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.