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Art in the Park closes tonight in Chisholm
Tonight the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm closes its “Art in the Park” concert series at the amphitheater. Admission is free with live local music, food, beverage and fun for all. “Slapshot” will be the headliner at this show, which runs from 5-9 p.m. I’m sure there will be plenty of surprises. As I said…
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Look inside the Mesabi machine
Hello, traveler. You’ve located a blog about the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. Stay! Stay! Peek inside the machinery. See the wonderful gears turn like fingers of the gods. It is magic, magic I say! In olden days Iron Rangers lived and died never seeing the powerful pen flicks and filed papers that controlled their…
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Range roller derby team to thump girls from other towns
Today I am confronted with two alarming facts: Minnesota is home to a roller derby league reviving the all-female rollerskating battle sport phenomenon from the 1970s. The Iron Range DOES NOT have a team in this league. Well, we DIDN’T until I discovered this, the recruitment page for the Iron Range Maidens. (link expired; go…
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How the Iron Range altered American history
As a nerd engaged in a lifelong battle with body weight, an event called “Lunch and Learn” is a siren call to be heeded. Maybe for you too? Iron Range historian Pam Brunfelt will be the featured speaker at this Minnesota Humanities Center event Thursday, Sept. 9 at Valentini’s in Chisholm. I’ll be there. Join…
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Whitepine down
When we first considered building our current house in the country, what struck me about the site was this tall white pine along the property line. The woods around northern Minnesota’s Iron Range once teemed with some of the largest white pine in North America, a fact that literally put the place on the map…
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Introducing a new guest blogger series
Today I’m introducing a guest blogger to add some variety and perspective to the content here. I met Jeff Manuel at a book event in the Twin Cities and he’s been sending me some fascinating reading material ever since. He explains the series of posts he’ll be sharing here in coming weeks: Hello, Minnesota Browners!…
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Range fun for free: Art in the Park series nears close
The next-to-final show of the “Art in the Park” Iron Range music series hits the Minnesota Discovery Center amphitheater stage Thursday night in Chisholm. Support local musicians Thursday, August 26, at Minnesota Discovery Center’s Art in the Park event. Music begins at 6 p.m. featuring Deafman’s Radio, a blues and rockabilly ensemble out of northern…
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Wisconsin also has an iron range
The Ashland Current reports that an Illinois coal mining company is looking at the feasibility of opening a taconite mine in northern Wisconsin. The Gogebic-Penokee Iron Range is a formation that runs from east of Ashland, Wis., through the western portion of Michigan’s upper peninsula. Though the politics of mining in this part of northern…
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Keep Looking Up
When you live in a place like the Iron Range, you learn to cope with a lot of stuff that needs “saving.” Local businesses need saving. Mines need saving. The arts need saving. Schools need saving. Everybody’s got problems and no institution is really safe. The population is aging and the economy is stuck wearing…
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Local Blogger to Convert Angry Screed into Spoken Word
I’ll be on the KAXE Morning Show at about 7:20 Monday morning to talk Iron Range news and politics. I wonder what we’ll talk about? Related posts: No related posts.
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This Iron Range blogger is done apologizing for Iron Range cronyism
Well, they went and did it. Today I’m breaking with my party and conventional political wisdom in describing a great injustice being done to the people of the Iron Range. That’s not a light word, injustice. I aim to defend its use here. The matter, of course, is an old one, something I’ve railed on…
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Excelsior Energy to seek huge break from Iron Range Resources
This story explains my rather foul mood tonight. Excelsior Energy, a nearly 10-year-old front company staffed by lawyers and lobbyists with Range roots, is seeking a rather profound sweetheart extension on what was already a rather appalling $9.5 million in sweetheart loans from Iron Range Resources. If the terms of this proposal are upheld, the…
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In which my shocking party affiliation is revealed
The internet is littered with link bait and spam sites, robot-generated content that mindlessly spews random (usually stolen) content. But one of these sites is good for a laugh. “Voter Factory” allows you to search a person’s name and hometown and find out if they are a Democrat or Republican. I was shocked to learn…
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I go jobs (times 3) crazy at MinnEcon blog
I’m on the MPR MinnEcon blog again today with a vlog version of a post I wrote a little over a week ago about the true meaning of “jobs, jobs, jobs.” Check out the MinnEcon post. Related posts: No related posts.
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"Burning Ring(s) of Fire" on the Iron Range or "Prove Your Metal"
Much has been made of the Minnesota Discovery Center (formerly Ironworld) and its efforts to find footing after the community heritage and entertainment venue reopened last May after an abrupt closure in 2009. I’ll say this, they are finding some low cost ways to connect with the Iron Range community. The Art in the Park…