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Report: Putin ‘wants to regain Finland’
A former advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his ex-boss wants to reestablish the Russian state in its original, pre-Bolshevik form. Among other jaw-dropping targets ranging from the Baltic states to parts of Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus, Putin apparently has eyes on reclaiming the independent Nordic nation of Finland at some point in his rule.…
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’90s alt band Live at Merritt Days 2014
The city of Mountain Iron, Minnesota, has good reason to love the ’90s. After all, it was in 1890 that Leonidas Merritt and his family first discovered the famous Mesabi iron range and its rich hematite iron ore, spurring the settlement of Northern Minnesota and industrialization of a modern nation. In 1892, the Merritts managed…
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On the fair, tall timber and Thomas the Tank Engine
In a quiet summer reverie I hear the chuffing of a steam engine around the tracks of a country bend. What could it be? Why, it’s a train with a face, of course. Our boys are officially too old for Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor; Sir Topham Hatt and all the…
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MN iron ore: changing history for 130 years
William Henry Brown was born in Northern Michigan during the peak of copper and iron mining in the Upper Peninsula. He was the son of a Cornish immigrant whose family had perhaps known mining since the Roman Empire. When he was a child he would have heard about new iron mining to the west in…
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Beware Iron Range hyperbole in Election 2014
Last week I was called into town to do another “Iron Range political pundit” interview with Northland’s NewsCenter’s Nick Minock. The story was about something presumptive Minnesota GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike McFadden had said about nonferrous mining projects in Northern Minnesota. McFadden had suggested that projects like PolyMet and Twin Metals, which have been mired in environmental…
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Hibbing, Duluth, Brainerd among new Dunkin’ Donuts locales
UPDATE: Grand Rapids, MN is also on the list of new locations. A Hinckley, Minn., couple is developing seven new Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Northern Minnesota, including Duluth, Hibbing and Brainerd. That according to this Paul Walsh article in today’s Star Tribune. [New franchisee Brian] Weidendorf said the Duluth locale will be in a remodeled…
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UPDATE: Hedge fund takes over Range mining giant Cliffs Natural Resources
UPDATE: The votes have been counted and Casablanca Capital overwhelming won its bid to take over Cliffs Natural Resources, winning all six open spots on the board of directors. In a release, Casablanca states: Donald Drapkin, Chairman of Casablanca, said, “We are grateful to our fellow Cliffs shareholders for their careful consideration of the issues…
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DNT: Twin Ports seagulls need vitamins
The iconic Twin Ports seagulls of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, remind me of a colony of ants or bees — best considered a single organism rather than as a multitude of individuals. This mass of scavenging port birds have entered into a symbiotic relationship with the french fry dispensing tourists at the Head of the Lakes. The birds…
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Rural Minnesota needs Chattanooga internet solution
Lately I’ve been reading and writing about the concept of “Brain Gain” for rural Minnesota and Iron Range communities. This is the idea that rural areas, particularly in Minnesota, may lose their high school graduates, but have been steadily and quietly attracting young professionals back through reverse migration. Our central challenge is in engaging this population…
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D’oe: MN deer hunt will be antlers only in Northeast
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued a statement that the 2014 MN deer hunt rifle season will include mostly bucks, including no doe or antlerless permits for much of the northern part of the state. The conservative restrictions will allow the deer to recover from lower numbers reported during last year’s MN deer hunt, particularly…
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Essar’s Algoma steel mill restructured in bankruptcy
Essar Steel’s Algoma mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is reorganizing in bankruptcy after massive debts inhibited operations. The Sault Star reports that Essar filed for bankruptcy protections from both the Canadian and U.S. governments. Algoma’s corporate parent Essar will infuse $300 million into the facility to allow for existing debt to be refinanced. What’s not…
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Hibbing’s Kate Lange signs pro volleyball deal in France
Here’s a neat story: Hibbing native, (former student of mine) and University of Minnesota-Duluth star Kate Lange just signed a professional contract to play volleyball in France. She’s the first UMD player to sign a pro deal. Northland’s NewsCenter had the story yesterday: I don’t know anything about professional volleyball, but I do suspect that…
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Mills vs. Nolan in MN-8 tilts back toward swing status
Forgive residents of Northern Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District some sense of disorientation. Since 2010, the district elected as many new congressmen as it had in the previous six decades. After former Rep. Chip Cravaack scored the region’s biggest Republican upset in three generations, defeating longtime Rep. Jim Oberstar, Cravaack lost by 9 points to current Rep.…
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Casting call for new movie at Soudan mine
This Saturday, July 26, producers of the new movie “Sdanka’s War” will be holding an open casting call at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. You need to be there by 7 a.m. The Duluth-based production by LZ Productions and Almighty Dog Entertainment is seeking “20 or more guys dressed in plain tees,…
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It’s official: ‘Fargo’ headed for Sioux Falls ’79
In the FX series “Fargo,” the EMMY-nominated Northern Minnesota-based caper, we met Lou Solverson (Keith Carradine). He’s the gruff ex-cop who now runs a cafe in Bemidji. His daughter is Molly (EMMY-nominated Allison Tolman), and he offers her sage advice and words of caution as she hunts down the evil criminal Lorne Malvo (EMMY-nominated Billy…