Lately I’ve been imagining the cadence of Victor Power’s overshoes across the sidewalks of North Hibbing in 1915, the boom of his voice across the street to the people he knew. I’ve been picturing the smooth motion of his oratory gestures, the quick, sly smile that set him apart from other politicians. We can’t hear… Read More →
Hibbing’s Hull Rust mine view on the move
September 6, 2017 by 2 Comments
I was trying to remember the first time I ever saw the Hull Rust Mine View in historic North Hibbing. I just couldn’t place it. For people who grew up in this part of the country, riding or pedaling up through the ghost town of the old village to the cliff overlooking Hibbing Taconite was… Read More →
Iron Range ore to play big role in #Harvey recovery
August 30, 2017 by 2 Comments
By now we are familiar with the widespread devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the following tropical storm and torrential rain. It’s the single biggest rain event in the history of the contiguous United States. We may yet only guess at the totality of the storm’s terrible effect on the people of Houston, their property, and… Read More →
Nourishing new roots on the Iron Range
August 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
I found myself pacing through an Iron Range cemetery the other day, looking for a particular stiff. On my grim patrol I realized that the graveyard was laid out according to national origin. Eastern Europeans and Italians, Swedes and Norwegians, Germans and Irish could all be found in separate sections, at least until the 1940s… Read More →
Survey to spur high speed internet across Iron Range
August 24, 2017 by 5 Comments
I have fiber optic internet service direct to my home in rural Itasca County. Why? Enough of my neighbors filled out a survey and kept pressure on local leaders to get our area added to broadband expansion projects by Paul Bunyan Communication. Residents of the east central Iron Range will now have the same opportunity…. Read More →
What’s in a name? Cleveland-Cliffs is back
August 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Cliffs Natural Resources is now Cleveland-Cliffs. That means that the grand old man of American iron mining now wears his old duds. Lourenco Goncalves , Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “The historical name Cleveland-Cliffs is synonymous with our strong heritage, and is the perfect one for our next era of growth. As we did… Read More →
Iron Rangers say ‘porketta,’ Arby’s says ‘porchetta’
August 2, 2017 by 1 Comment
While language is probably the most important hallmark of a culture, food is a very close second. Everyone’s gotta eat, and what you eat tells a lot about where you live and which traditions you carry through the generations. Here on the Mesabi Iron Range in Northern Minnesota, a melting pot of cultures made a… Read More →
My life of unintentional slapstick comedy
July 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment
When I was 5, I tripped off the “motor skills” balance beam at kindergarten roundup like a sack of turds. My life took a certain direction from that point. Books, not basketball. College, not CrossFit. The question became not if, but when I would expose myself as a near constant threat to anything breakable, myself… Read More →
Road deconstruction season in northern Minnesota
July 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment
People seem testy this summer. Is it the news? The local economy? Or is it because our drive to work has become infested with dump trucks and the oily smell of steaming asphalt. It’s road construction season. Nothing unusual there. In Northern Minnesota, summer stands as the only time for street, road and highway work…. Read More →
On Victor Power and my big project
July 17, 2017 by 4 Comments
In this post I will explain why I’m going to be blogging less in the foreseeable future. Still blogging and writing, just less that you’ll see … for now. Stay tuned as I explain. In my job as a college public speaking instructor I teach principles of persuasion. I cite the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle… Read More →
