Blighted Duluth home in headlines to stand a few more months
July 18, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
A house used this spring as an example of how officials in Duluth will increase their fight on blight won’t be demolished for at least two months, city spokeswoman Pakou Ly said Wednesday.
Continue Reading
Dear DNT
The reason Sten Bylund could not be reached for comment is because he died about a week or 2 after Donnie Ness’s news conference! His obituary was in your paper!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
42 
0
Where did they say he couldn’t be reached for comment?
Wasn’t that in the original story, back before June?
Like or Dislike:
11 
2
DNT nuked the line about him not being available for comment.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
17 
0
Yeah, the penultimate paragraph originally read:
“The owner of the property, Sten Bylund, 94, could not be reached for comment. The home is valued at $13,400 while the land it sits on is worth $50,000, according to the city assessor’s office.”
Not only do we get lazy journalism in not realizing the Mr. Bylund was deceased, the DNT then gives us shoddy, dishonest journalism by (a) scrubbing the error without noting the story had changed, and (b) even leaving the original timestamp at the top of the page: “Published July 19, 2012, 12:00 AM”
Rock on, News Tribune!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
25 
3
I also find it amusing the paper includes Mr. Bylund’s age in both versions of the story. Nowhere do I see Rick Caya’s age in today’s story on the Seaway.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
22 
2
I am amazed that no one bought that piece of land and did something decent with it.
Like or Dislike:
13 
4
The guy wouldn’t sell it, I am sure he had plenty of offers considering the location.
Like or Dislike:
14 
3
My relatives lived in there from about 1915 thru 1930 area and left many notes to just go thru the home upstairs. he never once replied. ANY word when its coming down?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
which house address is this..the one on 1st street?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Another non story to fill space. Way to go Duluth No News Tribune.
Like or Dislike:
13 
4
If you want to be bored out of your mind read the GF Herald. The hot topic for the day is the mosquito spraying set for tonight.
Like or Dislike:
11 
2
I really don’t get why this house is priority number one. It’s unfinished, but still looks better than many occupied homes, and is structurally sound.
Seems to me that this is more about the conflict between the former owner and the city.
Like or Dislike:
12 
3
Well tj, we had a story about one of the most popular cliff jumping spots “the cribs”, where a child died, marking the first death in at least 30 years. The dnt called the spot, dangerous. Even though the child drowned unrelated to jumping, and his family said he was a fairly poor swimmer.
I mean it’s a terrible loss for the family, but I mean man, can you try any harder to manufacture a story, weeks after the fact?
Like or Dislike:
11 
2
In GF they are discussing the new Walmart…it’s riveting.
Like or Dislike:
9 
2
Are we at all shocked that the DNT creates a story instead of reporting it? I remember back in the 90′s they did an article that sort of rambled on about various topics. In the article, the author wrote about how shabby and beat up the “Welcome to Minnesota” highway sign looked. And why doesn’t MNDOT take more pride and fix it up. It’s the one that you see while entering from the Blatnick bridge. The funny thing was that the day before this article was printed they did a story about the same sign. Someone had gone off the road and crashed into the sign and was hurt in the accident. They did quite a bit of damage to the sign in the process. Not funny for the person in the accident but funny that the people writing the article didn’t bother to read the newspaper they work for! Just this week they did a misleading article about trees that were cut in Chester. Do they think we walk through Duluth with our eyes closed?
Like or Dislike:
12 
1
In 1970, plans were released for the expansion and upgrade of Mesaba ave. Bylund knew that his property was potentially within the proposed right-of-way. If he could show that he was in the process of renovating the house, it would be worth more in any eminent domain settlement. Upgrade plans for Mesaba didn’t come to fruition until the 90′s, and unfortunately for Mr Bylund, didn’t include using all his property. Mr Bylund,s gamble with the DOT didn’t pan out the way he had planned, and the building remained vacant and unfinished.
Like or Dislike:
10 
2
This is interesting. This forum allows us to bring out facts behind a story the paper either won’t dig for or won’t print. On this site we get to hear details from the nieghbors or the town’s people.
Like or Dislike:
9 
1
I have heard a lot of different accounts regarding that house, some from neighbors and others from random people.
This explanation makes the most sense to me, and explains the state of the interior of the house. It also explains why construction ceased.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0