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Classical musical festival will now lead Iron Range Jewish cultural center
A happy Passover to all who celebrate. This high holiday of the Jewish faith often passes unacknowledged in northern Minnesota, but this was not always so. A vibrant Jewish population joined the pioneer communities of the Mesabi Iron Range. In fact, Jews were among the first people to arrive in many Range towns. These families…
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All workers are essential
My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer appears today. My topic is one part personal and one part political. Childcare providers like my mother are deemed essential workers during the COVID-19 crisis, but few like her are paid a living wage. Here’s an excerpt: My mom is a childcare provider in northern Minnesota. She’s started…
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Dig Deep tackles COVID-19 and what comes next
Last week, my friend Heidi Holtan hosted my other friend Chuck Marohn and me in a live Dig Deep conversation about COVID-19. It was the first time we’ve done the show from different places. The news ebbs and flows, good news mixed with the bad. As a nation we’re not yet free of collective response…
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John Prine sang the grief of losing places like mine
John Prine died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19. He had been critically ill with the disease for days following years of battling cancer. The singer-songwriter with his high gravelly voice was best known for brilliant working class lyrics brimming with pathos, humor, and sometimes uncomfortable honesty. As the New York Times pointed out, Bob Dylan…
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Iron Range in isolation: talking COVID-19
Last week I appeared on KAXE with Heidi Holtan talking about the COVID-19 situation on the Mesabi Iron Range. Check it out. This was my first radio appearance since being sheltered in place with my family here in the woods of northern Minnesota. We make a couple trips to town each week for groceries and…
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On the missing pieces in Iron Range political coverage
On Sunday, the national political publication Politico profiled the shifting political winds on northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. Reporter Adam Behsudi and photographer M. Scott Mahaskey toured the region a few weeks ago. And yes, I appear in the story. It’s worth reading. But if you do, consider reading my latest column for the Minnesota…
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COVID-19 crisis threatens iron ore demand
NOTE: This post also appears in the Hibbing Daily Tribune as part of a content partnership. Economic effects of the global pandemic could reach taconite mines on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range later this year. U.S. automakers Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler announced Wednesday they would close all American production plants in response to the…
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Iron Range epidemics and the greater good
NOTE: This article also appears in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. It’s part of a new expanded partnership between this blog and the newspaper that runs my column. Frank Hibbing could sense iron nearby when he and his team camped beneath a grove of towering white pines on the western Mesaba Iron Range. Indeed, they would discover…
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Minnesota’s iconic hockey hair video dekes out fans, parties back in
Forty years after the “Miracle on Ice,” we get another one. Last year, the mysterious creator of the annual 2020 Minnesota State High School League “All Hockey Hair” team announced his retirement after ten years of hilarious videos. But this year, against all odds, he’s back. The video’s a little shorter, a little more to…
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Story of Minnesota Ojibwe chief Hole in the Day headed to Hollywood
This land we call Minnesota rests on layers of stories. Dig and you find more. Dig and the stories grow deeper and more complex. Some of these fantastic tales seem suited for the movies, and soon enough that may be true. Such is the story of a Northern Minnesota leader that most local schools still…
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Klobuchar to drop campaign, endorse Biden
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will end her campaign for president tonight and endorse former Vice President Joe Biden at a rally in Texas. The unexpected news came less than a day before polls open in the Minnesota presidential primary and the broader Super Tuesday spate of nominating contests. Klobuchar was expected to carry her home…
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Super Tuesday in the land of 10,000 pundits
It’s Super Tuesday Eve, if that’s a thing, and I’m up with a new column in the Minnesota Reformer. Check it out. Here’s a taste: Minnesota won’t be the pivotal Super Tuesday race. The winning campaign here might not even survive the night. And, as I said, there’s no telling what voters will do at…
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‘Dueling’ Iron Range realities at the Minnesota Reformer
Some news. I will now write occasional columns and long form pieces for the Minnesota Reformer. I posted this on social media a week ago, but am finally getting around to updating readers here at the blog. Read today’s column here. You know that I’ve been writing fewer posts these days while working on my…
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Amy Klobuchar: the senator from Minnesota
I first met Amy Klobuchar in a back alley in International Falls, Minnesota, not far from a paper plant along the Canadian border. Looking back at that 2006 day gives us clues about her upcoming presidential campaign.
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Et tu? Caucus revolt renders Shakespearian outcome for Bakk, Range DFL
State Sen. Susan Kent (DFL-Woodbury) ousted Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk of Cook this afternoon at a Senate DFL caucus meeting. Ironically, the rebellion took place in a Carpenter’s Union hall, the kind of place where Bakk built his Iron Range labor credentials. Kent will lead Senate Democrats as the legislature reconvenes in ten days.…