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More on Highway 169
The Duluth News Tribune reports on a public meeting regarding proposed improvements to eastern edge of Highway 169 between Tower and Ely. This isn’t the West Range part of that road that I was referring to earlier today, but is also an important and currently unsafe part of the highway that needs additional passing capacity.…
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Rural teachers rally on the Range
Early childhood and K-12 teachers have it tough in a lot of places, but none more than in the St. Louis County schools District 2142. Wages have been stagnant for years while class sizes have swelled and teacher assignments often involve driving between two distant rural schools for limited compensation. The Mesabi Daily News reports…
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Cliffs to cut taconite production by 40 percent in 2009
The Mesabi Daily News reports that Cliffs Natural Resources, owner and operator of six North American taconite mines including three on the Iron Range, is reducing production by almost 40 percent in 2009. This will impact jobs, hiring and taconite production taxes that help fund northern Minnesota schools, projects and services over the next three…
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Pave 169! Say what? Pave 169!
You have to understand something about how my political identity was formed. Sure, my upbringing on the labor bastion of the Iron Range mattered, as did my experiences in the local DFL organization as a teenager and the vociferous reading I did back then. Being the son of a liberal mother and libertarian father also…
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Bad economy means tough road for environmental groups up north
The Mesabi Daily News reports that the state budget deficit and bad economy will likely stifle any potential success of environmental groups opposing copper/nickel mining on the East Range. Related posts: No related posts.
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What we is and what we isn’t
One of my favorite things about Iron Range culture is my people’s willful obliviousness to how we’re perceived by outsiders. Most just don’t care. The ones that do operate off entirely different social cues, the same cues held by nerdy teenagers who think they’re cool. On a good day I straddle the line between these…
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Iron Rangers know recession is a time for defiance
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Iron Rangers know recession is a time for defianceBy Aaron J. Brown These days I think more about the little houses I see along the train tracks at the edges of our Iron Range towns. Every time a…
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Thank you, Virginia
I’m back from today’s “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” book signing at Woodward’s in Virginia, Minn. I didn’t know what to expect today and was pleasantly surprised. We had a couple dozen folks show up for signed books and plenty of pre-orders to sign as well. I left a healthy stock of signed…
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‘Overburden’ tour hits Virginia today
Another reminder: I’ll be signing copies of my new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” today from 1-3 p.m. at Woodward’s in the Thunderbird Mall in Virginia, Minn. This will be my first event in the Queen City since we started the book tour. I don’t quite know what to expect, but I…
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MinnPost takes solid look at PolyMet status
MinnPost has a fascinating must-read story by Ron Way that explores the PolyMet precious minerals mining project on the East Range. Once again, MinnPost demonstrates its statewide chops. This is more compelling and investigative than anything done by a Range newspaper. In a nutshell, there are many lingering questions that must be answered before this…
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‘Brown Bag’ discussion of Overburden set for Monday in Hibbing
Below is the host press release for my Monday brown bag (no pun intended) lunch discussion at Hibbing Community College. (“Brown bag” is a nice way of saying we have no money to feed you). This is part of the tour for my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” available now at bookstores…
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Clean coal conundrum
Here’s an interesting take on “clean coal” technology. Even if you could capture all the carbon from coal, the cost involved in doing so would make nuclear, natural gas or even renewable sources the more economical choice. Coal should only be used as a transition fuel as we move into a new energy system and…
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Iron Range reacts to sudden mining industry slump
The news of U.S. Steel’s temporary but indefinite shutdown at Keewatin Taconite is sinking in around the Iron Range. The Hibbing Daily Tribune runs a story today that shows some of the reactions from miners and local officials. The summary: We’ve seen this before and we’ll get through it again. The only element of surprise…
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Krinkie railed in Range editorial
It bears mentioning any time I find myself in wholehearted agreement with the Mesabi Daily News editorial page. Today, the MDN properly sticks it to Phil Krinkie of the Taxpayer’s League for his bashing of rail service to Duluth specifically and the people of northern Minnesota generally in a recent Duluth News Tribune op/ed. I…
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Keewatin Taconite to be idled; layoffs at HibTac likely
Here comes the roller coaster. From today’s Mesabi Daily News: PITTSBURGH — The Keetac iron ore plant in Keewatin will be idled within the next several weeks. United States Steel officials announced that Keetac’s shutdown is part of the company’s response to the global economic turndown. Two facilities other than Keetac will also be idled…