How can it be?
Yes, that’s today’s paper sitting on that snow pile. How can Joe Muller still have snow in his yard in Grand Rapids? Because he cheats.
"Each spring I rake some leaves over the last snow pile. It often holds snow until late May or early June," he said in a note with this photo. "It won’t last that long this year."
Wouldn’t you know we just got our whole beef head in the mail and now we have to send it back.
The North American Bison Co-op in New Rockford, N.D., is recalling about 25,000 pounds of whole beef heads (how many heads is that anyway?), including ours.
The problem, as usual, is that someone forgot to take the tonsils out, “which is not compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
Why, you ask? Because, according to the USDA, beef tonsils can maybe give you mad cow disease.
So, like we said, don’t eat that beef head.
Duluth robot chock full of beautility
That loveable robot Ctrl-Z took the Duluth Dare Devils robotic team to the semifinals of the Regional First Robotics Competition on Saturday in Minneapolis.
The East High School team competed at the University of Minnesota and battled some “extremely physical” robots, according to coach Tim Velner.
The team didn’t win the championship, but did walk away with the award for industrial design, or design that is “attractive and efficient.” Velner says the team calls that “beautility,” a term the judges loved.
“We build solid, functional robots,” Velner said.
Get ready for the big cleanup
Your yard is probably already clean so why don’t you scout out a vacant lot or park to work on during Duluth’s annual citywide cleanup?
The Clean and Green Duluth event will run from April 17-24 and is meant to clean up city parks, trails and public areas.
Last year more than 30 neighborhood groups adopted parts of the city to clean, and many fixed up private property.
Contact Amy Norris at anorris@duluthmn.gov to participate in the cleanup.
See Miss Nevada bent out of shape
Magician Garry Carson does things like put his assistant Kelsey Kara, a former Miss Nevada, in a box and then spin her head in a complete circle, or maybe even rearrange the order of her body parts.
Carson and Kara are performing their Las Vegas-style “Reality Magic Show” at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Thorpe Langley Theatre in Old Main at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
The performance is a fundraiser for the UWS women’s basketball team. Tickets are $10.
Duluth meets mentoring goal
More proof that Duluth is a cool town: Mentor Duluth says they not only met their March into Mentoring goal of recruiting 31 mentors in 31 days, they exceeded it.
They only exceeded it by one, but that’s a lot better than missing it.
There still are 200 kids on the waiting list, so if you’re interested, call the YMCA at (218) 722-4745.
We welcome your submissions and suggestions. Drop us a line at Eh?, Duluth News Tribune newsroom, 424 W. First St., Duluth, MN 55802, or news@duluthnews.com.
David Strand of Hibbing sent us this picture and the following explanation:
"On or about March 3, my wife, Kathryn, couldn’t wait for spring so she shoveled the foot of snow off the dock at our cabin and, well, check out the attached photos!"
So it is as we thought: A dock is a great place for a cold beer even if you are surrounded by ice and snow.
Or just catching some rays…
You know how Mayor Don Ness finally got up the nerve to do the Polar Plunge into Lake Superior? And then he said other mayors who wanted to win Google’s high-speed internet project should prove their worth by jumping into Lake Superior, too?
That photo and challenge have been making the rounds. Paul Nelson just sent us this tip:
"Perhaps you folks already noticed, but as I write this, the homepage of FastCompany (the business mag) is displaying a big, front-and-center picture of Don Ness emerging from Lake Superior. The article is about the Google competition, and it lists a bit of info about the campaigns of other cities vying for Google’s business."
Check it out at www.fastcompany.com.
Marshall sixth-grader Jacob Vainio had been saving his allowance since New Year’s 2007 and was planning on buying something big.
But then an earthquake in Haiti shook up his plans.
Vainio has been following the disaster, according to his mom Ivy Vainio, and he decided Haiti was the “something big” he had been saving for. So he donated $145 at a fundraiser recently organized by the Black Student Union and the World Student Association at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Vainio’s donation was the largest single amount given, according to Kim Habig in the International Student Advisor office.
The fundraiser brought in $1,520.55, which was presented to the Red Cross this week.
Spring is here
While it feels springy outside, the ground does not feel springy at all.
In fact it’s downright soggy. So Parks and Rec is asking you to please stay off city hiking trails, snowmobile trails, cross country ski trails, the dog park and the disc golf course.
Chester Bowl Ski Hill is closed, too.
We’ll let you know when the trails and parks are firmed up enough to reopen.
In the meantime, of course, you can still walk Fido on the hard-surface trails such as the Lakewalk, the Munger Trail and the Western Waterfront Trail.
Summer is coming
Therefore it’s time to start thinking about your clay, glass, fiber, wood or photography contribution for the 40th annual Park Point Art Fair.
The Park Point Community Club is taking applications for the juried art fair, which is June 26-27.
Info: www.parkpointartfair.org.
Family weekend
Sen. Al Franken has joined the Google Twin Ports Fiber Initiative by resurrecting his “Duluth Answer Man” clips from the 1980s.
The Duluth Answer Man was an advertising campaign produced by the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau for the Twin Cites market. Franken posed as a Duluth expert who told tourists about local highlights.
In a new clip for Google Twin Ports, Franken says he’s grateful Google came along to answer all those questions because now he has time to serve in the U.S. Senate.
“We have seen tremendous support from elected officials all across Minnesota for our Google Fiber nomination, and we are very grateful for Sen. Franken’s support,” Mayor Don Ness said in a news announcement.
Find more information about the Google effort at www.googletwinports.com.
You know, some of us here on the Eh? desk still haven’t checked out the Lake Superior Zoo.
Now we’ve got another reason to go: They just got a new Siberian lynx.
Zoo hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. if you want to see her. Info: www.LSZoo.org or (218) 730-4500.
10,000 Google maniacs
Recruitment efforts are going well over at the “Google Twin Ports” group on Facebook.
Organizers say they accomplished their first major goal when they landed their 10,000th fan about 5 p.m. Friday (somebody sniffing around on Facebook before punching out at work, we imagine).
Duluth is in a rough-and-tumble competition with other cities to convince Google to set up an ultra-high-speed network here for Internet service.
And a handful of Google Chix
Minnesota Nice Inc. and Eternal Sun Beachwear tell us they’re planning to make a video clip Wednesday for Google promoting Duluth as the Surf Capital of the Midwest.
It will feature the Seasoned Chix Zumba Fitness Club dancing to “Surf City” while husbands and the mayor surf on their laptops. Meanwhile real surfers will hang ten (on land) in the background.
They say extras are needed for the film, if you’re looking to become vaguely familiar, if not famous. Join them at 3 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Eternal Sun store at the Miller Hill Mall.
Miss Minnesota USA at the DECC
Organizers of the Duluth Women’s Expo say Courtney Basara, Miss Minnesota USA 2010, will make an appearance at 2:15 p.m. today at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
Expo hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets and info: duluthwomensexpo.com.
Fundraisers
Fans of the former Jolly Fisher restaurant in downtown Duluth can get another taste of the restaurant’s legendary baked and fried cod along with the eatery’s signature tartar sauce on Friday.
The Twelve Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church at 632 E. Second St., is hosting a Jolly Fisher Fish Fry from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday.
One of the church’s parishioners, Andy Maras, is the former owner-operator of the Jolly Fisher, and he will bring back some of the storied recipes from the restaurant that was a fixture in Duluth for more than 50 years before closing in 1992.
Former chef Fred Broman will be helping to prepare the fish. And, yes, they’ll be selling the Jolly Fisher’s beloved tartar sauce.
The jolly event is open to the public at $12 for adults and $7 for children. If you can’t stay, they’ll fix you up an order to go.
Members of the Duluth Heights Garden Club have asked the city to find and fine whoever used a city park as a dumping ground for snow.
Club members maintain gardens in Pennell Park, along Central Entrance near Arlington Avenue.
“I’m not sure who’s doing it,” club member Richard Smith said. “They’ve been dumping snow, sand and salt right on top of the garden beds. … It won’t be good to the plants.”
Trees, raised beds and a bird bath already were damaged.
“They actually plowed a road in there,” Smith said. “It’s blatant what they are doing. They shouldn’t be using a city park to get rid of it.”
One of the damaged gardens was created as an Eagle Scout project.
The dumping is illegal, and the city will try to determine who’s doing it, said Tom Kasper, park maintenance lead worker.
“We’re going to figure out a way to get it fixed,” Kasper said. “This is an important park.”
Area restaurants will donate a percentage of sales Friday to the Northland American Red Cross.
Get a bite at Grizzly’s Wood Fired Grill, At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe, the Dry Dock Bar & Restaurant, Texas Roadhouse or Bridgeman’s Restaurant and the Red Cross will get a nice check as a result.
Meanwhile, Grandma’s restaurants will donate 5 percent of all soup sales during the whole month of March to the Red Cross.
We’re all for Duluth’s efforts to be a test community for Google’s new high-speed broadband network, but we think Topeka, Kan., is coming off a little desperate.
Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten has renamed the city Google, Kan., to woo the company (just for this month; they’re fickle). Bunten’s proclamation goes a step further and calls the fairy-tale town of Google “the capital city of fiber optics.”
Well if they’re already the fiber capital of the world it looks like Google would be wasting its money in Kansas.
P.S. Check out Duluth’s response to Topeka’s audacity on YouTube.
Members of Duluth’s Jewish community will gather Friday at Temple Israel in what organizers are calling “an unparalleled display of Jewish revitalization and Jewish unity.”
They’re taking part in Shabbat Across America/Canada, an effort to renew interest in the fourth of the Ten Commandments: observing a weekly day of rest (Shabbat in Hebrew).
Temple Israel will be one of approximately 700 synagogues across the continent that will open their doors to practicing and non-practicing Jews alike to experience a traditional Shabbat service and festive meal — and with all the rituals explained.
Led by Rabbi Amy Bernstein, the event will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The dinner will cost $10 and reservations should be made by today. Call (218) 724-8857.
His bike is off the ice
Marlin Ledin, the Washburn bicyclist who planned to spend up to a week riding among the Apostle Islands, is back.
Ledin, 25, spent five days last week on the ice traveling about 35 miles in all, visiting Basswood and Hermit islands. He towed a small raft with emergency supplies for safety.
Ledin said he found some ice so thin he reversed course. He checked the ice thickness with a pocket knife. If he found 4 inches, he felt it was safe to proceed.
“One of the main things I got out of this was — sleeping in my tent on the ice with nobody around, hearing coyotes howling and the ice cracking under me — I felt very small, just a little speck. I felt like I was a guest in someone else’s house, playing by their rules,” he said.
Ledin also made lots of sound recordings of the ice, from both above and below the ice. He’s continuing to gather those sounds on Chequamegon Bay near his home and will begin editing them later. He plans to use them in presentations for the public.
Help Google get the picture
The organizers of the Twin Ports Google Fiber Initiative want to teach you how to post pictures and video online with special tags.
They’re having a special training session Thursday. They say it’s a simple and tangible way you can help show Google how cool this area is, and why the company should set up a test site here.
The training session is 5:15 p.m. Thursday at Zeitgeist Center for the Arts, 222 E. Superior St., Duluth.
Native culture
We welcome your submissions and suggestions. Drop us a line at Eh?, Duluth News Tribune newsroom, 424 W. First St., Duluth, MN 55802, or news@duluthnews.com.
