Meet and Greet the Candidates

MN Citizens Federation
Free Picnic and Meet & Greet the Candidates
Sat. July 28, 2007
11:00 am - 2:00pm
Lincoln Park, 26th Ave. West & 3rd St., Duluth
Free Lunch! Games for Children!
Bring kids and grandkids!

Meet the people running for Duluth Mayor and City Council.
For more information contact the Minnesota Citizens Federation at
727-0207

Help Identify woman who feel to her death at Chester Creek

CITY OF DULUTH
POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE

Today.s Date: 07/27/2007
Location: 1400 Block East 9th Street
Incident: Falling Death
Incident Date: 07/27/2007
Incident Time: 1055
Author: Sergeant Shene
Contact Person: Sergeant Shene, Violent Crimes Unit, 730 - 5050
Details. The Duluth Police Department is asking for assistance in identifying the victim of a fall from the bridge over Chester Creek in the 1400 block of East 9th Street.
The incident happened shortly before 11:00 AM this morning, July 27th, 2007. The victim is described as a white female, early to mid twenties, approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 160 pounds, with long brown hair, and grey eyes. She was wearing black shorts with white stripes on the sides, and a black sleeveless top. She had a gold ankle bracelet on her right ankle, a leather necklace with a off white pendant in the form of a "J", a ring on her right ring finger, and two
bracelets on her right wrist. One bracelet was pink rubber and the other was made of yarn.

Anyone having any information on the identity of this person should contact the Duluth Police Department Violent Crimes Unit at 730-5050, or the Patrol Sergeant.s Desk at 730-5150.

Free Picnic to Meet & Greet the Candidtes

MN Citizens Federation
Free Picnic and Meet & Greet the Candidates
Sat. July 28, 2007 11:00 am - 2:00pm
Lincoln Park, 26th Ave. West & 3rd St.,
Duluth

Free Lunch!
Games for Children!Bring kids and grandkids!
Meet the people running for Duluth Mayor and City Council.
For more information contact the Minnesota Citizens Federation at 727-0207

RUAH "Breath of God" supportive housing open house is Wednesday, July 25

RUAH Project Apartments blessing & dedication July 25
Three organizations (The Benedictine Sisters of Saint Scholastica, Habitat for Humanity, and CHUM) partnered through the RUAH Project to convert the vacant former Lake Superior Community Health Center into permanent supportive housing. These groups will bless and dedicate the four unit apartment building on Wednesday, July 25 by co-hosting a celebration from 1-3 p.m. at 2 East Fifth Street. Gathering and introductions take place from 1-1:30 p.m. with the blessing and dedication ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Tours, socializing and refreshments will follow the ceremony.
Special thanks go to the St. Scholastica Sisters who provided major financial support, CHUM congregations that provided additional financial support and volunteer labor, Habitat for Humanity that coordinated volunteers and the rehabilitation process, countless volunteers and donors from the community, and the Lake Superior Community Healthy Center.
“RUAH is an ancient Hebrew word meaning breath of God,” CHUM Congregational Outreach Director Steve O’Neil commented. “We've added to our understanding of ruah as people of faith who have been Rehabilitating Urban Affordable Housing with direction from our Creator. The Benedictine Sisters breathed the dollars into a dream of CHUM volunteers breathing new life into old buildings, kind of a Habitat for apartments. Habitat folks led the way for us on our first endeavor.”
CHUM will manage the building as part of its on-going efforts to help families and individuals exit the cycle of repeat homelessness. Families who have been housed in CHUM’s emergency family shelter and are ready for their next step toward permanent housing, yet which may have major obstacles to obtaining and retaining permanent independent housing will be the primary occupants of the RUAH building. In addition to stable on-going housing these families will receive intensive supportive services from Gabriel Project social worker Veronica Gaidelis-Langer with support from CHUM Family Stabilization Advocate Mary Lu Larsen.
CHUM serves over 7,000 low-income people each year through programs meeting basic needs, helping people stabilize their living situations, and working for social and economic justice in the entire community. A major part of CHUM’s work involves addressing homelessness and the need for affordable and safe housing.

A Jaded Woman Cries or America What Have We Become?

A Jaded Woman Cries

I think I have become jaded. I sat there watching the movie screen as the camera focused on a young woman with tears streaming down her face. She was a health insurance representative and she listed reasons why people are denied health insurance. She talked about one couple who sat down with her and filled out all their paperwork. The husband would be late for work because of the time it took them to fill out the paperwork, but the wife didn't care, because now they had health insurance. The couple was so happy to finally get insurance. But this young health insurance representative knew that two weeks later this couple would receive a letter telling them they were denied.

Oh, give me a break, I thought. Is she really crying over that?

Halfway through the movie, we watch the stories of two women who had been dumped off by hospitals because the hospitals could no longer afford to keep them.

A question was asked of America , "What have we become?" I can't remember the specific words to quote from the movie, but the next scene showed farmers helping each other out during harvest season.

I know those people! I have written stories about these people. Stories about farmers banding together to help a neighboring family harvest their crop because the husband had been sick. My mind flashed back to Iowa , 1998. I could smell the soil and freshly cut wheat. I could hear the machinery clanking. I remember the men's and women's voices as they took a break for lunch. I remember being teased by a man because I had climbed up on top of a huge stack of bailed hay to get a better photo. I was the reporter with the notebook and the camera, documenting how friendly and neighborly we Americans are. I was the editor who designated a whole page of text and photographs to this story of American will.

"Those are Americans. Those are the people I write stories about. We Americans are proud. We Americans are capable. We are good people.

But back to the question, "What have we become?" The juxtaposition of the focus on the face of the woman who was dumped out in the previous scene to the focus of the farmers helping each other out hit me.

Tears welled up in my eyes. In the previous scene a hidden video camera taped a disoriented woman still in her hospital gown dropped off by taxi.

Later as the movie producer’s camera focused on this woman's face we got a good look at her. The camera forced us to look at her eyes. She was old; she was wrinkled; she had a scratch or some type of mark on her nose. She had been thrown out like so much trash.

My husband and I have our own personal stories. We sat and we watched stories of middle class Americans with consequences far worse than our own.

Twenty minutes later I looked at my husband's face. He was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, weeping. I reached over and grabbed his fingers and held on tight.

America, what have we become?

You may leave comments on my blog click here:
Naomi's Notes



Marcus Lakes 10


4351 Stebner Road, Hermantown , MN , 55811 Map It
Buy tickets from MovieTickets.com by clicking a linked showtime.
(12:30), (4:00), 7:10, 9:45
Marcus Superior 7 Theatre


69 North 28th Street East, Superior , WI , 54880 Map It
Buy tickets from MovieTickets.com by clicking a linked showtime.
(12:35), (3:10), 6:40, 9:35




http://sicko-movie.com/

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/forums/hot-topics-health-news/93735

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/blogs/steve/sicko-5816

http://sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/11/MNGII96CVP1.DTL

http://www.hcahealthcare.com/

Needed Fiscal Manager for "The Hillsider"

Needed: Fiscal Manager for The Hillsider who could also serve on the Board as its Treasurer (not required).
Approximately 10-12 hours per month of work. Work closely with editor to track existing and new advertisers and their ads using Microsoft Access database and generate monthly billings using Microsoft Word Mail Merge.

Could also use a basic accounting software package to accomplish these tasks. Prepare mailing of advertising billing by second day of each month by pulling tearsheets from current newspaper issue, running invoices and mailing labels, and stuffing envelopes. Track and deposit advertising payments. Prepare disbursements each month for operational expenses, maintaining checking and savings accounts. Prepare monthly financial reports showing income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and net worth of organization. Work with Treasurer and other Board members to maintain transparency and accountability of finances. Contractual stipend of $250.

Maggie Kazel reviews "Bobby."

By

Maggie Kazel

(Maggie Kazel grew up in McLean, Va. and went to high school with Bobby Kennedy’s children. She is currently living in the Central Hillside.)

My daughter knew but wouldn’t tell me they’d made a movie about Robert Kennedy. She watched me closely as I viewed the movie’s first TV advertisement. I suppressed my emotional reaction and instead merely said, “I hope they don’t blow it.” This is when she decided to ventured forth, telling me of an interview she saw with the film’s director. “He seemed to really want to make a good movie, he really did care about him.”

Of course, I’m older and somewhat jaded. I’m tempted to tell her a director’s career may well rest on his ability to schmooze like this, but I hold in my cynicism. At least I think I did.

Days later, I learn who the director is: Emilio Estevez, son of Martin Sheen, one of Robert Kennedy’s friends. Once I knew, I breathed a sigh of relief and told my daughter, yes, he probably did care very much. She then told me Emilio’s father knew the exact spot where he stood in the hotel kitchen where Robert Kennedy was shot. She was impressed by the fact that he could remember this, and I explained how much he meant to so many of us. She’s heard this many times before and yet I persist, adding new information, things she was too young to know before, things she now understands, whether I want her to or not.

I tell her about the United Farm Workers campaigning ceaselessly, door-to-door, across the entire state of California. 14,000 members strong, the UFW was an army of a union. And wanting to be eminently clear, they’d knock and say only these words: ”Vote Bobby”, ”Vote Bobby”, ”Vote Bobby.” Their miraculous foot patrol turned the election. My daughter knows about the migrant farm workers, and how they came to my church. Bobby brought them. He brought everyone to our church because the priests happily let him. He and his wife Ethel faithfully brought their enormous brood of children and nannies every week, being dyed-in-the-wool Irish Catholic. Our pastor had a much easier job, thanks to Bobby’s desire to awaken our consciences, our sense of outrage and empathy.

I remember the UFW visits, and the Oreo cookies their nanny passed out amongst the ten kids to keep them quiet through the entire mass, no small feat. And I remember always schlepping along with my youngest siblings to one of their events: in and out the Hickory Hill backyard for holiday parties, Art Buchwald’s annual pet show, and trips through the kitchen, where Ethel managed brilliantly from a long couch in the middle of it. I remember thinking, my mom has lots of kids, she should get a couch like that. Ethel handled everything deftly: if your kid cried, she invited you in, gave the child treats, or a dog to pet, or whatever was needed to bring the child to peace. And most of all I recall that I was always longing for one thing: the hand of this allegedly 'ruthless' man to touch my head, yet again. He’d do that, pat my head, my shoulder, in church or wherever I saw him. Bobby had an affinity for children. This is why I studied his career, years later, and found what it was I trusted in him, politically. A man who clearly appreciates the wonders and vulnerabilities of children, this is someone I want to see in office. Mainly, though, I wasn’t thinking politically back then, I simply wanted him as my surrogate father. I had a father already, but an extra wouldn’t hurt. Bobby’s eyes conveyed an acute sense of understanding, and his words came out gently, as he'd be trying to make you laugh.

Two moments in the movie ”Bobby” that show the man I knew best: first, he appears to be working a crowd, when he stops for a moment to tussle a little boy’s hair. A friendly, normal gesture, but then – he surprises the boy by running his hand up and down over the boy’s face, making the child peal out in giggles. The second involves the kind of action Bobby could inspire. A young Chicano, one of the hotel kitchen employees, was cradling Bobby’s head as he lay on the kitchen floor. The young man presses a rosary into one of Bobby’s hands. It is this gesture, small and simple, that makes me think of how he affected us. He inspired us to care for one another, in whatever ways we knew. This is the man I knew, this is the man I miss. The film is about, more than anything else, his powerful affect on many, many different types of people across the globe, but mostly the invisible amongst us, those in poverty, and those de colores.

It all ended in a jarring way – seeing Andy Williams, my mother’s favorite performer, singing at our church’s memorial mass, the gym packed, getting hotter and hotter by the minute … and then all of us, trudging up a hill in Arlington Cemetery, past his brother’s eternal flame. I stood in front of his grave, trying not to cry in front of what sounded like hundreds of cameras clicking and popping. It was as awful as the day before in school, every class a TV turned on, watching my special surrogate father murdered again, and again, and again. I was 12. I was learning yet again that violence works, emphatically, to congeal hatred and love in a single shot. My heart became strangely seared open and shut within that first televised moment when I saw him murdered … seared open to loving and working for others, seared shut to cope with the unbearable loss and the unremitting presence that is violence in my world.

He was a father to me and many others. He helped me see the world as it is, and see what I could do in it. What others saw as ruthless, I saw as deeply strategic. What others saw as privileged, I saw as privilege being used to the common good’s advantage. Perhaps the murder of his brother made all the suffering around him that much more difficult to bear: perhaps this is why he was a most unusual white man of privilege in America. To this day, very few politicians can claim his level of understanding and commitment to those amongst us who have nothing, less than nothing, who are being abused their every waking moment. He taught me well, on those Sundays, with pats on my head, and with the entourage of different speakers at Sunday Mass. He taught me most inventively, at his home’s gatherings for children each Halloween, Easter, and summer pet show. And finally, as for the bearing of unspeakable burden, with his murder he taught me to practice what I witnessed him doing for many years, which is the very meaning of endurance. Truly I owe this to him, because while he was amongst us I witnessed his suffering, after his brother’s murder. He made the most of his grief, channeling it through his commitments to work for the voiceless, for his family, friends, and even, I realize, honoring his staunchest enemies with tenacious challenges.
Through the cast of humble and worldly hotel employees and guests, the film focused on Robert Kennedy’s effect on us, on what he means to us even now. Beyond the tug of emotional memories, “Bobby” ventured into the realm of public arena, and showed personal magnetism alone can’t explain his unusual gifts, his demeanor with power. This film portrays some of the Bobby I knew and will always grieve. This film very much conveys the essence of how Bobby, beyond death even, inspires many of us to live, creating actions born of empathy, outrage and courage.

DuluthCar – A Car Sharing Vision for Duluth

By Mike Nordin
You may have heard of car sharing in the news or possibly while visiting a city like Portland, San Francisco, the Twin Cities or Madison. Or maybe you haven’t.

Sharing a car, hmmm – am I going to lend my own car to someone else? No – actually it’s a service where you are able to give up the hassle of owning your own vehicle (or vehicles) – often saving you the cost of a car payment, insurance, maintenance and gas while providing you with a car when you need it. Let’s face it – most of the time the car – if you own one – is sitting in your driveway, carport or garage, collecting pine needles and other items. Car sharing frees up those worries by having someone else take responsibility for a car.

My vision for DuluthCar is having fuel efficient cars (or maybe even one light-duty truck or minivan) available at “hubs” throughout the City of Duluth. The cars could be reserved for one hour or several hours for a fee based on how much you use the car and how far you drive. Drivers would be “registered” to use the service and, once approved, could reserve a car using a convenient online reservation system or by phone. Sound futuristic? This is happening in Minneapolis/St. Paul with 15 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles available 24/7 to several hundred car sharing members (see http://www.hourcar.org/).

Some of the myriad of benefits to car sharing in Duluth could include: re-energizing the DTA bus service by placing hubs near where people already catch the bus, having fewer cars on the streets, making more public parking available, access to a car for people with a decent driving record but who don’t own a car, cutting greenhouse gas emissions – you get the idea.

Is car sharing for everyone? No – if you need to commute regularly where, say the DTA doesn’t go, then it probably wouldn’t work for you. But, if you already ride (or could ride) the bus to work and only needed a car for errands, then it might be worth seriously considering. Even downsizing from a two-car household to one-car would be possible. A business or university with a fleet of vehicles could greatly benefit from enrolling in a car sharing service if their fleet cars are driven throughout the city during regular business hours.
I hope this article sparks enough interest in a “DuluthCar” program to get things happening. Please contact me at DuluthCar@gmail.com if you have questions or, better yet want to help make it happen!

Mike Nordin
Stay-at-home Dad in Duluth

Dan Johnson purchases Aase Service and Repair

Dan Johnson at his auto service shop
Photo by Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff


Dan Johnson purchased Aase Service and Repair shop last year and in March changed the name to Johnson’s Auto Repair. Located at 17 N. Second Ave., they specialize in foreign and imported vehicles. The phone number is 218-722-0230.
Dan became a grandfather for the first time when his son, Ron, who works at the shop, and daughter-in-law, Heather had a baby girl in June.

Deb Carlson purchases consignment shop

Deb Carlson poses by a display in her consignment shop. Photo by Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff

Deb Carlson purchased the consignment clothing store in the Plaza Shopping Center, 1227 E. Superior St., in February and renamed it Plaza Consignment.

She carries everything from high end designer names like Armani to more affordable pieces. Besides clothes she has shoes, handbags, scarves and accessories. There is a broad range of sizes and styles from business suits to vacation wear and cool jeans for teens.

Clothing that doesn’t sell is donated to the Damiano Center. Phone 218-728-2997.

A two campus high school could work as a way to unify Duluth

Letter to the editor

One idea I have not heard discussed (or dismissed) is a two campus, one high school plan. I attended a school in the Chicago area (one of the top in the state) that had freshmen and sophomores at one campus and juniors and seniors at the other. Faculty commuted back and forth in some instances. Sports and Clubs could be held at either campus.

Doug Larson
Larson is a former Hillsider board member and an East Hillside resident

With Fourth Street as the anchor, positive things are happening in East Hillside

Letter to the editor

When I first moved to town I lived on the 1100 block of East Fourth Street. (That was about 20 years ago!) Since then Whole Foods Co-op moved once from its Ninth Street location down to the junction of Chester Creek and Fourteenth Avenue East and then moved again to its current location about a mile west. I was a member early on.

One day, as I was headed to the Co-op, I became aware of the phenomenal development in this East Hillside neighborhood. Fourth Street seems to be the anchor, with a popular burrito restaurant, to antique and retro stores, apartments being renovated and new buildings going up. Positive things are happening; a vital, thriving neighborhood exists here. The neighborhood now boasts not only the Co-op, but within a few blocks, a newly renovated grocery store, a florist, a clothing consignment shop, (where my high school friends got their prom dresses!) a hardware/appliance store, a book dealer, two parks, the Sacred Heart Music Center, uniform apparel shop, banks, trails in Chester Creek, laundromats, several small restaurants, bakery, ski/bike shop, car repair shops, and of course a hospital. It’s a great little neighborhood that seems to be coming into its own!

Judy Gibbs

Come n’ Get It at the Duluth Farmer’s Market

Caption: Alex Hamilton raises 50 to 70 chickens on his parent’s hobby farm on Lismore Road in Duluth and sells eggs at the Farmer’s Market. (Photo by Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff)


By Wendy Grethen
Fresh veggies and a whole lot more can be found in the wooden structure at the corner of 14th Ave E. and Third St. The Duluth Farmer’s Market is currently comprised of twenty-two family producers selling their veggies, cheese, chickens, eggs, baking, cut flowers, plants, pickles, maple syrup and other goods. July is the long awaited peak production time here in the Northland and the market is the place to come purchase fresh, locally grown strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peas. The market will run through the end of October and then reopens later in the year for Christmas tree sales.

Come by Wednesday and Saturday mornings anytime between 7 a.m. and noon to support the local growers from St. Louis, Carlton and Lake Counties. The market has been at its current location since 1953 and is still going strong. At the market, you can buy directly from the producers, ask garden or cooking questions, and run into neighbors and friends. Some growers also sell items at the Whole Foods Co-op and at other markets such as the UMD market on Wednesday afternoons. This year there’s a new venture with St. Luke’s Hospital in which fresh produce from the Farmer’s Market will stock the hospital’s salad bar and be components of patients’ meals.

Several festivals are held at the Farmer’s Market throughout the season - you’ll have an opportunity to sample fresh produce and home-made goodies, plus take home some recipes. In August, don’t miss the Raspberry Festival, September has a salsa festival and October is the Cider Press and Pumpkin Festival. Lois Hauffbauer, current chair of the Farmer’s Market, invites people to come for samples and to meet the farmers directly. You’ll taste the difference of the fresh produce.

Deb Shubat, owner of Shubat’s Fruits, is one of the vendors at the Farmer’s Market. She started about six years ago and shared a space with another vendor and eventually began to grow more produce and expanded into her own space. She enjoys the social aspects and the cooperation among the vendors and yes, she is a customer herself purchasing items from fellow vendors or sometimes swapping goods.

She sees the bulk of the customers at the market coming out to pick up pickles, tomatoes or cabbages to stock up for pickling, making salsa, kimchee, or sauerkraut. During peak times some folks line up before 7 a.m. to arrive for the freshest pickings and to get larger quantities. As noon draws near during an open market day, a Second Harvest food shelf worker often comes and asks for produce donation and vendors readily provide a portion of their grown or baked goods.

Most of the producers at the market today are women and many use organic and sustainable practices - feel free to ask if the foods are organic.

Enjoy and support the local growers working with the challenges of the Northland’s weather. Also, contact the Duluth Community Garden program at 722-4583 for more recipes and to rent equipment for canning. Dig into the edible treasures of the Northland.

Impossible to remain silent, the community remembers three men who lost their lives to hate

Photography and text by
Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff
In the United States we have a social contract that says we will solve our problems through the law. On June 15, 1920 mob mentality took over as thousands of Duluthians took to the streets to participate and watch as three black men, who had been working with the circus were falsely accused of raping a white woman and hung to death at the corner of Second Avenue East and First Street. Those men were: Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie.

This year on Friday, June 15, a crowd of about 100 gathered to pay respect to the men who lost their lives and to remind everyone of what had happened so that it may never be repeated.
For educational material on eliminating hatred phone 218-3186 ext. 2 or visit:
www.claytonjacksonmcghie.org