Tonight the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears and Virginia-Mountain Iron-Buhl Blue Devils renewed their storied Iron Range high school hockey rivalry. But this game was less about the final score (Bears won 4-1) than about the announcement made on the ice between periods. Last year, voters from both school districts authorized the building of a new shared… Read More →
Hey Jenna Fischer, here are specific things to know about the Iron Range
December 11, 2019 by 3 Comments
As you may have noticed I’ve been blogging less to focus on my new book. So I wasn’t able to click-grab news about “The Office” star Jenna Fischer coming to the Iron Range to film a new hockey movie next month. That’s a shame. One of the most popular posts I’ve ever published was when… Read More →
Inspiring Mesabi Range running back featured on ESPN
August 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Taquarius Wair dons the green and gold of the Mesabi Range Norseman football team. A freshman running back from Minneapolis, he joins many on his team in following dreams of playing college football to the Iron Range. But his story resembles no other. Burned in a terrible house fire when he was a small child,… Read More →
Zebra mussels in Range mine pit raise questions
August 12, 2019 by 2 Comments
Northern Minnesota has been standing sentinel against zebra mussels for a number of years. We worry our freshwater lakes could be overrun by this invasive species. Typically, however, we imagine the pests arriving on the hulls of traveling boats and trailers. That doesn’t seem to explain why they showed up in an Iron Range mine… Read More →
Virginia, Eveleth, Gilbert approve shared high school plan
May 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Tonight voters in the Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert school districts appear to have approved a plan to build a shared high school that would serve both communities. The districts have not yet released vote totals, but will on Wednesday. Unofficial reports showed the measure passing in all three communities. Despite the lack of information, referendum supporters… Read More →
Iron Range’s most active live music venue to close soon
April 4, 2019 by 2 Comments
In a blow to the Iron Range music scene, the 218 Taphouse and Shop Coffeehouse in downtown Virginia, Minnesota, will close April 15. Owners issued the news via an April 3 Facebook post, which reads as follows: Due to unforeseen circumstances The 218 Taphouse and Shop Coffeehouse will be closing April 15th. We would like… Read More →
10-week sprint to special election for Iron Range school plan
March 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment
On May 14, voters in Virginia, Eveleth and Gilbert will decide whether a new $181 million shared high school plan becomes reality.
ESPN heads to Iron Range for feature on Jared Allen’s curling team
February 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
So there I am Sunday morning. Slept in, not quite accidentally. Watching ESPN to keep my blood pressure low. And then what should appear on my screen? Why, it was a hotel parking lot on the Mesabi Iron Range. Specifically, it was the AmericInn in Virginia, Minnesota. And then one strange second later I see… Read More →
New Virginia/Eveleth-Gilbert high school plan gains major funding boost
February 25, 2019 by 1 Comment
Two rival Iron Range school districts will build a consolidated high school if voters approve a now greatly subsidized school levy. Last Friday, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board recommended to its state department a $100 million investment in a shared Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert high school. Almost $5 million per year would space out over 20 years.
Bill would name state’s tallest bridge for Tom Rukavina
February 1, 2019 by 5 Comments
On Thursday, State Rep. David Lislegard (DFL-Aurora) introduced a bill that would name the Highway 53 bridge between Eveleth and Virginia the Tom Rukavina Memorial Bridge. Rukavina, a longtime Iron Range legislator known for his fiery speeches and pro-labor politics, died Jan. 6 after battling cancer. He was 68. The Highway 53 bridge was part… Read More →
