Red plan or not?

I recieved this email from Harry Weltywho blogges here http://www.lincolndemocrat.com//.

If you don't agree with the red plan I would strongly urge you to email the people in this post. There are local State Representatives. You can also call and write them as well. Now is the time to take action. Here is the email. Also check out the let Duluth vote web page. There link is in the email as well.


Our chance of voting on the Red Plan is better than ever . . . if you help!
Let Duluth Vote's petition will be sidetracked to the Minnesota Attorney General for a few weeks so the School Board can ignore it a little while longer. But they can't ignore Mike Jaros' bill, HR 4127, which will force a vote on the Red Plan that counts!
Three local legislators must be contacted to co-sponsor Mike's bill. Call them. Write them. Email them. You have about two weeks. And copy the URL for this page ( http://www.letduluthvote.com/ ) and email it to all your friends. Tell them to do what this page says to do.


Tell these legislators that you want to vote on the Red Plan and tell them why.
Senator Thomas M. Bakk (DFL) District 06 email 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.Capitol Building, Room 226St. Paul, MN 55155-1606Capitol office 651.296.8881 (Home 218-666-5041)
Thomas Huntley (DFL) 07A email* 585 State Office Building100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155(651) 296-2228 (Home 724-6568)E-mail: rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn


Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon DFL District 07 email75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room G-9St. Paul, MN 55155-1606Telephone: 651.296.4188 (Home 727-3997)contact Prettner's assistant. Legislative AssistantMarnie Burau Keslermarnie.burau@senate.mn(651) 296-4188


And consider thanking Mary Murphy for joining Mike Jaros: (Mike doesn't need our email)
Mary Murphy (DFL) 06B email* 343 State Office Building100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155(651) 296-2676 (800) 890-5428 (Home 729-6399)
Also: Be sure to bring all your friends to speak or back up speakers at the next School Board meeting in Old Central at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, April 15th.
Enter here for more information about Let Duluth Vote and the Red Plan
You can find this page at: http://www.letduluthvote.com/

This story stinks.

This is a story from the Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=63888&section=homepage. It deals with how this administrations wants to start to fix the sewer system.

I will have more on this later in fact it maybe a few days. I am going to do some research on this. I command the Mayor for looking at oppositions but I think there are more then just this one. It is very costly to both a home owner in the city and to the city it's self.

I hope that the city comes to realize that people will move out of the city if they need to. This just adds more cost to living in Duluth and to business's as well. We need to take a good look at what our chooses are.

Bonding Bill

I sent an email to Governor Tim Pawlenty yesterday. I asked him to veto the entire bill. Some thing he should use the line item veto. I could see that but I don't believe that will send as strong of a message to the DFL.

I am as big of a supporter as anyone to get the DECC expansion. I however am not willing to compromise values to get it. Please understand that even if the Governor did veto the entire bill we could still get the DECC expansion this year. It would be a longer process but still very possible.

The DFL tents to think that they can just disregard any warning by the Governor. He has urged them to keep it with in a specific amount yet again those chose to not do so. The bonding bill affects every Minnesota. Yes well projects maybe put at jeopardy by a veto we must understand that it needs to be done. We need responsible spending and the DFL in this case is not willing to a bit by this. In a time were Minnesota and the Country are heading toward a possible recession it is time we demand our government protect us.

I believe that a complete veto sends a much stronger message then line item veto does. I also believe it gives him the power he needs to hold there feet to the fire. Trust me when I say I believe this a lot of Minnesotans feel. Governor Pawlenty protected us last bonding season and I hope he will do it again. Now is the time to control our money.

This is what my email focused on. It went more in depth. As of now I only got the thank you for contacting our office message. Will keep you updated if I get anything back.

Lake Superior low

A report just came out that Lake Superior dropped in March. The water level dropped a full inch in March. This is not a typical drop for the month of March, it is normally does drop in March however it only drop 1/2 inch or so. The dry weather (lack of snow) sense December is the problem. Well we had the cold this we failed in the snow category.

If the lake levels keep dropping what will this do to shipping industry? Duluth and many ports re lie on there shipping season.

New look again.

I know that I just changed the look of the blog at the beginning of the year, however some one asked that I change it. They said it was hard to follow with the lay out of it. I hope this is better for some people let me know.

Superior City Council

Yesterday was election day in Superior. Our friends across the bridge had there chance to vote on City Councilor's and that they did. There was only about 20% voter turn out, however in council races were there were challengers the voting was heavy.

The city of Superior will see a new look council much like Duluth has. As you remember in our last election we elected five new councilors. Superior last night elected four new councilors only one incumbent that had a challenger was able to hold on to there seat.

The fresh start for the City of Superior will start soon. I hope that they elected people that will bring positive change to there city. I hope it is not just a promise like I believe some of our city councilors did. They promised change and I am not sure will get that. Yes it is still early to tell but it is a gut feeling I have.

Sky dome to close it's doors for good.

The next time that the Golf Sky Dome is deflated will be the last time. The sky dome is set to close it's doors April 18th's. This is not a late April fools joke either. The golf sky dome opened in 1998. There is already plans to replace the dome with six sand volleyball courts.

David Kolquist who owner the dome sited two reason's for the closer. The raise in cost of heating the dome and differences with city officials not allowing the dome to stay up year round. Mr. Kolquist is now looking for a buy of a ten year old dome. If you know of anyone I am sure he would like to hear from you.

I feel for Mr. Kolquist the man has been forced to take down a dome that has fast became a staple to the Hermantown and Duluth area. Many golfers used it to keep up on there game during our winter's.

I understand that the issue's with the city of Hermantown was a lesser issue then heating the place was. However as many know Duluth has many problems in dealing with officials and I think business's in Northern Minnesota face many challenges to succeed. Having to have justify your self every turn of the way to a city is not good policy. I understand that government needs to have some rules and regulations in place. My question however is who knows how to run your business better? You or the government, I think most people will say the person running the business does.

The city sited that fire codes stood in the way of leaving the dome up year round. Here is a question if there were supposed fire code issues would they not be in effect the three or four month that the dome stands? I wonder how much of this is the city thinks that dome is an eye sore. I would not buy that argument either.

I am going to try to get in touch with both Mr. Kolquist and some Hermantown officials and see if there would be willing to comment on this issue. In the mean time your thoughts welcome.

Novirhabdovirus - Latest on Invasive Species

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS). Also know as “Egtved virus” in Europe.

By now everyone has knows about Zebra Mussels. We all know that theses are bad. They have cost many businesses a small (or rather large) chunk of change and headache. They clog pipes, wash up on the beach, and forms large clusters on just about anything.

Maybe some of you remember the Sea Lamprey. This pesky little creature attaches itself to the side of a fish and eats away until the fish dies or it gets full. Many times the fish eventually dies from its wound.

There has been the Asian Carp and a whole slew of other invasive species. The latest, and greatest, Non-indigenous species (NIS) to hit the scene is the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS).

This little devil doesn't affect the Great Lakes like Zebra Mussels do. It is a new type of NIS. It causes a viral infection in fish. Currently, there are 50 fish identified that are susceptible to this infection. The problem is "our fish" on the Great Lakes do not have immunity to this virus. Only time will tell what toll this virus will take on the Great Lakes.

So you ask your self, well what does this have to do with Duluth Politics?

Recently Michigan passed legislation regarding ballast water procedures for ships sailing in Michigan waters. Minnesota has followed up with talks of their own legislation. More to follow...

Until then, look for signs of VHS in your local paper. It's inching it’s way it's way across the Great Lakes.

Poll question.

I have a poll question up on my bowling blog, www.teamrathebowling.blogspot.com. If you want to vote go there and check it out.

The question is who would win a bowling match you have four people to chose from. You have to go there and see who they are. I also have some thoughts on a couple of bowling events that went on just a few days ago.

This was a weird cloud or something.

If you did not see this head over to Perfect Day Duluth blog and look at the two shots they have up,http://www.perfectduluthday.com/. I saw the circle as just a plain circle at one time in the sky and thought it was a bit odd. I did not see the second pic some one got and then posted on PDD.

I did however notice this circle changed many times. It was one very odd occurrence. Do you have any thoughts on this? Please lets be realistic here.

What is good for one project is not good for another according to one blogger.

I find it funny that John over at the cheerleader blog http://shiningreputation.com/blog/ has an issue with one project but not another. Yet when you think of it the second issue should come to question before the one he talks about.

The cheerleaders issue is with the Heritage Center. Here is the link to his posthttp://shiningreputation.com/blog/?p=41.

Well my question runs with yet another project that apprenly take it's sweet old time. My question is about an arts and music center, http://www.armorycenter.org/. I don't remeber when this project started but by looking at there recoeds it was 2002. I however thing it was even before that. The Duluth Armory sits there well nothing is going on. Unlike the Duluth Heritage Center were ground breaking and construction have started.

The other issue I have with the Armory center is that you have heard nothing about it for a number of years. Yes they have the web site but other then that nothing at all. The first couple of years they were out in the public and taking donations and being vocal. Now it is like the project is dead.

If that is the case we should move on take back control of the property and do something with the property. In stead the building sits there collapsing more and more. When and if the group does come back to the City they will ask for huge amounts of money just to get the building ready to renovate.

This is sad all the way around.

This was a sad story all the way around. I will over my thoughts on the article and the issue tomorrow. This is the story from the Duluth News Tribune. I was a murder or a young man that was far to young and he had just returned back from Iraq.

Here is the story, http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=63482&section=homepage.

I was going to make comments in this story but decided not to that. I want thank the Duluth News Tribune, it did a great job with this story.

I do want to make a few comments about this issue, I think it is to bad this guy was able to plea bargain. I don't believe he had to take this young mans life. I think it was clear that the soldier after returning home was having some issues facing him. Mr. Sheda however was not threat to the party.

We need to give our veterans the help they need when they return home from war. We also need to understand that there is an adjustment time well they return home.

Two new contibuters to the blog.

I am proud to say we have two new blogger's to this blog. I am not sure how much they will blog. Mommy one and Garbon have joined the team.

Garbon does not live in Duluth any longer but lived here most of his life. He can also offer an outside look into Duluth Politics. He also can give us in site into Michigan politics and his thoughts on the many other issues.

Mommy one will bring a women's perspective into the blog. She will bring a great perspective this blog has been missing.

Huntley has at least one challnger.

Tom Huntley who has represented House District 7A for many years will face at least one challenger. His challenger is a young man by the name of Ryan Stauber. Ryan is the son of Duluth City Councilor Jim Stauber.

I am hoping to chat with Ryan this week. I want to learn more about him. Also if he agrees to I will interview him for the blog. Whether this time or later down the road. I again will be offering the chance to interview with this blog. If you would like to learn more about Ryan Stauber you can go to his web site http://www.votestauber.com/.

Nebraska no longer has the electric chair.

Last week Nebraska stopped using it's electric chair. These chose to discontinued using the chair because they said it was to inhuman and did not always work correctly. Meaning it did not always shock them to death right away.

At this time they no longer have the death penalty because they have no way or executing. The State did however retain it's death penalty law. The vote to keep the death penalty passed by just one vote.

I am a huge supporter of the death penalty. I wish the State of Minnesota had it. As far as the argument of the chair being a cruel way to go. I don't think it is, the fact is you did something so bad (murder in most cases) then you should have what ever type of the death penalty the State has. If that is an electric chair then so be it.

Norm Coleman event.

Norm Coleman was in Duluth Wednesday to kick off his campaign. About 150 people gathered to hear the Senator. Coleman speech was about getting things done, and being optimistic about the country. You may not always agree with the way we move but everyone must be optimistic and open minded. He also said that he will work and has worked with everyone in the senate. You must be willing to give and take not just take. His likely Challenger is a person known for just taking.

Coleman said that Franken does not have a record to stand on. I in a way agree and in another way disagree. get in to that later. Coleman said I will run on my record. I will run as a proud republican. My accomplished record stands for it's self he said.

After his remarks Senator Coleman took the time to talk with everyone that wanted to. He was a treat to meet and see. I look forward to seeing him again, and getting him re-elected as Senator.

Norm Coleman event today.

I will be at the Norm Coleman campaign kickoff today. It starts at 3pm., I will not be blogging from there but I will blog after the event.

If you can come join us today at the radission.

I called this one two weeks ago.

If you listened to Talk of the Town two weeks ago you know that I called this. Tracy and I were talking about the new chief administrative officer, and that is was down to three candidates. There were two from out of town and one that held a job at the County.

He asked who I thought would get the job and I said the one from Duluth. Today the Mayor announced who would take over as his right hand man. It was in fact the candidate from Duluth.

Lisa Potswald will be the new chief administrator. She will take over for interim chief administrator John Hall. I have no issue with this appointment however I was hoping he would have went out side of the Duluth area. I believe that would have brought in new blood and some one that has no perceptions about the the job.

Henry Banks says sorry.

By now many of you know about the email that Henry Banks send to two Duluth City Councilors. Councilor Fedora and Krause received an email from Mr. Banks after being asked questions. The questions were being asked because Mr. Banks was looking to be confirmed to a committee.

Councilor Krause had asked a question about being on two city boards, well Councillor Fedora had questions about a pass application. This promoted Mr. Banks to send the email to the two councilors.

What are your thoughts on this issue? If you want to get more details you can read the paper today http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11FA280E915F6EF8&p_docnum=1.

I do have some thoughts but don't want to be the first to comment because I don't want to dictate the way of the conversation. It is open to you start.

Here are some general questions you can think about. Does racism happen in Duluth? Does racism happen to all people? Should Mr. Banks step down from his current board? Should Fedora and Krause let it go?

You can also vote on the poll on this issue.

Lots going on.

Lots to blog about so check back and see what is going on here at DP.

What you mean another Democrat in trouble. This time a bit closer to home.

This story is in Garbon neck of the woods.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080324/ap_on_re_us/detroit_mayor

You mean another democrat in trouble. Better the the Democratic Governor will not get involved yet.

I sure am glad today is leatherhead day and other notes.

Boy am I glad that today is leatherhead day in Duluth. As many of you know two big name movie stars were in Duluth today to kick off there movie. The movie will open April 4th. Leatherheads is based loosely on the Duluth Eskimos (bulldogs) in the movie from the 1920's.



Their press conferences started at 11 a.m. today. I must have been about the only one that did not care. I am not a movie watcher. I could not tell you a single movie George Clooney or Renee Zellweger have been in.



Here is the part about it being leatherhead day in Duluth. It comes from the Duluth News Tribune. This from Duluth Mayor Don Ness to kick off the Press Conference.



Duluth Mayor Don Ness launched the 11 a.m. press conference by proclaiming March 24 as “Leatherheads’ Day” and saying he didn’t consider himself “the slickest operator in Duluth,” a line that Zellweger’s character slams Clooney with in the film.



This would have been a bigger thing if there were staying in Duluth for longer then two or three hours. The fact is they did not, it was a kick off party to announce the movie. The way the media of all types have worked this up is incredible odd to me. The fact is this had no impact on Duluth.



Now on to a few other notes. I was going to blog about Sara Jane Olson. Not sure I will other then to say she is were she belongs once again. I may or may not come back to this issue.



I will be at the Duluth City Council meeting tonight. If there is anything interesting I will pass it along.



I hope you all hade a great Easter. We spend the weekend down in St.Cloud.

Disc Golf: Should this be part of the city parks?

Note: I have moved this up. If anyone would like to comment please feel free to. The commnets so far are a bit out of line so if you have not read them please read from the top and work your way down. For some reason the commends are not in order. By the way Jim thanks for the info. I will post a comment to them soon.


Disc golf courses should they be part of the Duluth Parks and Recreations?

This is a question, I know nothing about disc golf. Never played it and have not heard much about it. I wonder however if it is as popular as people say it is then why not open a private course? One not ran by the city?

These are just a couple of questions. Maybe some one can give me there thoughts and enlighten me on what the game is.

Duluth Citizens Blog.

It seems as if the Duluth Citizens Blog may shut down again. At least that is the threat by the new operator. He says if there is not contributions made to the site he can not afford to operate the blog any longer.

My question is why do they need money. It is fairly cheap to run a site, in some cases even free. Why the trouble? Is there legal action or something?

Anyone have any idea?

Watch this>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMaMYL_shxc

Watch this and let me know your thoughtgs.

Just a side note people have asking me how to get a hold of me with out leaving a comment. Just email me at duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com

Mayor Ness to hold public meetings .

As many of you know Well City Councilor Don Ness was running for Duluth Mayor he promised that the office would be open to all. The Mayor announced that in fact he will be holding open meetings. The meetings will take place on Tuesday nights. They will be once a month meetings.

I like this idea. I hope this is some thing he continues for his term.

The meetings will take place the last Tuesday of every month. With the first one coming March 25th. They will all start at 5p.m.

This came from the Duluth Journal web site: www.duluthjournal.com

Duluth Mayor Don Ness will hold his first ‘Mayor’s Night’ event with Duluth citizens at City Hall next Tuesday at 5 p.m. — and continuing until each person has a chance to speak with the mayor.
The meetings will be held in the Fourth Floor Reception Room, which is Room 405, and held monthly on the last Tuesday of each month.

“It’s important that the Mayor’s office is open and accessible to all Duluth citizens,” Ness said. “I can’t guarantee that every issue will be resolved or that we’ll find agreement on every issue at hand — but every person will have their chance to express themselves and know that I have heard their perspective.”

‘Mayor’s Night’ events will give citizens regular opportunities to meet with Mayor Ness and senior city staff. Citizens can come to the Reception Room to sign in. Meetings with the mayor will be on a first come-first served basis. All citizens taking part will have an opportunity to meet with the mayor, though the presence of larger numbers of citizens may mean slightly shorter meeting times.

“This event is another small step in our efforts to improve service and accountability in City Hall,” said Ness. “The important thing is to make sure everyone is heard and all legitimate concerns are placed in a system where we can act on them and follow up.”

Plug!!!

I know that I have plugged this site before but I want to do it again.


It is an outstanding site. Duluth Solutions is the site. Find them at www.duluthsolutions.com. The topics very. The point of the site is to bring people together and come up with ways of improving Duluth. You can also bring up topics of other interest as well. The site offers more then I can put into words so check them out. Plus I don't want Chris to be mad at me :) I have plugged my site there.

Hey Chris anything you want to add feel free!!

When can I expect my Federal rebate check?

This is from the Duluth News Tribune, find then online at www.duluthnewstribune.com.

The Internal Revenue Service today announced that federal tax rebates will be distributed on the basis of the last two digits of Social Security numbers beginning May 2. Payments will be completed in July.
Those who designated direct deposit of their federal tax refunds will receive the rebates that way. Those who didn’t will receive paper checks.
The only thing most people need to do to receive what’s called the economic stimulus payment is file their federal 2007 income tax returns, IRS spokeswoman Carrie Resch said.
However, some low-income workers, railroad retirees and Social Security and veterans benefits recipients who don’t normally file must do so this year to receive the rebates. The IRS is sending a mailing beginning this week with information for those people.
With few exceptions, payments will be made in this order for tax returns received and processed by April 15.
For direct deposit payments, if the last two digits of your Social Security number are:
00 – 20, payment is expected by May 2.
21 – 75, expected by May 9.
76 – 99, expected by May 16.
For paper checks:
00 – 09, the check should be in the mail by May 16.
10 – 18, in the mail by May 23.
19 – 25, in the mail by May 30.
26 – 38, in the mail by June 6.
39 – 51, in the mail by June 13.
52 – 63, in the mail by June 20.
64 – 75, in the mail by June 27.
76 – 87, in the mail by July 4.
88 – 99, in the mail by July 11.

Core Services.

What is a core service to you that the city should provide? I believe that the city needs to focus on emergency services, controlling crime and drug deals that go on in Duluth. I also believe that the city must work heavily on improving our roads. As many of you know Duluth roads are in deplorable shape.

This is not because of city workers, it is because of the city's choices. We have decided for far to long to not pay any attion to our streets. Now in most cases we are needing to totally re-haul a street that is fixed. I know many people don't believe that the over-lay program works. Here is the deal it would if we did not let the streets get so bad. I also think it is time that Duluth takes a look at alternate forms of street martial. Most of our streets are pavement (black top). I believe we would get better wear and longer use of our streets if we used concrete. Much like Mesabi Ave. is.

The Duluth City Council has robbed the fund that is to improve our streets for many years. We can ill-effort this to continue. Many of the new faces on our city council ran saying that our roads and infrastructure was a major focus. Now is the time to hold the feet to the fire.

I will have much more on this topic tonight and all this week. This is a huge topic facing Duluth politics right now. We all need to encourage our councilors to support core services. I have not yet said what I believe are all the core services but they will all be brought up in the post to come. What do you believe our core services are?

Norm Coleman coming to Duluth part 2.

As stated before Senator Norm Coleman is coming to Duluth. This will be all part of officially kicking off his re-election campaign. His visit will be held at the Raddison Hotel in Downtown Duluth. The visit will be from 3-4 p.m.

If you would like to attend please drop me an email and let me know, www.duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com . Now would be a good time for me to mention as well that I am the coordinator for the East and Central hillside areas of Duluth for Senator Colman's re-election. If you live in this area of town please contact me if you would like to help with the campaign. The job is a volunteer position.

Mike Ciresi Drops out of the Senate race.

The best DFL candidate in my mind dropped out of the race yesterday. I was not going to support Mr. Ciresi however I thought he was the best candidate the DFL had. I first read the news at www.minnesotademocratsexposed. Followed by a story on the www.duluthnewstribune.com site.

My first thought was, to bad. The best candidate they offer drops out because he feels he can't win the nomination. I was cheering for Mr. Ciresi to win the DFL nomination. I then expected a tight race for the guy I do support Senator Coleman. Mike offered the a common sense approach on many issues. It does not matter if you agree with him or not. He and I don't agree many times, however in the few times I have had the chance to talk with him he was very respectful.

Senator Colman had this to say about the news, "Mike Ciresi should be applauded for his willingness to get into the arena and his desire to serve. He and I both share a common path in having raised our families here and making a commitment to serving the people of Minnesota through public and community service. He would have been a formidable opponent. Laurie and I and our family extend our best wishes to Mike and Anne."

I think by Ciresi dropping out of the race it will only help the re-election Mr. Coleman. It sure is my hope anyway. I don't see a lot of the people that would have voted for Mike voting for Al Fraken. Even if Ciresi endorses him.

Well Well Well..........

All I have to say for now is this. No one is perfect nor is any party. The Democrats love to call the republicans, well here is one for you Democrats http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23561606. Talk about this why don't you?

*****UPDATE******
Here is another interesting story, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080310/ap_on_re_us/spitzer_prostitution.

This story seems to have more legs then the Senator Craig story did and does. I am not defending senator Craig at this time but the two story's seem to go in a different direction. Well the Senator's story line is unclear as to what happened this seems to be cut and dry for N.Y. Governor.

I hope to have a full story and thoughts up soon tonight. Tell then happy reading the above story's.

Norm Coleman coming to Duluth

Senator Norm Coleman will be making an appearance in Duluth. It will be to officially kick off his re-election campaign. He will be in town March 26th. He will be in town late afternoon. More info to come.

Just aside note his appearance is four days after my 30th birthday, on March 22nd. It is also my best friends birthday.

Mayor Ness: How has he done the first couple of month.

Mayor elect Don Ness very quickly became the Mayor of Duluth. The move was quick and quite for the most part.

Now that he has been in office for a couple of month, I thought we would take a look at what has gone on. Let me start by saying I believe it is way to early to pass major judgement on how he is doing.

I have to say he wanted to keep city topics off the front page and out of the news. He has done a good job so far. I think that is clear by this blog not having a lot of local issues to talk about the last couple of weeks. I like that there seems to be less complain in city government at least so far. This may not stay the case. If it does not however I am not sure that this mayor would be at fault. That all remains to be seen.

The mayor at this point has not done a lot, however that must be expected. What he has done is said he would like to help out our sewer system, by using sump pumps instead of our current system. I don't have a feeling on this as of yet either way.

He has also announced that Duluth will host a new festival. Other then that with a few small other items in there not much to report.

Over all at this point I think the Mayor is doing okay. Time will tell what direction Duluth will move. I remain optimistic at this point. However that does not mean that I won;t be critical when I think I need to be. I will also give praise when deserved as well.

Saying good bye

Today I with a number of other people said good bye to a friend, teacher, coach. Mr Forbort passed away at the age of 72.

His service was today. The church was packet. It was nice to see so many people come out to remeber this great man.

Mr. Forbort was an outstanding person. Anyone that knew him does need me to tell them that. It will life on in his children ( not so young any more) lol.

Thanks Mr. Forbort. You were a great inspiration in mine and so many other peoples life.

Funny clips

Go here to watch some funny clips about the presidental race. http://video.msn.com/?vid=0a4383a6-7514-4aff-9443-47191b3c9f7f&mkt=en-us&from=politicalviralvideowidget&playlist=videoByTag:tag:election

NEW: Lakeside/Lester Park post. A&L tied together with Diamond Willow?

Here is an interesting twist. Well, I don’t know if you even want to call it a twist. It is a fact that adds many questions in this case. I am of course talking about the St. Lukes Lakeside/Lester Park Clinic and the Diamond Willow Assisted Living project. Diamond Willow is owned by a group called Five Star.

After talking with community members opposed to this project, I learned some very interesting news shortly after the voting for the project. It became evident that one of the two developments in this case have something very interesting in common.

As many people know the community against the project and those parties vying for the project have had community meetings with each other. A source last night told me in one of those meetings a question came up to the Director of Diamond Willow. The question was who owned them? The response was shocking; Five Star, who owns and will operate and benefit from Diamond Willow is owned by Rob Link, from A&L Development, who is obviously the developer of this entire project.

Why is this issue? In the course of the meeting the developer, Rob Link from A&L had said “don’t blame us we doing what are clients are asking us to do”. Yet come to find out that one of the clients is actually him for which he has a vested stake. Now not only is he the developer of the project but he has part ownership in Five Star, Diamond Willow Assistant Living, thus a true direct financial benefactor, rather than just a "hired" developer which follows his clients request. He is the overall "Mastermind" her. Mr. Link chose to leave this very big part of the financial equation out of the discussion, and even side-stepped this important correlation, it had to be forced out, when left with no other choice.

Talk of the Town.

As I Mentioned before, Tracy Lundeen with host a new talk show. The show will air every Saturday morning on the Fan (WEBC560).You can also listen to the show live on the internet at www.fan560.com. If you are not up that early or would like to listen to the show again Tracy will have you covered. You can listen to the show on his site that should launch on Friday. That is located at www.tracytalks.com .

Talk of the Town is the name of the show. It will vary a lot in topics discussed. It should be a lot of fun. Tune in for a great two hour program.

Here is the Press release that Tracy sent out to the media:

2828 Piedmont Avenue, Suite B, Duluth, MN 55811
218-727-1177
www.thelundeengroup.com


NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release (2-7-08)

“Talk of the Town with Tracy Lundeen” to Debut February 16th

Duluth, MN……. A new weekly radio show “Talk of the Town with Tracy Lundeen” will debut Saturday February 16th on WEBC the Fan 560 (560AM) it was announced today. The weekly show will air from 6 to 8am and will also be on the internet at www.fan560.com.

Tracy Lundeen who was co-host of KDAL’s top rated Saturday morning talk show “Northland Calling” with Neill Atkins for nearly three years most recently co-hosted “Northland Magazine” with Kerry Rodd the former voice of UMD Hockey and KDAL Radio personality. Northland Magazine was aired weekly on three area radio stations based out of Cloquet.

“I’m excited to be back on Duluth radio as this is the area where I work, live and raise my family” said Lundeen. “I hope to entertain listeners and at the same time make them think a little about all the positive things we can do as a community if we just cooperate and work together towards positive solutions to the very challenging issues we face.”

Lundeen calls “Talk of the Town” a Magazine Show that will move quickly and cover many topics and occasionally take listener phone calls. With Lundeen’s vast background in the fields of entertainment, business and politics and also being a single parent there should be NO shortage of topics Lundeen can or will cover on Saturday mornings.

Guests for the first show will be Musician-Songwriter Bill Sandwick. Bill is the author of the song “Duluth” that was recorded by the Duluth based rock band “Winterwood” in 1977. The song was commissioned by WEBC for a promotion they were running called “I Love Duluth.” Sonny Geraci, Sonny was the voice of the hit “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders in the late 60’s and the number one ballad of 1972: Precious and Few” by Climax. Duluth Businessman Charlie Bell and Neill Atkins, Lundeen’s former co-host on KDAL.

This new show will be the Talk of the Town!!!!!!

Tracy Lundeen back on the radio.

I am very excited about this show. Tracy Lundeen will host a radio show on the Fan ( WEBC 560 am). The show will air Saturday mornning from 6-8A.m. The show does start this weekend.

If you are not up at the time you will be able to hear the show on his web site. I will let you know that info as soon as I am okayed to put it out. I understand that this weeks show will be jam packed with guest. It should be a good first show.

The other exciting part for me is that I will be producing the show for Mr. Lundeen. You may even hear my two cents every once in a while. I have not yet talked to him about that but you just never know what you may hear. Tune in this Saturday for the first show.

Tomorrows council meeting.

Tomorrows Duluth City Council meeting should be an interesting one. There is a public hearing for the Lake side clinc. Plus that could be voted on the same night. There are a couple of other interesting things as well.

Two days removed from Super Tuesday.

I could not be more happy today. We are just two days removed from Super Tuesday and Mitt Romney is now out of the race. Mitt said Tuesday night that this fight has just started. We will fight on.

Today Romney dropped out of the race saying it is now time to unite. If I stayed in this fight then we would ensure a win for Clinton or Obama. He said this is not about me, it is about our Country.

Thank you Mitt Romney for relizing what this race is about and being a great candidate. Unlike those that run radio shows are a class act.

SMDC reaches deal with city on parking ramp.

SMDC and the city of Duluth have reached a tenitive agrement on the first street parking ramp. After a long debate over what SMDC should pay for there spots it may come to an end on Thursday.

A debate that started after a poor choice by Mayor Bergson to not get anything in writing may end. The council will hold a special meeting tomorrow to deal with the issue. They will vote on a agrement reached today between the city and SMDC. The agrement is for SMDC to purchase 200 spaces at $72 each, which will increase 3 percent annually through 2027, meaning that by the end of the agreement spaces would cost $126 a month.

I do hope this will be a end to this issue.

You can get more info at the DNT, www.duluthnewstribune.com .

LOL......

I thought it was funny as I was listening to radio today. I heard a commercial for Hillary. It made me laugh because it was on Duluth stations. I thought by you are a day late. She does not even know when Minnesota votes.

I know I heard the ad and it was geared to Wis. but I still thoght it was funny. Yes the Duluth stations of course reach into Wis. however she did not advertize for the Minnesota caucse at least not up here and now she is for the Wis. vote. Just got a kick out of it .

Radio talk shows.

I am so sick of Sean Hannity and Rush cring like babies about this election. I like both of these talk shows however I can't stand there whinning.

They are whinning about John McCain how is a head in this election. They have been pushing Romney who is not the conservitive candidate, out of the three I would Huckabee is the most conservitive. McCain is not perfect but I believe he is the best candidate to take on the war on terror. Notice I said war on terror and not just the war in Iraq. Will we be there for a long time yes. It however will not be the only place we need to look. I also believe ther Mr. McCain's forgn policie is out standing.

I don't agree with him all the time, there are major things we disagree on. I still however believe he is the best candidate we have at this time.

Fact is I am so sick of what Sean and Rush are saying and doing. If Romney did get the nomination I would not vote for him. I would have to either do one of three things, not vote for president, write some one in or vote for a candidate in a different party. Not the democrats however. Thanks guys!!!!!!

Super Tuesday.

I will be taking part in Super Tuesday tonight. I will however have many comments when I return home, I may even have some well the we are in the middle of the whole deal. I love cell phones with the net on them. check here later for more info and thoughts on Super Tuesday.

Florida

8:26 pm McCain wins. With almost 70% of the vote counted McCain leads by 5% over Romney. McCain has 36% well Romney has 31%. The numbers are remaining the same and it is clear now that John McCain get the 57 delegates votes in Florida. It is now on to Super Tuesday.

8:16pm McCain now has a 5% lead with 55% counted. If this stays the course McCain will start to pull away. I am not yet calling it for McCain however. The numbers are coming in fast. Rudy is expected to talk soon. It is not clear if he will drop out tonight or tomorrow.


8:12 pm Clinton leads with 51% of the vote and that is with 44% counted.

8:11pm You can watch McCain HQ here http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?liveSiteStream_::_1&Live_Site_Stream&Live%2520Stream&acc&Live%2520Stream&-1&News&180&&&exp. You can also watch Rudy's HQ here http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?liveSiteStream_::_3&Live_Site_Stream&Live%2520Stream&acc&Live%2520Stream&-1&News&180&&&new I will put up more as I get them.

8:10 pm With 48% of the vote in McCain still has a 3% point lead over Romney. It has been this way for the last 10 minutes or so. Still the race is to close to call.

8:06 pm It is now being reported by Time Magizen that Rudy Giuliani will drop out of the race. This is not a shock. He was putting all his eggs in this basket and he needed to win this primary. He will finsh either 3rd or fourth in this race. He and Huckabee are in a close race for the thrid spot.

8:05 The race remains very tight between McCain and Romney. John McCain head quarters in Florida is excited. The room is filled with supporters. As is the Romney headquarters.


7:50 p.m. Florida Primary results are coming in and it is clear that Hillary Clinton will win for the Democrates what is unclear is who will win the republican side. Romney and McCain are in a close race. Well Rudy is running third and now it seems as if he will be dropping out of the race.


More to come soon.

Duluth see's two Presidental candidates advertise.

Democrat candidate Barak Obama and Republican candidate Ron Paul have both decided to advertise in Duluth for votes on super Tuesday.

I thought it was a bit odd that Obama is advertising only because he will win up here of Clinton 5-1. I thought it advertising would be better spend else were in the State.

I don't think it is odd the Paul is advertising only because he is in desperate need of support. I don't see it doing much good however. Duluth will go one of two ways on the republican side. Duluth will go with either McCain or Romney.

This years John Beargrease Sled Dog race.

As some of you know I am a huge fan of the Beargrease race. I think it is a great event, even if they did not call me back when I asked to be a volunteer :P.

This years race however has proven to be very tough on the teams. With the race about half over already they have lost half of the field the warm weather in the first two days have caused the most trouble. Still this will be a few exciting race.

Lakeside talk.

I hope to be posting this later tonight but I may not be able to because I still don't have the info I want for it. I will post it asap if it is not up tonight.

I will however post a couple of other thing related to the issue. I have posted on Duluth Solutions forum a topic about this issue. Here is just part of what I said about the issue there.

It became clear to me last night that the residents of the Lester Park area are in fact getting a bad deal if this was to pass. I have been keeping up on this issue even when I don't live in the area because it is an important one. There are a number of topics I would like you to think about when you think about this issue.

1. Property values

2. Commercial vs. residential property

3. Environment

4. Quality of Life

Head over to Duluth Solutions to check out the rest of my post and what others are have to say about it there. Fell free to comment there and here as well about the issue. It does not matter if you agree with me or not. We need to have discussions like to. It will only help but make Duluth strong as long as we take action because of the discussion. You can get to Duluth Solutions by clicking the link: www.duluthsolutions.com .

Coming tomorrow. Lakeside talk.

Tomorrow I will have much more on the council meeting. There was a lot that went on, I don't have enough time to go over it all now.

A brief look is Lakeside talk, most of the meeting revolved around the Lakeside/ Lester Park area of Duluth. One issue was the new development on the St. Lukes clinic and an assiant living home. The second was on the liqueur issue in Lakeside Lester park.

I am waiting on some info one both of these issues but look tomorrow for what I hope is an enjoyable post. Both for you to read and me to put together.

I am asking for your help. Bowl-a-Thon

Hi everyone it is not very offend that I do this, but I am asking for your support to a great event. There is going to be a bowl-a-thon at Country Lanes North for MDA that I am taking part in.

I am asking if you can donate any amount it would help out MDA greatly. Your donation will go to muscular dystrophy . Your donation in 100% to the MDA. You can read more about MDA here, http://www.mdausa.org/. The organization is most known for it's labor day weekend benefit host by Jerry Lewis.

Again please think of giving a donation, if you would like to do so just drop me an email and we will go from there. Email me at duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com

Fighting?

So yesterday we learned that Laura Ness the wife of Mayor Don Ness is supporting a different presidential candidate then he is. Who is she supporting Hillary Clinton. Laura Ness said how can I not support her she is so smart. This is debatable.

Laura was at an event with 24 other people in support of Hillary Clinton yesterday. As you can see it was a huge turn out.

Councilor Fedora making waves?

Today newly elected 1st district Duluth City Councilor Todd Fedora asked what was happening with the city's Irrevocable Trust Fund. Councilor Fedora sited the down turn in the stock market as his concern. He said the citizens have the right to know what is going on with the fund.

The New mayor disagrees in a way.


I will have more tomorrow.

You can read the email that councilor Fedora send to John Hall, and the Mayors responce to the email that councilor Fedora sent. Notice how I said Mayors responce and not Hall's. Anyway read the emails here http://www.areavoices.com/shareaphoto/?blog=19750.

Hermantown Mayor in trouble?

Hermantown Mayor Keith MacDonald was arrested Sunday in the Miller Hill Mall parking lot. MacDonald was arrested for violating a restraining order against him. The restraining order was filed by his ex-girlfriend.

It sounds much like MacDonalad is not denying the charge. The reason he said he was following her is because he just wanted to talk.

In the Duluth News Tribune Story McDonald said this: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=58651&section=News

MacDonald said it was a coincidence that he ran into his former fiancee at the Miller Hill Mall. He said he went there to buy a couple of Hallmark cards and get a cup of coffee.

“I didn’t feel that her family gave me and her the opportunity to be able to talk,’’ he said.

“Consequently, when I saw her in the mall, I thought that maybe I might have the opportunity to have that final chance of talking to her.’’

Now I see this two ways, one is scare and I don't blame the lady for calling the cops. The other as a reasonable response. Now with that said. We don't know much about there relationship and if some one was falling me I would also call the cops. If it was some one I knew in a case like this I would have done the same thing this lady did. On the surface his response puts him in a bad spot.

Who were the cards for? Her? Did he really know that she was at the mall and that is why he went there? Why would you follower her out into the parking lot?

Not much on the local seen the last couple of days.

There has not been much going on in the local seen of politics. I will post on local issues soon. Along with the presidental race. There has however been plenty going on there. I will cover that here today as well.

I need to also remind you to take part in the poll located to the right of the screen in the "tool bar" area. There is only a couple days left to vote.

More on book store closing.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/news/story?id=3201871

This story from the DNT sounds odd to me. I would love to talk to the owners of the book store if anyone knows them or knows how to get a hold of them let me by email duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com .

More to come later.

NFL preview

This Sunday is the championship games in the NFL. The AFC game pits undefeated New England against San Diego

I think the charges can hang with the Pats until halftime, that is only if they are not as beat us as they are right nowhttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/news/story?id=3201871. The Chargers are practicing with out four of five key plays. The most notable is there starting QB Phillip Rivers. If he does not play than the game will be a joke. The Pats will run away with it the whole game.

Who I want to win New England. The team to this point is undeafeated and then they can toss all the crap about cheating in every one's face. I like both of these teams however and wish neither had to lose. It is football however were there is a WINNER thank god. They don't just play to ties like so many youth sports do now.

Prediction: Pats defeat Charges 42-27 if Rivers play's if not 42-10 or so.

The second game is the NFC championship game. It has two team that I hate. Therefore I don't care much about it. It is however going to be another joke of a game. The teams playing in it are the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. The game is in Green Bay. Need I say more.

Eli Manning will be horrible, He will toss no less then 4int's and the giants as a team will turn the ball over no less then 6 times.

Who I want to win: Who cares, if I must say some one the Packers. I had Manning more the Farve but I hate to say I am cheering for the pack. That is why I don't care about this game. I will pay little if any attain to it.

Prediction: Green Bay 47-13

Breaking News: Fire department shuts down book store.

This is from the Duluth News Tribune http://www.duluthnewstribuen.com/

City of Duluth communications director Jeff Papas confirmed today that Boardwalk Books, 206 E. Superior St., was shut down by the fire chief. Papas said that the bookstore had longstanding fire safety violations.

My first question is, can the store re-open? What kind of fines were given first if any? How long have the violation been going on?

The store says longstanding but I am curious if anyone knows how long it has been? I would

This part of the story made me laugh a bit: George Persgard locked the front door after being told he was being shut down and would not let anyone in for about 15 minutes. He said he was then ticketed for obstruction of justice.

Now this leads me to believe that the store could have been left open for the day. Correct or not I have no idea. I guess for some reason I find the obstruction of justice ticket funny. Was he not allowing the cops and fire department do what was needed to be done?

Mayor Ness joins team Obama.

Duluth Mayor Don Ness has agreeed to be part of the Minnesota team for Presidental candidate Obama.

Now I don't have a problem with this. He can support anyone he wants to. As can I, as can the person next door. What I do have a problem with is this. the sotry stats all the time that Mayor Don Ness has jointed the team.

This is were the problem lays for me in the Mayor of Duluth. It makes it seem as he is representing the city. I can tell you that the whole city of Duluth does not support Obama.

Mayor Ness will serve as a co-chariperson to the Obama campaign. Ness said he is excited to be part of the campaign. He thinks that Obama is a candidate that will bring the country together.

Now if Mayor Ness does the duties given him by the Obama camp in his free time, not of city time then I have no issue. Also if he gives a speech or does any stumping for Obama he needs to do it as a private citizen not the Mayor of Duluth. I feel the same way about Governor Tim Pawlenty who is helping John McCain.

I believe that Mr. Ness understand that he needs to do any duties off of city time and I believe he will do so. I don't think it will interfer with his work as Mayor. If it does then I think he needs to get out of the position on the Obama camp.

This will be the new poll for the week.

Do you think the Mayor Ness should have taken the Job with the Obama campaign? That poll coming soon.

New look

Don't be alarmed. I just changed the look a bit. I like to change the look ever once in a while.

DP vs. Duluth Solutions?

I just got an email from the moderater of Duluth Solutions. A form that I love and am part of. Duluth Solutions is a great forum if you have not checked it out as of yet you should do so. Here is the link www.duluthsolutions.com .

NFL football.

Packers kill seahawks 42 -20, this game was a joke. The seahawks look horrible and not ready to play. Snow or no snow you need to know that the game is in Green Bay and any weather system can move in. Holmgren should retire.

To days first game Chargers and Indy. The officials has been horrible in this game. It has been bad against both teams. By the way IND second TD was not a TD. His foot was out before he crossed the end zone. I think Rivers will be back in the game for SD.

By the way anyone who thought that IND would cover the 101/2 point spread on SD is nuts. I knew this would be a good close game. In fact the itty bitty colts may even lose. GOD I hope so.


UPDATE: Finale score Chargers 28- Indy 24 to bad Payton Manning. Now all I need is the Giants and Eli Manning to lose today and I will be one happy man.

My thoughts on Sharla Gardner retiring from here union job.

DISCLAIMER: I was a candidate in the thrid district Duluth City Council race during the primary's.


As many of you know Sharla Gardner quite her full time day job. When she won a seat on the Duluth City Council. She defeated Heather Rand in the general election.

Sharla's move was nothing put political. She and union both saw what happened to councilor Johnson. The saw that it could be a bad think if she stayed on as a union head and served on the council.

What people need to realize is that she will continue to vote anything the union supports. When I was ran against her in the primary. She and I were at the AFL -CIO endorsement and she said I will support every major project you plan to forward to the council. Well I believe union's are very important to Duluth, I think everything needs to be looked at from both sides. What are we going to gain what could we loss. Does it benefit everyone or just a special interest?

Talked with a business owner today.

I had a very good conversations with a local business owner today. He asked me what I thought of the Mayors speech I told him.

He asked if I thought there was much hope over the next four years for business. I said I don't know but we talked about some thinks that have gone on.

His business has been hurt by another business that opened up there, not because they are competitors but because of an ordinance that is on the books and the city chose to not enforce that ordinance when they allowed the new business to come in.

The city needs to look at what a new business could do to another business before allowing it to operate. We can ill-afford to pit business against each other. This should not and will not stop business coming into Duluth. The business just needs to make sure they have there ducks in a row. The council also has to know what is happening. All ordinances must be followed. I know of many other cases like this.

Clinton = Cry Baby or smart move.

Here is the video were she cried. ,http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=5860232&ch=4226716&src=news.

Here is an article about if the Tears were real or fake: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-jong/tears-fears_b_80679.html.

This will be debated for a long time. What are your thoughts?

McCain and Clinton win New Hampser.

Republican John McCain won last night with easy. There were a number of republicans that did not fair well. Some of them this was there second failed effort. I think we will start to see some candidates drop out of the race soon on the republican side.

Those that I think maybe saying good bye soon include Fred Thompson, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter. Hunter I would guess would be the first. The real question at his point is what is going on with Rudy Giuliani? He has been the front runner all along but finished Well below the top vote getter's in the last two events.

Hillary Clinton won a shocker to most. It was not that big of a shock to me after her crying game. Yes to me it was just all part of the game. She could get more support. I have said all along that for the Democrats Obama is the better candidate. I would look for this race to remain close in many city's.

Family

Our family will be growing very shortly. My wife and I are expecting our second child. The baby will be born about Memorial Day.

Yesterday my wife had an ultra sound. That is standard when you reach 20 weeks along which she is at. It is also the ultrasound that you can find out what the baby is if you so chose to do so. Like we did.

The new baby is going to be a boy. I am so excited. I am now not going to be the only male in the house. I was a little worried that there would be three females and then me lol.

My wife and I could not be more excited about this new chapter in our life's. The next few month will be exciting times for our family. Have a child is like no other experience in life.

My first email to Mayor Don Ness.

This email was sent in part because of Dave's email. You can find that email in the comments of my State of the City address blog.


Hi, Mayor Ness


I am sure you say the quote in the paper, that I made. I don't know if you looked at the blog as of yet. Here is what I wrote.


State of the City speech.
Fist I need to say this. I consider Mayor Ness to be a great friend. We may not always in fact offend agree on politics but that is okay. Politics should never stand in the way of a friendship in my eyes.The Mayor and I grew up right next door to each other. We played all the time, we shared great times and I think we still do and can. When we talked tonight we expressed how we have always been very pleasant with each other. He also expressed how sometimes when I write he does not think it is always nice. I am always willing to listen if anyone including Mayor Ness wants to know why I said something the way I did just ask. Emailing is the best way to get a hold of me duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com .There is only two people that are not allowed two post. I think they know who they are. This is because of the they conducted them self's.Now onto what this is suppose to be about the speech from tonight. I thought it was a very good speech. The intend of the speech was to energize the city and the people in the room. It delivered in an up lifting way. To me the the speech was much like a coach giving a big pep-talk to his team.I think the intend was of the speech was very successful. After the speech was over I talked to many people and they had nothing but good things to say. At least most people did.The content that was good for his political view. If you agree with his vision or not at this point does not matter. It was very much along the lines he wants to move this city.If I was to grade the speech I would give it a B.Next I will get into what was said and if I like that as much as the deliver of the speech.


I also received an email from Dave, you did as well. Using the coach and teacher was not meant to be demeaning to anyone. Nor should it have been taken that way. I will be replying to Dave later. I thought this post better showed what I meant by what I said in the paper. Being in the media I understand that you can only print small portions for a news story. The DNT I thought did a great job of covering the State of the City from all angles.

As we talked on Monday night we don't agree politically all that much. I think and hope however that you and I along with the whole city can come together and work as a team. I believe as you that is what is needed.

I think we can start to work together on the things we do agree on, those off the top of my head are keeping young people here and our parks and rec department. I hope that I can work with you in some way to make these issues and many others better. If you have any groups I would love to take part in them.

Sincerely,

John Rathe

Barb Olsen and Russ Stewart on KUMD

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kumd/local-kumd-664914.mp3

Above is a link to KUMD's out of order show. The host is Barb Olsen who writes for the reader and does this show on the radio.

This weeks guessed were Todd Fedora and Jeff Anderson. Take a listen it is worth your time. Any thoughts please share them.

What was said at the Mayor's inaugural address.

Here is were I think Mayor Ness really failed the citizens of Duluth. As I said before I think that the speech lacked in what was going to happen over the next four years. Did he say some good things yes. What he did not do was back them up with how he at wanted to go about solving them or working the issues. Did he say things that I agreed with him on yes. Were there things said that I did not agree with as well. For sure there was.

Mayor Ness said was determent to keep our young people and family's here. He also said he was going to improve our parks and rec especially those in neighborhoods. This is great something I most defiantly agree with. The problem is he gave use no idea how he planned to do this.

He said he was going focus Duluth infrastructure as well. He said by the 2010 the street improvement fund would be doubled. This sounds great but is it? I have some questions about this one. I guess my first question is this. If the Mayor is looking to double the fund how does he plan to do this? Will it take away from other core services? Next would be, tell the year 2010 what can we expect for street improvements? Weill there be any? How much?

He also said he will work to update Duluth very old sewer system and stop over flows. Here again how and at what cost?

These are all things the citizens deserve to know. Yes I understand he has not been in office to fully understand how everything works. He must however have some ideas he would at least like to look at to solve these issues. Those should have been offered in his speech in my mind. We need to have an idea of were any Mayor is going to take us. We deserve to know if our taxes are going to go up or down or stay about the same as inflation.

I think you get the idea the speech lacked information. Very critical information Duluthains should know.

There was also one other thing in his speech that made me very uneasy. This I really wish he would have left out. He made a comment about his family and being able to balance that and being Mayor. It was a clear shot at Charlie Bell who made a comment during the election that people with kids need to make sure that they can run for Mayor. being Mayor is very time consuming. Now I don't agree with Charlie on this. Don had every right to run for Mayor.

Here is why it upset me on Monday night however. Mayor Ness said all along that he was not going to comment on the Bell comment and he was going to let it go. With the comment in his speech it make it clear that he was in fact the one pushing the attain to that issue.

State of the City speech.

Fist I need to say this. I consider Mayor Ness to be a great friend. We may not always in fact offend agree on politics but that is okay. Politics should never stand in the way of a friendship in my eyes.

The Mayor and I grew up right next door to each other. We played all the time, we shared great times and I think we still do and can. When we talked tonight we expressed how we have always been very pleasant with each other. He also expressed how sometimes when I write he does not think it is always nice. I am always willing to listen if anyone including Mayor Ness wants to know why I said something the way I did just ask. Emailing is the best way to get a hold of me duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com .

There is only two people that are not allowed two post. I think they know who they are. This is because of the they conducted them self's.

Now onto what this is suppose to be about the speech from tonight. I thought it was a very good speech. The intend of the speech was to energize the city and the people in the room. It delivered in an up lifting way. To me the the speech was much like a coach giving a big pep-talk to his team.

I think the intend was of the speech was very successful. After the speech was over I talked to many people and they had nothing but good things to say. At least most people did.

The content that was good for his political view. If you agree with his vision or not at this point does not matter. It was very much along the lines he wants to move this city.

If I was to grade the speech I would give it a B.

Next I will get into what was said and if I like that as much as the deliver of the speech.

Hello Mayor Ness!!!

Well tomorrow will be Mayor elects Don Ness first day on the job. Well they have been in transition the last month or so. Tomorrow will mark his first day in the office. He will also be be sworn into the office Monday night and deliver his first speech as Mayor. It will the State of the City address. He will out line what he would like to do well in office the next four years.

I do think the Mayor Ness will be a bit better then Mayor Bergson. after all it is going to be very hard to be worse then Mayor Bergson. I don't however hold out a lot of hope of over the next four years with Ness in the office. I think you will less focus on what the city should provide and more on what the city should not be funding. We will see increase spending and receive less for our taxes.

Good Bye Mayor Bergson

Thank God his four year term is over, also thank good we did not re-elect him. It has been a horrible four years for Duluth and this mayor.

Mayor Bergson said he would work with the Duluth City Council and not use his veto pen. Yet he vetoed more then any mayor in recent history. He did any thing but work with the council. He drove a line between the Mayors office and the City Council like no other mayor has ever done.

He failed to bring the home the funding for the DECC twice and he also failed to get the Kroc center. He did mange to get got driving drunk on his way to represent the city in Chicago at a Mayor's conference.

He made many promises and failed many times. IF I was to give him a grade it would be a great big F.

Ness won't deliever a normal State of the City. .

This caught my eye in the paper. I thought well okay, it is hard for him to deliver a State of the City when he has not even taken office as of yet.

I have not read the complete story yet. They story said in the first part that Ness will talk about his vision for the city and a wide range of topics. DUH.. this is what the State of the City in part about. I don't think this State of the City will be much different then most.


The State of City will happen tomorrow night. Held at the DECC if you pan on going.

I will have a recap of the State of the City address on Tuesday.

Here we are a new year!!!

We welcomed in 2008. Hope you were all safe and had a great news years eve and day.

A quick look of things to come tonight and tomorrow here on DP. Then it is off to the denist for me.

A look back 2007

A look at 2008

The old Mayor Bergson

The new Mayor Ness

A look at the old and the new c ity Council

Plus much more, now however it is off to the dentist for me. NO fun at all.

Bergson uses veto pen yet again.

Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson will again use his veto pen. This time he said he will veto a resolution that passed 6-3. The resolutions dealt with asking the State of Minnesota to look at repealing a law from 100 years ago. The law is whether or not the lakeside area should have liqueur sold in it .

The Lakeside area is the only place in Duluth you can't go to a bar or a liqueur store. Not only that but restaurants can't even sell it in the Lakeside area.

I guess at this point I think that the Lakeside area should have the ability to sell liqueur in it's commercial zoned areas.

County Board gets a Code of Conduct.

The board voted 7-0 to approve the code of conduct. As many people know a code of conduct is something I have always been against. I have said many times why this is. At this time however I am not going to bring that info forward as I have been asked not to at this point.

All I will say at this point is I would anticipate some comments from a number of people later. Tell this happens I will hold my comments as well.

New poll

The new poll is up. The question is, do you think Don Ness will make a good mayor? Yes or no are the choses. Scroll down and vote.

Tonights council meeting. A long with other items.

I will again be attending the council meeting tonight. Look for a report of the meeting tonight or tomorrow. Tonight's meeting will include two big topics. One will have many resolutions to set the budget. The other is a resolution asking the State to look at reversing the no liquor lances in Lakeside.

These two items will dominate the meeting tonight. I would also maybe expect to hear a little about the clinic in Lakeside. At least if the group that is against it is able to be there.

Again look for a report on the meeting later tonight or tomorrow.

AFSCME excepts contract.

I have been incredibly busy. I meant to post the day this was excepted but did not get a chance to post. In fact I have had a lot this I have wanted to comment on but that will come soon as well.

The main issue has been my wife has been recovering from surgery. It was a rough weekend last weekend for her, but she dealt with it great.

Now back to a quick note on the contract. I am happy that they have excepted this however I would expect they are not the happiest with it. This is clear by there reaction in the paper. It however is a good contract for both the City of Duluth and there workers.

I will have much more on this later.

Big Mistake.

I don't know if you heard about this or not. A Wis. gas station went to change it's price of gas from $3.34 a gallon to $3.33 a gallon, when the clerk did so he mistakenly made a gallon of gas 33 cents.


Here is part of the story from msn www.msn.com to read the whole story.

MINOCQUA, Wis. - Dozens of drivers made a mad rush for cheap gas after a station employee accidentally changed the price to 33 cents a gallon. An employee closing Trig's Minocqua Shell for the night meant to drop the price of gas by 1 cent.

This happened just this weekend. I wonder how many of us would have taken advantage of the mistake. I heard on the radio yesterday that the owner of the gas station was not happy with the customers. " They took advantage of a mistake that was made. I am disappointed in them." The owner said in an interview.

A chicken here and there and maybe in Duluth

Okay first let me say that I agree with the city Attorney Brian Brown. It is illegal to have chickens in the city limits. If you read the ordinance it is very very clear on what we can and can't have in the city limits.

With that said here we go again with yet another very laughable discussion that will take place sooner or later in the council chambers. This is not a pressing issue. It is not important at this time nor should it take up one minute of the councils time. It will and the DNT will talk about it tell they are blue in the face.

There is a story in the DNT today. If you care to read it go here http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/ .

Meet the wife of our new mayor --- Are you serious?

If you saw today's Duluth News Tribune, the lead story was meeting Laura Ness. Are you kidding me? This is the top issue in this country, State, or City.

This is a story that maybe should be in the local section. I however am not sure that this is even news worthy. It sure seems like the DNT will be the Ness pr machine much like it was the Bergson pr machine and any other democrats that want it to be.

Are you kidding me?

Councilor Stewart tried to take a tax off the books for the City of Duluth. The tax is a for 1% that goes to develop public art. It unfortunately did not pass.

I guess that is not what the big deal for me was. What got me was what councilor Ness said. The discussion talked about how other people could afford art and such. Mr. Ness said that some I support the tax, it should not be a surprise. Not every one can afford are so this gives them the chance to enjoy it. What the implication was that people are going to take a picture and then hang it on there wall and call it art. If they did not do that then they would just stand were this art is for 24 hours and admire it. Give me a break.

first winter storm

Well the first storm came and went. The reported snow fall is 12 inches in Duluth. 5 or 6 inches in Superior.

I did not hear of any major accidents. I know that the DTA ran as normal. The cabs pulled off of the streets.

Duluth Citizen Blog.

Duluth Citizens blog is back and up and running. There is a new owner to the blog and he is looking for help. If you would like to be a moderator go to the blog and leave a message. I am sure he will get back to you.

www.duluthcitizensblog.com

Sharla Gardner

I have gotten a ton of emails asking what I thought of Sharla quiting her job once she takes over as city councilor. I have not made any comments on this as of yet. This is by design.

I have wanted to wait tell after she take office. When this happens just after the new year I will make my comments on the issue.

New poll is up.

The new poll is up. Check it out, it is new the bottom of the page. Scroll on down and vote!!!!

Mayor elect Ness showed his true colors.

Mayor elect Don Ness ran his campaign on bringing the community together. He also said that he will bring responsible spending back to city hall. Mayor elect Ness showed his true colors at the council meeting Monday night.



He showed that all of his promises were just that. He could care less about the average Duluthain. He is just going to spend your money and tax you out of your house. That was made way to clear on Monday night. The mayor elect did nothing but vote to raise our taxes and increase utility rates. The taxes will not benefit us at all either. They raised storm water run off by 17% and sewer rates went up 11%. Never gave a reason to why he voted the way he did. Like it or not that is what you get.

I wonder if this silent but deadly treatment is what he will take into the Mayor's office. If this is the type of Mayor he will be then we are in for a long four years. We may want to hang on to our wallets. The type of mayor that is needed now is one that can and is willing to work with a limited budget. To this point it is very clear that Mr. Ness is not willing to do this.

What is clear is that he wants to raise taxes so the city has money to fund unneeded things. These projects may indeed be good, however when you don't have the money you need to take a look at if they are needed.

He showed this again on Monday night with two other votes. One of the two votes was to not override the Mayors veto of the housing investment fund. Whether the fund is a good thing or not is debatable. I think it is in theory but I have some issues with it. Mr. Ness did not vote in favor or over ridding the veto because he thinks the project is a good one. It also helps many people out.

This is true however when we are in a budget crisis we need to focus on the core issues. I hate to say it but this is far from a core issue. The fact of the matter is our streets and sewers are falling a part. The police along with other emergency services are in need of man power and equipment.

The second vote was on if we should conduct yet another feasibility study for a high speed train to connect Duluth with the Cities. The study only cost us tax payers a small amount of $40,000 dollars.

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

Mr. Ness said this was a critical vote and we need to support it because we have in the past. It is the wave of the future he said. Calling for a huge come back for trains.

Simple fact of the matter is this project will just be yet another fish tank . I mean G.L.A. ( Great Lakes Aquarium). The numbers will fall well short of the predictions and we will do nothing but subsidise the train.

Post coming.

I am working on a couple of posts regarding Monday night's council meeting. They are going to be must reads so come back and check them out.

These post are taking longer then I wanted but it will be worth your time.

new blog

A new blog is up. It is going to focus on bring tid bits from blogs ran about Duluth to one area. This will alolow you to check out what people are saying quick. Then if you you wnat to you can read there whole thoughts on that blog when you get a chance to.

The hope is as well that it will bring bloggers closer together

Unfoutantly Mayor elect Ness is serious.

When I first this comment on Perfect Day Duluth I thought he can't be serious about this one. http://www.perfectduluthday.com/2007/07/another_candidate_to_consider.html. The comment deals with increasing our taxes. To read the whole story he tells click on the link above.



Now it comes out that it is not one of the first things he wants to do when he gets in the mayors office. He is already starting the ball on it\. It was on last nights agenda but did not get mentioned. It stayed on the table. These are the type of project we can't afford to be getting involved in at this time. Not only that but I don't see why we should pay more taxes to make the city a music and art town.



I am all for the music and arts however if they want something then they need to go get it, by them self's. Raise money do what it takes but stay out of the tax payers pockets.

Is this Councilor serious?

I don't know if you got the chance to watch or listen to the council meeting tonight. There were a number of things that I could not believe were coming out of some of the councilors mouth. This is just one of them.

They were talking about a resolution to override the mayors veto from this last week. It was dealing with funding for housing investment fund. Well the discussion was going on council President Russ Stover implied that we should pay more in taxes for our roads. When an easement is done the citizen's should pick up more of it then they do, Stover said.

I can't believe he expects us to pay more of what a city is to provide. He believes funding the housing fund, fish tanks ect... is more important the our roads, police, fire. This is basically what councilor Stover said. It is unbelief able one would think this way.

Sorry for no post

I apologize for not posting at all this last week. However a couple of things happened first my Grandma passes away on Monday. This was the main reason for not posting.

Here is were I need to say a couple of things. Even when my grandma was 90 years old. Never take life for granted you never know when your day will come. Keep your family close to your heart at all times. Grandma thanks for the great times we had. You will be missed.

Thank you to those have send there prays and well wishes already. They mean so much at a time of lose.

The second reason for no post this week is a little thing called Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a great one.

Just for the record the funeral is tomorrow so I may not get a chance to post.

Meeting canceled.

Tonight's Duluth City Council meeting has been canceled. The special meeting was have the council vote on accepting the contract. That would then put the ball in the AFSCME union court. If would force them to make a move.
The union would have three choices vote on the contract now. Either except it, don't except it, go on strike.

"We are watching"

We are watching the group that is supposedly watching the St. Louis County board. The group is nothing but a joke.

I have never seen such a politically motivate group hit behind an issue. The issue they are hiding behind is the harassment. The group claims that some members have had issue's with this. Yet nothing has been proven and they have had ample time to prove it.