Public Affairs

An uptick in cases of "sextortion" and online child exploitation is gaining the attention of communities, law enforcement and prosecutors, including here in Minnesota.

 The spike of 40% in online cases last year - and the news that a quarter of the victims are 12 years old and younger - prompted St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin to hold a community discussion last night about protecting our kids ... and ourselves.

If you'd like more information about sextortion and online exploitation (including threats to adults like revenge porn), here are some additional links:

The pilot warming center on Grand Avenue in Duluth was a great success last year. About 20 people a night without housing took advantage of it over the 29 nights temperatures dipped below 0.  But this year, it won't be open.  Code violations have sidelined the building for the time being, but in this case, when one door (or warming center) closes, several other new options will open: and it won't have to be quite as cold before those doors open, either.

Chip

Chip is a seven year old lab mix that needs someone to love him. He has never been around kids and would prefer to be the only dog in the household as he guards his food. He is usually okay with female dogs, but not not male dogs or small dogs. Chip tolerates cats, knows basic commands, and does well on leash.

Jammer

A 25' lot in Duluth isn't even as wide as two Volkswagen Beetles parked end-to-end. 

So when setbacks are required to be 6' on all sides of a house and the law requires houses to be at least 20' wide ... that makes for a lot of vacant lots in the city.

But Duluth's been updating its zoning codes to keep step with Minnesota's updated building codes, and that means good news for folks with their eyes on a vacant city lot.

Marmaduke

Marmaduke is a 2 year old lab mix that still has puppy energy. Because of his energy and size, he needs supervision around small children. Even though Marmaduke weighs 80 pounds, he's just a big baby. Once he gets comfortable in a new home, he can be protective. Marmaduke is crate trained, house trained, and knows basic commands. He likes other dogs (with proper introductions) and does well with cats.

Theater 

16 hours. Two vans. 41 dogs.

That's 41 dogs scooped from the overcrowded Dallas Animal Services shelter and placed in temporary foster care until their transport this weekend.

Come tomorrow morning at 2am, Rockwall volunteers will climb into the vans and head north on the 16-hour trip to bring the dogs to the Northland Subaru "Love-a-Pet" event this weekend.

Marmaduke

Marmaduke is a two year old lab mix that still has puppy energy. Because of his energy and size, he needs supervision around small children. Even though Marmaduke weighs 80 pounds, he's just a big baby. Once he gets comfortable in a new home, he can be protective. Marmaduke is crate trained, house trained, and knows basic commands. He likes other dogs (with proper introductions) and does well with cats.

Yagger

Last month, at the Local Solutions to End Poverty Candidate forum,  community members in Duluth wanted to know if city council and mayoral candidates would support creating opportunities for black entrepreneurship in the childcare industry. 

And since climate change disproportionately affects low-income Duluthians, they also wanted assurances that, if elected, candidates would indeed "promote community best practices and strategies for reducing greenhouse gases" per the new Energy Plan Commission. 

KUMD's Cameron Olson has the story.

No computers to hack and no network connections to any machines (by state law) - Minnesota voters are being encouraged to mark their good old-fashioned paper ballots today for their favorite candidates.

Polls are open until 8:00pm tonight, and thanks to the magic of the internet, you can find all kinds of information about the process.

You can find lots of information about the voting process in Duluth at the Duluth City Clerk's website.

Bone-ita

Bone-ita is a black Labrador Retriever mix who is approximately 8 years old. She came to Animal Allies as a stray from Duluth Animal Services and is now looking for her new loving home! Bone-ita is a calm and lovable girl who enjoys playing fetch with her favorite squeaky toys and tennis balls! 

Atomic Toaster