Tuesday, April 15, 2008

WLSSD to Host Collection Event for Unwanted Medication


Duluth, MN - The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District will host a free collection event for unwanted or expired medications at its regional Household Hazardous Waste Facility on Saturday, April 26th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. “Medicine Cabinet Clean-Out Day” is a one-day event offering residents free disposal of unwanted medications in a safe, convenient and environmentally sound manner.


Two previous medication collection events held at WLSSD, residents brought in nearly 600 pounds of unwanted pills and other medication, filling five 55 gallon barrels.
“The first two collection events confirmed that residents are looking for a safe, easy way to dispose of medications,” said Gina Temple-Rhodes, WLSSD Environmental Program Coordinator. “Residents dispose of medications for all sorts of reasons. Medication may be expired or a prescription was changed. Some residents have bags full of medicine bottles. This event offers an easy, safe answer to the disposal question.”


Residents may bring their own or a family member’s unwanted or expired medication to the event for disposal. Drop-off is free and confidential. Residents will use the drive-through area at the Household Hazardous Waste facility during this special event. The facility is located at 2626 Courtland Street in Duluth.


“Unwanted medication should not be flushed or poured down the drain,” said WLSSD Executive Director Kurt N.W. Soderberg. “Although many of us were taught to dispose of medicines this way, we now know that flushing them is not a good idea.”


“Wastewater treatment plants were not designed to remove pharmaceutical substances from wastewater,” Soderberg continued. “Proper disposal of medication helps protect water quality in our region.”


Studies around the United States have found hormones and other pharmaceutical substances in rivers and streams. When medication is flushed, it travels to wastewater treatment plants. Although some medicines break down in treatment, others persist and are discharged into waterways. In the Duluth region, residual medicines can enter the St. Louis River and Lake Superior. Pharmaceutical substances can adversely affect fish and other aquatic life.


Temple-Rhodes recommends that residents attending the event:
Bring prescription or over-the-counter medication in its original container with all information about the medication visible to assist with sorting.

Names and addresses may be covered or scratched out.
Keep medications out of reach of children while waiting for and transporting material to the event.
Keep needles or other medical sharps separate and packaged in rigid containers such as laundry detergent or soda bottles for safe disposal.


WLSSD can only accept medication during special events due to US drug laws. WLSSD employs pharmacists and law enforcement officers for the special event to ensure safe and proper sorting and disposal of all medications. Residents who are unable to attend a disposal event may dispose of unwanted medications in the garbage after properly preparing the medication per Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recommendations. These recommendations can be found at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/hhw/pharmaceuticals.cfm.


This event and two more collection events this year are funded in part by the Coastal Zone Management Act, by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, in conjunction with Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program. Additional support was provided by the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office.


More information is available at http://www.wlssd.com/pollution_pharmaceutical.php.
Western Lake Superior Sanitary District provides award-winning wastewater and solid waste services to residents, businesses and industries within its 530 square mile legislative boundaries in Southern St. Louis and northern Carlton counties, and is a nationally recognized leader in

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Monday, April 14, 2008

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation give Duluth LISC $500,000 for Neighborhood Revitalization
















Captions: Wayne Nelson. the Publisher/Editor of Business North newspaper/publication speaks to Polly Talon of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.Middle: Polly Talon (Knight Foundation) Pam Kramer of Duluth LISC and Don Ness, Duluth mayor at a press conference at the Central Hillside Community Center. Right: Tony Cuneo Duluth City Councilor At-Large and Robert Prowless, retired University of Minnesota professor and member of the Duluth Native American community.

DULUTH (April 14, 2008) – Duluth LISC today announced that a $500,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will make five Duluth neighborhoods significant participants in a national effort to involve residents in long-term planning physical improvements and comprehensive community development.

The neighborhoods – Central and East Hillside, Lincoln Park , Morgan Park, and West Duluth – are already targets of LISC’s Creating Neighborhoods That Work – At Home in Duluth Sustainable Community strategy to transform distressed areas into healthy communities of choice and opportunity – good places to work, do business and raise children. LISC, the nation’s leading community development support organization, has been working in Duluth neighborhoods since 1997 and was selected as one of 10 LISC Sustainable Community demonstration sites in 2006.

“We think this grant can be a catalyst for anyone – developers, business owners and residents – interested in investing in the neighborhoods that are getting better and stronger by the day,” said Duluth LISC Executive Director Pam Kramer at a news conference at the Central Hillside Community Center . “It’s definitely a shot in the arm for the revitalization projects we already have under way in such neighborhoods as the West Duluth Business District and Ramsey Village and the Fourth Street corridor in the Central and East Hillside.”

The Knight grant will help Duluth LISC expand new business development in the designated “At Home” neighborhoods, fund various aspects of “quality of life” plan implementation, support neighborhood marketing and communications efforts, and train residents and community organizers in revitalization techniques.

Duluth LISC’s targeted neighborhood approach is partly a consequence of 2005’s Duluth Charrette, a Knight-funded, long-range planning exercise in which Duluth residents, planners, architects, and urban developers created plans for the East Downtown, Hillside and Waterfront neighborhoods. Knight has also invested in a Preservation Development Initiative, a National Trust for Historic Preservation project focusing on how preservation can be an effective driver of economic development.

“LISC understands that good neighborhoods thrive when residents are involved and engaged,” said Knight Foundation Director Polly Talen at the news conference. “It’s gratifying to see this work building on earlier efforts by LISC, Knight and others. LISC and Knight support a multidimensional approach to community development – LISC through its sustainable communities strategy and Knight with its commitment to transforming communities. What’s going on in these five neighborhoods is a vivid example of how those approaches work.”

Kramer emphasized that while LISC and Knight Foundation have laid the groundwork for the comprehensive redevelopment of those neighborhoods, the participation of private developers, residents, and businesses is essential for long-term success.

Since its selection as a LISC Sustainable Community site last year, Duluth LISC has received over $1.6 million from State Farm, Knight Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Bush Foundation, Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation and national LISC. In the last decade LISC has invested more than $63.8 million to help Duluth organizations build 627 affordable homes and apartments and nearly 60,000 square feet of commercial space.

“Knight’s contribution is a reinforcement of the progress Duluth has made and a commitment to its future,” said Michael Rubinger, LISC’s president and CEO. “We think this is a significant moment in the history of community development.”

About LISC LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help community-based organizations revitalize underserved neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised more than $8.6 billion to build or rehabilitate more than 230,000 affordable homes and develop 32 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.lisc.org/.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of the Twin Ports and 25 other U.S. communities. Knight Foundation focuses on ideas and projects that create transformational change.
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Northern Tales with a Twist at Sivertson Gallery

In conjunction with Earth Day events in Duluth, Sivertson Gallery caters to the imagination with Song of the Blackfly and Other Campfire Sonnets, a show featuring prints by Rick Allen which provide a refreshing and somewhat improbable interpretation of the northland, its lore and its creatures.

Rick Allen has been an artist and illustrator for more than 20 years, working mostly in relief prints from wood or linoleum block and wood engravings. He and his wife and creative partner, Marian Lansky, own and operate The Kenspeckle Letterpress. Using a combination of 19th Century cast-iron printing presses and 21st Century digital technology, they produce a range of original and giclee prints, letterpress and offset printed greeting cards, and a miscellany of ‘curious engravings, eccentric broadsheets, unique invitations, and printed ephemerae.’

Sivertson Gallery was founded in Grand Marais, Minnesota in 1980. The Canal Park Duluth location opened in 1995. Sivertson Gallery strives to enrich the lives of community members and visitors with original art from regional, Canadian and Alaskan artists.

All events are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are:
10:00 am – 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday
11:00 am – 5:00 pm Sunday


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Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop & Reception at Sivertson Gallery

What: Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop & Reception at Sivertson Gallery

Featured Show: “Song of the Blackfly and Other Campfire Sonnets”
Stories told around the campfire are almost always very nearly true.
Rick Allen’s prints celebrate the tradition with a nearly straight face.

Where: Sivertson Gallery 361 Canal Park Drive Duluth, Minnesota

When: Exhibit Dates: April 19 – May 31
Earth Day Gallery Hop Saturday, April 19, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Earth Day Artist Reception Saturday, April 19, 1:00 – 4:00 pm

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Nelson-Pallmeyer and Ford: Keynote speakers at Progressive Action spaghetti dinner on Friday, April 18



Captions:
Left: Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer Right: Melanie Ford

As the race for the DFL endorsement in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race tightens, U.S. Senate candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer will be one of two keynote speakers at the Friday, April 18 Progressive Action Spaghetti Dinner, to be held from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the downstairs of Peace Church (1111 North 11th Ave East in Duluth).

“Supporters of Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Al Franken alike will enjoy this chance to hear first-hand from candidate Nelson-Pallmeyer,” Progressive Action President Barb Olsen commented. “It will be a great opportunity to chat with Nelson-Pallmeyer and hear his views on such topics as the war in Iraq, global climate change, and how a DFL’er can beat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman for the seat that was once held by our beloved Senator Paul Wellstone.”

Speaking at the event as well will be Melanie Ford, St. Louis County Attorney.

“Melanie Ford has shown incredible strength and tenacity in her first 15 months in office,” Olsen commented. “We look forward to hearing from Ms. Ford about what she believes are the biggest issues facing St. Louis County today and facing her as well as the county’s top legal voice.”

Progressive Action has endorsed Nelson-Pallmeyer in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat and also endorsed Melanie Ford when she ran for St. Louis County Attorney in 2006.

The public is invited to the event, which is family-friendly. (A children’s activity table is included, and children 10 and under are free.) Tickets are $10 each and are being sold at Green Mercantile in Duluth’s Old Downtown (209 East Superior Street) plus at the door the night of the event. Entry includes the dinner (with both meat and vegetarian pasta sauce options), live music by Mad About Jane, the children’s activity table, and a silent auction. Desserts will be sold as well.

For more information about Progressive Action, see http://www.prog-action.org/. And for more information about the event, call 218-349-6681.
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Friday, April 11, 2008

NCMR 2008: Register Now!

NCMR 2008: Register Now!
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