News

Earth Day Weekend Cleanups Sweep Duluth

DULUTH, Minn.– With Earth Day this past Thursday, Earth Week is now coming to a close. One Duluth organization has been offering tips and activities all week to help keep the planet clean, including a grand finale on Saturday. Trash buckets and pickers were in full force on Saturday as 75 participants took part in a community cleanup effort in…

Duluth Police Host Drug Take Back Saturday

  DULUTH, Minn.– Saturday, the Duluth Police Department stressed the importance of safely disposing of excess prescription drugs at their second drug take back day of the year. Duluth police teamed up with St. Louis County Public Health to collect more than 60 pounds of medications at their drug take back event at the public safety building. Police say they…

Fitger’s Bookstore Celebrates Independent Bookstore Day

DULUTH, Minn.– On National Independent Bookstore Day, the bookstore at Fitger’s put on a celebration of shopping local and of course reading. Staff at the Fitger’s Bookstore showed some love to small shops like their own, which can help benefit local authors and independent publishers. They showcased their favorite authors and offered discounts on books and other exclusive items. Being…

Wisconsin DNR: More Fishing Tournaments Using Immediate Release

In catch-hold-release tournaments, anglers transport fish to weigh-in areas, where they're released but not in the areas where they're caught.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin fishery officials say more tournaments are abandoning their traditional catch-hold-release formats. The Department of Natural Resources says the number of bass and walleye tournaments that have eschewed the traditional catch-hold-release format for catch-photo-release rules has increased from an average of six annually between 2010 and 2015 to more than 30 per year from 2015 to…

NorShor Theatre Announces Performance for Live Audience

DULUTH, Minn.– A popular Duluth theater is going to be performing for a live audience once again. The NorShor Theatre will be putting on a live show for a live audience. It will be the first live show since the pandemic, featuring three actresses singing the hits from their previous productions of “Mamma Mia”. The audience will be capped at…

Norton Park Methodist Church Hosts Rummage Sale Fundraiser

DULUTH, Minn.-The Norton Park United Methodist Church has kicked off its rummage sale fundraiser. The event continues tomorrow from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at its location on North 79th Avenue West. The funds from the event go to support a variety of programs connected with the church. “It’s important because it helps pay for different things we need at our church,”…

Housing Issues at Forefront During Sen. Smith Visit to Duluth

DULUTH, Minn.-Sen. Tina Smith was in Duluth today where she expressed continued support to bring more affordable housing to the area with the help of COVID relief funding. Smith visited the Northland’s latest collaborative project, where various entities are working together to turn the former Duluth Inn motel into housing for the homeless. Smith says she is continuing to work…

EPA Continues Funding for Great Lakes Wetlands Monitoring with New Grant

DULUTH, Minn-UMD’s Natural Resources Research Institute recently received a $2.3 million dollar grant to continue their research in monitoring the Great Lakes coastal wetlands. They are one of ten teams that monitor all wetland wildlife including birds, fish, bugs, plants, and amphibians around the Great Lakes. The data they collect is evaluated to determine if environmental changes are natural or…

Duluth’s Natural Surface Trails have Reopened

DULUTH, Minn-After being closed for the last month, a majority of Duluth’s natural surface trails have reopened. Every spring, the trails close for a time to allow the earth to thaw and dry out. The warm spring weather as well as the rain and budding trees contributed to the trails being ready two weeks ahead of normal.  The trails are…

Duluth P.D, Mayor Talk Transparency

Back in March, the Duluth chapter of the NAACP called for more engagement between police and the public. 

DULUTH, Minn. — On Friday, city leaders provided an update on how area law enforcement will provide more transparency in several areas of their department. Back in March, the Duluth chapter of the NAACP called for more engagement between police and the public. They asked for bi-annual reports on traffic stops, use of force, and arrest rates more proportionate to…

FOX NEWS REPORT: Chauvin Has Sentencing Date Set for June

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-According to a Fox News report, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been convicted of killing George Floyd, will be sentenced June 16. A Minnesota Judicial Branch spokesperson told Fox News that there was an entry for the sentencing but documents have not been filed yet. The sentencing will take place at 1:30 p.m. Jurors found Chauvin, 45,…

Minnesota Police Oversight Board Votes to Ban White Supremacists, Update Crowd Control Tactics

Story by Theo Keith of Fox 9 ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Minnesota’s police oversight board voted Thursday to take a first step toward banning officers who affiliate with white supremacy groups and imposing limits on police responding to protests. The Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training Board took the unanimous votes two days after Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction and on the same…

Caitlyn Jenner Says She Will Run for Governor of California

LOS ANGELES-Republican Caitlyn Jenner says she will run for governor of California. Jenner says in statement posted Friday on Twitter that she has filed initial paperwork to run. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a likely recall election this year. Election officials are still reviewing petition signatures required to qualify the recall for the ballot. Several other Republicans have also…

Minnesota Schools See ‘Worrisome’ Surge in COVID-19 Cases

ST. PAUL, Minn.-COVID-19 case rates are rising across Minnesota, and they’re affecting younger Minnesotans, especially middle and high school students. Minnesota health officials said Thursday that the number of school-related COVID-19 cases reported this week among students has now exceeded the peak seen during a surge of cases in November. Still, Minnesota Public Radio reports, officials are not planning to…

Most of Duluth’s Natural Surface Trails Reopen After Closing Due to Wet Conditions

City staff ask trail users to observe proper trail etiquette and stewardship by respecting individual trail closures and avoiding any wet/muddy trails.

DULUTH, Minn.- The majority of natural surface trails in Duluth are now open and ready for public use, according to the City’s Parks and Recreation Division. City staff ask trail users to observe proper trail etiquette and stewardship by respecting individual trail closures and avoiding any wet/muddy trails. If you notice that you are leaving a footprint or bicycle tire…

St. Louis County Rescue Squad Responds to Man in Overturned Canoe in Elbow Lake

COOK, Minn.-. St. Louis County Rescue Squad and several other rescue agencies made a water rescue at Elbow Lake near Cook, where a Duluth man was found at an overturned canoe Thursday evening. At approximately 4:41 p.m. Thursday, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office along with the Cook Ambulance Service, St. Louis County Rescue Squad, U.S. Forest Service, and Virginia…

Standoff In Duluth’s Piedmont Neighborhood Ends Safely With Arrest

DULUTH, Minn. – A nearly eight-hour police standoff in Duluth’s Piedmont neighborhood Thursday ended peacefully with the suspect in custody. The standoff started around 1 p.m. in a home on the 2200 block of Nanticoke Street involving a 30-year-old man wanted on “significant charges,” according to a city spokesperson, Kate Van Daele. “Our officers exhausted every option to have this…

Virtual Reality Training for Superior Policer Officers

SUPERIOR, Wis.– The Superior Police Department unveiled its new state-of-the art virtual training simulator designed to help officers better deescalate the most dangerous calls. This type of training technology is something no other police agency in the Northland owns. The SPD is now going to be training in officers in real-world situations with some virtual help. Equipment made its way…

Duluth Man Celebrated City-Wide for 100th Birthday

DULUTH, Minn.– The weather made it a perfect day for one Duluth resident to enjoy his 100th birthday on Earth Day. Warren High celebrated a century of life this afternoon at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth. Family and friends were able to visit warren in-person out in the parking lot and see pictures of him through the years. Warren’s…

Duluth Police Responding to an Individual Barricaded Inside His Home

DULUTH, Minn. – A nearly eight-hour police standoff in Duluth’s Piedmont neighborhood Thursday ended peacefully with the suspect in custody. The standoff started around 1 p.m. in a home on the 2200 block of Nanticoke Street involving a 30-year-old man wanted on “significant charges,” according to a city spokesperson, Kate Van Daele. “Our officers exhausted every option to have this…

Dental Clinic at LSC Offers Free Screenings for Kids

DULUTH, Minn-Second year dental hygiene students at Lake Superior College were offering free dental services today to kids. Parents who signed up were able to bring their children in for preventative care provided by the students under the supervision of licensed dental professionals. “He’s due for an appointment in May anyway at his regular dentist, so I figured just come…

Local Nonprofit Seeking Donations for Classrooms

DULUTH, Minn-A local nonprofit was holding a special Earth Day event to help keep gently used office supplies out of landfills. Companies to Classrooms, which is currently located in the basement of the Historic Old Central High School, invites businesses and individuals to donate office supplies that can be used in classrooms in the twin ports area. Teachers are then…

Docks Back at Minnesota Slip

The docks will stay in the slip until early October.

DULUTH, Minn. – Docks began going back into the Minnesota Slip this morning. About ten docks with twenty boat spaces went in within four hours. The other half of the marina being owned by Grandma’s Corporation. Managers of the marina say, Because of the warmer temps, the docks were able to be placed back into the slip a week earlier…

More Rental Assistance Available for Minnesotans Impacted by Pandemic

This is all through the help of the federal Covid-19 emergency rental assistance program.

DULUTH, Minn. — Minnesotans now have more help for rental assistance. Tenants who have been impacted by the pandemic financially and haven’t been able to pay rent dating back to March of last year will have more assistance catching up with their payments. This is all through the help of the federal Covid-19 emergency rental assistance program. Since applications opened…

Countering Biden, GOP Pitches $568B For Infrastructure

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a public works proposal with a much smaller price tag and a narrower definition of infrastructure than what President Joe Biden has proposed, highlighting the stark differences between the two sides that will be difficult to bridge in the coming months. The price of the Republicans’ two-page outline came in…

Discrimination Lawsuits by Former UMD Coaches Dismissed by Judge

DULUTH, Minn.-A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against UMD by two former coaches claiming they faced discrimination due to their sexual orientation. Jen Banford, the former head softball coach and director of hockey operations, and Annette Wiles, the former women’s basketball coach, had initially filed the claim saying they also experienced a hostile work environment. The judge said: “The…

EPA Review Faults Permitting for Proposed Minnesota Mine

MINNEAPOLIS-An internal Environmental Protection Agency investigation has found that the federal agency mishandled its oversight of permits for what would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine. The findings released Wednesday describe a flawed review of two permits issued for the $1 billion mine that PolyMet Mining Corp. wants to build near lakes Babbitt and Hoyt, which are about 200 miles northeast…

Daunte Wright to be Eulogized at Minneapolis Funeral

MINNEAPOLIS-The family of Daunte Wright is preparing for his funeral Thursday. It comes just days after guilty verdicts were handed down for the former Minneapolis police officer whose killing of George Floyd set off nationwide protests and a reckoning over racism. Wright died April 11 after a white Brooklyn Center police officer shot the 20-year-old Black man during a traffic…

Gov. Walz Calls on Police Licensing Board to Take Steps to Increase Transparency

ST. PAUL, Minn.-Gov. Tim Walz has written a letter to the Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board, which meets today, calling on them to take immediate steps to increase trust and transparency in policing.  “Your work as members of the POST Board, a duly authorized and empowered professional licensing body, is critical to ensuring the law enforcement profession’s legitimacy…

US Troops in Afghanistan Begin Packing Gear as They Prep to Leave

KABUL, Afghanistan-A U.S. defense department official says the U.S. military has begun shipping equipment and winding down contracts with local service providers ahead of the May 1 start of the final phase of its military pullout from Afghanistan. The pullout marks the end of America’s longest war, after a 20-year military engagement. Currently, some 2,500 U.S. soldiers and about 7,000…

Gov. Evers Orders Use of Force Updates for State Law Enforcement

The Evers executive order came Wednesday after the Assembly’s bipartisan racial disparities task force issued 18 recommendations to address policing practices statewide.

(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers has ordered the Wisconsin State Patrol and other state law enforcement agencies to update their use of force policies to prohibit chokeholds, unless as a last resort. The Evers executive order came Wednesday after the Assembly’s bipartisan racial disparities task force issued 18 recommendations to address…

Cooking Connection: Cozy Hen’s Lemon Cheesecake

DULUTH, Minn.- In this week’s Cooking Connection, Meteorologist Ken Slama knows what to do when life gives him lemons — whip up a lemon cheesecake with the owner of The Cozy Hen cheesecakes! Categories: Business, Community, Cooking Connection, Minnesota, News, News – Latest News Tags: cheesecake, Cozy Hen, Heather Birong, lemon cheesecake

At ‘Moment of Peril,’ Biden Opens Global Summit on Climate

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has convened a global climate summit – by livestream from around the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden started it out Thursday with an ambitious U.S. pledge to cut by at least one-half the climate-wrecking coal and petroleum fumes that America is pumping out. He is hoping the commitment, along with similar ones…

National Volunteer Week: St. Luke’s Happy To Welcome Back Volunteers

DULUTH, Minn. – It’s National Volunteer Week, and one healthcare clinic is happy it has its volunteers back in action. St. Luke’s Hospital had to say goodbye to its volunteers who work in the hospital for almost a year after the pandemic hit, but now they’re allowed to return. Volunteers are placed in areas they may want to work. They…

Kirby Student Board Hosts ‘Kirby Commencement’

Students had the opportunity to take photos with their dean, professors, college banners, and solo photos with their diploma jackets.

DULUTH, Minn. – For the second year in a row, the commencement at the University of Minnesota Duluth will be virtual. Students have the opportunity to take photos with their dean, professors, college banners, and solo photos with their diploma jackets. Organizers say, adding more end of the year activities for students gives them a little more of an experience…

Flowers for Daunte Wright Held at CJM Memorial

DULUTH, Minn.– Community groups came out the Clayton Jackon McGhee Memorial in downtown Duluth this evening to bring attention to the fatal officer involved shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. “The state of Minnesota right now is currently navigating a lot of trauma. As a collective, we’re all fighting to heal. And I think uplifting each other and…

Local Businesses Come Together to Cleanup Rice’s Point

DULUTH, Minn.-The Rice’s Point Business Group came together this morning to do a neighborhood cleanup at four different sites near the DNR boat launch by the Blatnik Bridge. More than 30 businesses took part in the event in honor of Earth Week. “We’re stewards of the environment here in the industrial heartland of the city of Duluth and we’re making…

FDA Inspection Found Problems at Factory Making J&J Vaccine

(AP) – U.S. regulators say the Baltimore factory contracted to make Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was dirty, didn’t follow proper manufacturing procedures, and had poorly trained staff. The problems resulted in contamination of a batch of material that was going to be put in the shots. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday released a 13-page report detailing findings…

Biden Aims For Momentum as US Returns to Climate Fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is convening a coalition of the willing, the unwilling, the desperate-for-help, and the avid-for-money for a two-day summit aimed at rallying the world’s worst polluters to do more to slow climate change. Biden’s first task when his virtual summit opens Thursday is to convince the world that the United States is both willing and…

Burning Man Mulling Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines for August

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Burning Man festival organizers are considering requiring attendees to prove they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 if they move forward with plans to hold this year’s counter-culture festival in the Nevada desert. But they backed off an earlier statement indicating they had already decided to make the shots mandatory. The organizers say they won’t decide for sure…