After building particularly big snow sculptures I’ll have a very sore back. Twelve hours of sitting on my tush, half of this in too comfy sofas, entering data in my Let Duluth Vote Data base my back is once again pretty sore. Getting this filled out has been of higher priority than blog posts and I have a few more hours to go today before I spend much time here. Every major street in Duluth has a dozen contributors or more. Many streets of just a block or two have one or two. These are the folks who sent in thanks you’s back when it seemed just a matter of time before the Dixon School Board would acknowledge public anger at the theft of their vote.
I was up till three this morning so I was a little slow getting up. No Trib on my doorstep. I put in a call as I did a month ago under the same circumstances to the circulation department. That time it never showed up. They assured me it would come this time.
Maybe someone purloins the trib when stuff shows up in it that I’d be interested in. For instance I got an FYI email sent out with the story on next week’s school board meeting. That’s when bids on the Wheeler Middle School get voted on. Like every other hell bent to leather aspect of Dr. Dixon’s work it seems planned to hurry up and defeat any compromise – like one that could save $50 million and simply use Central High as a middle school.
There may be a good reason for Dixon to hurry. For months a rumor has swirled around that Dixon is planning on announcing his departure soon. If this is true he’d want unbreakable contracts in place to guarantee Duluth couldn’t escape from his breathtaking foot (stomp) print. The rumors began circulating more fiercely when Sarah Horner the old trib reporter covering education got the axe. The rumor was that she had just heard the story of Dixon’s plan to return to Faribault for a new job and when she caught Dixon being less than honest about his plans she began writing more critical pieces. The story I recall asked whether killing the magnet school program and using its million desegregation dollars to help make up operational shortfalls was worth it.
I’ve checked with a couple Trib people and they all assured me that Sarah’s hasty departure to parts unknown below the equator had nothing to do with Dixon pulling strings.
Anyway, today’s story online has a an up beat little log to help Duluthians forget that they were stripped of their voting rights to build Dixon’s folly. Its cute:
I see that Tim Grover mentions that he grew up in the neighborhood and that he hasn’t heard complaints from locals about the new school. Well of course he hasn’t.
Having gotten my letters informing me of a Thursday screening by Duluth labor for its endorsements in the August DFL Senate primary I found the concluding sentence of the story timely:
The board also will approve layoffs of tenured teachers and eliminate positions next week, although the total number of each was unavailable at Monday night’s meeting
.
