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Essar Steel comes back to life, vows return to Nashwauk project
In a surprising twist, India’s Essar Global appears to have wiggled out of bankruptcy and a takeover bid by ArcelorMittal. Not only that, but company officials now say they will resume work at their Nashwauk, Minn., plant, the control of which they have quietly reclaimed in recent months.
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MinnesotaBrown’s Top Posts of 2018
Aaron J. Brown shares the top posts of 2018 at MinnesotaBrown.com.
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ArcelorMittal will run Hibbing Taconite
Hibbing Taconite will be run by its majority owner in 2019. ArcelorMittal announced this week it would gradually take over management of the mine from Cleveland Cliffs over the next eight months. Cliffs resigned from management of the mine this year. ArcelorMittal is the largest steel company in the world. Hibbing Taconite is the second…
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Why livability is key to Northern Minnesota strategy
The Iron Range, all of Northern Minnesota, and most of rural America share many problems, while maintaining some unique ones. Nevertheless, we could all make good use of one potential solution: We need people. Our small towns and rural institutions were built for a certain number of people. Not a ton of people, but a…
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Northern Minnesota wolves maintain clear boundaries
Scientists with the Voyageurs Wolf Project study the behavior of wolves in Northern Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park. One recent social media post shows how wolves maintain their territory. As you see above, collared wolves from different packs move a great deal in pursuit of prey. But they almost never encroach on the territory of neighboring…
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Driving culture impacts Minnesota’s carbon footprint
If a cancer cell knew it was a cancer cell, would it change its behavior? Knowing that it will eventually kill its host, and thus itself, would it arrest its own growth? Would the cancer cell deny itself the satisfaction of its most pressing instinct for its own good? I’ve turned this question over in…
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Therapist with Hibbing roots highlighted for suicide prevention efforts
For the fourth straight year, human life expectancy in the United States declined. This has relatively little to do with longevity. After all, more people are living longer. But rather it has everything to do with how many people we lose to depression and addiction each year. The Huffington Post published a long form essay…
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Event seeks Range voices on sustainable future
There aren’t many blogs about the Iron Range. You’re reading one of them. That means that if you google “Mesabi Iron Range” you find me. With this cool but largely unprofitable fact comes great responsibility. For instance, people e-mail me and want to know why the Iron Range is the way it is, how it…
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Mining gold near Togo? The rush is … on hold
So I binge watched “Deadwood” recently. I know, I know. No one wants to hear what I’m watching on TV. We’re all busy watching one of 9,000 shows on 50 different platforms, having independent experiences that confine us all to our own small community of strangers. Or we’re not watching TV at all because we’re…
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Iron Range districts eye shared school, new model
Student desks form even rows on hardwood floors. A chalkboard at the front of the room frames the teacher’s heavy, spacious desk. Heavy vinyl maps roll down from the ceiling. Most of us recognize this picture as school. In fact, this scene so imprints our minds that decades later we still dream about it. It’s…
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Fire destroys Cook store, but not community spirit
Last Sunday, my family struck deer camp a week early. I got sent home with a large amount of cheese curds, which is never a bad deal. My uncles always pick up the cheese from Zup’s in Cook. Monday night, a large fire destroyed the Zup’s Food Market, Cook’s only grocery store and heart of…
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State issues mining permits to PolyMet: Now what?
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued permits for PolyMet Mining on Thursday, ending one long chapter of this story and beginning another. The permits mean PolyMet is now free to mine copper, nickel and other minerals from its proposed location near the former LTV iron mine at Hoyt Lakes. But doing so is not…
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Steelworkers reach tentative agreement with U.S. Steel
The United Steelworkers of America and U.S. Steel reached a tentative labor contract agreement on Monday, Oct. 15. Union leaders will now present the terms of the deal to their membership for a ratification vote. About 14,000 workers at mills and mines across America would work under this contract. Steelworkers leadership seemed pleased and optimistic…
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Steelworkers ratify contract with Cleveland-Cliffs
Members of the United Steelworkers of America voted to ratify a new labor contract with Cleveland-Cliffs this week. The new deal maintains their current benefits while increasing their pay. Cliffs operates United Taconite and, until next year, contracts to operate Hibbing Taconite. Their plant at Northshore Mining is nonunion. Negotiations with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal…
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Glimmers of hope in Steelworkers negotiations
Late last week, the United Steelworkers reached an agreement with Cleveland-Cliffs on a labor contract. Broadly speaking, the talks between Cliffs and the USW seemed to go well. The company acknowledged the improving state of the domestic iron ore and steel business, and shared some of the success with its workers. However, more contentious negotiations…