This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. It represents the rare “notes” column on my part, in which I invoke the spirit of an elderly weekly newspaper editor to write about all sorts of things in seemingly random order.
Notes from November
By Aaron J. Brown2nd week of deer camp arrives
The local TV accounts from the deer hunting opener always amuse. The news van parks at a wild game registration site and films the first successful hunters as they drag their deer onto the scales. These hunters always report a wildly improved hunt from the previous year. Amazing that the hunt keeps getting better and better, every year, no matter what! It couldn’t be that the only people who tote carcasses to registration sites on the first day are those who shot their deer as soon as the season began, could it? Indeed, one might suggest that no one shows up to tell the DNR what they didn’t shoot.
If the reporters wanted to be brutally accurate they’d be out in the woods (in orange) filming the weekend warriors sleeping in their stands, lamenting the presence of a wolf pack or sitting back at the shack nursing their aching heads. The DNR will release the real numbers in due time and then we’ll know for sure.
Taconite worker health study begins
I’ve been in touch with an official with the University of Minnesota School of Health about the start of the Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study. That’s a whole lot of boring words strung out in a row, but some high emotions and deeply impacted lives are responsible for this happening. You might remember the hubbub when many ex-taconite workers were being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer often found in people working industrial jobs. In 2007, there was demand for a state study on the matter, some political intrigue, and eventually money was allocated.
For reasons of research integrity, a select sampling of taconite miners have been invited to participate in a very simple review. The results of this process could greatly improve the lives of those who have worked in taconite mining in the past and those who work there now. For as bad as the economy is these days, no one needs additional mesothelioma. If you are asked to join the study, participate if you can.
The phantom recovery
Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Kelleher filed a report that was republished in several area newspapers last week about the state of the Iron Range economic recovery. In short, we’re still waiting for the substantive boost from the slowly improving national economy. Joblessness is higher here in Hibbing than anywhere else in Minnesota and the prospects of our local mines resuming production soon are mixed at best.
As we celebrate Hibbing’s new slogan “We’re More Than Ore” (indeed, it could substitute as the slogan for the entire Iron Range) we must also remember that we are still deeply connected to the booms and busts of the iron mining industry, and that other economic growth will be necessary for us to enjoy genuine community prosperity.
Schools of Hard Knocks
Amid all the bad news there was a surprising piece of good news for a cash-strapped local school district. Voters in Nashwauk and Keewatin voted to approve part of an operational levy request that will close a massive budget gap in the Nov. 3 election. They had lost a referendum last year, as had Greenway, the St. Louis County schools and other financial beleaguered districts around the state.
The organizers of the Save Our Schools committee deserve congratulations for their well-organized and effective campaign to pass the bond measure. They provided a lesson for any district hoping to pass a levy in such hard times. On the other hand I must point out the reality of our situation here on the Iron Range. Any hope of providing advanced math, college writing, music and art, along with the extracurricular activities that most parents expect to be available to their children will require more than this month’s vote. No matter what town you live in, all Iron Range residents should seriously consider the merits of a regional educational model, one that provides regional hub public schools and smaller specialty (or charter) schools in other existing buildings. No one referendum can solve the problems of N-K, Greenway, St. Louis County, Ely, or others, so the time for a meaningful “One Range” consolidation plan is long overdue. Done properly, the results could prove better for all students, teachers and communities involved than the status quo.
Hunting, cancer research, the economy and school consolidation: Yes, this is just the right amount of controversy for one week.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at his blog, MinnesotaBrown.com. His recent book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is out now.
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