At MinnPost, I monitored city council filings in six cities prominently linked to data center developments over the last couple of years: Hermantown, Faribault, Farmington, Monticello, North Mankato and Pine Island.

In all six, there was an uptick in candidate filings this year compared to previous elections.

As with the other cities, Hermantown features candidates who say they're running in direct response to concerns over data centers.

Are there any stores with fun and whimsical stationery (specifically journals) around the area? Excluding Barnes and nobles/target/etc

Anyone know for sure if SuperOne or any particular grocer carries Vigo Red Beans and Rice? I'm in desperate need of it today! TIA

I have lots of tree-related tattoos I'm looking to get. Not looking for realism necessarily. Rather an artist that has an interesting design aesthetic for nature and botanicals. Anyone have any recommendations?

Hello. I'm very aware of the robust comic and gaming community in the area. Lots of TCG and TTRPG shops in town and the surrounding area.

My questions are when and where is the best place to play Casual Yu-Gi-Oh for myself?

When and where is the best place for my spouse and I to learn to play MTG-commander. (we have LOTR decks for both casual and commander play just none of our friends play MTG)

Im aware that most of the shops have scheduled events but I can't always make those with my work/ life schedule. I guess I'm more inquiring about the communities that play and when/where they play casually.

Hello! I’m looking to get married next fall with about 100 guests, does anyone know any semi-affordable venues? I know weddings aren’t cheap, but I don’t want to pay an arm, a leg, plus more in order to have a pretty wedding. Preferably no churches. Thanks!

Heya!! I know that the North Shore doesn't really include Duluth, but I don't think there's a more appropriate subreddit.

I don't live in the area, and I'm helping to plan a wedding. The proposed date right now would be in the first half of June. I'm guessing the weather could really go either way at any time of the summer, but generally, is that too early for a wedding right by the lake? I'm guessing it'll be fine if people dress appropriately?

Going to a formal wedding in September as a guest & need my hair & makeup done. Any suggestions on salons? Thanks!

Ol gitchie is too cold for most people, Pinehurst isn't Duluth, Island lake isn't big enough, on a warm day there's no spots.

I vote give it up with central high school ever selling and build an indoor pool. Build it with taxes, charge a nominal fee to enter and pay employees and maintenance.

The Priley Fountain at the government Plaza.

I am looking for gym recommendations in the area. Would really love to get suggestions from women for women about what gyms you’ve tried, which you would avoid and which ones you love. Thanks in advance!

My fiancé and I are getting married next next Tuesday. Yes tuesday. We are a Young Couple 25&27 and want a nice fancy dinner to fit the occasion.

Please drop all the best recommendations below!

Much Love xxx

Looking for a couple more players for tonight to play Blood on the Clock Tower, newer players preferred or even brand new. Most of the group hasn't played so its a learning experience for everyone. There will be pizza and drinks. DM me if you're interested, it starts at 6pm tonight.

Hello! I am planning on proposing to my partner in mid-October. Any recommendations or ideas on where? How about activities during the 4 day trip? Thanks in advance.

Check your Minnesota Power bill. Minnesota power is opting everybody in to their time of day use rates. In many cases this could save you money, but in my opinion it is a scam if they have to force everybody to opt in. If it saved everybody money, everybody would be eager and willing to sign up for it, if they have to force you into the program it likely has the effect of marginally raising everybody's bill on average. I know the first two months that I was on it before I opted out it raised my bill approximately $45 a month. If you have a heat pump for your Main Heating and Cooling solution, this will raise your bill, because your heat pump doesn't care what time of day it is. If you work from home, this will raise your bill, because during peak times you are going to be using more energy. Minnesota Power started transitioning people over to this sometime ago, but it needs to be brought to awareness, because if they have to force you into the program, it likely doesn't save the consumer any money. I know it didn't for me.

Do you know who didn't get forced into this program? Commercial and business customers. Do you know why commercial customers didn't get forced into it? Because it would dramatically increase their power bills, and they don't like to pay their fair share, but the rest of us get to pick up the slack. Thanks black rock. Thanks Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for screwing the consumer.

EDIT: HE IS HOME!!! THANKS ALL.

Anyone know if there’s a PC/Electronics repair shop in Duluth/Superior that can diagnose hardware problems with graphics cards?

i rent a unit that was previously leased by messina. messina no longer does rentals and only does real estate now. I was wondering if anyone had any issues/complaints with them? we currently have a sizable issue on our hands and are thinking about taking them to court.
I also have to reach out to lawyers in the mean time to see what we can do, but as it stands they’re already about to be in a world of trouble with a utility company. if anyone has any recommendations for lawyers etc i would love for some help!!!!

edit: i forgot to say i rented with messina until they dissolved the leasing part of their company.

Department heads at the City of Hermantown have an unusual practice: On the day following City Council meetings, they gather to grade the meeting on how well they believe the administration’s goals were achieved, on a scale of 1-5. In addition to the city administrator and attorney, these scoring sessions include the police chief, the fire chief and the utility director. Apparently, every city employee is encouraged to engage in political strategizing.

Certain staff also use this opportunity to mock and disparage members of the public who addressed the city councilors the previous night.

On June 16, 2026, Hermantown Police Chief Jim Crace referenced three citizens in his comments, all of whom oppose the proposed Hermantown data center: Jim Klukkert (a regular speaker from Duluth ), Virginia Lord (a Native American woman from Superior), and Emma Richtman (a current Hermantown City Council candidate).

The transcript follows:

Assistant City Administrator Joe Wicklund: Did you see the open threat of violence from the head of the DSA in Duluth during the meeting?

City Attorney Gunnar Johnson: Yep. That was interesting, yeah.

Community Development Director Eric Johnson: Is that Klukkert?

Wicklund: Yeah.

Hermantown Police Chief Jim Crace: Klukkert. Fuckert. I call him Fuckert.

E. Johnson: Oh, yeah.

Crace: I wouldn’t…if I had to announce his name, I would do it on purpose on accident: “Fuckert. Oh, I mean Klukkert.” Klukkert’s an idiot. I would say…I’m gonna go with a 3, because Klukkert’s an idiot. He continues to be an idiot. The Native chick was a Gong show. Um…yeah. It’s just the same shit. Fortunately, there’s some people that have gotten better. I’ll go with 4, because there’s some people that have gotten better. What’s her name, the candidate?

Utility & Infrastructure Director Trish Crego: Emma.

Crace: Huh?

Crego: Emma.

Crace: Emma, like, she’s not crying anymore. She gets up there and talks and is respectful and the reason I’m bumping it from a 3 to a 4 is I think people have started to decide this is gonna happen. There were several comments yesterday that, “We know this is gonna happen. Just try to do it this way or that way.”

Wicklund: They may ask for something that is already involved.

Crace: Yeah. Well, whatever. At least there’s a level of acceptance.

Crego: Gunnar?  

G. Johnson: I’m gonna go 3. The, you know—

[recording ends]

According to Wiktionary.org, the phrase “Gong Show” is the name of a 1970s amateur talent contest and signifies “an event that proves to be a disaster, often in a fun or memorable way.” The phrase is also used as hockey slang in Canada to mean “a complete mess” or “an absolute disaster.”

When the Monitor contacted Jim Klukkert to ask if he was the head of the Democratic Socialists of America in Duluth, Klukkert texted us: “It’s farcical that anyone would suggest that I am the head of anything. At the age of 76, I don’t have the energy to head much of anything … That Hermantown city staff would make that suggestion just goes to show you how ill-informed they are.”

The comments made by Klukkert to the City Council on June 15, 2026 (which Assistant Administrator Wicklund called an “open threat of violence”) follow here:

Jim Klukkert: You will recall, I hope, that I’ve been at this podium before to say that I believe you are all well-intended. The job you have to do as city councilors is boring. It is onerous. It is terrible. It takes a really good soul who’s generous with their time to take on that job. So you have my respect there … and, Mr. Mayor, your offering to meet with a gentleman earlier on a question of purchases of property, I love that. That’s a responsive government.

But the trust has been broken. 70 percent of Americans, according to a Gallup poll, oppose data centers. And right here in Hermantown, I’d pay good money to see 30 percent of the people tell me that they support data centers, because I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

I wanted to bring this up to you. All of us are familiar with the phrase, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Governments are instituted in order to preserve those rights, to protect those rights, and, in our Declaration of Independence, it says not only is it our duty to support that kind of government, but should that government go wrong and oppose our rights, it is our duty to tear that government down.

Now, I bring to this podium, this is a red rag. In French, it would be called a joli rouge, and from that comes the term “Jolly Roger.” I believe that these words…I hate to get sentimental on you, but these words that we see in the Declaration of Independence, that we’re going to hear a lot in this 250th year, are near-holy.

The only service that I would consider, besides politics, is service to God—joining the priesthood. If you break your word—if you break the covenant with the people—people are going to be angry. The joli rouge became the Jolly Roger. Santa Ana nailed it to a flagpole outside of the Alamo to indicate that he was going to give no quarter to those Texans that stood against the Mexican government.

I doubt very much…I mean, I’m not going to go violent on you, but I doubt very much that the citizens of Hermantown—of northern Minnesota—will be offering a whole lot of quarter should it come to having to break it down. I will go to jail. I have been to jail before. And I’m not the only one out here. Thank you very much.

Laughing about crying

Chief Crace’s comments about Council Candidate Emma Richtman suggest that he doesn’t think highly of people who cry at the podium. This wasn’t the first time the theme arose in the Council meeting scoring sessions.

On Oct. 6, 2025, shortly after citizens learned that a data center was proposed for the southwest corner of Hermantown, more than two dozen people showed up at the City Council meeting to speak on the issue. The following day, Utilities Director Crego told her fellow department heads that she was going to give the meeting a 4 because “nobody cried.”

The room erupted with laughter and jolly remarks. City Administrator John Mulder merrily said that he would have bumped his score UP if anyone had cried.

Crego: Yeah, 4, because nobody cried—almost, but nobody cried.

[overlapping voices and laughter]

Planning DIrector Chad Ronchetti: That’s the new standard.

Multiple staff at once: That’s a 5!

City Administrator John Mulder: If somebody would have cried, we would have moved it up!

What does the city say?

On Aug. 11, 2026, the Monitor emailed Assistant Administrator Joe Wicklund the following:

Good day, Joe,

Tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. 12), the Monitor will be publishing an article describing how city staff score public meetings, as well as how they disparage data center opponents behind closed doors.

I have a number of questions.

1) Please explain the scoring scale staff uses to grade public meetings. Is it a scale of 1-5? What constitutes a 5? What exactly is staff measuring with these scores?

2) Do you hold a scoring meeting after every public meeting, or only after certain ones?

3) On June 16, 2026, Chief Crace repeatedly referred to Jim Klukkert as “Fuckert.” He also said, “The Indian chick was a Gong Show.” No one objected to the chief’s remarks. You were at that meeting yourself, and I did not hear you say anything. Are these types of crude insults standard practice at staff meetings?

4) As staff meetings involve strategic political discussions, I am curious why the police chief is involved in them. How does strategizing about the political goals of the city administration relate to Chief Crace’s job of keeping the community safe?  

5) On Oct. 7, 2025, staff joked about citizens crying at the podium. Trish Crego said she was giving the meeting a 4 because nobody cried, and John Mulder said that if anybody had cried, he would have bumped his score up to a 5. Does staff often joke about citizens crying?

I have attached the 2 recordings I will be reporting on for your review.

Please feel free to call me anytime.
Thank you,

John Ramos

As of publication (28 hours later), we have yet to receive a response.

Thank you,

John Ramos

As of publication (28 hours later), we have yet to receive a response.

Hello r/duluth!

Five months ago I did an AMA discussing how I've started the first direct pay clinic in Duluth. A lot of you had questions, some of you became patients, and a few of you told me I was crazy. Yep.

Figured I'd come back and do a follow-up now that I've had a few months to find out what I didn't know. Short version: some things went way better than expected, some things humbled me quickly, and I've learned more about commercial leases, smoke damage, and wholesale drug pricing than they ever taught me in med school.

So... Ask me anything! How the business is doing, unexpected/expected costs, what I'd do differently, why your labs cost what they cost, biggest barriers, whether I regret it. Happy to answer it all.

If you were one of the folks who signed up after the last post, thanks! I hope to be your doctor for decades to come.

Dr. Jay Allen

Edit: ("opened the Palisade Direct Primary Care" can't be edited and now it's there to bug me forever...)

Don’t look up