Bygones

Local news from 20 and 40 years ago from the Duluth News-Tribune. This column appears daily Monday through Saturday in the Duluth News-Tribune. Researched and written by the Reference Staff at the Duluth Public Library. 

News Tribune
Jan. 26, 1967 

Duluth school officials have estimated that it will cost about $5,000 to repair the roof over the Central High School gymnasium wing which was damaged by winds two days ago.  Students have been given the okay to return to classes this morning.

A new restaurant called Somebody’s House will open soon in the Mt. Royal Shopping Center just off Woodland Avenue. Partners in the business are Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ojakangas and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Alspach.

News Tribune
Jan. 26, 1987

Tom Grover, owner of Tomasina’s Pizza on Central Entrance, plans to open a second store at 2632 W. Third St. in Duluth’s
West End.  Tomasina’s sells sandwiches and fresh pizza that customers take home to bake.

Freelance writer Michael Fedo, who is working on an unauthorized biography of Garrison Keillor, has been hampered by refusals to comment from Keillor and his associates.  Fedo, a Duluth native, said he has a book contract with St. Martin’s Press. 

Lyceum Theater

Lyceum Theater, 423-431 West Superior Street.

The Lyceum Theater was called “the finest place of amusement in the Northwest.” Traphagen and Fitzpatrick designed the brick and brownstone structure with four massive corner towers and arched windows. The triple arched entrance had bronze doors and was surrounded by carved brownstone with theatrical masques, lions, and floral motifs. A.M. Miller, a Duluth lumberman, financed the Lyceum which opened in 1892, and operas, plays, and vaudeville performed here until 1921, when it became a movie house. It was demolished in 1966, but the theatrical masques were saved to grace the entrance to the Depot Theatre, and the stone lions stand guard at the Duluth Zoo.

From Images of America: Duluth Minnesota
by Sheldon T. Aubut and Maryanne C. Norton

Bygones

Local news from 20 and 40 years ago from the Duluth News-Tribune. This column appears daily Monday through Saturday in the Duluth News-Tribune. Researched and written by the Reference Staff at the Duluth Public Library. 

January 23, 1967
News Tribune

A proposal in the Minnesota Legislature to require every driver to have automobile liability insurance has been killed before its introduction.  The proposal was opposed by insurance companies, auto clubs, and safety officials because of difficulties in enforcement. 

Duluthian Dave Lundmark won championship honors yesterday in the Eau Claire Invitational Ski Jumping Tournament.  Lundmark had jumps of 164 and 166 feet, the longest of the event, which was held in a drizzle and dense fog.

January 23, 1987
New Tribune

New city firefighters may soon be required to abstain from using tobacco products both on and off the job.  The proposal, sponsored by Duluth City Councilor M. George Downs, could be voted on as early as next week. 

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s international marketing director, Alan T. Johnson, will become port director in Green Bay, WI, in March, it was announced yesterday.  Johnson has worked for the Port Authority for 12 years. 

Recommended Website

Get a Passport Now

Beginning January 23, 2007 all persons traveling by air between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport. This website provides brief information about the new requirements, material about sea and land travel, and links to official passport sites for U.S., Canadian, and Mexican citizens.

Masonic Temple Opera

 

Photograph from the Duluth Public Library collection.

Originally a six story building housing a theater, Masonic Lodge and offices, this Richardsonian Romanesque Revival brownstone building was designed by Charles McMillen and E.S. Stebbins in 1889. The top three stories were removed in the early 1940’s when G.G. Hartley realized that they blocked the view of the new 3,000 light tower on the remodeled Norshor Theater. He owned both buildings. Ornately carved faces and scrollwork in brownstone can be found on the first story. Duluth’s first public library opened on the second floor in 1889.

Notable Duluthians

Don LaFontaine 

Don LaFontaine was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on August 26, 1940.  His parents, Alfred J. and Ruby V. Lafontaine, resided at 2711 West Second Street.  Alfred worked as a switchman for the Northern Pacific Railway.  Later, his parents divorced and both remarried.  Alfred died in Duluth on December 19, 1976.  Ruby died in Duluth on September 11, 2004.  Don LaFontaine had a sister, Sandra L. Ninow, who died in Duluth on January 26, 1977.LaFontaine grew up in Duluth and graduated from Duluth Central High School in 1958.  After graduation, he joined the Army where he worked as a recording engineer.  Following his discharge from the military, he moved to New York City where he worked in radio advertising and began producing movie trailers. 

Recommended Website

Iraq Study Group Report

Full text of the report prepared by the Iraq Study Group, published in December 2006. Contains assessments of the current situation in Iraq, and provides recommendations that the Bush administration and Congress can use to consider future direction of U.S. policy regarding Iraq.

Copies also available for check out at the library.  Check availability in the Library’s Catalog, or call 730-4202.

Bygones

Local news from 20 and 40 years ago from the Duluth News-Tribune. This column appears daily Monday through Saturday in the Duluth News-Tribune. Researched and written by the Reference Staff at the Duluth Public Library. 

 Jan. 8, 1967

Residents will be busy digging out today after a blizzard dumped 17.4 inches of snow on the Duluth-Superior area. The forecast calls for clearing skies and much-cooler temperatures.

 Duluth police have purchased a teleprinter machine which will allow them access to the Law Enforcement Teletype Service, a link to police departments, sheriffs’ offices, crime bureaus, and highway patrol offices throughout 48 states.

 Jan. 8, 1987

Workers this week began razing Jeno Paulucci’s Duluth Terminal Building at Seventh Avenue West and Railroad Street, where he used to make pizza. The building has also housed wholesale grocery firms, Western Electric Co, and the former Duluth Avionics plant.

The Fond-du-Luth Gaming Casino in Duluth has installed 12 new video-poker machines and a roulette game called “bingo-lette.” The video-poker machines are the first electronic games at the casino.