Stu Lourey won the Senate District 11 special election DFL primary Tuesday. He defeated Michelle Lee in a snowy showdown marked by low turnout. I’m projecting the result based on Lourey’s strong performance in Pine County, where most remaining returns will come from. Lourey will end up winning by about 250 votes or 6.5 percent…. Read More →
Seeking hygge in harsh environs
January 20, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Something changed after the last act of “Hamlet.” The Danes became so mellow that they don’t even mind stepping on all the LEGO blocks they produce each year. If we’re to believe media reports, hygge is both the cause and the solution.
These last few years we’ve heard the word “hygge” a lot more. Looks like “higgy” but rhymes with beluga. It’s a Danish word with no direct translation. “Hygge” is often passed off as a high-end term for “cozy” in fashion and interior design. That’s not exactly what it means, but that’s what makes the most money for people who sell throw pillows.
Lee wins DFL endorsement in SD11; primary Tuesday
January 19, 2019 by 1 Comment
DFL delegates in Minnesota Senate District 11 endorsed former news anchor Michelle Lee for Tuesday’s special election primary.
Lee carried 93 votes to 63 for Stu Lourey on the first ballot. Lourey conceded the endorsement as Lee emerged just tenths of a percent short of the necessary 60 percent. However, Lourey vowed to continue campaigning for the Jan. 22 primary.
A year after KKK flyers, Range town to rally for King holiday
January 18, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This Monday, Jan. 21, the city of Virginia, Minnesota, and Mesabi Range College will host a MLK Peace and Unity march and rally celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The march starts at noon on the west side of Virginia City Hall at 327 1st Street South with the 12:15 p.m. rally at the Virginia Public Schools Gym at the west end of 500 Block of 2nd Street South.
The moment words took new meaning
January 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Each year I like to write about the top words for the previous year as determined by the Global Language Monitor, an organization that tracks actual word usage in global English. It’s important to note that global English is a broader topic than American English. In fact, for the first time this year the Global Language Monitor broke its 2018 top word distinction in two, identifying one for the world and one that stood out in America.
On “The Moment” and “Weaponize,” the past year’s top words.
DFL primary in Senate District 11 special election
January 9, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Flickr CC)
Two Democrats, four Republicans and a member of the Legal Marijuana Now party filed for the District 11 special election for the Minnesota State Senate. The field could narrow today during the drop period, but the rest will be decided in a Jan. 22 primary election before the rapidly approaching Feb. 5 general election.
District 11 covers Carlton, Pine and parts of St. Louis and Kanabec counties. It’s the rural east central “ribs” of Minnesota. Cloquet is an industrial paper town on the north side. Moose Lake, Pine City and Hinkley follow to the south. The Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa reservation is found here as well.
Remembering Iron Range political legend Tom Rukavina
January 7, 2019 by 2 Comments
Minnesota political firebrand Tom Rukavina died Monday after a difficult battle with the illness that forced his retirement from the St. Louis County Board last year.
A booming voice for the working people of the Mesabi Iron Range, Rukavina made his name in the state legislature where his short stature, booming voice and sharp-elbowed sense of humor made him beloved by political friends and foes alike.
Essar Steel comes back to life, vows return to Nashwauk project
January 7, 2019 by Leave a Comment
In a surprising twist, India’s Essar Global appears to have wiggled out of bankruptcy and a takeover bid by ArcelorMittal. Not only that, but company officials now say they will resume work at their Nashwauk, Minn., plant, the control of which they have quietly reclaimed in recent months.
Petition to give Northwest Angle to Canada lacks support
January 7, 2019 by 2 Comments
A petition to give Northern Minnesota’s Northwest Angle to Canada seems to lack local support. Nevertheless, we are left to contemplate geographic oddities and the peculiar existence of this strange appeal to President Trump.
Hear Great Northern Radio Show from Hibbing High School auditorium
January 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Fans of Aaron Brown’s Great Northern Radio Show on Northern Community Radio can hear the full Nov. 17, 2018 program broadcast live from the historic Hibbing High School auditorium.
