Last Tuesday, an independent audit of the Minneapolis riots was released. The 86-page document was created by the Hillard Heintze firm after auditing nearly 100 interviews, more than 30 hours of police body camera footage, thousands of documents, and discussions with, and among, focus and listening groups. The overall impression was “that did not go…
Category: Real Stories North
Two Harbors: “Don’t Dare to Dream”
The tiny North Shore Town of Two Harbors has received more press coverage in the last month than it probably has in the last 10 years thanks to Mayor Chris Swanson. Most of the stories appear in the Duluth News Tribune, but their rhetoric is spreading to the Star Tribune, Bring Me the News, and…
Unmasked… again
Earlier today, Mayor Emily Larson ended her emergency reign over Duluth and will let the mask ordinance she instated end on Saturday, February 12th. We will never know what lives were saved by this heroic act. In fact, we’ll never know if any lives were saved at all. In a report from the US National…
Virtue Signaling: Masks Again
When Mayor Emily Larson declared an emergency and imposed the new mask mandate for Duluth on January 13th, she told the crowd, “If you want to be mad at me, be mad at me. That’s what I’m here for. It’s still the right decision.” Some will argue that imposing a mask mandate when Covid-Omicron cases…
Duluth’s Failing Crime Grades are Criminal
According to Neighborhood Scout, you have a 1 in 27 chance of being a target of property crime in Duluth, and 1 in 337 chance of being the victim of a violent crime. The violent crime stat may seem like a lot, but I bet you know someone, maybe even yourself, that has bought a…
Knock-Knock, Who’s There? Duluth’s Aggressive Homeless Problem
Duluth’s homeless crisis has been growing exponentially over the last few years, fueled by a parallel drug problem in our city, along with city officials and local organizations that are more concerned with the comfort and accommodations of the homeless than actually solving a crisis that will inevitably end with dire consequences. What does that…
Ornery A-Holes Should Practice Gratitude
Turkey buttons are popping and the taters are mashed, it’s Thanksgiving, but the societal vibe seems less “grateful” and more “uneasy”. Last November, a certain half of the country felt a renewed optimism after the elections, sure that everything they deemed broken would be fixed, but here we are a year later and in ways…
Election Apathy: Who Speaks for You?
You’ve probably heard it a hundred times, “elections have consequences”. That was the resounding result of this week’s city council elections in Duluth. Tuesday’s election drew only 23% of voters to the polls, 6% lower than a similar election in 2017. Leaving one to wonder, who’s speaking for you? Voters that didn’t take the time…
Homeless Havoc Finally Makes Headlines
While Real Stories North has been covering stories on Duluth’s Homeless Crisis for the last year, major local news outlets seem to ignore the havoc the homeless are creating in Duluth until it’s a fiery in-your-face inferno. Two days ago, a homeless encampment located under I-35 near Railroad Street burned. The Fire Department was alerted…
Can a Social Worker Save Downtown?
Last week the Duluth City Council voted to approve $300,000 in Federal COVID relief funds to hire a social worker through the Greater Downtown Council for the next three years. The social worker would earn a salary of $65,000 and the remaining funds would be used for resources to support the position. Our site has…