I am shocked and disgusted. "PURCELL" in the newspaper!?! please cancel my mouse cord!!!

Could be worse: they could be playing Florence Foster Jenkins-that might actually cause a bidding war as to what NOT to play in the corridor. Or maybe Orff's "Carmina Burana"-too bad the loiterers probably wouldn't have a clue as to what THAT piece of music is about...

They've tried three things in downtown Duluth, which has a much larger congregation of 18-40 year olds with nothing to do, no motivation to do anything or go anywhere, and end up spending most of the day at the Holiday Center (Duluth's version of City Center) dealing drugs or engaging in small-time prostitution and robberies. For one, the classical music thing has worked. The fewer troublemakers that hang out downtown, the fewer kids that will show up to try to get 'in' with them or catch their attention. The cleaning people have also hosed down the benches outside on nice summer days, which has discouraged the kids from sitting on the benches outside all day so they can perch and have a place to sit all day and sell dope/pick up naive girls. The other thing that has worked is downtown Duluth no longer has any fast food places, you either have to go out to 21st Ave E (about 3 miles away) or up to the Mall area to find it. I think having that McDonald's in the Holiday Center is what attracted the kids to begin with, because the setup of the place, they could sit in the back and just cause trouble for hours since the front counter was so far away that often they had no idea what the kids were doing. It's definitely too bad that the 5% of the troublemakers have to ruin it for the 95% who are doing nothing wrong, but there has to be consequences for their choices. Maybe it will send them to other parts of the city (west end), but typically as you move out of downtown and into neighborhoods you find less tolerant, longtime residents who won't put up with that disrespect and attitude.

Maybe our public officials have been watching too much "A Clockwork Orange." Actually, Beethoven fires me up, what with the massive crescendoes and soaring arias. I might go into a rage at the LRT stop! I'll have to drive my car, where the soothing sounds of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath rule.