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Tom Russell’s "Mesabi" cuts like sharp wind on the Iron Range
Texas-based singer/songwriter Tom Russell named his recent 2011 album “Mesabi.” It includes the title track below, which seems to call on the mystique of Bob Dylan, the North Country and the Iron Range. Sings Russell: Some things never change, on the Mesabi Iron RangeWhere the wild north country rain screams“Please don’t make me do the…
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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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Essar loan extended, company in talks to bring steel plant to Range
Essar Steel, an Indian company planning to open a new taconite plant near Nashwauk next year, is talking to another company about bringing an historic steel plant to northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. This according to reports from yesterday’s meeting of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board in Eveleth. Essar also got their $6.7 million…
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Long arc of justice bends toward ‘Lincoln’ on the Range
Daniel Day-Lewis portrays Abraham Lincoln. Quite a while ago I read a story that Daniel Day-Lewis would portray Abraham Lincoln in a movie based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book “Team of Rivals.” I had an episode that would probably be categorized as “geeking out” but probably exceeded the norm. The world’s best actor. My favorite…
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Iron Range roller derby team sports new logo
The Iron Range Maidens roller derby team has released its new logo: The selection was made as part of a contest. Doug Kahlberg created the winning entry. I attended a Maidens bout once and wrote this. In addition, you should know that the Maidens have a B-Team named the “Attackonites.” Attackonite is a mineral product…
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COLUMN: Hay! What? Hay bales (that’s the joke)
This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 9, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I previewed this column earlier in the week, complete with the 1998 Cherry High School class picture, in which my class posed in a hay field with hay bales. Also, I am wearing white pants. Hay! What? Hay bales!…
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Looking in on Hibbing’s ‘Castle in the Wilderness’
WCCO’s Bill Hudson did a “Finding Minnesota” story about Hibbing High School, one of the most ornate and visually stunning school houses in the state. Most Iron Range locals take this place for granted, or at least are desensitized to its grandeur. This building and its history are a fascinating part of the area’s rich…
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Hey! Hey! Hands off my hay!
This morning, NPR aired this story about hay thefts on the Great Plains. With drought across much of the country, hay is a precious commodity these days, commanding double the normal price. This has prompted hay rustling, which is funny when you think about the size and highly visible location of most hay bales. I…
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‘Value-added’ setback reminds of Range’s inherent value
The Mesabi Daily News penned a Sunday, Dec. 2, editorial about the decision by Magnetation to locate their pellet production plant in Reynolds, Indiana, instead of on the western Mesabi Iron Range where they mine and partially process their raw ore. The Bill Hanna opinion is one shared across the region: disappointment. “And that should…
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Unique gifts from northern Minnesota’s Iron Range
If you’re looking for unique gifts with a connection to northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, check out Made on the Range. This was rolled out several months ago but is updated for the holiday season now. Tony Sertich, commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), held a press event touting the website yesterday.…
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COLUMN: Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles
This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 2, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles By Aaron J. Brown Nothing sets the table for an interesting period in history like a failed strike. There was much-ballyhooed strike over Thanksgiving weekend surrounding employees at Wal-Mart. Garnering great attention,…
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The lessons of a Rust Belt upbringing
I read this post, “Born into Ruin: How the Young are Changing Cleveland” by Richey Piiparinen yesterday and it floored me. Read this: It’s true. I am not happy all the time living in Cleveland. But I don’t want to be happy all the time. That’s unnatural. Said Nietzsche: “Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we…
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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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Magnetation selects Indiana for iron ore pellet plant
After considering Grand Rapids, Minn. and Superior, Wis., Iron Range-based Magnetation has selected Reynolds, Indiana for the site of its new pellet plant. They will ship raw materials out of their unique scram mining operation in Itasca County to this facility, which will now include two additional processing sites. The press release follows: Magnetation LLC…