I have nothing left to say to Duluth. Browse the archives if you wish.
Runners
The paper pinned to the bulletin board in the Allied Taxi dispatch office says “Press Release,” but I have not seen coverage of this in the press.
Press Release
Duluth Police DepartmentDate: March 2, 2010
Contact: Jim Rodman, Duluth Police Department Investigator, (218) 730-5671
Duluth Police and Taxi Owners Join Forces;
Create New Rule Aimed to Reduce “Free Rides”Duluth, Minn. — There’s an ongoing problem with people failing to pay their cab fares in Duluth, specifically at night.
Cab drivers reported nearly 100 incidences of people failing to pay their cab fares in 2009. Drivers say they have left many more occurrences unreported because they could not afford the time it takes to file a report.
The Duluth Police Department and cab company owners have been meeting to discuss the issue and how to address it. The two groups have agreed that from 10 pm to 6 am customers will have to either pre-pay or prove they have the ability to pay before the cab driver will begin the trip.
“We commend the taxi cab owners for their willingness to meet with us and work toward solutions,” said Duluth Police Investigator Jim Rodman. He is asking taxi customers to be understanding when they’re asked to pre-pay or prove they can pay. “We believe this new approach will significantly reduce the amount of free rides people are getting, and allow cab drivers to be paid for the valuable service they deliver.”
Both groups will closely monitor this approach and will meet again in mid-March to assess how well it’s working.
Duluth police officers are also working with local gas stations to address the ongoing problem of people driving away without paying for gas. In 2009, nearly 500 calls were made to 911 to report gas drive offs. Owners said hundreds more drive offs go unreported each year. A joint task force has been created and members are in the early stages of developing a plan.
# # #
Bring Your Own Copying Machine
As I entered the lobby of the Holiday Inn on February 18, 2010, en route to the monthly Spirit Mountain board meeting, I had a bit of trouble negotiating the doors, encumbered as I was with a Fujifilm FinePix S5100 digital camera, a Marantz PMD 201 portable cassette recorder with plug-in Radio Shack unidirectional dynamic microphone, a Panasonic AG-DVC7 750X Digital Zoom video camera with telescoping tripod and a brown canvas Duluth pack containing my notebook and pens. After the excitement of the previous Spirit Mountain board meeting, I didn’t see how plenty of recording equipment could hurt.
I hit Record on the Marantz recorder and took the elevator to the fifth floor. I walked to the Duluth Room, which turned out to be a typical corporate meeting room: conference table, TV, side counter bearing soft drinks, various odds and ends of hotel furniture scattered about. A number of board members and Spirit Mountain employees were already there. Nobody physically attacked me or called the police right away, so I put down my gear and began setting up the tripod and video camera.
Spirit Mountain’s Secret Contracts
As I entered the national headquarters of the Zenith Management Company on January 21, 2010, the portraits of company founders Manley Goldfine, Erwin Goldfine and Fannie Goldfine Benton beamed at me from a nearby wall, liking what they saw: An enterprising young man, moving with purpose. Perhaps I reminded them a little of themselves.
Located on the fourth floor of the Paulucci Building, next to the Aerial Lift Bridge, ZMC headquarters was smaller than I expected—narrow hallways and small offices furnished with typical office décor. ZMC manages more than thirty hotels nationwide, including the Edgewater Best Western and the Inn on Lake Superior in Duluth.
I was there for the monthly Spirit Mountain board meeting. Todd Torvinen, ZMC president and vice chairman of the Spirit Mountain board, had opened the ZMC conference room for that purpose.