-
Northern Minnesota is at peak fall colors
I saw this DNR map showing autumn foliage levels this morning. I live in that darkest red splotch in the North. Here’s what this looks like out behind MinnesotaBrown.com World Headquaters in Itasca County: If you’re planning a foliage tour in Northern Minnesota, this is THE weekend. The next heavy wind is going to take…
-
Talking mining and MN-8 politics on the radio
On Sunday I was on the LeftMN Radio Hour with Aaron Klemz and Tony Petranglo on AM950 in the Twin Cities. The topic was politics in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District and mining issues in northern Minnesota. You can listen to the show below or here. My segment is at about the 9:30 mark. Podcast Powered…
-
What Magnetation looks like
There are many “proposed” projects bandied about in Iron Range economic talk. There is Essar Steel, a major project under construction. But in terms of new production and new jobs, Grand Rapids-based Magnetation, Inc., has done the most new hiring and new shoveling in the past year. Magnetation processes iron ore once discarded as waste…
-
We must put down the canoe menace
Maybe you’d like to better understand the media landscape on the Iron Range as it relates to the ongoing debate between supporters and opponents of proposed copper-nickel mines in the region? Last week, opponents of the mining projects announced that a group would canoe from the BWCA to St. Paul using various waterways to protest…
-
The mining fracas continues in MN-8
My recent post about Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District got some attention around the state. If you missed it, here it is. The short version: GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack is bludgeoning former DFL Rep. Rick Nolan on the northern Minnesota mining issue, something Nolan has to counteract if he hopes to win. Nonferrous mining is my…
-
Footage of Melin, Weber debate in Iron Range House seat
On Sept. 5, the Duluth News Tribune hosted legislative forums on the Iron Range. You can see several forums involving mismatched candidates from various races in SD3 and SD6 here. But I am sharing the only one-on-one comparison in that day’s activities: a debate between Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) and GOP challenger Roger Weber of…
-
Remembering the Mesabi Strike of 1907
One-hundred and five years ago this month the first major labor strike on the Mesabi Iron Range was busted by company strikebreakers. Finnish labor leaders were blacklisted from working in the mines. As a great-grandson of Finns (and Norwegians, Swedes and Cornish mining stock), I sit out here typing on a computer in the woods…
-
Something heard in a van down by the river: Joel Maturi is Matt Foley?
Iron Range native Joel Maturi’s stint as athletic director at the University of Minnesota got mixed reviews, but it was no small feat for a Chisholm kid from an area so devoted to athletics to rise to the pinnacle of the state’s most storied athletic program. Though Maturi has stepped down as athletic director, this…
-
Essar says construction will continue, taconite plant to open on time
An Essar Steel official has contacted me to clarify that work at the company’s new taconite plant near Nashwauk has not stopped. About 100 contractors remain on site in some capacity (I hear electricians and excavators), along with about 100 employees working on other aspects of the project. So Essar is not “shutting down” its…
-
Legislative debate season arrives on the Range
I’ll try to pass along news of northern Minnesota legislative forums as I see them. Unlike federal election debates, where candidates are usually fairly polished, legislative debates are often loads of madcap fun. Unfortunately almost no one sees them. They’re like indy bands. Anyway, you should catch some of these and huzzah to anyone who…
-
Essar unexpectedly slows down new plant construction
Essar Steel is slowing construction of its new taconite plant north of Nashwauk on Minnesota’s Iron Range. The India-based global industrial giant announced a two-week shut down related to global steel and taconite prices, according to company spokespeople in local media. Rumors of odd supply chain delays at the site were rampant around the area…
-
Steelworkers, ArcelorMittal reach deal
ArcelorMittal and the United Steelworkers have reached a tentative contract agreement that applies to the workers at the Minorca Mine on the Mesabi Iron Range. Subject to member ratification, the deal appears to preserve most of what the union wanted. Last week U.S. Steel settled with the Steelworkers and what I’ve heard so far is…
-
Range solar plant woes another black eye for local strategy
Struggles at a Mt. Iron solar panel manufacturer have the attention of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I’ve heard that other media organizations are also sniffing around after Silicon Energy has missed two payments on its IRRRB loan. While solar energy is a good thing and jobs are a good thing, increasingly this deal is looking…
-
Steelworkers, ArcelorMittal struggle for a labor deal
We know that U.S. Steel and the Steelworkers have a labor deal. Cliffs Natural Resources and the Steelworkers have a temporary deal while they resolve final disagreements. These two companies control the largest mines on the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. But a deal between ArcelorMittal and the Steelworkers appears to be farther behind the…
-
MPR piece digs deeper into story of Range women in mining
MPR reporters Stephanie Hemphill and Catherine Winter have produced a documentary telling the story of the first women who worked at the taconite plants of the Mesabi Iron Range. Though many have an impression of this story, aided in part by the Nikki Caro-directed film “North Country” starring Charlize Theron, the actual story has a…