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Great Northern Radio Show hits Reif Center stage June 29
We’ll be doing the summer edition of the Great Northern Radio Show from the stage of the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, on Saturday, June 29. My seasonal variety show is, on one hand, a simple incarnation of the traditional radio variety program, on the other it’s a rather quirky exploration of northern Minnesota…
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Dylan tickets moving fast, but not cheap
This Robin Washington column from Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune shows that the tickets for the July 9 Bob Dylan concert at Bayfront Park in downtown Duluth are selling well, but that some remain if you head down to the DECC to get them. He also raises an important point, something that concert-goers in Minnesota have…
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Arts camp for kids at historic Iron Range park
The 19th Annual Northstar Arts Camp will be held at the Iron Range’s famous Mesaba Park near Hibbing next week from June 17-20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The camp, which costs $90, “offers children ages 8-13 an opportunity to experience dance, music, theater and puppet making, as well as nature activities.” Mesaba…
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Paul Bunyan slasher pic gets Duluth showing
“Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan” was reviewed by Christa Lawler of the Duluth News Tribune today. The movie will enjoy a weeklong run at the Zinema 2 on Superior Street in downtown Duluth. I’ve actually watched the movie now and will post a review when a northern Minnesota showing is scheduled further. Apparently,…
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Campaign seeks to name Duluth street after Telly Savalas
Who loves ya’ baby? Did you know that Telly Savalas, best known as Kojak on 1970s and ’80s TV, once lived in Duluth, Minnesota? It’s totally true. And now a Facebook effort to get Duluth to name a street after the lollipop-loving character actor is underway. When I was a small child I was left…
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Finnish baby boxes for everybody
My cousin Adam sent me this interesting story about why every newborn Finnish baby spends time in a cardboard box. In fact, this special box that almost ever Finnish mother gets is a universal experience for all classes, a cultural touchstone for several generations. From the Helena Lee story at the BBC: It’s a tradition…
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Mt. Iron to get Wal-Mart Super Center
The Iron Range city of Mountain Iron is getting a Super Wal-Mart, according to the Mesabi Daily News. I’d argue this has more effect on the local economy that the re-routing of Highway 53. The first Super Wal-Mart on the Iron Range was in Hibbing. It was a huge success for Wal-Mart, posting big numbers during…
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Candidates break loose on Minnesota Secretary of State race
Earlier I reported that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (DFL) would not seek re-election in 2014. I speculated that because this is one of the few open statewide races and one that doesn’t cost a ton of campaign cash, we could see a lot of candidates. Well, that was true: DFL: First out the…
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Ritchie won’t run for 3rd term as MN SOS
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced today he will not seek a third term. The DFLer was first elected in 2006, defeating conservative firebrand Mary Kiffmeyer, and oversaw the closely-watched U.S. Senate recount of 2008 and governor recount of 2010, shortly after his own re-election. Last year he was an outspoken opponent of the…
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Bob Dylan to play Duluth this summer
News just broke that Bob Dylan will return to his birthplace of Duluth to play at Bayfront Festival Park on July 9. WDIO reports: An announcement has confirmed that Bob Dylan & His Band will come to Duluth and play at Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park on Tuesday, July 9. The concert begins at 5:30 p.m.…
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Duluth’s Bob Dylan sculpture project launches Kickstarter
A small scale rendering of the sculpture image. Today sculptor Tom Page and his organization launched the Kickstarter page to raise funds to put a Bob Dylan-themed sculpture. The art would be placed in downtown Duluth, the city where Dylan was born, just down the road from Hibbing, the city where he grew up. I…
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Iron Range soldier is ‘The Bomb Whisperer’
Another interesting read this morning, the Los Angeles Times profiled an Army soldier from Eveleth, Minnesota, known among his fellow troops in Afghanistan as “The Bomb Whisperer.” KHOGIANO, Afghanistan — Spc. Kyle Klobuchar spends his days listening intently to the beeps, hums and warbles of a hand-held explosives detector known as a Minehound. He likes…
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Testosterone problems in western North Dakota
This commentary in Sunday’s Star Tribune shows the social strife facing women in western North Dakota as the region teems with male workers in the booming oil industry. Reading this reminds me of the stories surrounding northern Minnesota’s Iron Range in the early 1900s as male immigrants poured into this region, most of them single…
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Duluth to remove iconic downtown bricks
Workers install bricks on Superior Street on Oct. 6, 1985. From the Duluth News Tribune “News Attic.” When I was a tiny little kid I remember seeing all the hubbub on the news about Duluth putting in bricks along a key downtown chunk of Superior Street. As an Iron Range tyke who only knew Duluth…
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B’nai Abraham shares Range Jewish history with stories, music
B’nai Abraham Cultural Center, Virginia, Minnesota When the Iron Range received a surge of immigrants in the early 20th Century it become one of the most diverse places in the country, a fact that often seems foreign on the Iron Range of today. Among its many groups was a vibrant Jewish community, and though that…