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Hell’s Kitchen offers hot deal to Embarrass, MN
The cold weather across Minnesota dominated major headlines and local conversations today. The mere observation that northern Minnesota is as cold or colder than Mars is on track to be my biggest post of the season. But here’s a special deal for folks in Embarrass, MN, widely considered to be the coldest place in the…
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Family Discovery Days slated at MDC this weekend
The Minnesota Discovery Center, an Iron Range educational and cultural attraction, is planning monthly family events that could ease the sting of winter temperatures. The first one is tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 4) and it looks like fun. Here’s the press release: CHISHOLM, MN, JANUARY 2, 2014 – Minnesota Discovery Center (MDC) in Chisholm has developed…
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2014: The Year Ahead for Northern Minnesota
It was at least 26 below zero at the bus stop this morning, though our thermometer is near the kitchen window and it was probably colder. I saw someone post 40 below up near Bigfork, which is just a few miles north of us. It’s funny how the early cold snap in December had everyone…
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Northern Minnesota 2013 Year in Review
Happy New Year, dear reader. And Happy Cold Time of Pregnancy and Eating Bark, deer reader. (See what I did there?) I’ve already written about my excitement over turning Kirby Puckett (34) in the year of Hrbek (’14). So I have reason to be optimistic about the new year. But it’s also time to look…
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Chisholm hoops coach Bob McDonald wins 1,000th game
Chisholm boys basketball coach Bob McDonald won his 1,000th game Thursday, as his Bluestreaks defeated Walker-Hackensack-Aikley in tournament play. Coach Bob McDonald is the first Minnesota basketball coach to win 1,000 games and remains the winningest coach in Minnesota history. Earlier this year McDonald announced this would be his final season after almost six decades…
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Range mine extracts holiday spirit with clever video
One of the big 2013 success stories in northern Minnesota’s Iron Range has been Magnetation. The scram mining operation is hiring workers and turning over old mine dumps to extract iron with new technology. But, importantly, Magnetation’s recent holiday video shows that iron concentrate isn’t the only product Magnetation produces. Why, look, they’re helping out…
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U.S. bank OKs loan for huge new Australian iron mine
A U.S. bank has approved a $694 million loan to a new Australian iron mine despite concerns by Minnesota officials that the deal will affect the market for Iron Range taconite. This new Roy Hill mine will soon outpace all U.S. iron ore production and could potentially affect prices in the Asian market, key to the growing…
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Taconite looks strong in 2014
The Duluth News Tribune reported recently that taconite industry insiders predict a strong 2014 market for iron ore and the likelihood of expanded operations at Iron Range mines. From the John Myers story: Because most taconite produced in Minnesota goes to large U.S. blast furnaces to make domestic steel, the continued rebound of the U.S…
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Aging veterans clubs struggle to stay open
In a phenomenon seen across Minnesota, veterans clubs such as the VFW and Legion are struggling to stay open as members age and new veterans opt not to join. The Star Tribune took a look at the problem in their Sunday edition, while the Mesabi Daily News reported on the possible closure of the Virginia…
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Mining schism threatens Minnesota DFL coalition
Baird Helgeson’s story in the Sunday Dec. 15 Star Tribune explores the schism in the Minnesota DFL over the issue of mining copper and rare minerals in northern Minnesota. It’s a good read that highlights what I’ve been talking about here at MinnesotaBrown. This debate is personal, cultural, even existential for the people involved. GOPers…
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MnDOT names costs of Highway 53 reroute options
WDIO reports on the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s cost estimates for rerouting State Highway 53 on the eastern Mesabi Iron Range. From the WDIO story: For the M1 route, which would take the highway through the current United Taconite mine pit, the costs are estimated to be between $248 and $319 million dollars. For the E1…
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Minnesota’s Iron Range subject of Kentucky forum
Diversifying the economy of a mining region, especially when mining is still a viable industry, is an extraordinarily difficult task. Building a future-based economy is hard because the benefits to tomorrow’s generation are harder to see in the current one. The reward is promissory; gratification delayed. It often seems Iron Range elected leaders and residents remain…
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New use for old building? Ely eyes indoor garden
In between arguments about mining, people in Ely, Minnesota, have been wondering what do with an old city building with historical significance but not much practical use. Hey, how about an indoor garden? Organizers have come up with an idea to have an indoor farming operation in the former Ely Community Center, essentially a local…
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Detectives still seek missing ruby slippers from Oz
The story made national headlines and ample fodder for late night jokes when one of the pairs of ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005. There were no arrests. It was a crude “smash and grab” job on a…
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PolyMet EIS has been released
UPDATE: You can find the EIS document here at the DNR website. I’ll be on Minnesota Public Radio’s Daily Circuit today with Tom Weber talking about the release of the Environmental Impact Statement for the PolyMet mining project in northern Minnesota. My segment is slated for the 11 a.m. hour. It looks like they’re dedicating…