News & Articles

Washburn can attract better 
development by thinking long-term                                                                                        
At its last meeting, the Washburn Council narrowed potential locations for a proposed bike park from four down to two possible locations, one on Holman Lakeview Drive; the other on Omaha Street (southeast of StageNorth Theater). Of the two, the Omaha Street location represents the lesser sacrifice. But at some point, residents and our elected representatives have to ask why Washburn keeps green lighting substandard projects that take bites from the town’s diamond, that is, the increasingly rare resource of municipally owned and still open frontage on the world’s greatest freshwater lake.

In fact, Washburn residents don’t have to look too far to see the positive impacts planning can have on a community. Once also a town asking how to get passers by to stop, Two Harbors, Minnesota has witnessed how the pristine beauty of its Lake Superior shoreline, a fulcrum for high-end development, attracts visitors from near and far. The Grand Superior Lodge, for example, has helped reinvigorate the North Shore city, especially its downtown area.

But like Washburn’s residents, Two Harbors’ residents have had to fight to keep iconic city lands. A rehashing of a 2003 development question closed on March 29th, 2023 when the Two Harbors Council voted 4-1 against a townhomes project proposed for five acres of land near the town’s historic lighthouse.

Meanwhile, the great majority of Washburn residents appear to agree that the town’s existing bookend campgrounds are the best places to invest city funds into camping development. Ample space exists within these two parks – peripheral to the city’s emerald lakefront heart – to add campsites. And by preserving the open and uncultivated qualities of its waterfront, like Two Harbors, Washburn can attract the high-end projects elsewhere in town that are conducive to real development.
Roth Edwards
Washburn, Wisconsin

Trump’s licking something

I have been told the Emergency Powers Act gives 136 powers to the president!
Is Donald Trump ever licking his chops about this idea or what?
Joe Panyon
Superior, Wisconsin

Stauber has to go!

What good has he done? Stauber & Republicans, where are your union labels on your signs and printing?
Do you notice Republicans never tell us their plans. How are they going to solve the issues?
Satan comes in all forms and it starts with Trump.
Could you paint a contrast of what Biden has done and what Trump accomplished? Democrats need to get out there and make our views heard. The louder the better.
Nina Buria
Mountain Iron, Minnesota

It’s no wonder there is a housing shortage

After hearing on the news that another developer of upscale housing wanted money to build from the city and one wanting more, as well as Esentia Health wanting more to tear down the old hospital I got to thinking about how that money would be better spent on affordable housing which we need more of not hotels, condos, or parking lots.  I also heard what the going rate of a studio apartment is going for here and just a little less than what my friend in Plymouth pays for a two-bedroom apartment that has heated underground parking, a swimming pool, library and a balcony.  I overheard someone saying that in order to pay rent here there were five people sharing a studio apartment.

Years ago at an apartment building that was affordable the furnace went out and instead of helping the owner get a new one the city condemend it and the residents had less than a week to find a new place to live.  Also many places have been torn down for the hospital, parking lots or turned into condos or hostels or seasonal housing for visitors. Many are afraid that their place will be next for another parking lot for Essentia.  No wonder we have a housing shortage and homelessness in the city.  Like someone said not all homeless people want to be they just can’t afford the rent here especially since most jobs are hospitality jobs which are low paying.
Cecilia Hill
Duluth, Minnesota

Embracing a simpler life is good for the planet

I believe that understanding ones’ carbon footprint is helpful in knowing how to live each day. We can all see our footprint when we travel by car and put gas into the tank. It turns out that one of the big ways we can affect our carbon footprint revolves around what we eat, where it comes from and how not to waste it. Having a plant-based diet helps to not only to give one a healthier life, it also will cut methane emissions – a powerful greenhouse gas. 

Growing our own food provides connection to the earth, gives us fresh, delicious food that is seasonally celebrated and not wrapped in plastic. There is no transportation cost. Vegetarianism aligns us with the world and its population.  Just two billion people can eat like typical Americans with their meat consumption, while with the same grain, ten billion people can be fed. Hand forking the garden soil maintains  the soil integrity, builds soil, captures carbon and is easier. Making use of compost and returning it to the soil is a satisfying process of seeing how the Laws of Nature work – full circle.

During WWII Americans grew Victory Gardens and produced 30- 40% of the country’s food supply. It was good for the people and nation then and can be done again now. 
We have endeavored to reach for hand tools instead of fossil fuels at Sun Farm and suggest that fossil fuels be rationed. Please join us.
Amy C Wilson
Port Wing, Wisconsin

Good speeches about sad history 

I attended Duluth, Minnesota National African American Colored People›s Freedom Fund Banquet Feb. 9, 2024, and was happy to see many Christians, Jews and Muslims in attendance. We heard some good speeches about sad history of African Americans after they were sold into slavery to Americas by their African brothers. Fortunately, Republican President Abraham Lincoln freed them and kept the United States after the victory during the Civil War. Unfortunately, there was and is discrimination and some super leaders like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and others fought and some gave their lives for freedom.

I grew up in Bosnia, Yugoslavia as a minority. We were all White, but nationalism and religion divided people. We had many European nationalities in Northern Bosnia: Czechs, Germans, Jews, Poles, Slovaks, Italians, Ukrainians as well as local Bosnian majority. Minorities experienced discrimination, because of our cultural differences.

What was particularly tragic is that there were two genocides in former Yugoslavia last century. During World War II  Dr. Ante Pavelich, a Croatian supporter of Adolf Hitler committed genocide against Jews, Serbians, Gypsies and during the Civil War in 1990s Dr. Radovan Karadzich, supporter of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevich, committed genocide against mostly Muslim Bosnians in Srebrenica, Bosnia. 
Mike Jaros
Duluth, Minnesota