Bring Out Your Best: This is it, as the final few weeks count down in our Best of the Lake voting. This year we’ve got wide ranging categories covering overnights to overlooks, gift shops to selfie spots, beach strolls to bookstores. You can note your favorites on all four shores or just vote for the one or two that you’ve already visited. We’d love to hear from locals and visitors to get the truly Best. Last year, Copper Harbor (in photo) earned a Best of the Lake slot as the Michigan place for Best Family Attraction. Take the survey online. Voting ends June 1 … don’t let your favorite Big Lake business or locale down!
Pretty in Pink: If Jonathan Martin tells you he’s seen a pink squirrel, it’s not what you think. Jonathan accidentally discovered the first mammal to fluoresce thanks to a flying squirrel at his bird feeder and handy UV flashlight. The forestry prof at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, had become fascinated with reading about frogs that fluoresce under UV light and had been checking other critters with the old UV. “Then one chilly May night,” says a story posted by Northland College, “he heard the telltale chirp of flying squirrels at his birdfeeder. He pointed his UV flashlight upward and noted a glimmer of pink coming from the underside of a flying squirrel – a nocturnal mammal that glides from tree to tree using its membranes or patagia that stretch between the forelimbs and hind limbs.” He tried to capture a photo (seen here). Eventually Jonathan enlisted the aid of three other researchers at the college and they studied the phenomenon more, finally publishing their findings in the Journal of Mammalogy. “That’s when the excitement started,” the story quotes Northland 2018 graduate Allie Kohler, lead author on the project and now a graduate student in wildlife and fisheries at Texas A&M. It was Allie who visited the Minnesota Science Museum and put the blacklight test to the flying squirrels specimen there and found all three varieties – the Northern flying squirrel, the Southern flying squirrel and the Humboldt’s flying squirrel — fluoresced pink. After the Journal of Mammology story, queries poured in and to date there have been articles in the prestigious Nature, as well as The New York Times, National Geographic, Newsweek, Smithsonian, and other publications, 70-plus and counting. (Now you can add our own Around the Circle This Week to the list.)
Stacked Up: Brian Cabell of Word on the Street writes about what might be the future of the Marquette shoreline space now occupied by the twin-stacked Presque Isle Power Plant, the last units of which were retired in March this year, and the Shiras Steam Plant also no longer is in use. The smoke stacks, 400 and 410 feet tall, have towered over the city since the 1950s. The plants are slated to be demolished and some of the land potentially could end up back with the city, according to Brian's reporting. “No single event in this town’s history will do more to improve our shoreline than those two plants coming down,” Mayor Fred Stonehouse told Brian. “The environmental impact will be dramatic.”
Getting a Grip: It's a wee bit past our ice age, but we came across an interview with Shaun Parent (here on Lake Superior's Ontario shore), who might be called the father of ice climbing around Lake Superior, that's worth sharing. Shaun was interviewed by Gripped, the climbing magazine, about his groundbreaking (ice breaking?) climb promotion of the Lake Superior region. He owns Superior Exploration, Adventure & Climbing Co. in Batchawana Bay, Ontario, and founded the Nipigon Ice Fest. Shaun has been featured in Lake Superior Magazine and wrote "Up the Down Waterfall" for us in 2000. "Some of the best ice climbing in the world is found around Lake Superior, considered the third best climbing destination in North America (after Colorado and New Hampshire)," he wrote. In the Gripped story, Shaun talks about climbing in Orient Bay in the early 1980s, when no one here had even heard of ice climbing. "We were starting a completely new sport," he says. "We had some issues with people just thinking that we were crazy." He remembers hiding when people called the police to stop them from "trespassing" (which they weren't) or to rescue them (which was not needed). The Gripped story ends with a link to a short video documentary with Shaun.
Tell Us a Story: StoryCorps, a national nonprofit with a popular broadcast and podcast that builds communities through storytelling, will visit Duluth next week to record Twin Ports-area residents' stories about poverty and opportunity. Three days of recording – Tuesday through Thursday – coincide with Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation’s annual celebration 4 p.m. Wednesday in the DECC. The topic reflects the foundation’s Opportunity Rising Initiative, both working to narrow the opportunity gap in our region. DSACF reports, “In Duluth, 3,346 children, or 21.5 percent, live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Superior, the number is 1,038 children, or 25.8 percent. Both numbers are higher than the Minnesota average of 12.2 percent, the Wisconsin average of 15 percent and the national average of 18 percent.” The StoryCorps recordings will capture a local resident and a trusted person talking about how they have observed poverty and opportunities. The recordings will be shared through the websites of the DSACF and its Opportunity Rising Initiative websites and, like other StoryCorps recordings, will become part of a national archive in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The Wednesday celebration event is open to the public with a request to register online. At the event, StoryCorps associate director of community training, Emily Janssen, will speak about the national and local projects. “We are honored to have StoryCorps here to share their tools and platform so our local residents can share their stories and experiences on this important issue,” said Community Foundation President Holly C. Sampson. “Opportunity and poverty are subjects we are increasingly discussing in our region and our nation. We’re honored that StoryCorps will be here to bring voices from our community into the conversation in a more prominent way.” The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation received Lake Superior Magazine’s 2017 Achievement Award.
On Target: The Duluth Fire Department was out target practicing Thursday with its brand-new all-hazard rapid response boat from Lake Assault Boats in Superior, captured in a video by Lake Superior Magazine Editor Konnie LeMay. The 32-foot Marine 19 is named to honor the 19 "Line of Duty Deaths" in the department since it began in 1870. An official public unveiling will be 10 a.m. May 29 at Pier B Resort. The nearly $600,000 boat, the only one of its kind on Lake Superior, was purchased with a FEMA port security grant ($447,750) and local matching funds ($149,250). “Community support for this project has been outstanding," Interim Chief Shawn Krizaj said in a press release. "Much of the match dollars came from local business and some individual donations. This vessel is important not only for the port of Duluth/Superior, but also as a regional or state resource. This is the only boat of its kind within the Western Great Lakes. We are thrilled to add Marine 19 to our list of assets.” The boat features include a thermal-imaging night-vision camera, side-scan sonar, radar, a GPS navigation system, pumps, a water cannon, firefighting foam, emergency medical equipment and gear to handle hazardous materials. Another of Lake Assault Boats’ rescue vessels got put to the test at the end of March on Body Beach at Lake Havasu City, Arizona (in photo), when the San Bernardino County Fire Department’s boat aided at the scene on the Colorado River, as reported by Wildfire Today’s Bill Gabbert.
Meanwhile in Thunder Bay, firefighters used a rapid deployment watercraft to rescue a woman and her dog from the gushing Current River at the Centennial Park off-leash trail Monday, reports TBNewswatch. The woman jumped into the river to save her dog and they both got stranded on a small rock outcrop. Using the watercraft and a team downstream in case of mishap, they both were rescued.
Our Big Break: We broke out of the office Thursday morning – LSM Editor Konnie LeMay, Publisher Ron Brochu and Rebekah Rush (our new customer service/social media maven) – to join the first Duluth's Largest Coffee Break of the summer at Lake Place Park (Gichi-ode´ Akiing) overlooking the Lakewalk. There was a nice gathering of downtown and all-around-town people enjoying free Starbucks coffee, The Greenery doughnut holes and Fannie Rose popcorn, plus a demo on sprucing up your correspondence envelopes by Hucklebeary (as Konnie tried here). Donation jars collect money to help pay for Lakewalk repairs. Put the next one - June 20 - on your calendar.
Park Perks: Saturday will be a good day to head to Central Hillside or Brighton Beach Parks for Duluth Parks and Recreation’s Duluth Parks Day. The two parks host open houses with info about planned improvements and to get comments. Central Hillside Park, East Third Street, will offer basketball skills sessions and a 3-on-3 tournament, disc golf and chalk art. The first 50 youth will receive a free basketball. At Brighton Beach Park, (pictured), Congdon Boulevard & 63rd Avenue East, activities include learning to use GPS units, interactive park planning and a craft project for all ages. There, the first 50 youth will get a free pair of sunglasses. Events will happen, rain or shine, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at both parks.
Exit Interview: When U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Erin Williams took over to head the Marine Safety Unit Duluth in 2016, her most recent assignments had taken her to Alaska and to Europe, but she’d always had Duluth in mind as a work destination. “We actually asked for MSU Duluth about 10 years ago,” Erin writes. “I was attracted to the uniqueness of working with Lakers on the Great Lakes, especially since I have no previous Great Lakes experience. We were pretty unfamiliar with the area, but researched and discovered this area has many things we like – strong community, great outdoor accommodations, good schools and a colder climate.” In June, she will wrap up her assignment here, heading next to the Coast Guard’s Leadership Development Training Center in New London, Connecticut. We sent Erin a few questions about her tenure in Duluth, what she liked and what she’ll miss. She has no hesitation in naming what she has most appreciated during her time here and what she will most miss: “The people. It’s really that simple,” she says, reflecting on both the USCG crew and the locals. Considering her time at MSU Duluth, Erin considers a few notables: “We have had several significant accomplishments that are worthy of highlighting. Our outreach efforts on the inland waters of northern Minnesota realized a 60 percent increase in licensing of the operators of uninspected passenger vessels in Lake of the Woods, enhancing the safety of the remote waterway. Further, our team has stepped up to manage and respond to major events such as the grounding of the M/V American Spirit, visits to the Duluth waterfront by both the president and vice president, and the Husky refinery explosion. We’ve been very busy and will continue this tempo well after my departure, especially with Grandma’s Marathon and the Festival of Sail.” Read on our website the full Q&A with Erin as she navigates questions about her choice of the Coast Guard as a career, more on her time in Duluth and how the community came out to help when the government shut down, but the Coast Guard members were expected to keep going … without pay.
Photo & graphic credits: Paul L. Hayden; Konnie LeMay; Jonathan Martin; Courtesy Shaun Parent; Konnie LeMay; San Bernardino County Fire Department; Konnie LeMay; Bob Berg; U.S. Coast Guard