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The Iron Range from above
The other morning I slept in. It was the weekend and a good time to rest. As I lazed in half-sleep, half-contemplation, I looked above me to see something I hadn’t seen before. My wife loves owls so we have owls all over the house. On the top shelf of the bookcase near my side…
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Latest strike shows the pressure facing rural health care
Health care is hard to understand. Let’s start with the fact that most of us have no idea how our human bodies actually work. Thousands of years of science and development taught much to the human race. But the average individual knows only a little. We don’t know anatomy. We don’t know how drugs are…
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A Range of Sound
We have at least five senses that we use to experience the world, but history tends mute them. We read about the Bubonic Plague, but can only imagine how it smelled. What did it really look like when buck naked berserkers charged Roman legions? Did you notice the dangly bits, or was that not as…
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When the thundering noise hits home
It’s been a momentous couple of weeks on the Mesabi Iron Range, notably marred by a major layoff at two mines. But let’s be honest, it’s been a momentous year for the country. Our world is changing. American political institutions are falling apart. People disagree about whether this is good or not, but it’s happening…
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Solving high costs, low availability of child care
My latest column for the Minnesota Star Tribune is out today: “Child care is expensive, but no one is getting rich from it.” Monday is “Day Without Child Care” in Minnesota. Child care providers, families and employers will raise awareness and lobby for policies that reduce the cost and improve the availability of child care…
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100 years later, still waiting on the Prince of Wales
With rain pouring from gray autumn skies, about 10,000 men, women and children swarmed the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha rail depot on West Fifth Avenue in Duluth. The unexpectedly massive crowd spilled across the tracks to greet the Prince of Wales. It was Sunday, Oct. 12, 1924 — 100 years ago today. Anticipation…
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Lecture will detail 1920s Klan activity on the Iron Range
Public lectures were once a hot ticket on the Iron Range. Before TV, streaming services and YouTube, you had to see someone talk at the local auditorium if you wanted to go down an informational rabbit hole. Well, these days, some of us try to keep the tradition alive. I’ll be giving a free public…
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Hate and hope on the Iron Range
A century ago, Iron Rangers cheered, fretted and fought the rise of the Ku Klux Klan across the Mesabi. The hate and hope of this time remain with us today. Word of the Klan arrived much earlier. A hit movie, “The Birth of a Nation,’ played in Duluth and Iron Range theaters in 1915 and…
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Our housing crisis is a very, very fine mess
Get a job. Start a family. Buy a house. For many — even most — these simple-sounding goals become our life’s work. But jobs, families and housing have all changed significantly in recent years. It’s important to recognize those changes as we collectively seek “the pursuit of happiness” promised in the U.S. Constitution. Employment data…
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Mixed Blood theater spotlights Iron Range culture
Sometimes I hear folks here say they don’t have a culture. Other people have cultures — people on TV, people from someplace else. But us? We’re just … regular. Iron Range history demonstrates that a collision of many cultures produced a local culture so unique we share a distinct dialect studied by linguists. Outsiders talk…
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To build and rebuild
When I was young, I could spend a whole afternoon building a city of blocks, filling its streets with Matchbox cars. But if my mom asked me to spend one hour cleaning my room, I’d declare bankruptcy. I don’t have time for THAT! We like to build things, or have them built for us, but…
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‘Crossing the Divide’ with big ideas
Every day we awaken to a choice. Will today be a day for hope, vision and big ideas? Or will we stick to what we usually do? Most of the time, we choose the latter. That’s OK. Often, we have work. Other days, we are tired and need a break. But if we go too…
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Big ideas at TEDx Silver Lake
On Feb. 23, TEDx Silver Lake will take place at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia, Minnesota. Based on the popular TED conferences, TEDx events welcome speakers to present interesting ideas that build community and grow knowledge. The theme for this event is “Crossing the Divide.” I bring this up because I know…
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Cliffs offer to buy U.S. Steel portends shakeup in Iron Range mining
Today, I have a news analysis piece running in the Minnesota Reformer: “Cliffs offer to buy U.S. Steel holds huge implications for the Iron Range.” On Sunday, the two biggest iron ore and steelmaking companies on the Iron Range signaled discussions that could lead to a consequential sale. U.S. Steel announced it was fielding offers…
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The old roads still taken
Travelers from Duluth to the Iron Range learn the rhythm of concrete on Highway 53. Staccato thumps mark time and distance between homes and cabins, town and country, and the consequential journey of small town patients to Duluth’s big hospitals. I’ve known this road all my life, and yet it is only one version of…