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DFLers Saxhaug, Persell, Anzelc endorsed in Cohasset today
The hotbed in legislative battlegrounds this year is the new Senate District 5 and House Districts 5A and 5B in Itasca, Cass and Beltrami counties. Redistricting paired three DFL incumbents with three GOP incumbents here. Today, the DFL made its endorsements at the Cohasset Community Center. For Senate, the DFL unanimously endorsed incumbent Sen. Tom…
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Meantime, Ely escapes raging fire
While I was sipping water and preparing to read the names at the Hibbing Community College graduation (congratulations graduates, by the way), on the other side of the region the Vermilion Range city of Ely was being evacuated from the path of a raging wildfire. This photo is from Wayne Erickson at the U.S. Forest…
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Labor organizer Metsa to seek Rukavina seat
Jason Metsa, field coordinator for the North East Area Labor Council on the Iron Range, has announced that he will seek the House 6B seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township). Metsa, 31, is a fifth-generation Iron Ranger with roots in the Angora and Nashwauk area. His family moved to Rochester for…
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Janatopoulos first to announce run for Rukavina seat
Over the next few days I’ll be sharing candidate announcements in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Tom Rukavina in a key Iron Range state House seat. The DFL endorsing convention will be held Saturday, May 19, and it remains to be seen how many candidates will run and whether they will honor the endorsement…
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A busy week of Iron Range politics
Last week Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township) announced he would retire from the State House seat he’s held for 26 years. This is will likely remain a solid DFL district in the heart of the Iron Range, though Rukavina seldom drew a very strong GOP challenger. Once again, we test the true index of an…
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Rukavina retires, marking end of an Iron Range era
Today, the passionate, populist, often enigmatic Iron Range state Rep. Tom Rukavina announced his retirement. Rukavina has represented his eastern Iron Range district for 26 years. This district, now called 6B, was known as 5A for much of his career. This district includes the city of Virginia where Rukavina grew up and first became involved…
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Minnesota Power to reduce more emissions at Boswell
Minnesota Power will spend up to $400 million improving emissions by about 90 percent at another of its power generation units at the Clay Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset. The Duluth News Tribune reports the story, though I heard about this elsewhere today. The improvements were required to meet tightening state standards, but the investment…
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A jazzy start to Mother’s Day (fishing) weekend
Those looking for some quality entertainment up north this weekend might consider this concert in Grand Rapids featuring accomplished Minneapolis-based jazz guitarist Joan Griffith and the versatile northern Minnesota jazz guitarist Sam Miltich. The show takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Community Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids and will raise funds for the…
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Greeting car’d
The Mesabi Daily News reports that a car plowed into a Hallmark gift card shop in downtown Virginia, Minnesota this afternoon. No one was seriously injured. The incident is under investigation. The building sustained damage. First, the low hanging fruit: Is there an apology card for that? Or is this more of a “flowers” thing?…
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Range Shrine Circus opens today in Hibbing
UPDATE: For information about the 2014 Range Shrine Circus, go here. This weekend I’ll be bringing my family to a biennial gathering in a large hall. Loud people, some of them attractive, others frightening, will yell grandiose statements and perform theatrical feats to impress the crowd of sticky, confused onlookers. And no, I’m not talking…
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Talking rural transportation on live MPR blog
Yesterday I wrote a post in response to a Minnesota Public Radio story about rural transit issues, connecting it to some Iron Range economic realities. Later today, at noon, MPR will host a Public Insight Network online forum on these topics. I may participate, if conditions allow, but either way you may choose to check…
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Riding the rural urban frontier up north
One of the quirks of the Iron Range is the way in which it is neither urban nor rural. In this way it’s like light, neither a particle nor a wave. The Range is a series of small towns strung along a 135-mile ridge of iron deposits in northeastern Minnesota. Each town is autonomous, but…
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Would the real Iron Man please stand up?
Residents of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range know the iconic image of the Iron Man Memorial situated along Highway 169 in Chisholm. This statue, the third-tallest free-standing statue in America (a very distant third, behind the Statue of Liberty and the Arch of St. Louis), was dedicated in 1987. It took 11 years to commission and…
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Bob Dylan to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Today, President Barack Obama announced that Duluth native and Hibbing-raised Bob Dylan will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. MPR has the story. From the White House press release: “One of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century, Dylan released his first album in 1962.…
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Mining the space range
This week we talked about scram mining, mining revenue politics and growing marijuana in abandoned old mines, but what of the future of mining? Mashable reports that a group of very wealthy, eccentric (which is rich person for “crazy”) entrepreneurs and adventurers are planning to mine asteroids. Oh, they’ve got a plan alright. I think…