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Apostle Islands sea caves ice
The ice blew out this week at the Apostle Islands sea caves.
Apostle Islands sea caves ice blows out
Could we see a three-peat of the Apostle Islands ice caves? Perhaps not, according to the National Park Service:
This is a year of a strong El Niño. We have seen much warmer than average temperatures this fall/early winter and NOAA predicts this trend to continue into early 2016. This doesn’t mean that the Ice Caves won’t be accessible this winter, but it’s less likely than the last two years.
This weekend’s weather, with an expected high of 36° F in Bayfield on Saturday, certainly won’t help build the ice, which blew out again yesterday.
Two winters ago, the caves were accessible by foot from mid-January through mid-March. Last year, they were open for less than two weeks, from late February until early March.
Sunny side up
Duluth’s Sunshine Cafe reopened on Thursday, five months after a co-owner was seriously injured in an accident at home. Lissa Maki reports for Perfect Duluth Day:
Owners Young-a and Steven Clement closed their café at 5719 Grand Avenue in August when Steven fell two stories from a ladder while cleaning the gutters on his home. He was in intensive care for a month and has been recovering ever since.
The 30-year-old neighborhood restaurant, which we featured in the magazine last summer, will start slow, using a simplified menu until they’re all back to full speed. The delightful Swedish pancakes, a favorite of ours, are there from the start.
What’s killing Minnesota’s moose?
The ongoing struggles of northeastern Minnesota’s moose population, down about 60 percent over the last 10 years, are finally coming into better focus. Reports Sam Cook of the Duluth News Tribune:
Preliminary results from 47 of the adult moose captured and collared during the past three years show that two-thirds died from health-related causes including brainworm, winter ticks, bacterial infections, liver flukes and severe undernutrition, (DNR moose project leader Glen) DelGiudice reported. Wolves killed one-third of those moose but sickness in 25 percent of those animals made them easy prey, he said.
Heat stress may be behind the nutritional and health issues, researchers say.
“The Late Show” Accent-Off, Minnesota Edition: Duluth native and comedian Maria Bamford squared off with writer Ariel Dumas of Long Lake in this bit from Stephen Colbert’s show. It’s so Minnesota that even some Minnesotans can’t understand them. Either way, it’s a hoot. (And they both list Lake Superior among their favorite lakes!)
Bayfield County tightens standards for large animal farms: New ordinances will “provide more local oversight of large farms, known as CAFOs,” reports Danielle Kaeding of Wisconsin Public Radio.
“U.P. monks devote themselves to a life of prayer and jam”: Detroit Free Press writer John Carlisle features the monks of the Holy Transfiguration Skete, a monastery near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. They’re known to many as the proprietors of the Jampot, where they sell preserves and other sweets to support themselves.
Sault Ste. Marie woman wins $1 million in Canadian lottery: She’s saving some for retirement and taking the family to Disney World, says SooToday.
Stormy Kromer to sponsor USA Ice Team: The U.P. company’s iconic caps will be worn by U.S. competitors at the World Ice Fishing Championship this month in Ukraine.