This Friday I’ll moderate a DFL candidates forum at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids. All six announced DFL candidates for governor are scheduled to attend the debate, which begins at 7 p.m. The forum begins at 7 p.m. at Chuckers Auditorium. Itasca Community Television (ICTV) will record and rebroadcast the event. Various media outlets… Read More →
The Hunt for Bob October
October 15, 2017 by 2 Comments
All this brisk autumn air reminds me of the first time I saw Bob Dylan perform at the DECC in Duluth on October 22, 1998. The show was an elaborate excuse for me to see my girlfriend from Hibbing after I had moved away from the Iron Range for college. She wasn’t as much of… Read More →
Hibbing homecoming for Great Northern Radio Show
October 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment
This Saturday, Oct. 14, my Great Northern Radio Show broadcasts live from the Hibbing Community College Theater from 5-7 p.m. on Northern Community Radio. This is a “home” show for me, our first time back to the place where we broadcast the Great Northern Radio Show pilot episode in 2011. (I wrote more about the… Read More →
Leah Phifer announces DFL challenge in MN-8
October 8, 2017 by 27 Comments
This summer, national security analyst Leah Phifer of Isanti drove more than 7,000 miles of Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District on her motorcycle to meet voters and decide if she should run for Congress. Today, Phifer announced she would seek the DFL endorsement for the MN-8 seat, challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan of Crosby. Though… Read More →
The pasty, perfect food above ground or below
October 8, 2017 by 1 Comment
Minnesota’s Iron Range gets plenty of attention for its ethnic foods. Melting pot. Immigrants. Grandma’s kitchen. Yada yada. But you’ve got to reckon with the fact that it’s a lot easier to nosh on a can of pizza-flavored Pringles at the gas station than it is to get your hands on some halfway decent krumkaka…. Read More →
DeNucci, Venema advance in Itasca Co. primary
October 4, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Ben DeNucci and Casey Venema advanced from a low-turnout Nov. 3 primary election to the Dec. 12 special election for the open District 5 Itasca County Board seat. DeNucci, the mayor of Nashwauk, won 757 votes to 449 for Venema, a Lawrence Township supervisor. Roger Weber of Nashwauk Township finished with 142 votes. The story… Read More →
Great Northern Radio Show returns to Hibbing Oct. 14
October 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment
On Saturday, Oct. 14, I bring my Great Northern Radio Show back to the site of our first broadcast. This show at Hibbing Community College represents our sixth anniversary of doing live radio variety shows from small towns and forgotten places around Minnesota. We’ve got a lot to talk about in Hibbing. The mine is… Read More →
Gov. Dayton OKs Chippewa Capital Partners plan
October 1, 2017 by 1 Comment
One way or another, a long awaited new taconite mine and iron briquette mill near Nashwauk, Minnesota, puts new meaning in the old phrase “take a slow boat to China.” On Saturday, Gov. Mark Dayton said he was satisfied with the financial package put together by Chippewa Capital Partners, the new owner of the former… Read More →
Learning to love swamps, even the dismal ones
October 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Another northern Minnesota fall brings me to the family hunting shack in Greaney, a scrubby stretch of land near Cook and Orr. Most folks would get there on Highway 53, but I live north of Nashwauk. That means I get there by cutting across the back roads of Itasca and Koochiching counties, through the ghost… Read More →
Iron Range STEM showcase Friday, Oct. 6
October 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
This Friday, Oct. 6, the Iron Range STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Showcase will again welcome area 6th graders and the general public to explore concepts and careers in science. First, during the school day, more than 2,000 sixth graders from 28 northeastern Minnesota schools will take part in more than 60 interactive activities… Read More →
