Grant gives Duluth and Superior a new firefighting vessel

The Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, Wis., are getting a new firefighting vessel, thanks to a nearly $450,000 federal grant.

Among the features of the new 31-foot craft: twin 300-horsepower outboard motors, a thermal-imaging night vision camera, sonar for underwater searching and a fire pump capable of 2,000 gallons per minute.

The boat will be docked at the new Pier B Resort and managed by the Duluth Fire Department but will also serve the city of Superior through a long-standing mutual aid agreement.

The two departments will pitch in an additional 25 percent matching money for the boat, much of it through fundraising. It is scheduled to be delivered in spring of 2017.

It will serve 20 active commercial docks across 49 miles of shoreline in the Duluth-Superior port, which hosts nearly 1,000 domestic and foreign vessels each year.

Pam Louwagie

@pamlouwagie

The orange, Dutch-made VanMoof bicycles feature fenders, integrated lights and internal shifting designed for city use. They come after years of planning that included a city study of the expected demands for bike rentals. The bikes were paid for by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota.

For now, they'll be available at two locations — the Peace Plaza and People's Food Co-op — for hourly, daily and weekly rental, Dossett said.

His prediction of a typical Rochester Nice Ride renter?

"People who are in hotels," he said, pointing to the citys' estimated 2 million annual visitors.

Matt McKinney

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is asking the public to weigh in on its plan to restore a sediment-choked lake and its plant and wildlife habitats.

Marsh Lake sits in western Minnesota's Lac qui Parle Wildlife Management Area. The DNR is drawing up detailed plans to clear the choked lake and its tributaries, build water control structures to restore the flood plain and its aquatic plant and species habitat.

The project would be a joint effort between the state, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Upper Minnesota River Watershed District.

The plan also calls for returning the Pomme de Terre River to its historic route and modifying an existing dam to provide more natural fluctuations in water levels, and to create a rock-ramp fishway.

A copy of the Marsh Lake plan is online at dnr.state.mn.us/input/index.html. The public has until Aug. 11 to comment on the proposal.