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President Trump to hold Duluth rally June 20
President Trump will hold a June 20 rally in Duluth, Minn., to sell his policies and stump for Republican candidates. The rally will be held at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center at 6:30 p.m. June 20. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. UPDATE: The rally has been moved to AMSOIL Arena in the DECC…
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Growing opportunity in rocky economic soil
“He smiled and all his teeth were covered with tobacco stains He said, “It don’t do men no good to pray for peace and rain. Peace and rain is just a way to say prosperity, And buffalo chips is all it means to me. ~Tom T. Hall, “Faster Horses” We all say we want a…
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Summer 2018 brings color to Range communities
I drive through Nashwauk, Minnesota, most days. It’s a nice little town, but a little worn down. That’s not unusual for the cities of the western Mesabi Iron Range. These boom towns bloomed in a white pine wilderness a century ago, each at the mouth of a specific iron mine. Now that mining is more…
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Activist Sorensen joins Minnesota 8th District race
Yesterday, Minnesota media reported on numerous tales of political intrigue as the state and federal candidate filing period closed. Here in the North, we learned that we’d have an unexpected Republican primary in the Eighth Congressional District, but we also got another candidate in the crowded DFL primary. Progressive activist Soren C. Sorensen of Bemidji…
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Welty jumps in 8th District GOP race
Former Duluth School Board member Harry Welty jumped into the Eighth District race for Congress as a Republican Monday. Welty, who has run for office as a Republican and as an independent in the past, will compete with GOP-endorsed St. Louis County Commissioner Pete Stauber for the Republican nomination. The Eighth District represents one of…
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Wild conventions roil Minnesota governor’s race
The 2018 race for governor of Minnesota keeps unfolding like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, each flip of the page leading to some strange twist. The race was always going to hold some intrigue. Two term incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton, a popular if sometimes perplexing political figure, leaves office in January. The state’s Republican…
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History echoes through Iron Range politics
In 1887, the Merritt Brothers and a crew led by Capt. J.A. Nichols discovered rich hematite ore under 14 feet of mud near the future townsite of Mountain Iron. After three years of wading through stinking mosquito swamps, alternating with hellish winter conditions, these men turned hope of discovering the Mesabi Range into reality. Almost…
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Great Northern Radio Show in Grand Rapids June 23
On Saturday, June 23 we’re bringing the Great Northern Radio Show back to the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. If you’ve followed this blog, you know that every few months I fire up this massive, sputtering contraption and have some fun with live radio somewhere in Northern Minnesota. And I’d love it if you…
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Bankruptcy petition mires Iron Range mine project
Creditors filed a petition last week to force Tom Clarke’s ERP Iron Ore into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Minnesota Power shut off electricity to the former Magnetation property. Clarke told the Duluth News Tribune that ERP would pay back most creditors this week and work out a solution to the impasse with Minnesota Power. ERP…
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Summer brings 2018 Duluth-Superior Film Fest
The Duluth-Superior Film Festival opens Wednesday with a movie called “Virginia, Minnesota.” The film’s title refers to a character, not the Iron Range town. Nevertheless, this Minnesota-made film represents the creative spirit of this annual celebration of cinema here at the head of the Great Lakes. First, “Virginia, Minnesota” opens the festival with a special…
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Hibbing Tourist Senior Center deserves a break
In Austin, Minnesota, Hormel operates the world-famous SPAM Museum. Like Hibbing’s Hull Rust Mine View, there is no admission. They’re actually on their third museum, expanding in 2001 and again just two years ago. I’ve been there. If you want to know how random pork squeezings get turned into nebulous canned meat, they’ll tell you.…
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Rise of the rural recreation economy
Here’s an idea. Go outside. That’s a good idea for anyone on a personal level. But going outside increasingly forms a rural economic recovery plan, too. On Sunday, I wrote about the challenges of a changing economy. In particular, the retail sector is shedding jobs amid consumer trends. This has an outsized impact on rural…
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How position politics stymies our legislature
I’m going to explain why the Minnesota legislature ends in a flaming pile of tractor scrapings every year, but first you have to watch this vintage footage of a 1980s bicycle sprint. The first minute or so will suffice. Bicycle sprinting is a unique sport. The overall time doesn’t count. The only thing that matters…
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Remembering my old neighbor Jack Lynch
During my blogging hiatus last week I received word that my old neighbor Jack Lynch passed away May 16 at the age of 83. Jack was a longtime reporter and editor for the Hibbing Daily Tribune, technically retired but still a fixture in the newspaper. Kelly Grinnsteiner, editor of the Tribune, wrote a lovely story about…
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The dislocated workers we choose to ignore
NEWS FLASH: Officials today announced the shutdown of a major taconite mine on the Mesabi Iron Range. More than 700 workers will lose their jobs in the midst of an uncertain future for their industry. Here on the Iron Range, stories like this get our attention. We’ve been through them before. Everyone knows what to…