Author: Violette VueHansen

Knowing Your Neighbor: Kimberly Christine

DULUTH, MINN- Kimberly Christine has been doing what she calls,” dark tourism”  for 13years. She’s lived in Savanah, Georgia and LA, California where she was introduced to paranormal investigation and tour guiding. She started Duluth Ghost Tours in 2022. The tours starts from the Boardwalk in Canal Park and ends at the Lighthouse. At the end of the tour Christine…

Students grow giant pumpkins in honor of researchers late husband

  DULUTH, Minn. — Seniors at UMD grew giant pumpkins in honor of a researcher’s late husband. The pumpkins were grown to honor University researcher, Val Brady’s husband, Danny Tanner, who died in February. He loved growing pumpkins, so in his memory, Brady got her students together to grow pumpkins. The student manager of the UMD land lab, Justin Cilenti,…

Knowing Your Neighbor: Zoey Nicole

DULUTH, MINN-Zoey Nicole has been the lead makeup artist of the Haunted Ship for four years.  She was 16 when she started volunteering.  She said her first night volunteering was imitating.  “Here I am trying to imitate everybody next to me. I see three other artists and their awesome. They’re amazing! I was just blown out of my mind because…

Knowing Your Neighbor: Brian Matuszak

DULUTH,MINN- Brian Matuszak wears many hats — a college professor, a mentor, and an actor. But at his core, his greatest passion has always been comedy and the stage. Matuszak’s acting journey began in 1984 when he performed in Fools by Neil Simon at the Duluth Playhouse. “I auditioned for a few other shows but hadn’t been cast in anything,…

Social Media and Kids

Duluth, Minn- Apps such as Tik Tok, Instagram, and X (formally known as Twitter) are examples of social media platforms we easily get lost in.  It’s easy to get distracted while doom scrolling for a couple of hours. Adults can tell the difference between skits and Artificial Intelligence, but young children may lack that skill.  Child psychology specialist, Lauren Browender says,…

Knowing Your Neighbor: Brinn Gordon A.K.A Octavia Forté

DULUTH, MINN- Superior resident Brinn Gordon is a multi-talented individual. During the day, they’re a bank teller. By night,  they’re a DJ, rapper, and a drag performer. As a child, their family would either sing in choir or play instruments.  They would watch music videos on the Black Entertainment Television and Music Television channels, that’s when they knew there was…

Hurricane Katrina 20Year Anniversary

    DULUTH, MINN.- It’s been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina hit. Many lives were taken and changed forever; many more struggled just to survive.  West Duluth resident, Cooper Joseph says Katrina was a devastating storm.  He lived in Louisiana at the time, 75 miles from New Orleans. Joseph was a Fire Captain of the volunteer fire department.  He happened…

Knowing Your Neighbor: Small Town Sindrome

 DULUTH, MINN- Brian Gandy, John Hakala, and Adam Mahoney are three close friends from Grand Rapids Minnesota. Their passions for music started as young as seven, they have memories to rocking out to the band Kiss with their families and picking up guitars while coming to the realizations they found their callings. They started off playing songs on Brian’s back…

Knowing Your Neighbor: Jeremy Dickson And The Ectomobile

DULUTH, MINN- Jeremy Dickson is a man of many hats. He’s a retired volunteer firefighter, a local filmmaker, but you may know him as a Twin Ports Ghostbuster. Better known as the man behind the wheel of the Ectomobile. It all started with his love for the 80s movie, Ghostbusters; starring Bill Murry. Dickson says, Ghostbusters was the first movie…

New Trail Center Underway

SILVER BAY, Minn- The Silver Bay multi-modal trailhead center had their ground breaking Monday, August 4, 2025. The recreational center will allow people to park large vehicles like RVs and trailers in its parking lot. It will also come with a coin operated showers. Most importantly, Minnesotans can enjoy the outdoors safely. Trails will be provided for activities like hiking,…

Spirit Valley Days Car Show Took Over West Duluth

  WEST DULUTH, Minn.-Day two of Spirit Valley Days lit up the streets with a car show today. The car show took over West Duluth with all types of unique rides. Local car owners showed off their hot rods they’ve been working on all year. Young and old car fans got up close looks at cars they don’t see everyday;…

Spirit Valley Day Parade

WEST DULUTH, Minn.- Excitement is on in West Duluth for the annual spirit valley days. The parade took over Grand Avenue this evening. The weather was beautiful, despite the smoke in the air from the wildfires. People still showed up to watch the floats go by and to score some candy on the sidelines. Spirit valley days runs through Sunday.

New Housing Data Shows Duluth Has Much More Work To Do

DULUTH, Minn.- If you’re having trouble finding somewhere to live in Duluth, you’re not alone. And a recent study confirms the problem. The local vacancy rate for rentals is only at 1.8 percent, and only around 58 percent of people living in Duluth actually own the roof over their head, according to Maxfield Research and Consulting, who was hired by the…

New Rice Lake Mayor

Jayme Heim RICE LAKE, Min. – Council Woman Jayme Heim has been appointed mayor of Rice Lake by council after Mayor Suzanne Herstad resigned. “It makes me feel proud that rest of the council trust me with this position.” says Mayor Heim. While, Mayor Heim says reasons for the resignation are not clear; she states Herstad said in a letter,…