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Really old pipe breaks, snarls downtown Duluth
A tall ship prepares to embark on Superior Street. A Duluth, Minnesota, water main originally built in 1887 broke on New Year’s Day, flooding a section of Superior Street in Duluth’s vibrant downtown. This is causing some trouble for many returning to work today after the holiday. The Duluth News Tribune, among others, has the…
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Christmas miracle: Bentleyville agrees to remain in Duluth
In breaking news, Duluth, Minn., Mayor Don Ness just announced via Facebook that the city has reached a three year agreement with Bentleyville to keep the holiday attraction in Bayfront Park for the next three years. Founder Nathan Bentley had reportedly been considering other options, including ending Bentleyville, because of fatigue over the massive project…
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The ‘Pussyfoot’ behind Prohibition in northern MN
Students of Iron Range history might have heard the name William E. “Pussyfoot” Johnson. In addition to holding a fantastically literary name, Johnson holds significance in northern Minnesota history. After all, he was the man who famously brought prohibition to the Iron Range, a place that vehemently, violently didn’t want it. The Hibbing Tribune editorial…
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The promise and perils of attracting film projects to MN
There’s been a renewed push lately to attract film projects to northern Minnesota. Yesterday, the IRRRB approved an $800,000 incentive to attract movie projects to the Iron Range. News that the Minnesota Film Board was working with a production company for a 2013 movie made for headlines recently as well. Of course, the region had…
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Next Minneapolis police chief has northern MN roots
Tomorrow the Minneapolis City Council is expected to confirm acting police chief Janee Harteau as the permanent chief of police of Minnesota’s largest urban area. Reaction to Harteau at a hearing yesterday was very positive. The story is generating a lot of attention because Harteau would be the city’s first female police chief and the…
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Duluth’s economic rebirth among year’s top stories
One of the big northern Minnesota stories this year has to be the economic revitalization of Duluth. Seat of the northern Minnesota industrial frontier, Duluth long languished with its Iron Range brethren in economic dependence on a handful of volatile natural resource industries. This year, decades of efforts to diversify and attract residents and visitors…
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Inside N.E. Minnesota 2012 Legislative Election Results
It was frustrating to see little or no reporting of election results on the western Mesabi among the bigger Grand Rapids and Hibbing papers. The weekly Scenic Range News Forum actually did more than the two larger papers combined. The Grand Rapids Herald-Review ran some numbers a week later (and only the numbers that came…
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Nolan win restores DFL, but MN-8 will keep wild edge
As you know by now, Rep.-elect Rick Nolan (D-MN8) ousted Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) in last week’s election, ending the longest, most expensive Congressional race in northern Minnesota history. I’d been saying before the election that only Tuesday’s results could shed light on the district’s new political make-up after demographic shifts and redistricting ushered in…
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Vice President Biden to visit Superior on Friday
The campaign stops are coming fast and furious. Vice President Joe Biden will speak in Superior, Wisconsin this Friday. It’s a dual-purpose stop, catching the swing region of northwestern Wisconsin, a vital swing state, and reinforcing the Duluth, Minnesota, media market on that side of the bridge. As you may know, Bill Clinton will speak…
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Watch Bill Clinton speak at MN rally, courtesy of @theuptake
For those who can’t attend President Bill Clinton’s rallies in Minneapolis and Duluth today, The Uptake is providing a live feed of the Minneapolis rally. I’m happy to share it here. They will be recording the Duluth rally. I’ll also check to see if any news organizations are live streaming that event. UPDATE: Northland’s NewsCenter…
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DFL confirms Tuesday Bill Clinton rallies in Duluth, Minneapolis
UPDATE: Live footage of President Clinton in Duluth here. Former President Bill Clinton will rally voters in Duluth and Minneapolis Tuesday in support of President Obama, Senator Amy Klobuchar and, among others, former Rep. Rick Nolan, the DFL candidate in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. At this time it appears that the rallies will take place…
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Jobless rate quite low in northeastern Minnesota
The Duluth News Tribune reported Tuesday that unemployment in Duluth has dipped below 6 percent. Moreover, unemployment in the entire region has also dropped: The jobless rate reached 6.2 percent for Northeastern Minnesota, down from 6.7 percent in August. And the greater Twin Ports area, which includes all of St. Louis, Carlton and Douglas counties,…
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Duluth House 7B candidates to debate Thursday
If watching the Vice Presidential Debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan isn’t your thing, how about a local debate in Duluth? That might sound crazy, as Biden vs. Ryan may get weird fast, but if there’s any part of the political universe where things can get weirder faster, it’s Duluth’s House District 7B. The…
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Simonson wins DFL nod for Duluth House 7B seat
Duluth assistant fire chief Erik Simonson, who had a bad news week, nevertheless emerged with the DFL endorsement at today’s convention in west Duluth. He narrowly achieved the 60 percent necessary to defeat Julene Boe in one ballot at the lightly-attended contest. Simonson has already been organizing his write-in campaign to replace outgoing Rep. Kerry…
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Family drama, DFL convention charge House 7B frenzy
It’s time to check in with the Minnesota House 7B race in West Duluth. For a time it seemed that the rest stop sex scandal that claimed the candidacy of the incumbent had abated. It was to be just another typical election. You know, an historically unprecedented multiple write-in candidate affair involving a Republican and…