Simply Superior, April 16, 2021

Two years ago, Phil Gilpin made the rounds in Duluth and the region to tout his Independent Television Festival, now renamed Catalyst, as an economic engine after relocating the event from Vermont. Now, recently released tax records show the nonprofit to be $406,000 in debt – double the deficit the event brought from Vermont, after receiving at least $280,000 in public money from government entities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Host Robin Washington, who broke the story of Catalyst’s indebtedness in June 2019, reviews its financial picture with current and former Duluth officials and the nation’s leading evaluator of charitable nonprofits.

Also, Superior writer and University of Wisconsin-Superior professor emeritus Anthony Bukoski shares his latest book set in Superior and the surrounding area, “The Blondes of Wisconsin.” WPR’s Cynthia Woodland reads one of the stories in the collection, “The Shipmaster’s Ball.”