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The heat seeking missile of generational change
This week I’ll be taking part in Policy and a Pint, a discussion series sponsored by the Citizen’s League and MPR’s The Current. The event, titled “Talent Within the Range,” runs from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm. (Tickets are free; sign up here). In honor of the occasion, I’ll be visiting…
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School’s out for fish: hook, line and existentialism
This weekend brings Minnesota’s fishing opener, Mother’s Day, and the beginning of graduation season. These annual events affect us all, but none so much as local fish. Thus, today’s play in three acts. We begin in the weeds: FISH: Mother! Oh, mother, I am to graduate! MOTHER: Who are you? FISH: It is I, your…
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Minnesota leaders share bipartisan anti-fish aggression
For one day each year Minnesota politicians are judged on a bipartisan scale of how many fish they catch in a high pressure situation. The Minnesota fishing opener was today, meaning that anglers can catch larger fish like walleye, northern pike, and bass. Each year, the governor of our state hosts a major event celebrating…
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FitBit names Duluth ‘fittest city in America’
In what’s either a tremendous bragging point or a disturbing product of a corporate surveillance state, FitBit announced this week that Duluth, Minnesota, is the “fittest city in America.” FitBit formed this conclusion from tracking fitness data like steps, activity and sleep duration from its customers across the nation. To be perfectly fair, all this…
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U.S. Steel CEO Longhi to retire; Burritt takes over
One of the Mesabi Iron Range’s largest mining companies will be under new leadership next month. Mario Longhi, CEO of U.S. Steel, will retire June 1. Company chief operations officer David Burritt will take the helm. U.S. Steel is an integrated steelmaker, meaning that the company mines its own ores, produces steel in blast furnaces, and finishes…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 4: “The Narrow Escape Problem”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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Talking Iron Range workforce challenges at ‘Policy & Pint’
I’ll be bringing the panel discussion lighting and regional analysis thunder to an event Thursday, May 18 at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm. The Citizens League, in partnership with MPR’s The Current, will be presenting “Policy and a Pint” from 6-8 p.m. You can get tickets now. (Now free, thanks to grant support). The event…
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‘Colleges create hope for northern Minnesota’
This Sunday I had an op-ed in the Duluth News Tribune. The topic: the state higher education funding bill being debated right now in St. Paul. The headline: “Colleges create hope for northern Minnesota.’ After going through the role higher education played in Northern Minnesota history, I look at the advantages of investing in higher education…
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Louisiana-Pacific starts siding line in Canada, not Cook
Officials with Louisiana-Pacific announced Friday that the company would start a new line of wood siding at its plant in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. That plant currently produces OSB, or oriented stand board, a form of wood paneling. That means that the company’s development of the former Ainsworth plant in Cook, Minnesota, moves to the back burner. William…
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The good ship Taconite, flagship of empire built on Mesabi Range profits
For just shy of $1.3 million you could be the owner of yacht currently docked near Vancouver, British Colombia. Made of virgin teak, this century-old wooden pleasure ship has been on the market a couple years. Apparently, today’s oligarch-on-the-go simply doesn’t have the time to maintain such an antique. I can distinctly recall my father’s frustration trying to restore…
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Nisswa night cops ‘rick-roll’ themselves
I used to work as an overnight disc jockey. I was also the editor of an afternoon newspaper. That meant that my day started before the end of what would normally be the “night shift” at the cop shop downtown. A strange feeling overtakes you as you realize that most people you know are sleeping, but…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 3: “The Law of Non-Contradiction”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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Officials push new rails on the Iron Range to cut transport costs
Say, ladies and gents, the brass says someday an iron horse might reach across the whole Mesabi Iron Range. Ain’t that a corker! Wait until Mr. James J. Hill hears about this. Slang from the 1880s aside, local officials and elected leaders — at the behest of companies like Minnesota Power — are pushing for more…
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Short film shot in Duluth shows horror of modern workplace
What drives the modern worker? Is it money? Ambition. Or have we been conditioned to press on with increasingly meaningless office tasks in fear of what might happen if we ever stop? Perhaps, like the shark who must swim to survive, the office worker must print, copy and collate. “Take Your Non-Vaporous Apparition to Work…
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New band ‘Hazardous Weather Outlook’ opens Duluth Homegrown
The annual week-long Duluth Homegrown Music Festival opens today. Nearly 200 local bands will perform at venues throughout the Zenith City. Homegrown is a cornerstone of the Northern Minnesota music scene, showcasing the depth and variety of artistic talent in the region. That’s why the choice of opening band is such a surprise. This year’s…