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Much-maligned former BP boss Hayward to oversee Range project?
MinnPost’s Don Shelby has a fascinating scoop about how the parent company of Polymet, which is proposing new nonferrous mining on the Iron Range, has hired Tony Hayward. You might remember Hayward as the CEO of BP during the massive underwater Gulf Coast oil spill last year. Hayward’s job with Glencore: Overseeing environmental policy and…
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The ‘greatest days’ of Range summer nearly here (and gone)
One summer a few years back I was in the Noon Rotary Club in Hibbing, Minnesota, and along with my colleagues was tasked with taking tickets at the St. Louis County Fair in the nearby town of Chisholm. It was a fundraiser for the club and an opportunity for service at the biggest single summer…
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Time out of Mind on Minnesota’s Iron Range
There are a lot of odd patterns on the Iron Range. Finding them is great fun, and why I’ve endeavored to stay here and write. Most people see the economic patterns. Mines up, mines down. Pawn shops and the Wal-Mart. There’s the drawn out process by which the Friday night boys cruising main street in…
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The sound and the fury over Range taconite revenue
This morning Gov. Mark Dayton signed the last of the budget bills ending the Minnesota state government shutdown and funding the next biennium. Though the deal was messy and unpopular, arguably unwise, it will be nice to have a semblance of normalcy return to what was once regarded as a good governance state. I’m also…
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Rural, post-industrial closures are opportunities in disguise (For real!)
One thing people in rural and post-industrial places like the Iron Range need to do is … Sigh. Here I go again. Listen, just look outside your window right now. Do you see a green or blue thing that is not a building where animals live or could live? I mean big ones, not squirrels.…
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Cravaack’s Granite State situation adds more intrigue to MN-8
One time I was at this woeful cocktail party at a private college in Iowa. By that I mean it was a VIP gathering for college donors in which students like me were to intermingle harmlessly as a sort of living reminder of why guests paid too much to drink white wine punch mixed in…
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COLUMN: Bad ‘economojo’ plagues Range, and beyond
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 17, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Bad ‘economojo’ plagues Range, and beyondBy Aaron J. Brown These are unsettling economic times for American small towns, particularly the mining towns and surrounding region here on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. It’s not that the Range economy is…
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The #mnshutdown could still become a #mnshowdown
By now those interested have absorbed much of the analysis of the tentative compromise between Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican majority leaders in the legislature to end the state’s two-week shutdown. Dayton loyalists are calling this the best the governor could have gotten under the circumstances and that’s probably true. It’s still a terrible budget.…
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‘Iron in the Sky’ air show slated July 22-23 at Range airport
To quote one airplane, “BBBBWWWWEEEEWSSSSSCCHHHHH!” “RRRRUUUUUUSSSSSSCCCHHHHWWWAAA,” added its friend, another airplane in the sky. Range Regional Airshow Announced Hibbing, Minnesota, June 24, 2011 – The Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority is thrilled to announce the 2011 Range Regional Airshow, July 22-23, at the Range Regional Airport, Hibbing. The event celebrates 80 years of providing business and leisure…
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Rock, classical and blues: sounds of the Range at Art in the Park
The Minnesota Discovery Center continues its “Art in the Park” series, running tonight through the rest of summer. Below they describe their next three shows, including three different and interesting genres from northern Minnesota musicians: Minnesota Discovery Center’s Art in the Park continues with varied performances July 14, Josh Palmi takes to the Art in…
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The copper sirens call
MinnPost published an interesting commentary on copper and other nonferrous mineral mining on the Iron Range Monday, written by geologist Rolf Westgard. True Range insiders know that the human story of the Iron Range may largely be explained by geology. Westgard makes some notable observations in his piece. Simply put, global demand for copper will…
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Hibbing nurses strike underway
The Hibbing hospital nurses began their strike Monday. The Minnesota Nurses Association strike will continue until Thursday with negotiations to start over after that. The sticking point has been staffing levels, patient safety and the inclusion of nurses in the hospitals decision making process. The Fairview University Medical Center-Mesabi is the region’s largest hospital. It…
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100 years young, a new Iron Range century
Matt Nelson has a nice story in the Saturday, July 9 Hibbing Daily Tribune about a woman celebrating her 109th birthday in this Iron Range town (subscription link). Here’s a excerpt: Signie Burke has lived through two world wars, 19 U.S. presidents, and has been retired for 44 years. Hibbing’s oldest native celebrated her 109th…
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Futility loop: State shutdown halts filling of Range rumble stripes
A couple weeks ago I was talking to this guy who works in the St. Louis County highway department and he asks my opinion on the rumble stripes. Rumble stripes? Those are a thing? Well, now I see that they are a thing. This story has everything. Rumble stripes prevent deaths but make noise. Noise…
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The wild, wild western Range to be 2012 battleground
When the dust settled on Election Night 2010 many surprises highlighted the GOP victories in Minnesota. The biggest, of course, was Chip Cravaack’s defeat of Jim Oberstar in the northern 8th Congressional District. But tucked away among several legislative gains was Carolyn McElfatrick’s 2.5 percent win over Loren Solberg in State House District 3B, a…