co-chair of the political action committee ArenaYes!, urged those in attendance to persuade at least four others to support the sales tax increase. He also asked them to break out their checkbooks in support of the PAC's efforts.
Mayor Herb Bergson and City Council President Roger Reinert also endorsed a "yes" vote, saying support for the tax increase was needed to win state political support for the project.
The project would add up to 200 good-paying jobs to the city's economy during the during the two-year construction period, Bergson said.
"For two years we are going to be putting milk and eggs on the table for 200 families, and that's a lot of bread," Bergson said.
So far, the campaign in support of the referendum was running on individual donations only, said Steve Greenfield, a public relations agent working with the PAC. The public can expect a relatively low-key campaign of newspaper and radio advertisements in the 29 days before the vote.
To date, opposition to the tax increase has been marginal, with only one group -- Lake Superior Socialist Action -- publicly criticizing it.
His group opposes the measure because sales taxes unfairly hit the poor, said Mike Rogge, a Duluth resident and member of Lake Superior Socialist Action.
"We are not opposed to expanding the Arena, but we don't think poor people should have to foot the bill," Rogge said. "On paper it doesn't look like much, but it would be a bitter irony if the people who are hit the hardest are the people who can't really afford to go to DECC events anyways," Rogge said.
Some type of flat-rate city income tax would be a more equitable way to pay for the project, Rogge said.

Source: Duluth news tribune, http://duluthnews.com

Formor high ranking democrat speaks out about Ted Kennedy.

From Newsmax.com a formor high ranking democrat speaks out about Ted Kennedy.


Former Democratic Chief Counsel: Ted Kennedy Disgraced Himself
Jerry ZeifmanMonday, Jan. 30, 2006

In my view (as a Democrat and former chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee), Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., has disgraced himself and our party by misusing his position on the Senate Judiciary Committee to achieve self-serving partisan ends.
Kennedy was the architect of an unprecedented tactic: using filibusters to polarize the Senate along party lines thus denying the confirmation of qualified conservative judges. In Bush's first term the Senate Democrats used that tactic successfully against at least 10 nominees for judgeships on circuit courts.
Fortunately, Kennedy has failed in his partisan attempt to deny Judge Alito a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. [Editor's Note: Get the bestselling book about Ted Kennedy's hypocrisy -- Click Here.]
This occurred largely because Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska formed a non-partisan coalition of seven Democrats and seven Republicans to oppose filibusters, except in extraordinary cases.
Story continues below:
Filibusters first arose after the Civil War as a means of defeating legislation intended to foster desegregation. They were an anathema to those of us who joined Martin Luther King's famous March on Washington in 1963.
Fifteen years later during the Clinton administration filibusters were presumably also abhorrent to Senator Kennedy, who then wanted to outlaw them entirely. On Jan. 28, 1998, he argued: " The president and the Senate do not always agree [on judicial nominations]. But we should resolve these disagreements by voting "yes" or "no." Three years later Kennedy put politics above principle and became a champion of the filibuster. He also threatened to boycott any work of the Senate that was not essential for national security if a Republican majority was trying to outlaw filibusters by amending the Senate rules.
Subsequently, in a badgering cross-examination of Judge Alito, Kennedy tried to portray him as an undercover enemy of equal rights for women and minorities.
For me, Kennedy's effort to impugn Judge Alito's integrity was reminiscent of Republican Senator Joe McCarthy, who tarred his victims with the brush of guilt by association. Kennedy's charge against Alito was based on the fact that 34 years ago, while a reserve officer in the Army, he joined a Princeton alumni group that opposed the banning of ROTC programs from the university's campus. Some members of the group (other than Alito) wanted Princeton to continue its traditional policy of denying admission to women.
They also opposed affirmative action programs based on quotas. (Quota-bases programs were subsequently prohibited by the U.S. Supreme Court.)


Again sorry for no post for a while. We are back at it now.

County smoking ban.

Here is what I have from my source. The board rejected commissioner O'Neils proposal. The board did however agree to take a closer look at the issue. With this new information I would not expect the board take any action soon, but you never know. After all it is an election year.


Just a note I have asked Mr. O'Neil if he would like to share his views with our readers. I hope he does. I said even thought we don't agree on this issue I do respect his view.

Was Mayor Bergson's Drunk driving a top story of 2005.

Here is some ones opion on our Drunk mayor making it as the top story of the year. The fact is he is wrong this needed to be there and it was a big northland story. One if not the top the mayor who still has not been completely truthful with the citizens on his problem.


Bergson's arrest wasn't worthy of top-story list was shocked the Duluth News Tribune chose for its top story of 2005 Herb Bergson's drunken-driving arrest ("Turning the page: 2005," Jan. 1).
While there was no excuse for Bergson's mistake, and while he should be held accountable, this is hardly the largest news story of 2005.
Let's hope you can come up with something better in 2006. If not, give me a call.
Might I suggest some remedial journalism classes for those who came up with Bergson as the story of the year. The choice not only was a poor reflection on your paper and the your staff's obvious short attention span, it was a poor reflection on the Northland.
I wouldn't have ranked that story in the top 25.
JON WINTER SUPERIOR

Source: Duluth news tribune.

Breaking News!

The following about a possalbe smoking ban for the county comes from http://almostontherange.blogspot.com. We here at Duluth Politics will stay on top of this.


Smoking ban?
Rumor has it that the smoking ban Commissioner Steve O'Neil is proposing for all of St. Louis County has no shot of passing. Looks like the citizens on the range will still be able to enjoy a cigarette with their dinner at bars and restaurants.


If commissioner O'Neil does do this we are in trouble. We can not allow this to pass. The county is already in trouble if a smoking ban is in place many business will go out of business or lose a lot and have to lay or workers.

Martin Luther King Jr day.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. My thoughts on this day are well it is a fake "holiday", should we celebrate this day sure we should. Should it be a day off for those that work in government or other jobs like that no.

Anyway we continue with thoughts I believe in his time Marin Luther King Jr. Made great strides to make the black community and any minority group equal. I believe most of what he did was great and would have loved to see this develop back then. The strides made back then were special and need to honored.

Now lets move forward to today's world. I believe there are still huge strides we need to make in racism and even some equal rights, however today's minority groups are not looking to be equal they are looking to have more rights then everyone else.


I hope what everyone supports today is what Martin Luther King Jr, accomplished and not what today has turned into.

School Board to aprove teachers contract.

The Duluth school board will meet on Jan 9th in this meeting they are to decide weather or not to aprove the new teacher contract. I would expect them to approve this contract. It does not appear to but any hard ship on the district. I have not heard much talk about this contract like other in past years.


I also would guess with little or no short or long term problems with this contract I would say the board need to accept this otherwise they would lose aid reduction of 295,00.

Maybe Kerry would not have won Wis.

1. Kerry Workers' Tire-Slashing Trial Begins
Fourteen months after John Kerry narrowly carried Wisconsin in the 2004 presidential election amidst allegations of voter fraud, five campaign workers for the Kerry-Edwards campaign team are set for trial Tuesday in Milwaukee on felony charges of damage to property.
The "Milwaukee Five" is charged with slashing 40 tires on 25 separate Republican vehicles on the morning of the 2004 presidential election. The vehicles were rented by the Wisconsin Republican Party to transport less-mobile voters to the polls on Election Day. In total, the vandals disabled 25 percent of the Republican Party's "Get Out the Vote" fleet.
The defendants include Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde, the son of Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) who also goes by the name Supreme Solar Allah; Michael Pratt, the son of former Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt and leader of Kerry's campaign team in Milwaukee; Lewis Caldwell; Lavelle Mohammed, and Justin Howell.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, four of the defendants were paid operatives of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, including Omokunde and Pratt.
Court TV will cover the trial, which is expected to last two weeks. Potential witnesses include Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), national AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and 77 others - including FBI agents, Milwaukee police officers, and party activists from both parties.
The five defendants, who will be tried together, are charged with criminal damage to property, a felony with maximum sentences of 3 1/2 years in prison or $10,000 in fines.
The criminal complaint states that Opel Simmons, a Democratic campaign worker from Virginia, identified the defendants as the perpetrators, and told police they had named their plan "Operation Elephant Takeover."
Simmons told Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney David Feiss that he saw the defendants dressed in "Mission Impossible type gear" at Democratic Party headquarters sometime around 3 a.m. on the morning of the election.
When Simmons asked the five what they were planning, defendant Lavelle Mohammed allegedly responded, "You don't want to know, don't ask.?
The defendants returned to Democratic headquarters approximately 20 minutes later. Simmons told investigators they were jubilant and shared details of their vandalism spree with him. "We got 'em," said Pratt. "We hit the tires."
The tire-slashing incident is just one of a number of election-day irregularities in Wisconsin, a state where Kerry only prevailed by 11,384 votes.
Questions have been raised about the inordinately large volume of Election Day registrations in Milwaukee, where 84,000 people in a city of 600,000 registered at the polls on the day of the election. The total represented 30 percent of all voters in the city.
Milwaukee city officials admitted in January 2005 that around 10,000 same-day registrations could not be verified, leaving open the possibility of fraud.
An investigation by the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel reported another 1,200 Milwaukeeans voted using invalid addresses. Another article revealed in late January 2005 that there were 7,000 more votes than voters in Milwaukee, suggesting ballot-stuffing in the Democrat-controlled city.

http://newsmax.com

Mayor Bergson on Dukes show tonight.

Mayor Bergson on Dukes show today on Kuws. Lets get alot of people that did not agree with him to call in tonight.

Reaction to the Mayors speech.

What a joke of a paper. Look at this reaction to mayor Bergson's speech. I talked to or over heard convasations of at least 100 people last night that did not agree with the mayor's speech. Yet the paper choice to only interview people from the left and many that have ties to the social issues that is supporting. The choice to not interview the many politicians, business owners, and private citizens that disagreed with the speech.

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13590304.htm
REACTION: Residents respond positively to Bergson's speech.
BY JOHN MYERS
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Scattered among the nearly 500 city employees, activists and business leaders at Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson's State of the City address Monday night were some regular people who just showed up to listen.
For the most part, these Duluthians liked what they heard.
Myrna Matheson tuned into Bergson's quick reference to stepped-up police presence in the neighborhoods around the University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Scholastica.
It was the first Matheson, and most everyone else, had heard of it. Neighbors near the campuses have complained of vastly increased traffic, noise, scruffy rental property and occasionally rowdy behavior.
"He covered a lot of ground tonight, he kept it quick and got to a lot of things," said Matheson, who lives near UMD. "I really like that idea of more police presence near the universities. Before tonight, all we heard was more police out west, and they need it. But we need it near the schools, too."
Bergson pledged Monday night to continue decentralizing the police department by basing more officers in neighborhoods and not at City Hall headquarters.
Nancy Valenzuela likes Bergson's focus on homelessness but was expecting something a little more concrete -- such as a new homeless shelter -- to be in the mayor's plans for 2006. Bergson noted Monday night that homelessness is down 14 percent, and he has pledged to eliminate the problem within a decade.
"I like what he's been doing on it. But I wish he would have had said something new tonight about a new shelter or more low-income housing. There are a lot of people who are living with relatives because there isn't enough housing," Valenzuela said. "A lot of families still need help."
Chris Marshall praised the creation of low-income and upscale housing using rehabilitated buildings.
"It's good to see that he (Bergson) values turning old building into new uses and not just tearing them down," Marshall said. "And I like what he said about diversity and Duluth being a welcoming city, that's really important."
Melissa Starke was attending her first ever State of the City event and praised Bergson's focus on preventing suicide within the community.
"My ears really perked up when he started talking about all the different ways we can help, the different groups we can get involved in," Starke said. "I also liked the chance for the winners of the various awards to be recognized for the good they did over the past year, their organizations and the city employees."
Bridget Benson said the speech, like most State of the City events, was right to focus on Duluth's positive achievements in 2005 and goals for the coming year.
"I liked that he talked about hope and optimism," Benson said. "It was very positive."

State of the city report card.

There is not much to judge here. As I said this speech lacked a lot.

1. Presentation A+ , This is by far his best speech presentation.

This does not include text, just how well he made a presentation.

2. Health care issue F-

His coverage of this last night was bad. He just breezed over it last night. He needed to spend time on this issue and lay out a plan and he did not.

3. Jobs D

I was going to give him an F, but I was nice and gave him a D because of the expansion of the hostpitals and cirus however as I said these would have happened no matter who the Mayor was.

4. Over all context F-

There was no substance here. He had a chance to lay out what kind of space Duluth truly is in but did not. He had a chance to give us a clear vision of where we will be going and did not. He believes we are on the right path and we are not.

What are your thoughts on his speech. This report card, how would grade his speech?

Recap of the state of the city address.

The night started with a short city council meeting most out of the 4 or 5 things they were all left on the table. Then election of a new president and vice president took place. The 2006 president is Roger Reinart with the vice president being Russ Stover.


Then came Mayor Bergson and his so called state of the city address. It was not much of an address he failed to lay out an type of plan for Duluth. He blow smoke and mirrors at the city health care plan by saying he endorses the task force plan and now it we need to find way to work on the plan. Question is that not what the point of the task force was? In his speech he also stated that only 20% would be paid for by the average citizen and 80 % to be worked out between the city and union and former and current employees.

I don't know who he thinks he is fooling. I am for the task forces plan but if you listened to them the citizens will pay more then 20% over 20 years.

He also said that Duluth has grown in jobs under his leadership, stating that these business are new or expanding. Truerite, this is because of jobZ not the mayor. Cirus, the hospitals expansions and alegent air providing service from Duluth to Las Vegas. Mayor I hate to tell you two of these would have happened no matter who the Mayor was Cirus and the hospitals expansion projects. Truerite as I said before is here because of jobz which is a state project that Governor Pawlenty issued. So what have you done for jobs, yes we have a few low paying jobs but nothing that will keep us strong.


He talked about Kroc center and how important that project is for our youth and thanked and also gave praise to the salvation army for there involvement. I wonder how this involment is so good now but yet he along with some councilors have issues with it on any other day?


His speech was short and it layed out no plan as to how we will move forward. He claims we are on track with the health care issue and jobs and everything if fine in Duluth. Mayor Bergson we are not in good shape.


These are just a few highlights from the speech that I had notes on, I do have a copy of his speech and there are a few other things in there that are interesting so I will dissect them and have more soon.

We need to stay on this mayor he is not doing anything positive for our community.

State of the City.

Duluth Politics will be at the address tonight and we will give our thougths on the speech and other events that will happen tonight.

Great comments by Senator Gram.

Senator Gram from South Carolina makes a great point about Alito. It does not matter what you personally believe such as abortion. It does not matter if you are for it or not personally it matter what the law is and says. Alito would have to make a deacon in this manner. Again it does not matter what he said in interviews there are opens and everyone can and should have one. I believe he will make decisions on the law not his personal opinion.


Senator Gram also said that it should not surprised anyone that President Bush nominated two conservative judges. President Clinton nominated two that were one the left on was a lawyer for ACLU.

New teachers contract.

The teachers union to vote on Tuesday night. I expect that the teachers union will accept this contract.

What does this mean for the district? It does not seem to be to detrimental to the district. They are not giving up a lot. Is this good for the teachers or do they want or need more?



Teachers to vote on contract
DULUTH: The teachers union and school district reached a tentative agreement without a mediator.
BY JAKE WEYER
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Duluth teachers will decide Tuesday whether to accept a tentative contract agreement reached last month.
The agreement would give teachers a 2.5 percent salary increase during both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years.
Administrators and the Duluth Federation of Teachers, which represents 800 teachers in the Duluth school district, struck the deal without a mediator -- something not accomplished in 25 years.


"This is a contract that is fair for all parties," said DFT President Frank Wanner.
If teachers approve the contract, the School Board will vote on Jan. 17 to ratify it. Minnesota school districts face reductions in state funding if contracts are not approved by that date.
Under the existing contract, the base teacher salary is $29,418. The new agreement would increase starting pay to $30,145 during the 2005-06 school year and $30,889 during the 2006-07 year.


Statewide, the average starting salary based on 124 districts reporting settlements is $30,857 during the first year and $31,700 during the second, according to the Minnesota School Boards Association.
The Minnesota Department of Education reports that the average salary for Duluth teachers is $49,483, compared to the state average of $47,361.
Teacher salaries are based on experience, academic credits and degrees earned. Coaches, advisers and site council team members receive additional pay.
The new contract includes no significant health-care changes, but prescription drug co-pays will increase from $8 to $10 during the second year, Wanner said.
Changes would be made to the elementary school workday under the new contract. Two potential adjustments are an earlier start for teachers and a 15-minute reduction in the maximum amount of instructional class time per teaching day.
The days of special-education teachers, Adult Basic Education and Area Learning Center instructors and music, art and media specialists also were modified in the contract.
No changes to the secondary school day are mentioned in the proposed contract. A "memorandum of understanding" about maintaining the existing middle school day was included.

Administrators and union officials talked about the high school day, but said they did not want to rush decisions. Instead, a committee was formed to evaluate what changes might be needed.
"Sitting across the bargaining table isn't the best place to come up with those solutions," Superintendent Keith Dixon said.
Committees also were formed to work on health insurance cost savings and other issues that needed further discussion.
A state-mandated report detailing the financial impact of the new contract will be completed before the board meets next week. Dixon said administrators and union officials had the district's financial well-being in mind.


"It's not to (the union's) advantage to drive the district into debt," he said.
Wanner will meet with teachers Monday to answer questions about the contract. After the last bell rings Tuesday, they can vote at select schools throughout the district. Teachers have until5 p.m. to cast a ballot, unless they vote at the DFT office, where polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Wanner expects the votes to be counted that evening


I need to make some comments about the Frank Wanner who is the president of the DFT.

I wish people would understand this guy does not care about the students he only cares about how much they get payed. He does not care if what they use to teach with is up to date or not, why would he is never at the school to teach.

Source:http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/13582879.htm


This guys only cares about money. He does not care about education or the how the kids get it all.

When does the union vote on there reps. Why do they keep electing him there leader? I know many teachers can't stand him and wish he was not the president. Now I know you will have that in any situration but it needs to be stated.

Random thoughts on Mayor Bergson.

As Mayor Bergson get set to deliver his third state of the city tonight, I thought we would take some time to look back his what he has or has not done so far as Mayor.

Mayor Bergson like many have made promises. To this point he has not done anything about those promises.

The biggest one being that he would deal with the city health care issue. Okay so he and the city council set up a group of citizens to take a look at and see what we could do, now that is done and the Mayor refuses too agree with it. He refused to accept the groups study and now wants an independent study. We have to pay for that more then likely. The council and many of the citizens agree with the groups results.

The other big thing he wanted to do it brings jobs. There has only been jobs that pay minimum wage under his leadership. He along with many councilors also really only jobs they care to bring are non- profits.

More thoughts to come soon.

Were are we going.

We need avery clear state of the city tomorrow. Mayor Bergson needs to be very clear on what he is going to do to move our city forward. In the last few month the city thanks to our Mayor has only received negative publicity. If you ask me he has not attacked and positive comments for our city in his term to this point.


Now more then ever is a time we need a Mayor that will be clear on the direction of the city is going to take. What is going to happen with the city health care plans? What can we do to attract new business to and expand our current ones, we also need to find a way to be more business friendly. What are the plans to keep people in Duluth. There is more to keeping people in a community then just jobs. Yes jobs are a big part and the most importing, but you also have to look what the community offers it's citizens in rec, and adult programs and youth programs. Many of these programs are funding by the will we continue to do so?

What are we going to do about the many social issues and economic issues that our city?


Mayor Bergson you need to very clear and win the citizens back if you want to continue to be Mayor. City councilor


I think city councilor Tim Little has it right: His statement from the Duluth News Tribune today, http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13575256.htm.

"He has to give the public some kind of reassurance that we are going to get the city back on track, and we haven't gotten any reassurances lately," said At Large City Councilor Tim Little. "As far as I'm concerned, the city is in a very poor state of affairs right now.
"We don't have any leadership and it is getting worse every day. We are just not moving forward."

Why is this on the front page?

Shrouded in darkness
WEATHER: After a dozen days without sunlight, the Northland is poised to break a record.


This was a huge story in the Duluth News Tribune. Give me a break I am all for local issues being on the front page. Come on not seeing the sun this is not a major issue such as losing businesses, local issues such as the health care problem and others. This head line and story had no reason to be on the front page. If they really needed to even report this they could have put it in the local section of the paper.

Michellina's closes it plant in Duluth

The plant will close March 6th. They employed 61 people and if they choice they will be given a chance to work at a lakeville plant.


As I read the story today in the paper I thought boy there goes more jobs and a plant that has been in Duluth for many years. I believe it was the only plant business left in Duluth. The other thing that gaught my eye in the story was the condition of the building.

My problem with it is this. Okay the building was old but is it not the businesses responsibility to keep it up as best they can? How long has the building been in this shape, did the owners allow it to get this way?

These are just a few things I was wondering about, anyone have a response?

Again I am sad for both the employer and employees. The owner has done so much for our community and will continue too. The employees will either have to look for new jobs or move to the lakeville plant and that is bad for Duluth.


I also found it interesting in the story that there will be new owners I did not know they were up for sale. Did that surprise anyone else or am I just out of loop on this one?

Who is right or is it how you deceiver the news.

I saw this on a left leaning blog,http://bfuentes.blogspot.com/. I find it funny that he wrote this on his blog yet does not go any farther then just saying that the left use news story's and the right just use talking points. I guess he must be right after all if some one on the left says it, it must be true.


He has posted a couple of times about my blog on his and that is okay. He also post here every once is a while. The last time he posted here he was mad because I only posted part of an article. Yet I posted my source so all he had to do is go there and read the whole article.

Here is what he said and my responses. It was in regards to what Collin Powell said about eavesdropping. You can read my post about by clicking the link. http://duluthpolitics.blogspot.com/2005/12/powell-says-it-is-eavesdropping-is-ok.html


BFuentes said...
You should post everything he sadi if you truly want to be accurate.He added, "My own judgment is that it didn't seem to me, anyway, that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants. And even in the case of an emergency, you go and do it."
1:46 PM
D.N.H. said...
That is why my source is posted if people want to read the whole story they can do so. I have posted what I thought to be relevant. I always allow my source so people can go and read the whole story.
2:11 PM
BFuentes said...
That is what is called selective and deceptive posting
8:04 PM
D.N.H. said...
It is called managing the news and everyone does it. Newsoutlets radio talk show host and bloggers. Like I said before my source is there so you can go there and read the whole story. I am not hiding anything.
2:52 PM
D.N.H. said...
Why did you pick this story as appoesed to any other story I have reported on this blog? I have used parts of story's on many post you have not said a thing about that. Is it because, he supported eavesdropping which supported the president?


This is what he posted on his site about left and right leaning blogs.

Right vs. Left
As I read right wing and left wing blogs I notice something very important. The left wing blogs bring up facts, they post news articles. The right have their talking points. The don't base their arguments on facts or truth, they base it on the talking points they are provided with. Look at the right wing blogs, read them, become familiar with their arguments, learn the talking points. All they have are their lies and their talking points. We must expose these lies everywhere we can. The American people are only hearing the sound bites and talking points from the right. We have the truth, we have facts. Keep posting news articles. Even if only 2 people read my blog, we win. Every person that reads the truth will tell another person.Will we win? I don't know. If we don't, it isn't a country I want to live in. The right is leading us to a fascist, religious dictatorship. If people dont wake up an realize this now, then it may be too late to save our country. We have to fight. Now we can fight with knowledge. Soon we can fight at the ballot box. But we have learned that THEY control the ballot box. We must stand up, all of us. If we don't do it now, what will we have to do to stand up at a later date.

Twin ports book and bible goes out of business.

After more than 60 years of business, Twin Ports Bible and Book has reached its final chapter.
The owners of the largest Christian gift store in the region, Bill and Joyce Alworth, began liquidating their inventory this week and plan to close the shop at 4911 Matterhorn Drive in Duluth by the end of January.
"Our business has declined to the point where we simply couldn't keep up with the bills anymore," said Bill Alworth.
He said the business has been through plenty of ups and downs, but since September sales have declined substantially from last year's levels.
Alworth blames increased competition from big-box retailers that have begun carrying more religious merchandise as well as the growing reach of Internet vendors that sell Christian literature, music and gift items.



Okay this was in today's Duluth News Tribune. It is sad this store is closing it's doors soon, however I few thing I don't think are right in the story.


One owner Bill Alworth says big- box retailers have begun to carry more religious items. I have not seen this anywhere in big stores I have seen in increase in a couple of other local stores. Again not in any big stores. The other issue with any special merchandise store they need to stay up to date with what is new or they will get taken out.

A big part of the closing is due to lack of personal customers. What I mean is many churches have done business with them for years but they lost many non-church business customers for some reason. I would guess this is not do to big stores, it could be do in part to the internet and because people are not buying as much of those type of items at this point.

A specialty store will see big increase and big decrease month to month and they just need to be able to over come the decreases in this case they are not able to do so.

Again it is sad that such a great store that I have gone to many times will be closing but it does happen and they have served our community well for many years and I wish the owners the best in what ever they look forward to in the future.

Special election question.

Here is the proposed Decc expansion language for the special election.


"If the state of Minnesota allocates enough funds for the project to go forward and to pay for up to one-half of the cost of a new arena for concerts,conventions, hockey, and other events at the Duluth Entertainment ConventionCenter (DECC), then should the city of Duluth get permission to pay for part of the remaining cost by increasing the existing sales tax on food and beverages purchased in Duluth bars and restaurants by .75 percent (7.5 cents per tendollars spent), subject to the following conditions:

(a) The tax increase would only take effect if the state allocates money for the project to go forward and to pay up to one-half of the project costs; and

(b) The stateapproves the new tax; and

(c) The tax is only in effect for the period oftime needed for it to raise enough money to pay off the city's portion of theproject cost.

A 'yes' vote means you favor funding the new arena in thismanner.

A 'no' vote means you do not favor funding the new arena in thismanner."


Okay here is the deal, what we need to relies is we as citizens of Duluth and Minnesota will pay both taxes the city food and beverage and what ever the state decides to do.

The other thing I want to say is I have a problem with point c. Which states the tax would be no more after the city's portion is payed off. Remember the first tax a sales tax. We are still paying for it and the DECC has been payed for many years.


I just do not like this funding, I will vote no and hope other do as well. I do think this will pass because with special election not many people vote and that is good for the yes group. As I said before I am not against the expansion of the DECC, I don't like the funding for it.

Here is an interesting and scary thought.

I heard this on Fox News they were interviewing the CBS president and he said in 2000 during the presidential election 75 % of votes between the age 18 and 25 got most of there information for John Stewart. Strewart is a host on comedy central.

NFL Coaches fired so far.

I would expect there to be more coaches that lose there jobs.


Minnesota Viking fired Mike Tice. Now we can get a real coach.

Green Bay Packers fired Mike Sherman. The poor season was not his failed and he should not have lost his job. They had so many injured players. Look for Brett Favre to retire now as well.

Detroit Lions fired Steve Mariucci in novermber. This is also was a poor decision but what do you expect from Matt Million.


Houston Texans fired Dom Capers. With an okay season last year and a poor year this it did not look good.


St. Louis Rams fired Mark Martz. Matz had to expect it as he was not getting along with the front office.

Minnesota big in 2006!

Once again Minnesota will be a focus in the 2006 election. With a huge governors race and a battle ground for congress seats.

Minnesota did not matter much in the political spot light tell about 1996 or so now we are always one of the states that could change the face of the national election. This ten year spotlight on Minnesota has been good for our state and all "smaller" states in general.

Even the Minnesota chairs of the republican and democrat party agree on one thing this year. That is Minnesota is in for a high spirited and intense race. It may also cost the a lot of money for the canidates running so fundraising will be a huge part of be able to stay a float in the races.


Why has Minnesota became such a focus. It seems at if we have a good balance of democrats and republicans( not is Duluth we are heavily democrat) but at least the rest of the state equals us out. We also have a huge population of independents voters that both sides will focus on.

The only predictions I will make are the ones many people are at this point. I believe Tim Pawlenty wins a second term as Governor and Oberstar gets another term as congressman as he is unoppesed.

Thank you councilor Atkins

I wanted to thank Councilor Atkins for his service on the city council. Coucnilors Atkins was a common sense voice on the council and will be missed. He served many years on the council. The latest being two four year terms.

councilor Atkins is being replaced by wack job coucilor Garry Kruase, he will be another far left voice on the council and make it even harder for new business in Duluth.

Who will replace Oberstar?

"8th Congressional District: Jim Oberstar us currently unopposed, and I expect it to remain as such. Again, the real question is who is next? My sources up that way tell me it is between Donny Ness (a Duluth City Councilman and Oberstar’s state director) and State Rep. Tony Sertich. Both and young and enthusiastic and it should be a great race when it happens.:

The above comes for http://www.commonsensemn.blogspot.com/, it is a left of center blog.You can also find a post on this at http://almostontherange.blogspot.com.


This is my thoughts. I have thought for a long time if oberstar retires soon this or the next election, then Donny Ness will get the job and be Oberstars hand picked replacement. However if Oberstar does not retire in the next two election Donny Ness even being Oberstars hand picked replacement will not win. The Democrats will get a hard core way left person to run and beat Ness in the primary.

Once Oberstar does retire many great republicans will also file for the seat and hopefully will win the seat. With a hotly contest Democrat primary.

Site for the Duluth Central Hockey parent.

Vistit this site, it is the site of Dennin the parent that died in the freak hockey accident. At the site you can make a donation and leave a messege for the family.


http://www.caringbridge.org

Kids to advice to school board.

I like this idea however I need to point out that if kids really care they can always be involved by attending the meetings.

I like this idea of a small group of kids being directly involved, but the kids are always welcome to the meetings and should go if they have an issue they want to discuss with the board members. The board members can also be emailed or called so there is no excuse to say the board members will not listen to use.

Now I know when the listen are they really listening who knows. I feel this way when people talk in front of the city council as well. We need more young people to get involved.



Students to advise board
DULUTH:Concerns are raised that the opportunity wasn't made known to more students.
BY JAKE WEYER
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Each month, the Duluth School Board makes decisions that affect students, ranging from schedule changes and program additions to new policies, budget adjustments and school closures.
Students, though, are often hard to find at board meetings and their input doesn't always make it to the table.
At a special board meeting on Tuesday, that will change. Three students, one from each public high school in the Duluth school district, will become advisers to the board. They will serve for two consecutive semesters.
As representatives of their schools, they will take part in meetings and relay information to their peers. The advisers also will be responsible for listening to student concerns and taking them to the board. State law prohibits them from attending closed meetings and voting.
This is a pilot year for the positions, filled by students involved in Community/Youth Connection, a local service-learning and leadership organization that is part of Service Learning Duluth.
The idea of student representation on the board, for years a reality in other districts, has been widely accepted throughout the Duluth district. But some staff, students and community members hope the selection process, which resulted in choosing two board members' children, is improved so the opportunity is offered to all students.

Taxpayers should not pay for parking ramp.

Here is a great letter to the editor in today DNT.

I agree 100%, there is no reason we should be paying for this ramp in this amount.

Taxpayers shouldn't support parking ramp
This letter is to question the city of Duluth's commitment to pay for a parking ramp for St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic. According to the article, "Parking ramp cost shocks council," (Dec. 2), the cost to taxpayers would be approximately $480,000 per year for two years. While the city needs to promote development, it should be done for the community good. Part of that decision should be based on jobs and social justice.
In the Dec. 18 Minneapolis Star Tribune, an article was published on Minnesota's top 100 nonprofit companies. That same article listed SMDC's CEO salary at $980,000 for 2004. SMDC's own report on its IRS Form 990, a required document that all nonprofits must file, listed the CEO compensation at $1,199,812.
While it may be SMDC's right to pay this level of salary, there is no way taxpayers should pay to support this outlandish salary for what is supposedly a nonprofit enterprise. Given this generous salary, it strikes me that the $480,000 per year is available from SMDC and that they can pay out this expense for their own parking.BETH PETERSON SOUTH RANGE

Duluth Central Parent dies in freak accident.

This is very sad. This was a freak accident and everyone needs to fell bad for both familys that were involved. The dad that got hit with the puck was a great guy. I can't amaditoin how the kid that shot the puck feels.

I know a little more about this as some of my family was at the game watching there kids play and they choice not to play. There was not rought playing in the game and the shot was an normal shot that took place.

I do not feel that I should share the information I know because of what has happend at this time.

Everyone needs to keep these familys in there hearts.


Duluth man pronounced brain dead after 'fluke' hockey game accidentBY PETER PASSINEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERA retired police officer and youth athletics coach was declared brain dead Sunday, one day after his injury during a father-son hockey game.
Although he was wearing a helmet, a puck struck Dennin Bauers, 52, just below his ear during the third period of a game that pitted members of Duluth Central's boys hockey team against their fathers Saturday morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Bauers' 17-year-old son, Dean, is a junior forward and defenseman for the Trojans, and his 14-year-old son, Bryan, is a freshman defenseman.
Bauers was about 10 feet in front of the net when the accident occurred. He was struck by a wrist shot taken from the top of the point, according to Jim Sweeney, another father who participated in the game with his 16-year-old son of the same name, a junior left wing.
"He (Bauers) grabbed his ear, went down to a knee and then lost consciousness in a matter of seconds," Sweeney said. "It happened so quickly."
Sweeney said a couple of people began to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Bauers as another person called 911.
He was taken to St. Luke's hospital, where he remained on life support in the intensive care unit Sunday evening.
Jean Erickson, a registered nurse and administrative supervisor at St. Luke's said, "Mr. Bauers has designated on his license his desire to become an organ donor, and his family has chosen to go forward with his wishes."
Friends and family members may monitor developments and share memories of Bauers by visiting the following Web address: caringbridge.org/visit/denninbauers.
A journal from the Bauers family, dated 10:55 a.m. Sunday, said: "The results of the final angiogram indicate no blood flow to the brain. Dennin is considered legally brain dead and is being prepared for organ donation to help other families in need. We are confident his spirit will live on. Dennin will be forever in our hearts and minds."
"The doctors are saying his injury was a fluke," said Scott Lyons, Duluth's former police chief and a friend of Bauers. "If the puck had hit him1 inch in any other direction, it probably would have been nothing more than a bad bruise."
The impact of the blow apparently ruptured an artery, Lyons said.
Dr. Benjamin Owens of Hibbing, an 80-year-old physician who has spent much of his career tending to hockey players, said he was surprised to hear of the fatal injury.
"I've been taking care of the Hibbing hockey team for nigh on 50 years, and I've never heard or even read about something like that happening on the ice," he said. "It sounds like a very rare and tragic event."
Bauers coached youth hockey, Little League baseball and VFW baseball for many years. He also served on the board of the Duluth Heights Community Club.
"He's one of those guys who has been deeply involved his whole life," said Damon Anderson, past president of the Duluth Heights Community Club. "In everything he did, it was always about the kids."
Anderson said Bauers' devotion to the community seemed to be ingrained from his upbringing. He noted that Roger Bauers, Dennin's father, also was active in community causes.
Angelo DeCaro coached hockey and baseball with Bauers and considered him a close friend.
"Denny had such a passion for kids," DeCaro said. "He cared about them on and off the field, win or lose. This man has touched a lot of lives."
As news of Bauers' injury spread, dozens of friends and acquaintances gathered at St. Luke's. Lyons said the hospital overflowed Saturday and Sunday with people wishing to lend their support to Anne Leslie Peterson, Bauers's wife, and sons Dean and Bryan.
Bauers retired from the Duluth Police Department in April 2004 after 25 years. Bauers, along with Lt. John Hall, oversaw the special investigations unit, which heads up drug cases. They retired simultaneously.
Peterson, director of UMD's campus police, remains active in law enforcement.
Kim Keuning attended Central High with Bauers, and her family became close friends with his.
"It's strange to think that he spent all those years chasing dangerous criminals, and then to have this happen to him playing hockey when he was even wearing a helmet," she said. "It's so sad."
Keuning's husband, John, coached baseball with Bauers and said that if Saturday's injury claims his friend's life, as appears likely, it would be a tremendously sad but somehow fitting end.
"He loved to be on the ballfield or the ice, playing with his boys," John Keuning said. "And if you were asked how you want to die, who wouldn't want it to be doing the thing you love best?"
Keuning said the first time he met Bauers was at a Duluth Central reunion. The crowd was so large that the photographer had to shoot the class in two groups. The images were then spliced together to create a photo of the entire, unified class.
Keuning watched as Bauers slipped into both pictures so that he appeared twice in the finished class picture.
"Denny never took life so seriously that he forgot to have fun," Keuning said. "The No. 1 thing was to have a good time."
Just a couple of weeks ago, Lyons encountered Bauers at a Salvation Army kettle in front of Cub Foods.
"He was ringing his bell and shouting, 'Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas,' " Lyons said.
"That's the way Denny was -- energy plus," Lyons said. "He never seemed to have a down day, and for being a cop all those years and running the drug unit, that's really something. Denny was always up and positive."
"He was one of the greatest people I've ever met," Sweeney said. "Denny had immense inner strength and cared for everyone around him. He was an all-around great guy."


Source:http://duluthnews.com

Vikings fire Tice

The Minnesota Viking fire there head head coach Mike Tice. I am one happy fan today, I have been calling for Tice to be fired for the last three years. This guy has no clue what a head coach needs to do.

You will hear a bunch of crap about the way Tice was fired but Mr. Wilf did what he thought he had to and the time he had to do it as well. Mr. Wilf is showing he is a no none sense type of guy he will deal with thing in a timely manor.