Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! As of right now I have no special plans for tonight. How about you what are your plans for the big evening?

As we say so long to this year and the start of a new decade lets look back at some of the big stories for the year and the decade.

The big story has to be the 9/11 attack and the war that came after the attack. The war is still on going in both Iraq and Afghanistan. There seems to be little end in site. The attack and war started under past President George W. Bush. President Bush was the 43rd of this country and served two terms 2001-2009. He was the second President with the name Bush. His Father George H.W. Bush also served as Vice President and President of the United States.

Now as we move in to 2010 the current President Barack Obama is faced with running the war. A war he campaigned to be against. Yet now he is supporting the war by sending more troops. He has upset many of his supporters.

That is about the biggest national story.


The Other story big story of intestrest has to be the election of Barack Obama. Some one I did not support and his numbers have fallen faster then any Presidents. Yes even faster then President Bush's. Obama and the media are claiming he is the first black President elected. He is not he is the first Muslim elected President.

Local story's include a year that is seeing three city councilors not run for re-election, the most I can remember in some time. The three that elected not to run again, Gary Kruase, Gary Eckonburg ( who was appointed after Rienhart won another seat), Greg Gilbert.

Gilbert also is leaving the council after serving 12 years (3 terms). He lost two bids to become Mayor in that same time frame. Gilbert was a councilor that was always endorsed by the AFL-CIO.

Speaking of the council this years election was a heated one. It saw in the final four two men and two women looking to fill two seats. In the end both of the men where elected to the council Dan Hartman and Jim Stauber who will be serving his third term. The at-large was heated because of a number of issues that came up. Beth Olson on of the candidates had her background looked in to. It found that she was arrested at the visit of President Bush. She also is part of the gay community that was an issue for some people. That included local talk show host. The issue did not matter to me.

The other women Becky Hall how has ran a couple of other times and ran good campaign ran a poor one this year. Hall was the big conservative in the race and she finished fourth in both the primary and the general election. I don't believe her problem was her politics for the most but how she ran the campaign. Some also thing a web site hurt her. The web site Duluth Citizens Blog, http://www.duluthcitizensblog.com/ .

Another story was the election Mayor Don Ness who used to serve as Jim Oberstars right hand man here in Duluth. Ness is a young man who most consider the front runner for Oberstar's seat when he decided to retire. I only consider this to be true if Oberstar retires in the next couple of years.

This blog Duluth Politics has 1,233 post to date sense it started in 2005. The biggest year of post came back in 2006 when I had 404 post this year we are getting close to 330post. Next year I am hoping to post a lot too.

As I have said many times I am very proud of this blog and how many readers it has. I wish more people would take part in posting but blogs are much like radio talk shows. Only a small number of people post. On that note if there is something you would like me to talk about here send me an email duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com . I have a couple of ideas for early next year.

This year saw a lot of post about Mayor Ness, the Duluth City Council, unions and more here on the DP.

I look forward to next year and again Happy New Year!

Councilor Greg Gilbert.

Last night the AFL-CIO said good bye to thee favorite city councilor Greg Gilbert. The AFL-CIO was the primary host of the good bye party to councilor Gilbert who will have served three terms (12 years) at the completion of this year.

Well I did not agree with Gilbert much of the time, I want to say thank you for your service. Councilor Gilbert did what he though was right for the city. If you agreed with him or not you always knew where he stood.

Joining him as councilors that are retiring (did not run for re-election). Gary Krause and Gary Eckonberg.

Vike Queens do it again.

The Minnesota Vike Queens have do it again. They have lost 3 out of the last four games. The three loses have all came during prime time games, they also have all came against very poor teams. This time they lost to the hope less bears in over time. The vike queens had but them self's in a hole at half being down 16-0. They came back and tied it, they headed to overtime tied at 30. Only to lose off an Andiron Peterson fumble.

The vike queens are lead by the number one teamvestite Brett Favre. Favre played the victim in Green Bay when he was not. He had turned in to a cry baby and the team was ready to move on. He then retired and came back and played just one year playing for the Jets. He stared hot there and then fizzled and the team did not even make the playoffs. He then retired again to only return again this year as a vike queen. The team started off hot and is in the playoffs but is playing bad at the wrong time.

The team had controlled it's own destiny now they don't. They could have still possible got the number one seed in the playoffs with a win, at least they would have locked up the number two seed. With the lose they could drop all the way to the number four seed in the playoffs, they could also still be the number two seed but would need to win next week and have the Philadelphia lose to the cowboys. I think Dallas will win but the vike queens will lose next week to the giants. This possible dropping them all the way to the number four seed.

Christmas wrap.

Christmas was great fun at our house. I hope you all had a good one as well. The kids enjoyed then self's. We have two kids one 4 years old and one 18 month.

Santa was cool this year when we came down stairs by the tree was candy canes and packs of cookies spread out all over the floor. Then came present opening, both kids got a bike from Santa. They will be able to ride them this summer together. They both got very nice toys from both sides of the family.

Christmas eve we where at my wife's dads house and Christmas day we hiked up to my parents house. As we live close and the snow was gong to prevent us from driving to works. The kids jumped in the sled and we pushed them up the hill to my parents. They had a great time with that.

Duluth Police say park on the right side of the street or get towed.

After the 5th largest winter storm the Duluth Police have a message for everyone. Park in the right side (odd) street or get towed to them it is that simple. There seems to be on little thing they are forgetting.

Most places have no where to park on the odd side. Most streets still remain with little to no parking available on them because of the storm.

Christmas Eve day.

Today I woke up and we had snow on the ground. That was a very nice site to see. We have about four inches of new snow. Up to today we had very little. It makes it so beautiful out side. It will also help Santa get around tonight.

Santa will visit kids all around the world tonight. He will make little boys and girls dream come true with presents and the magic he shares with everyone. It is truly a wonderful time of year no matter your age.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Duluth Politics.

There has been a lot going on however. Also Random thoughts.

There has been a number of things happening the last couple of days. That said however they are not good news and at this time of year I am not going to report on the bad. I am looking for good positive stories at this time of year.

We are just a couple of days out from Christmas and still little snow is on the ground. They say we may get up to 6 inches Christmas Eve and Day but also are now saying it may stay farther south so who knows.

I love how 6inches over two days is now a storm it never use to be but at any rate it is what it is I guess.

An update on the 4th street market, they will now open in January as the construction has taken longer then thought. I can't wait for them to open. Best wishes to the Potters on there new store.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!

4th street market set to open.

4th street market will again be open. It is set to open just days before Christmas. There grand opening will be December 21st.

Funny and uh-0oh stuff.

Dam it that is where my pet goat went!!!! The Superior water treatment center has a goat on it's property yes a goat. The goat has been on the lose in Superior sense Sunday night. There are people from animal control and Dan's feed bin on site to try to catch the goat.

The goat has a broken rope around it's neck and the best guess is it came from a farm just out side of Superior.

The Miller Hill Mall closes. A water main brake near the Miller Hill Mall has forced the closer of the mall. The water main broke this morning. The break took place on the Decker road and it the water was turned off to the area.

The water has been restored to the mall now, it was mid afternoon before it was turned back on to the mall. Some stores will open today again at 4 pm, it is not clear if all the mall will open or if just some stores will.

The closer came with just 11 shopping days left till Christmas.

What is the rail car doing? Duluthians bitch about nothing again. Some people have complained about rail cars blocking the view of the lake on I35.

People need to get over them self's. You are not guaranteed a view of the lake ever. That said yes I want to see it and yes I don't want to lose places to see the laked, however this site is being used for a purpose to the trains and it is not pruminet. The trains are there because it is a turn around and the site they sit at when not in use to head to Bentlyville.

The trains will be stored else where after December 23rd when the trains stop running to the light display.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Still here.

Hi everyone sorry for no post as of late. I am still here and doing well as I hope everyone is this Christmas season. With the season comes many events and family things going on, I will post as I can. The posting may be light till the new year but check bad offend and as I will do my best to post.

There also has not been a lot going on. A couple of things came up last week but I choice not to comment on them as they were pretty out there. You had two councilors whining about various things. Gary Krause cried like a little baby about Bentlyvil and being on there "naughty list". There was one other councilor on that list Jim Stauber. The reason they both voted against funding the light display at Bayfront.

Councilor Gardner once again whined about her sister city issue.

President Obama's Christmas wish list.

President Obama released his Christmas list today. It was a simple request. The wish list had just one thing on it.

President Obama's Christmas wish list, His poll numbers improve.

His Christmas reality his numbers will continue to decline.

Random post.

Just some things to mention here in this post.

Winter weather may finally be on the way to the northland. Most weather reports have up to six inches possible Tuesday night in to Wednesday. This would be great let's hope so. Then I take the kids out sledding and stuff. Plus we will then have a white Christmas.

The vikings sucks last night, sure glad they put on prime time. They played so well NOT!!!
Dallas took a hart breaking lose yesterday to the NY Giants I hate the Giants.

The 4th street market is set to open soon. Well I heard the 9th is no longer the date it seems as if it may be. Potter has it as the Grand opening on his facebook page yet then says they hope to be open by Christmas. Either way I can't wait for them to open.

It is hard to keep on schedule when you are opening almost a brand new store as they with all the remodeling they are doing. I will keep you updated on the open date.

Both Minnesota and Wisconsin deer hunting season saw a big decrease in the harvest.

There where fewer deer shot in the gun hunting season's for both Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wisconsin which only has a 9 day hunting season saw a 50% decrease from last year. Minnesota was also down from last year.

Many hunters say it is because of wolves but is it? The Wolf population is back on the rise as many know. However there numbers are still low and I don't think they play a significant role in the fewer deer being taken during the season's. There are a number of issues as to why the season was down in both states.

One has to be the weather it is hard to track deer with out snow it is also much harder to see them in the woods with out snow, they blend in better. The other major is has to fall on the DNR and the hunters.

Both the Minnesota and Wisconsin DNR gave out doe permits like they where candy, and hunters where gobbling them up. There where more doe's taken the last couple of years and it is hard to reproduce with out a female. I know the effort was to control the deer population. That said however the DNR had to take in what may happen in the other elements of a deer's life. Such as being hunted by other predators and deer killed by humans other ways, such as hit by a car. Age of deer and just plain death by natural cause. The failed to do this and it extra permits only hurt the deer population farther.

That is my take.

Shopping for Christmas watch out.

When you are going to buy things it is important to watch what you are getting. There has been an increase in illegal items being sold around the country. Knock off name brands are being sold at some stores.

As you may remember about a month ago the Duluth Police along with the Federal agency's found three Duluth stores selling counter fit items. Fred and Marks sport located at the Miller Hill Mall, also two stores downtown, New U Clothing, and Christopher's Clothing. Two of the three have gone out of business. One remains open that I know of. At least it was as of a couple of weeks ago.

All three were selling name brand clothing at unheard of prices. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency says if the price is to good to be true it more then likely is. Use good judgement and really look at the item.

A few good ways to tell if the item is not authentic is if logos are upside down, the items are looking bad such as bad sticking and strings hanging from the items. You would think these items would be easy to spot fact is they are not. Many times people are in a hurry or just don't take the time to look. Also some times you have to really look as the item may look good but the defects are on the inside of the clothing.

The illegal company's that produce these items are causing troubles for everyone. It drives up the price of the real items. It also has another effect on you the buyer. You think you are getting a great deal on a sports jersey and what you have is really only worth five dollars.

Neither the Duluth Police or the feds would say if there is other stores they are watching only that the investigation in to the three places about a month ago is on going.

Tiger Woods the #1 golfer and #1 ass?

The world's best golfer got in a car crash last Friday and is saying very little about it. He has canceled meeting with the police three times. He is saying the crash is private along with other information.

Sorry Tiger but when the police are called like they were for your crash it is no longer a private matter. You owe to the the police to meet with them to wrap up there investigation of the accident that happened at about 2:30 am. The police have already said that liquor did not play a role.

There are reports out that he has been cheating on his wife and there was an argument and Woods was leaving the house. There has also been reports that Wood's wife went after him possible causing the accident.

If we don't get the real story I hope people are upset at Woods. The way he has handled this is wrong.

BREAKING NEWS: Another drug bust in West Duluth.

There is very little information out but there is yet another drug bust in West Duluth. It just happened this morning. When more information becomes available I will have it for you here on Duluth Politics.

****UPDATE**** Two people where arrested. A search of both a house and vehicles was conducted. Again more as it becomes available.


*****UPDATE #2*******

The drug bust happened at 9am this morning in West Duluth. It seems like a much smaller scale then the other two. The house has been being watched by the police for some time. They found many bags of something, most likely marijuana

Thanks to my source on this issue I will have more if it becomes available once again.

It's December 2nd.

Well November came and went, with little snow and non that stayed. With highs in the 40's for most of the month. Now here we are December 2nd still no snow on the ground. It is going to get closer to normal temps today around 30 degrees.

There is snow in the forecast for the next couple of days but nothing that is going to stick. I hope we have some for Christmas.

Drug bust of last week

As many of you know there was a big marijuana bust last week here in Duluth. A house on 56th ave West was growing more then 200 plants.

There has sense been three arrested in the case and they have all seen there first day in court and have asked for public defenders. Two of them had jobs well one did not. The three arrested where James Lyons, James Lyons II and his girlfriend. Lyons II said he worked at Sam's club well his girlfriend worked as an adult forster care giver. The Dad did not work and lost his disability some time ago. James Lyons has an extensive criminal record mostly dealing with illegal drugs.

The drug bust more then likely came as a tip from a drug bust a few weeks earlier. This is being recorded as one of the biggest bust in Duluth history.

In some circules it has opened the talk once again on if the drug should be made legal. What are your thoughts?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you enjoy and the time with family.

SMDC contract or lack there of.

St.Mary's and the Duluth Clinic along with many of it's employees are in contract talks. Today the union workers went to vote on a contract that SMDC I am sure hopes passes. I am sure it will not.

The deal set out by SMDC was basically an extension of the current contract. No pay increase or any help to benefit packages by the hospital. The contract gives the employees little to no benefit it passed. It sounds like a clear defeat to the first offer by SMDC.

As expected Snocross will be held at a later date.

Much I like I did with Fourth Street market opening I was going to beat the DNT on the snocross announcement. I however went to bed instead after working overnight. At any rate many people knew that there was a chance the snocross would be canceled or re-scheduled do to lack of snow and warm temperatures in the Duluth area.

As temps have been in the 40's during the day and no snow it has called on the promoters to postpone snocross. Even with cooler temps and maybe some snow coming later in the week. It is just to late to hope on the snow fall and Sprite mountain may not be able to make enough in time for the event this weekend.

Snocross at Spirit mountain has been the first race of the season for a long time, it also is the first qualifying event for the winter x-games. The event traditionally takes place the weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday and draws thousands of people every year.

This years event has been moved to December 11-13th it will still take place at Sprit Mountain.

Update on Breakfast with Santa.

The event at OCB starts at 8 am and goes till 10 am. Kids under 12 eat free with paid adult.

Again it is a great time for the kids, plus you get a pretty good meal out of the whole thing.

Country Crossroads Craft Sale.

The Country Crossroads Craft and Bake sale will be held at Lakeview Christian Academy.It has more than 50 vendors from across the upper midwest.

It offers everything from fry bread tacos to olive wood coasters from Jordan to designer purses to handmade butcher block tables.

The event runs from 9-6 Friday and 9-7 on Saturday at Lakeview Christian Academy 155 W Central Entrance. Admission is free and all procedes go to LCA's scholarship fund.

I am thinking of hitting this up this weekend my self. I have always been a community event blog as well as politics. I am happy to promote this event.

First swine flu death in Northland?

As you know the H1N1 has been a big deal this year. There has been a lot more cases this year in the northland then last year.

Now it seems as if the first possible death has occuered from the swine flu. A 58 year old man who has been ill for the past two weeks before passing away in a Duluth Hospital on Sunday. Test are being done to see if the death was a resuld of the H1N1.

The man is from the the Bayfield Wis. area.

More at www.duluthnewstribune.com

Hartman for Mayor?

There has already been rumours abound that he will run for Mayor. Keep in mind he is not even on the council as of yet. He seems to of the same mold of current Mayor Don Ness.

If he does run at some point I am not sure he will run against Mayor Ness. I would expect him to run at some point.

Dan Hartman I believe is groomed to run for the Mayor spot.

The 4th district recount.

The fourth district recount that was requested by Gordon Grant happens today. If I get any information on it as it happens today I will post it.

As I said before I don't really see why he requested this recount, I don't see much changing. It may change a few votes one way or the other. I don't however see it changing by over 135 votes.

Christmas events this weekend.

Of course Friday is the big parade. The Christmas City of the North parade. The parade starts about 6:20 pm.

Once again the Old Country Buffet up at the mall will be hosting breakfast with Santa. Santa starts his time at the Mall on Saturday. The kickoff for the last few years has been the breakfast event at O.C.B.

That event starts at 8am and I think goes till 10 am. It is busy but a lot of fun for the kids plus you get a decent meal out of it. They have also dropped the price in there breakfast. I believe it is $5.99.

Hey Minnesota Power. What is that in your court yard?

Minnesota Power has a tree every winter in it's court yard out side of it's building in Down Town Duluth. Up till about three years ago the tree was known as a Christmas tree for the Christmas season. For the last two years it has been a holiday tree. 

Well this year they are called it a holiday tree at the open ceremony Wednesday night. This year however they have said the tree has no real name and people are free to call it what they wish. I am sorry Minnesota Power but it is a Christmas tree, it is not a holiday tree or anything else. 

Substituting the word holiday for Christmas pisses me off. I think the world of political correctness has gone way to far. The word holiday means what as far as the tree goes? By the word holiday instead of Christmas to me means I could leave a tree up in my house almost all year long. 

The tree's that go up in peoples houses and around downtown's in this country have for long been a Christmas tree and they will always be that way to me. The trees for the most part go up any where between the month of November and December 25th which is Christmas day. 

The attack on the Christmas tree and the word Christmas needs to stop. It is a fight I have taken on here for the past few years. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS  EVERYONE

Not much going on.

Not a lot going on, just a quick up date on a store re-opening.

The 4th street market is now set to open December 9th about a week later then thought. As you can imagine there is a lot going on in to the store and it 's re-opening.

The store will be under new management when it does re-open in December. The Potters who own the ICO on 6th ave east have bought the market. I am hoping to get to have a conversation with one of them soon.

Recount on in district 4?

It seems as if the 4th district race is not yet over. The Gordon Grant campaign has asked for a recount.

Grant lost by 153 votes to Kerry Gauthier. The Grant camp did not lay out an specifics as to why they have asked for the recount. They are just saying they think it is important.

I don't really like this, I am not sure it needs to be done. There is little information as the why they want it. 153 votes is a lot to over come. Yes no one will deny the race it was close. In fact closer then most thought it would be. At this point with out specifics I don't see the point of a recount.

Burgers and Chicken.

There are two new restaurants at the Miller Hill Mall. One has not yet opened another has been open for a short time.

Five Guys burgers is set to open November 16th. They are a franchise http://www.fiveguys.com/home.aspx.

It seems to be a simple sit down and take out place. It looks good and I know I will try it. If I like them I will keep going.

The only problem I see for them is them is they don't appear to have a mall entrance. They only have an out side entrance. There is only one other restraint that does this at the mall. It should be a concern to the owners. I don't know how many people will take the time to go back out side of the mall to eat there. If they had an entrance from in side the mall they would do better business it would seem.

I hope it goes well for them. I sure will try it and I hope you do to.

The other place I want to talk about is a place called chicken now. It opened a bit ago where the old burger king was at the mall.

It never seems busy, it is also pricey I think. Has anyone tried it yet? What did you think. The people that run are pushy I waled by and they kept saying come eat come eat you look hungry. I am not the only person that has said this a number of friends have told me they have been approached as well. It is a place I don't expect to last long.

Why Dan Hartman got the top spot Tuesday.

It was not much of a shock to me that Hartman got the top spot on Tuesday. Well a lot of people thought Beth Olson would get it, I did not. Olson finished first in the primaries.

I knew the people voting in the primaries where for the most part big time supporters of a candidate and or special interest groups. These are the people that always go out and vote in a primary. Well most of the general public stays home. Something I have never understood. People always say I wish I had a chose. The fact is you do. A lot of good candidates get knocked out in the primary because people don't go vote.

Anyway Hartman got a lot of support from moderate republicans in the general election. I hope he see this and stays in the middle of the road on his decisions. I hope he does not become a puppet for one side or the other.

I know he is a democrat but as I have said many times he is a more center candidates then was Olson or Hall. I believe Dan will look at both sides of the issue before making his decision.

That close....

Well the school board race went the way I thought it would. It split between the red plan foes and the current board members. Cameron and Wasson both won there seats back. Well Kasper and Johnston both beat the incumbents.

What it means is little will change. The red plan votes will now be closer as 4-3 but the plan will still move forward. The people against the red plan needed to get three candidates elected. They came close with two but fell just short.

It will however mean that the conversation of the red plan will be more balanced. It may also mean the plan could see some changes. They however would not be significant I don't think.

More center candidates please.......

The election last night showed that Duluth would prefer to have more center candidates run. Beth Olson and Becky Hall (both seem to be very nice people.) lean to far one way or the other. Well the two candidates that did win Jim Stauber and Dan Hartman are more center candidates.

The closeness of the 4th district race only shows that people where split. If one of the two candidates in that race would have been more center they would have easily won. The race was less then two hundred votes in a win for Kerry Guithier.

I think both Hall and Olson could have done some things different to better represent them self's. Olson needed to be more aggressive against people that railed her for being arrested and having an alternative life style. Olson instead just wanted to sweep the issue's under the rug. Unfortunately for her it did not work out. A more aggressive approach could have put her in office.

Hall only needed to do two things and she would have been a shoe in. One is instead of just saying she will brings jobs to Duluth she needed to tell us how. She did not do so. Her background in business is well known however she just said she has the experience to bring business. If Hall would have taken the time and effort to explain her plan she also could be sitting on the council come next year.


The other thing I think hurt her is that she did not ridicule a message board more. DCB a right leaning board that has talked up Hall. I think that is okay however some of the things said on the board were down right uncalled for. I think Hall needed to come out and say. People have a right to voice there thoughts. I However don't agree with name calling and attacks on other candidates.

Did the board play that much of a role in her lose? I don't think so however it may have had some factor. The board has been under new ownership for a while now and sense then has gotten out of control.

Would these suggestions have changes the out come of the race I don't know. As I said Olson and Hall both lean further to the right or left then both Hartman and Stauber. The race was very close. So I don't know if these would have helped either of them but it is a thought.

That said I am okay with the results in this race.

It's election day coverage.

I will have much more either later tonight or tomorrow but now the wife needs the computer.

10pm: Some reaction to the results. Jeff Anderson ( current councilor). Said he was a bit shocked at the results. He thought Beth Olson would have came out on top. That Olson and Hartman both would have won a seat. He said he was pleased with Hartman getting elected and the he worked very hard for a full year.

Hartman was thrilled and all he could say was awesome. He had worked hard for a year to get the spot.

Beth Olson did not bother to show to party.

Stauber was delighted he won a fourth term. He is looking forward to continuing his projects and move Duluth Forward.


9:50pm: Just returned home for being out at campaign parties. I did not want to take the computer in case I left it some where. knowing me I would have.

Three out of four people I voted for won tonight. That is the best in a long time for me. I am okay with the results. Well I would have hoped that Grant would have won I did think it would be tought for him to do so. It was much closer then most thought.

Stauber and Hartman are the top two in the the at-large seat. The women are left out. Well it was a very close race between the four.

I must say the two hardest working candidates won in this election. After the primary results Stauber and his crew worked hard to come in either first or second. They where not going to be denied. I think Olson was a bit lacking her attempt to derail criticism of her. Hartman worked hard all year long.

The Boyle Wagner race not much to say other then I told you so.

6pm: Polls close in two hours. If you have not got out and voted yet do so. The numbers in most polling places have really shot up. It seems we will have a good turn out. That is not much of a surprise for Duluth.

5pm: The sign waving is fast and furious.

Just a note if you don't see any updates at any point today it is because I am and about at party's. I will still have updates for a while. If I do go out tonight check back for updates later.

3:42pm: Setting up interviews for tonight.

3:02pm: I have noticed some sign waving has started again at busy street corners. You can expect that to go on till as late as 7 tonight. This election is very important.

The numbers are on the increase at the polls. This is a good thing. It means for more interesting races. I think a higher turn out could mean different results then some are thinking. As I said before however only time will tell.

1:01pm: The lunch rush should be over for the most party now. I checked out four polling places. Three of them where busy and one was dead only about four people there. I think the voter turn out will be just fine. A slow start but I expect a good rush after work.

Reports I have heard from my sources also report that voting is starting to pick up. Thanks to all that are giving me updates by phone and here at the blog. It is a huge help.

East Duluth and West Duluth polling places where fairly busy over the lunch hour.

11:50am: Where will you be watching the results come in? Are you going to a candidates party? Where, when and who's?

10:45 am: This is the first of many post coming today. Newest updates will appear at the top. To read older updates scroll down.

At any rate, my sources are telling me that voter turnout is low to this point. The morning rush was not that big. In fact at my polling place I was only voter number 35 at 8am. We normally have any were between 60-75 by that time. It seems to be slow almost every were. I have talked with a number of people and the numbers seem to be about the same.

Now there will be another rush where voting is heavier at lunch time and the again after work. Lets home that people get out and vote.

If it is a lower turn out who does it favor do you think?

What are your thoughts on the election tomorrow?

Post your thoughts here on the election tomorrow. All post will be approved as long as they are clean and respectful.

Vote tomorrow.

Well I feel like shit today. That said tomorrow is election day in Duluth. You can bet I will drake my butt to my polling place if I have to. There is no way I am missing out on voting. This election is to important.

Get out and vote tomorrow. I don't care who you vote for just VOTE.

I will also have election coverage tomorrow. Depending on how I feel will determine how much time I put in to it.

One Republican is out.

Paul Kolhs has suspended his race for Governor. He said that the party is lining up behind other candidates. He also said others may get in the race. He was far behind in the straw poll.

There are still 8 candidates in the race running for the republican endorsement. The only other person that I could thing of that would enter the race at this point is Norm Coleman.

Wagner in the paper again.

There was not a bunch of pressing issues related in the story. Not a lot new information however if you want to read it then here is the link.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/150371/

I do not have a lot to comment on this. I think I made my comments earlier on this. I do agree with the judge.

Duluth Central wins.

Last night started high school football play-offs. There was over 100 games in the State. There was three local games two at Public School Stadium. One at Cloquet. That is the one I want to talk about this post.

It was #1 Cloquet against #8 Duluth Central. Central had not won a game all year they were 0-7. That said they were close to four wins, they lost by a touch down or less.

Last night there defense came out playing hard. They caused all kinds of trouble for Cloquet. Central was up 20-0 at the half. They held on for a 20-14 win.

It was a big deal for the team. As many of you know Central will close next year should the red plan keep going forward.

Police endores Hall.

The Duluth Police union has endorsed Becky Hall for city council. I think the endorsement means a lot in the lines of who is going to work for public safety.

That said I don't know how much it will help. The endorsement normally does not come with much money or help to a candidate.

4th district council race over?

Today saw a big blow to the Gordon Grant campaign. Former candidate Heath Hicock endorsed Kerry Gauthier. Hicock finished third in a five person race. Fourth was Matt Potter and fifth was Celia Scheer.

Potter and Scheer endorsed Grant. Grant was working on receiving all three of there endorsements. Today he feel short of that.

The biggest of the three candidates outed in the primary was Hicock. Today he endorsed the DFL backed Kerry Gauthier. Grant said it is was sad that it seems like Hicock is setting up for the 2011 election. Grant thinks that Hicock is setting up to receive the DFL endorsement for an at-large run in 2011.

I think it is now safe to say that this race is over. Gauthier will win. Grant sure does have an up hill battle by not receiving the endorsement.

Vote yes to question one and no to question 2.

On the November 3rd ballot Duluth will elect 2 new at-large councilors and 2 new district councilors. You also will have two proposed changes to the city charger to vote on.

The first question to me pretty clear. I would encourage people to vote yes on it. After the Mayor should be able to chose who is going to work best with.

The second question I would vote no on. The question to be pits people against people and it is going to allow things I don't like to open up.

To view the question and an entire sample ballot click the link: http://www.duluthmn.gov/clerk/voting/sampleballotNov2009.pdf

Northern Liberty Alliance forum last night.

The Northern Liberty Alliance held it's first ever candidate forum. The forum was held for both school board and city council candidates. The group stated at the beginning of the forum that they are not a pact and they don't endorse candidates. They are applying for a non-profit status.

The school board forum was not well attended by candidates. There was a board meeting and all the current members were of course at that meeting. The three candidates that did show where, at-large candidate Tom Kasper, 4th district Art Johnston and 1st district Marcia Stomgren.

The city council forum was much better attended. The only candidate that did not show was 4th district candidate Kerry Gauthier. All others where at the forum.

All candidates got the questions a head of time and were given a chance to answer in writing. They where then put in to a book that people could take. Again these people did not take the time answer in writing.

council candidate Kerry Gauthier

School board candidates

Mary Cameron

Nancy Nilsen

Maureen Booth

Tom Kasper, he was at the forum.

Marcia Stromgren, was at the forum.

Ann Wasson

Laura Condon

The forum was good last night. I think it is important for all groups to hold such events. It allowes there members and the public to learn more about the candidates. More later.

Gordon Grant's statement.

At the forum last night Gordon Grant made a statement I thought was a bit odd. He made a wide open statement and gave no clarification on it.

He said he would look in to selling anything the city did not need to be in. That included parks. It was left at that.

I thought okay so what are we talking about here? Well I had intended on asking him after the forum was over I did not get a chance. Most candidates got out pretty fast, plus I was talking to other people. Any way back to the thought.

Here is what I am wondering? Did he mean he was willing to look at selling parks such as the golf courses that are currently part of the Duluth Parks and Rec department. Or did he mean he would be willing to look as selling a park such as Grant park, Bayfront, ect...

If any one has a thought let me know. If Mr. Grant happens to view this I would be interested in his thoughts.

Beth Olson's out and out lie.

Okay so I try not to be critical of any candidate on this blog. In fact let me remind people that I was just supportive of Beth Olson when the paper raised a question to her in there forum. That said last night at the Northern Liberty Alliance forum she told and out and out lie. That I can't let stand.

She said that Wal-Mart is a business that Duluth not want because they don't have health insurance, benefits or even sick time. That is simple not true. I know people who work at Wal-Mart and they have all of these benefits.

Wal-Mart came up as councilor Jim Stauber used it as an example of the way Duluth chases away business, Olson then said the above comment when it came her turn. She also added that they don't pay well. I agree with that ( unless you have been there for a while) that said she must understand that we need these type of jobs to attract the big time paying jobs.

What I would have said if I were her is one of two things. Not used Wal-Mart as an example at all, or just say that I don't like the way they do business and leave it at that.

Wal-Mart does not have the best reputation as a work place I know but to out and out lie is wrong. It makes you no better then the company.

Note: If you are going to comment on this please be careful I will be picky on approving post on this one. This will not turn in to a base on Wal-Mart or Olson stick to the issue raised. I will not allow comments about Olson if they do not protein to her comments nor will I allow comments just bashing the Wal-Mart company. Again be careful.


Link to other Olson post: http://duluthpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/10/privacy-question-asked-of-olson.html

Police report: Explosives in car.

Below is the police report on the incident by the twins bar.

The Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team from the Minnesota Air National Guard 148th Fighter Wing assisted the Duluth Police Department with the removal of explosives from the trunk of a car. On Monday, October 19, 2009, at 2:08 PM, a male called 911 and stated that he had just picked up some “dynamite” from a friend and was going to help the friend by disposing of it for him. The explosives were in the trunk of the caller’s car which was parked in the 500 Block of East #5 Alley. The caller said he had second thoughts about disposing of it himself and called the police. A one block area around the car was cordoned off and evacuated until the EOD team arrived and removed the explosives. The EOD team will also dispose of the explosives. The incident is under investigation by the Duluth Police Department.

Not much else is known and it is under investigation by the police department.

4th street market.

The very popular fourth street market is going to reopen soon. The Market closed because the previous owners did not run it right. This after long time owner sold it to move to Florida.

The new owners have experience in this type of work as they own the the ICO gas station on 6th AVE. East and 6th street. The Potters will be the new owners. I hope they can make a go of it. One word of advice. Don't run it like a big convenes station, that was tried with Tarens market and it did not work. Please run it like a grocery store. Keep your prices competitive and offer lots to customers to chose from. This should keep the store open for a long time.

The store is expected to open some time in November.

Interviews.

These are interviews that I did for a story you can read athttp://duluthpolitics.duluthcitizen.org/2009/10/19/is-the-school-board-vote-importain/ . They are with school board candidates and Harry Welty from Let Duluth Vote. I may get more interviews in today or over the next couple of days I will add them.

Harry Welty interview: Let Duluth Vote

1. What is so important about this election?

Duluth Voters will be telling the world whether they support a School Board that denied them the right to build the biggest school construction project in Minnesota history without a referendum. I believe voters have a responsibility to mete out the most serious penalty they can to this school board even if they support the Red Plan.

2. What does your group see are positive about the red plan (if anything)?

Personally I think that it made sense to go to two high schools.

3. What are the negatives of the red plan?

This is my short list. It was not given to the voters to decide. It was too big. It has relied on a school board that ceded all power to the Superintendent and to a construction company that had no incentive to pinch pennies. It has been sold with faulty data. It will burden taxpayers for twenty years and has hidden time bombs which will only be revealed in future years because they were carefully concealed to avoid criticism.

4. Why should the voters vote out the incumbents?

Because the incumbents have acted ignorantly, arrogantly and have offered virtually no oversight of the biggest thing to hit the Duluth schools in the last hundred years.

5. Anything else you would like to add?

I was grateful that other candidates who honored


Mary Cameron interview: At-Large board member

1. What is the importaince of this election?

As with any election, it is important for citizens to elect those individuals that they believe will listen, study the issues and make tough decisions, with the goal of doing what is best for the students in this community taking into consideration the taxpayers. The ultimate goal of any board member or school district should be assuring that all students receive the best education possible so that they are able to thrive in a world that is more diverse and global than ever before.

It's unfortunate that this particular election is centered around the LONG OVERDUE Long-Range Facilities Plan (LRFP).

This election is also important because there are alot of people criticizing the LRFP. It's easy to do so, but difficult to come up with a betterplan. Citizens really need to study the Alternative Plan that is out there. It will cost them more and will does less. It will also further instability within the district (keeping open all schools, making quick fixes, then after 10 years bring a committee together to decide which schools to close).

It is also important because citizens need to investigate what the cost to them will be if those who want to stop the LRFP are elected. Not to complete this plan would not only be a fiscal calamity that would negatively impact all students and taxpayers enormously for many years to come, but it would also deprive our students of quality academic options unattainable in under-populated, wasteful buildings.

2. The major issue seems to be the red plan. You are a supporter of the plan why? What is possitive about the plan?

The plan is long overdue. I have lived in Duluth all of my life. I'm a product of the Duluth Public schools as our my children and siblings. Right-sizing our building infrastructure has been a painful conversation for me and others. It is a conversation that has been on-going for over 20 years, and I've been part of a board who bucked under community pressure when we were trying to implement a plan. This plan will allow us to close buildings that we do not need due to declining enrollment. It will allow us to allocate savings from operating cost into our classrooms, the plan will bring equity across the district, allow students to have state-of-the art technology and be in energy efficient and safe buildings.

3. Do you see any negitives in the plan?

No plan is perfect, and not one would satisfy 100% of the Duluth community. However I do believe that this is the best plan for Duluth.

4. What does your experince on the board give to other board members?

I bring experience, I am currently serving my 3rd term. I have served as chair of the board, co-chair, clerk,have chaired the education committee, and am currently serving as chair of the human resources committee. I am a human resource professional. I serve on the DeSeg Council, as well as the budget subcommittee, recruitment and retention and monitoring subcommittee.

I have introduced and have had implemented Innovations in Education which created the labor management team, have advocated for student representation on the board since my first election and because of my board experience, I have grown and learned how to respect other board members even though we may differ on various and numerous issues and respect the majority vote.

5. Any thing else you would like to add?

Thank you for asking these very important questions.


Art Johnston interview: 4th district candidate


1. Why is this election so importain?
The Red Plan was poorly justified, voters were disenfranchised, it was poorly planned, and it was way too expensive. This happened on the watch of the current Board, and they have been asleep at the wheel. This is a question of elected officials lacking trust, honesty, and accountability. This is why we have elections--to remove elected officials that have failed.

2. What are the negitives in the red plan?
First of all, its justification was based on an exaggerated claim of building defects of our existing schools. Anyone who has looked at our schools knows they don’t need nearly ½ billion dollars in repairs. Perfectly good schools are being closed and given away at pennies on the dollar.

Secondly, it claims to be “reducing” square footage to “save money”. The actual square footage reductions of the buildings are only a fraction of what they originally claimed. And these miniscule saving are undocumented and we are spending $438 million to save pennies.

Thirdly, whole city blocks are being razed, streets being widened with houses bought with the threat of eminent domain. At the same time they are giving away (for nickels on the dollar) the Central High School site that has plenty of excellent room and the newest schools.

Fourthly, this plan builds buildings at the expense of educational programming and academics. The Red Plan “savings” are by eliminating 50-100 program and teacher jobs permanently from the schools. That is not the way to improve education.

3. What are the postivies if you see any?
None. If hard pressed, the only positive that I can see are the right and left political movements in Duluth have come together to elect a new school board.

4. What was one or two top resons you decided to run for the board?
I wanted to bring attention to the facts that the Red Plan was based on poor and misinterpreted engineering and financial data. I wanted to emphasis smaller, safer, saner, successful neighborhood schools that have the trust of our community.

5. Anything else you would like to add? The poor discourse, the poor journalism, and biased reporting that the Duluth media have done on this issue have been very sad to see. An informed electorate depends on an informative media, and Duluth has failed at that. And this does not bode well for intelligent and wise decision-making

Interesting story.

I would love to know people's thoughts on this story. Is the school district right or wrong?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html?no_interstitial

Minnesota Twins 3 and done.

For the second straight season the Minnesota Twins had to play an extra regular season game. This is because they were tied for the division championship. Last year the Twins lost that game. This year the Twins beat Detroit. There prize for winning the division to face the New York Yankees.

The Minnesota Twins have not fared well against the NY Yankees recently. This season they played three series against them, the Twins were 0-9. Under coach Gardenhire the team has posted just two wins in 24 games against NY.

This play off season was no different the Twins went just three games in the best of five series. Losing them all now dropping there record to 2 and 25 all time under Grady and 0-12 on the season.

I have heard a lot of talk about Grady should be the manager of the year. Are you kidding me you need to find a way to beat the big teams before you should be awarded manger of the year. The Twins struggle against the two big teams they play a lot. The Yankees and the Red Socks.

Also the Twins made many base running errors this season. You saw a number of them in the playoffs. The head coach at some point needs to address that and it is clear Gardy has yet done that.

Local sports show comes to an end.

*****UPDATE****** The sports show could possible come back at a later date. For now today was the last show for now.


The only local sports talk show that I know of has came to an end. The popular Saturday Morning Sports show will end today. The show that had aired on ESPN Radio 560 WEBC saw the last show today.

The show had been hosted by Corey Carter who has left ESPN and Gap West Broadcasting. It was co-hosted by Mark Marette who hosted today's final show.

The reason is because of money and the fact the show went to just one host. The show was very popular especially now. With interviews of high school hockey, football, and basketball coaches. The show also covered all local sports.

It is to bad to see yet another local show fall by the way side.

Privacy question asked of Olson.

There was a question directed to Beth Olson at the DNT forum yesterday. The question was as follows:

How much of a candidate’s personal life should be public? Is it only what a candidate wants known? And have there been things in your personal life that you haven’t been completely forthcoming about in this campaign?”

Well all the candidates got to give an answer it was directed to Beth Olson because of her arrest and also her being a member of the GBLT community.

I think the question was uncalled for and wrong. You never see a question like this asked at a community forum. I understand why it was asked but it would have been better if it was not asked.

Well I believe her arrest is a news story it also does not need to be beat to death. The issues of her being gay should not be an issue. The issue came up because of right leaning blogs (not this one.) and local talk show host.

Brad Bennett a local talk show host who brought the issue up said yesterday that he does not want any one elected that is going to have a special agenda or then protecting the tax payer. He also said it now seems that Olson is trying to hide be a member of the gay community. He said her web site had links to gay story's and other related sites but after the primary were she finished first they have been taken off.

DFL Governor debate today.

11 of the 12 DFL candidates running for Governor will be in Duluth today. They will take part in a debate at the DECC. The debate is sponsored by AFSCME local 5 and to attend it live you must be a member. The debate is from 2-4 pm today.

DNT forum winners.

There where two people that I thought did well in the DNT forum yesterday. These two did a good job of answering the questions.

The first person who I thought did well was Jim Stauber. Stauber is the only incumbent running in this race. He has served 8 years and is looking to win a third term.

Stauber did a good job of outlining what he has and can still do on the council. When asked question he could also reference things he has done. He also could spread light on issues from an "insiders" point of view. That is something the other three candidates could not do.

Stauber is the consumed pro and professional. He showed respect to others and expects the same. One of the biggest assets Stuaber offers the council if re-elected is his experience. Remember if he does not get a seat on the council there will be no one with more the four years of experience.

I ask that people consider voting for Jim.

The other person who has impressed all a long is Dan Hartman. Hartman has been out in the public more then anyone has this campaign season. Well I did not agree with all of his statements yesterday I found him to be very knowledge able about the issues. Let me point out here before people jump on me. There where a number of things I did like that Hartman said.

Hartman was going to run for the 3rd district council seat four years ago but dropped out after he did not receive the DFL endorsement. That went to current councilor Sharla Gardner. Hartman also is the program director of the Veterans' Memorial Hall at the Depot.

Candidate forums.

Forums are a good way to learn about a school board or city council candidate. There are three I would like to let you know about.

The Duluth News Tribune and Fox21 are hosting one today at 1pm. It is to take place at the Inn on Lake Superior. If you can’t make it in person you can watch it on the Duluth News Tribunes web site at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/. Note it will not be live there you can’t see it tell after it is completed. I am not sure of the question they will be asking at the forum.

A group called FUSE is also holding a speed forum today at the Depot that starts at 5pm.

The last forum is being held by a Political Action Group. They are not yet registered as a PAC. The Northern Liberty Alliance is holding there first ever forum for candidates. They will be holding a school board and city council candidate forum. It will take place October 20th at city hall in the council chambers. It start’s with the school board forum at 5:15 the council forum will start at 6:45.

I have the list of questions for both of those forums if you would like them let me know. For some reason it is not allowing me to post them here.

Cross posted at duluthcitizens.com and duluthcitzen.org

Badger Careless program.

Governor Doyle has said they will suspend applications for there new Badger Care program as of noon of Friday. They are already full just three month after the program took affect. Badger care is state controlled health care program. Much like Minnesota Care.

Governor Doyle stated that this was a clear example of why national health care reform is needed. Well I believe everyone has a right to health care I don't believe that a state or the Government should provide it. The fact is that these programs don't help the middle class.

They help those that don't have or want jobs. You can find a job if you look, even if it is at a fast food place. This at least has income coming in to your house. Many of the people that applied for Badger Care had NO INCOME.

Now lets be fair yes the job market is tough. You however need to put an effort in to your job search. I am not saying on this program has not done that but at least take a less desirable job in the mean time. I know people have pride but some times you have to suck it up.

Can't watch the Twins game Tuesday?

If you will be at work or out and about for the Minnesota Twins game on Tuesday here is a solution. Why not listen to the game on ESPN Radio 560 WEBC. They will be broadcasting the game on Tuesday.

Game time is 4p.m. it is a play in game. Both Detroit and Minnesota ended the season tied for first place. The winner goes to the playoffs well the loser has there season end. The game will be played at the Dome. This is because the Twins have the head to head battle between them won.

LET'S GO TWINS!!!!!!!!!

Becky Hall is advertising on Stahl's blog.

One of four Duluth City Council candidates has chose to advertise on a local blog. The blog happens to belong to Duluth News Tribune reporter Brandon Stahl. You can get to the blog by clicking this link if you wish, http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pages/buzz.

My question is this some have said that advertisers lead to the way a reporter or blogger writes. Do you believe that? I know Brandon and he is a great writer and person. I don't think he has a bias in writing one way or the other. I do personally believe he is a democrat( I could be wrong in this guess.) but that is fine. His writ tings never show a bias one way or the other. That is the way it should be when you write for a paper.

Stahl now has two right leaning advertisers. NLA and Becky Hall who is the candidate advertising on Stahl's blog. Well the NLA is not a PAC they are a group of citizens concerned with the way government is going. The group also has a number of people involved in it that are democrats but lets be fair and say that most are Republicans.

I have not seen any differences in Stahl's writing nor do I expect to. I think people like to pick fights some times. Advertising does not nor should it have a role in how a person writes. If it does then you are not getting a true and fair story.

Format change at the Bridge?

Corey Carter may be set to change the format at the bridge radio station. The biggest hint to this is that long time radio personality Tim Roubix was released from his morning show duties on the bridge.

The format change I am sure would be to a hot ac like Mix 108 is. That is the station that Carter came from. I would look for a format change in the next few month if it is to happen. If the change does happen I would look for Carter to be on the air again. He currently is not on the air at Mid-West.

A side note they are looking for an AM radio station programmer. I am guessing for 710 WDSM.

Jim Stauber will he win re-election?

There are a couple of things I have thought about here. One he is now the longest sitting city councilor. Now that both councilor Krause and Gilbert have both decided not to run for re-election. Stauber also makes no bones about being a republican however if you watch him he is more the willing to work with both sides of the aisle on the council.

Stauber finished third in the primary election. Two candidates finished in front of him. Beth Olson and Dan Hartman both are endorsed by the DFL and the labor unions. In a non-partisan race.

Stauber however was a very close third. He was less the a full % point behind Hartman who finished second. The vote total was just 285 votes. I think that is possible to make up. That said it is a bad sign for him that he lost his own district. I don't believe he has ever lost his own district.

Well I thought that Dan Hartman was once a lock to win a seat on the city council this time I am not so sure. He finished second in the primary. Many people have told me that was a set back to him. He wanted to finish first. Again that said he is still the one candidate out there working hard. Not only did he finish second but he did not totally run away with second place. Stauber was a close third. That said however Stauber is the incumbent in the race, possible another bad sign for Jim. He as an incumbent would have liked to finish first or second. However lets also be honest that most the people that voted in a very low turn out primary were those that represented the unions and DFL as they got there people out to vote.

In a general election there will be a larger voting population out. You will see more of the republicans and those that are not aliened with any party out voting. This is a benefit to Jim Stauber as long as he gets the message out that he is the longest standing member of the board and his experience is important at this point time. If he does not win a seat in November then there will be no councilor with more the four years of experience. I think this is what Stauber needs to get out as his message.

I will have more later but feel free to comment.

It's convention time.....

Okay okay it's not really time for state conventions yet. That said however the DFL has moved there convention up by two month. The convention which will take place in Duluth was suppose to take place in late June. That has been moved up to April 23rd-25th.

The party did this to make there candidate a better contender for the office. They thought that waiting would give the republicans a head start. The republicans are holding there conventing in Minneapolis in late April.

And the endorsment goes to?????

The DFL set to endorse for the Duluth School Board. Who did these endorse? Why did they endorse who they did? What does it all mean?

The DFL who endorse candidates in non-partisan races was all set to endorse candidates for the school board race. Here is they endorsed. For the at-large race no one. For the district races no one. What who ever will I vote for now?

The DFL chose not to endorse because of the red plan and the split in the party. They have people on both sides. Those that are for the red plan and against it. They believe it is better if they party did not endorse and cause a split among party members.

Clunk clunk what's that sound.

Clunk clunk oh no my car is falling a part. Oh wait nope it is just the cash for clunkers program that did not working. The Federal government program that failed badly.



The DNT had an interesting story in the Sunday paper. That basically some dealers where not finishing paper work for the program until they got there money from the government. One dealer said that the government told us to trust them. First you never trust the government no matter it is a democrat or a republican talking. They all liar, they tell you what you want to hear.



The money seems to have been coming in slow up to last week. The bigger deal to me is that some dealers would not allow people to get there regular license plates because they did not complete the paper work. Those dealers are wrong to hold other people now news cars hostage.

The dealers that fail to complete paper work are dealers I would not go to. Now it is the governments fault but the dealer ships don't need to make it worse.

Change in the second story.

*****UPDATE***** Golden said in an email to me that he most likely would not run. He did say that if he was to run he would seek a third party endorsement. He also said that the only reason he would run is so he had some one to vote for. He would not put out much of an effort to win.



My second story was going to be on Carinda Horton’s run for the house seat 7A in Minnesota. The seat is currently held by long time DFLer Tom Huntly.

Today I will focus on if there could be a third person in this race. Well there sure couldThe i be and according to a face book post that person may be Daniel Golden. Golden said on facebook, that he was considering a run for the state legislature just so I have someone to vote for.

Golden is best known for his podcast (http://www.dannydoesduluth.com/). There he does a number of different things. The show is meant to be funny but he does get in to politics some times.

The interesting thing is if Golden chose to run would he run as a republican against Horton or would he be a third party candidate? There are pluses for him which ever way he went. A three person race would be interesting regardless of the third candidate.

One of the two stories.

Well they may not be stories to everyone they are to me. Well the second is not a huge deal it is a story none the less. The first one may not be a big deal either but it is to me.

Now on to the first one . It is from radio land. Duluth may or may not have seen a big change this week. Long time employee of GapWest radio stations group left the stations. Corey Cater who has been with the station sense they were in the little blue building on 9th street. Left  company on his own standing. He did this become Operations Manger at Mid-West commutations in Duluth.

Carter  as the program for two of GapWest radio stations. He also was the morning co-host on Mix 108. Carter brought mix out of the dead. Mix 108 plays today’s top hit music. The station was at the bottom of the ratings when GapWest took over the station. Then Z-rock. Gap along with Carter helped bring the station up in the ratings. Carter was also the program director for ESPN Radio an Am sports station.

Some say that a lower arbitron rating had to do with the change for Carter. I don’t think it had anything to do with the change. Well the   station has a smaller rating this time that is expected and not uncommon for this market. The station is still strong. Why the lower rating then?  Two reason’s.  Summer time always brings lower numbers for radio stations. Also the college kids where not in town a big part of the Mix108 group.

Why the change then? I think Carter thought it was just time. Well he did not get the promotion at GapWest. He realized the opportunity was there for Mid-West and  took it.

What will the change mean? It will not mean a lot for GapWest as they always make adjustments. They will look to fill the mix108 program spot and the morning show for now will be Dan Hanger and Laura who was the co-host with Carter .  Only time will tell if it will bring good change to the Mid-West stations.

More Later.

Two big stories.

I have two stories that I know about but I can’t tell them yet. I hope that you will check back for these next week. I can’t even really tease them so please check back. 

Election results and more.

Looks like Olson and Hartman will get top two spots. Follewed by Stauber and Hall in the fourth spot. Kasper is running away with the school board race. Okay night all more tomorrow. I will have the candidates reaction then as well.


9pm The City web page is now posting numbers. with about 10% of the vote in here are some numbers.

Hartman 501 - Hall 323 - Olson 555 - Stauber 383 those are the top four at this point. It looks like the DFLers are the ones that got out to vote this far. I am not sure you can look for these numbers to change a lot. Yes it's early in the counting but this may set the stage for the night. We will have to see.

School board at large numbers are as follows. Kasper 525 -Nilsen 325 -Cameron 394 - Booth 204.


8:45pm The DNT does have numbers up for the fourth district. Again if these numbers are close to right then it looks like Gauthier and Grant will be moving on.

8:37pm If the number by the DNT are right it also looks like Beth Olson will in fact be the top vote getter that follwed by the Dan Hartman but again I think it is early for numbers. No T.V. station is reporting numbers yet. I will be calling some of the candidates soon.

The Duluth News Tribune has some numbers but it seems early to have numbers. Plus I can't keep the page as I get a message and then it closes the page out. I think it is the link the DNT is using. Anyone else having trouble with it.
If the numbers are right on the DNT site it looks good for those DFL backed canidates.





The polls have closed about a half hour ago. Results will start coming in soon.

I think that the voter turn out was low that will be a plus for the DFL and the union backed candidates. Those are the people that get out in vote in the primary for the most part. It also is a non presidential year.

New post will be on top of the page. All updates will be here. Your comments welcome.

Get election coverage here.

I will be following tonight's primary. Get my thoughts and more right here. Starting soon. I will also be following a number of other sites.

Primary election day.

It is primary day tomorrow here in Duluth. Every one get out and vote. It matters who makes it to the the general election. That is held in November. So get out and vote. Polls open all day.

 

At large race. One person over at www.duluthcitizens.blogspot .com things that the top two spots will go to the union and DFL endorsed candidates. I don’t think they will get both top spots. However they could it they are the only people that go and vote. This is not a presidential year so the voter turn out will not be as high. Again go vote.

Here is how I see the vote going as of now.

Dan Hartman

Becky Hall

Jim Stauber

Beth Olson

Mike Akervik

If Hartman does not get the top spot tomorrow it will be a blow to him. I think he gets a spot on the council either way. It is a blow to him however because he has worked harder then anyone else has.

If Olson does get that second spot tomorrow Hall and Stauber will have a lot of work to do before November. The only out working that I have seen is Hartman the other three seem to be waiting around.  I think that is a poor choice.

 

School board I have not followed that well I think that in the general it will be Casper and Nilsen there for being a wash as one is against the red plan and one is for it.

9/11

Today is 9/11/09 the date the marks the 8th anniversary of the terror attacks on the twin towers in New York. It was a dark day for our country.

Take time to remember those that lost there life in the towers and the those that tired to safe them. Always remember the day. Never forget. Regardless of your thoughts on the war, President Bush or anything else. Please remember those that were killed in the 9/11 attack.

I remember it was my first day off in along time and I was looking to have a fun day. Instead I woke up and turned on the news. One jet had just crashed in to the towers. I sad at home that day and went had a number of things go threw my head. It was not a fun day at all. I watched the news reports all day long. I prayed for the best knowing the worst was going to get the best of it. I still cry when I think about it.

Allegaint Air adds flight to Duluth.

The air line that has a route out of Duluth to Las Vegas will add Duluth to Orlando Fla.

Allegaint has been in Duluth for a number of years now. They have been had flights from Duluth to Las Vegas and that has been it, they are now going to add Orlando to that. They will start direct flights in November.

Read more at www.duluthnewstribune.com .

Gary Glass drops out of race.

There were a couple of things I wanted to write yesterday but never got a chance to. I will cover at least one of them today if not all of them.

The first one is about current school board member Gary Glass. As many of you know he is running for the 2nd district seat of the school board. Who is that possible when he is already on the board? The school district has no rule against running for another seat well you are currently sitting on the board.

Yesterday however he for the most part his bid for the 2nd district seat. He said he would have dropped out if he could, ballots however are already made out. Some votes have already been taken because of absentee voting has already taken place.

Glass said yesterday that he was going to be part of the 1st district race because he was concerned that the school board was going to kick him off the board. The concern came over lawsuit  issues that have been settled at this point.

Glass made his announcement just one week prior to the primary vote. Instead of dropping out of the race he endorsed 2nd district candidate Marcia Stromgren .

This move came way to late. I am not sure he should even put his name in the race. He did but waiting so long I think I a bad idea. As I said there have already been votes made. I am sure he got many of those that were against the red plan. This already taken votes away from Stromgren. It also makes those votes pretty much worthless.

It also sets up in my mind an easy attack against  Glass and Stromgren as it looked like this was the plan all along.

Now I have no idea what would have happened should Glass have won the 2nd district seat. I don’t think  he could hold both seats. I am guessing he would have had to resign one of them. Then my guess is they board would have appointed some one and you know they would not appoint any one that was  against the red plan as Glass is the only sitting member on the board against the plan.

DNT online.

It sure seems like the Duluth News Tribune online is taking the Labor Day weekend off. As of Monday night the online DNT is still all Friday's stories.

Is anyone else noticing the same thing? I have been out of the loop for three days as we have been up at the  cabin. Now I can’t even get caught up again.

Thanks DNT, www.duluthnewstribune.com.

Any way I hope you all had a great weekend.

Just some notes.

I am now writing on another blog as well as this one. This be my main blog but I am excited to be on the following blog,  www.duluthcitizens.blogspot.com. Well the main author and I don’t agree on a lot of political issues.That's okay to disagree and have a good discussion of the issues.

I am going to do a second part of a story I started there. I will post part 2 here. It is about the chicken ordinance passed just over a year ago. You can read part one at link above.

I will be adding some web sites to the links as well so check those out soon. I hope to do that today.

What the hell?

What the hell is going on our community? Every were you turn it seems as of late there is  a shooting or something going on. This shooting took place back in May but the suspect was just arraigned in court.

The shooter a 22 year old man shot a house in West Duluth four times. This leading to four counts of second-degree assault. The other interesting part of the story is this guy got the guns by stealing them.

Why did the shooting happen? From best guess the person that lived in the house got in to a fight a month before hand.

The shooting suspect is a real winner and pillar  of the community as he charges in two separate charges of second-degree assault and makeing terroristic threats.

U.M.D. chancellor to retire.

U.M.D. Kathryn Martin announced that she will retire this year 15 years of leading the school. She will stay  on for some special projects.

This is sick.

Abuse to the elderly has apparently hit right new our back yard. A Virginia  Minnesota assisted living facility has been charged with abuse of residents. The clam that three employers have abused residents.

The abuse included  pinching, slapping and verbally abusing. The three employees remain at work at the facility. Two of them however have been suspended and the other one is on a 30 day work plan.  Well I am sure the place is conducting it’s own investigation. That said these three employers should be fired.

This is sick the acts of these employees was wrong and they should not be allowed to work at this or any other place that deals with the elderly.

New job.

I have started a new job with new hours. I am working as a CNA overnights at a local nursing home. My booty needs to get adjusted. I will continue to blog updates may not happen everyday also if you comment it may not posted right away. I will get to posting them.

Another note if you have not read it or comment on the post below please do so. I want to know your thoughts on the idea.

Here it is.

Okay so here it is. My thoughts on the murder and then the stand off that occurred the other day.

First lets start by making it clear regardless what people have said neither of these men or were good people. Both had criminal records a mile long.

The murder most likely took place because of money and or drugs. It happened in a part of town that is well known for drugs sales.

One thing I think that needs to happen is a some kind of program/law that makes it mandatory that landlords do criminal  background checks on all people interested in renting from them. Depending on the check they get it or don’t. If the background check has one case of drugs, abuse, murder, assault, ect.. They don’t get the place.

Please don’t try to tell me this is discrimination it is not. It is watching out for your self and the community in which you live in. This would stop a lot  of the unwanted people come here and all towns.

Also promote Duluth in a positive light. One that is uplifting but not over welcoming to those that will cause major pain to our people and our town.  I have had more people tell me horror stories about how Duluth is presented as a place to go when you get out of jail.

I am okay with hand up’s but not hand out’s. Hand up’s help people out of poverty and crime well hand out’s just in crease poverty an crime.

Crime in Duluth.

A great question posted on face book today by talk of the town host.

 

Talk of the Town with Tracy Lundeen

Is it time for local law enforcement to crack down on suspected gang members and peol. e that have come here solely to participate in criminal activities similar to the manner in which they did with the recent Hells Angels visit? Three murders in one ...summer? Contrary to what you want to think or say....."this isn't the Duluth I grew up in"

 

My reply below: 

If you read the DNT they try to tell us that there is not a crime problem. Not only that they tell us that they are people not from out town, they are Duluth citizens. I don’t buy it.

When you read the story they are always or at least almost always not from Duluth. They have moved here from bigger cities all of which have big gang troubles.

Is it time to scare the entire public and hurt business like the cops did during the hells angles visit no. It is time to crack down on land lords that allow these people to move in to there houses. It is time the Government understands we have a problem and they allow the cops the tools needed to fight this type of enemy.

 

Then a comment was made that the DNT needs to revisit the idea of crime. Again my reply to that is below:

The DNT does need to revisit it however they won't and if they do it will the same old story. Why? It is the line the local Government wants them to hold. The Mayor and other left of center politicians don't want to lo ok bad to any one.
Those of us that speak up against the crime however don't count to the local government.

What are your thoughts?

Fill the boot campaign starts today.

If you see the Duluth or Superior firefighters out give them some money for the boot. They are raising money for MDA. They will be out on a number of busy street corners from today to Friday.

54 years and done.

A Superior Barber shop that has seen just one barber for 54 year will change hands. Bud Wigchers shop he has owned for 54 years has had it’s good times and it’s bad times. The shop is called Campus Barber Shop.

He remembers when haircuts were just $1.40 and you they could use straight edge shave. He has kept the straight razor but has not used it for decades. 

Has anyone gone to this shop in Superior will you miss Mr. Wigchers.

Not Watching the Minnesota Vikings this year.

It seems like a deal has been struck with Brett Favre to join the vikings. That means I will not be watching the vikes this year.

I hate Brett Favre and I think it was a poor decision for the the vikes to sign him if they do. They will lose some fans and I will be one of them.

Way to go.

No P.E.T.A. park in the Duluth Morley Heights. The Morley heights area has been looking to upgrade it's park. They need to raise 35,000 to do so. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals contacted the group last week they would give the group money for the park in exchange the P.E.T.A. group would be allowed to put anti meat eating messages on the equipment.

The group said thanks but no thanks to the group. That is a good thing I think. The Morley Heights community did not want any political messages attached to the park.

Ian Guzzo gets what he deserved.

Ian Guzzo who played hockey for Marshall got what he deserved yesterday. He drew a map of a house that two of his friends broke in to. They threatened to kill the mom and 9 year old child well there.

Guzzo got the least amount of time in jail of the three. He got a 57 month sentence. The other two got 81/2 and 93/4 years. I think Ian should have got more time then he did. He however got the most possible. I wonder why he could not have gotten near what the other two did?

Firefighters and MDA part 3.

Well I was not able to attend the council meeting on Monday I have heard a lot about the “fight” with the administration, the firefighters union and some councilors.

I do agree the Mayor that this does set a bad president. Now any time a city organization has a problem with what there department head is saying they can just go straight to the council and ask that they try to do something about it.

Well I continue to see both points of this argument I still don’t see the harm in letting them do well on duty . It is sit the station and wait for a call or do this.

Now I must say I also don’t like that they went straight to the council. Yes they are going over the head of the chief and the Mayor. Well the administration does not need to listen to the request it is a bit of a slap in the face.

Council Candidate interviews.

Once again this year I will be giving the candidates running for city council an opportunity to interview on the blog.

I have not yet send out an email to all candidates but I have one confirmed so far. Matt Potter who is running in the 4th district. The rest have not yet seen an email. I will be doing that today and expect the most of them will take part again this year.

Firefighters and MDA part 2.

More on the fire fighters and the MDA. I emailed Mayor Ness this morning and he said that he supports the firefighters and the MDA drive as long as it is volunteer off duty. He supports the MDA it’s a great cause he said. He said he wanted it off duty because of legal and liability issues.

Danny at www.dannydoesduluth.com brought up some great points as well to why it should be off duty. Is it volunteer when you are on the clock was one.

Like I said before I see both sides of the issue but I don’t see the harm in them doing it well on duty. Also I have asked the Mayor what the legal and liability issues are. I think I know what they are but lets see when I get a reply.

*****UPDATE*****

Got an email from the Mayor. Much like I thought the concern is traffic. There is liability and legal issues should some one get hit.

Firefighters and MDA.

Last year the Duluth Fire Department took part in an MDA fund raising event. The event is called fill the boot and is done by fire departments around the country.

Now this year it seems they may only take part if they can do it well on duty. This far they are being told they can not do it well on duty. Last year some councilors and citizens raised concerns about the fire department doing well on duty. 

I remember seeing them out last year and thinking this is not right. Then after I thought about it more I thought it was a great thing they were doing plus the fact is they were ready if they were needed.

The concern was they would not be ready for a call that came in. I can see that however I can see the department saying they are ready. The firefighters where always in there fire gear well doing the event and the trucks were with them. They were in fact ready to go if needed.

Now councilor Sharla Gardner is going to introduce a resolution that would allow the department to do well on duty if they choose to.

The fire department union supports the resolution well the Mayor and the chief does not at least it seems that way. I hope they would support the department to do the event well on duty. 

Even if the resolution passes the Mayor can still not allow it. The resolution is just a request there for the Mayor can do what he feels is right. The Mayor does not have to allow the firefighters to do it well on duty. 

What happened to Brad?

Well I have not listened to talk radio for some time. I did not realize that Brad has not been on the air. That is till Danny asked me about. I thought I would do a bit of checking around. It did not take me long to find out what the issue is.

I talked with a Mid-West employee tonight and asked if the show was still around. The person said it will be back. Brad is on his annual Marie retreat. Well I did not ask how long he will be gone for, if I remember off the top of my head it is a month.

The show will return with Brad as the host after the trip is over. Well the employee told me it was Brad that said he did not want a fill-in host. I am not sure that I buy that. MWC has had serious money issues and I am sure the company decided to put on a syndicated program instead of having a fill in host. They company has released talk show host because of money issues. They have also down sized many other departments in the company.

Running a syndicated show will save then a ton of money well Brad is out on his trip. I don’t know what they are running in his place. I did not ask and as I said before I have not listened for some time.

News on Brad Bennett coming soon.

News on the show coming soon. It is a bit odd.

Comments

Some one asked a question about comments on this blog. I only post comments that are subject related. If it has nothing to do the subject it does not get posted. I also have the right to reject any comment I want to. Don't like it? To bad.

Not much going on.

There is not a lot going on right now. The talk is mostly about Home Make Over and the Hells Angles. Both of which I are the latest voice blog I did. You can find the link in the post below to listen to it.

Another new thing to the blog is the links for council candidates. You can find out about all the candidates by using the links located on the right side tool bar. I will be adding more as I am not done yet. If you know of one that I have not yet added however feel free to send me an email at duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com or make a comment here.

New voice blog up.

There is a new voice blog up.

http://www.snapvine.com/blog/show/de43bbb67d1311deb2b40030485c71d2e.

It’s a bit of a bitch fest by me. Items include the hells angles wrap up and the home make over show. Listen to it and find out what is on my mind about the two issues. Leave a comment if you want to.

Hells Angles updates .

I will have even more here on the week that was with the Angles and also a voice blog about once my phone is charged.

A great job by the Hells Angles. A not so good job by the police.

The Hells Angles came and went. Well the Carlton County Police way over reacted. I normally don’t go after any police department. This time I will.

Well the Hells Angles came and left with little incidents that is because of there own doing. It had nothing and I mean nothing to do with extra police. The fact of the matter is all the police did was harass the group and make it hard for people to get around and support business. Many business owners I have talked to both in the city of Duluth and Cloquet say they were hurt by the police and not the hells angles.

The hells angles for the most part stayed close to there home base for the week. This is because they did not want to go else where for fear of being pulled over for little to no reason. Many members said they have not been treated like this for a long time. The Hells Angles stayed mainly near Black Bear Casino and Lost Isle bar. They rented the lost isle as there home base.

Senator Al Franken in town.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken will be in Duluth tonight. He will speak at a conference about the progressive movement starting at 7p,m tonight. Duluth Politics will be there to cover the event.

More later after work. 

Check out the voice blog site.

I have three voice blogs up at the site right now, http://www.snapvine.com/profile/3kOD7n0TEd6ytAAwSFxx0g.

Just a reminder the voice blogs will not be all local talk. I will discuss a number of issues there that I think all people may be interested in. I will however cover a lot of local issues there as well.

The first three shows are about a variety of issues.

The first show deals with the cab driver from Boston almost getting suspended.

The second is the hells angles visit to the area. Also if other people have had issues with them. Also my thoughts on the outlaw bike group.

The third show is all sports the MLB news today that David Ortiz failed a drug test in 2003 and the Duluth Huskies need new mangers.

Use the link to list to those plus I want to get one more show up tonight but not sure I will be able to. The news is out that the cash for clunkers program is coming to an end already.

Business down beacause of law enforcement.

The Pine Journal has a great story up about how the hells angles visit is going thus far. Today nothing big has happened.

The big thing in the story for me is the lose of business because of the increase in law enforcement. The statement's have came from business owners.

The third base bar owner said this.

“The biggest thing I’ve heard from other local business people is that the law enforcement is getting in the way, stopping everyone for the littlest thing,” he said. “It’s good that they are staffed just in case. But, I’m expecting [business] to be slow.”

Another business owner added this.

Linde Higton, said she thought the law enforcement presence was “too overboard.”
“They’re scaring people,” she said.

The police department gave the cop out answer they have a job to do. I normally don't go against any police department but this I do. Shame on you for causing harm to business.

Voice Blogging.

Today marks an exciting day for the Duluth Politics family. I have started voice blogging.  I am doing this from snapevine.com. My address is http://www.snapvine.com/profile/3kOD7n0TEd6ytAAwSFxx0g.

There you can listen to my show’s. They will be short at most 5 minutes long. I will talk about a number of issues. Not just Duluth Politics. The fist show is about the cab driver in Boston. I did a post about it here as well. I will focus on Duluth Politics but we there we will discuss a bunch of issue’s.

I believe you have to register to listen but I am not sure. You can try to click on the link and see if you can listen to the show. I think to comment you need to register.

Just checked you can listen by clicking on the link. No need to register however please do and comment by phone or write a comment on the voice blog site.

Power to the people rally.

I was unable to go to this as some thing came up at work just prior to and I could not get a way. With that said I will try to give my comments best I can, based of reports have seen and read.

You can find some report at the following sites www.wdio.com and www.dannydoesduluth.com well kind of a report more of just making fun of every thing.

Now did this do much. As far as any one resigning no. No one is going to step down as councilor, what it did do however is show that people are upset. Well reports varied on the amount of people at the rally. It seems most people were said there was 40 to 50 people there. With a smaller group of anti protesters.

Well I don’t agree with everything this group stood for I do agree with much of it and I hope what comes of it is more people getting involved with Government one way or another.

The rally was about the actions of a couple of councilors Toney Cuneo and Sharla Gardner. The issue’s with Cuneo was his appointment to DEDA and not paying his property taxes. Well Gardner had an issue with the sitter city commission.

The rally seemed to be more focused on Cuneo after it was all said and done.

Hell’s bell’s there here.

The motor cycle group (gang) hell’s angles are here. Every one panic we are all going to die.

People don’t worry or panic these are just people. You know the first thing that happens will be blown way out off hand by the media.

5 year old girl left in cab. Who takes the blame?

This is not a local however I found it to be interesting. A 5 year girl was left behind by her family in a Boston cab. The family was returning from a trip. They took a cab from the airport to there house. The family and the cab driver un loaded the cab when they got to the house.

A few minutes later the cab driver got a call from the police they said a child was left in his cab. He looked sure enough the child was in a the back seat of the mini van cab. The driver brought the child home right away.

Who do you think took the blame for this one? Nope not the family. That’s right the cab driver was faced with a three day suspension. Well the family would not have any charges brought against them.

“The following day, Cohen was ordered to report to the Hackney unit, where police told him his license was being suspended for three days because he didn't do a thorough check of the van. He appealed the suspension and was allowed to keep his license pending a hearing. On Tuesday, he visited the police station with an attorney and learned he would only get a warning”

It took the union and it’s lawyer's to get rid of the suspension. I agree with the cab union this was not his fault. All the blame lie on the family.

“The cabbies' union expressed outrage at the proposed suspension, saying the fault should lie with the child's family, not the driver.”

Again I agree with the union what are your thoughts?

Source: www.yahoo.com , you can read the whole story there.

Time to lose it’s liquor license.

I don’t normally advocate for the closure of businesses or the lose of something to the businesses.

With that said I think it is time for  Norshor to lose it’s liquor license. As many of you know there have been a lot of troubles with the Norshor owner. Not it seems like this guy may have another case against him in cass country.

It is time the police don’t need to worry about this business or this guy.