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Minnesota Power to reduce more emissions at Boswell
Minnesota Power will spend up to $400 million improving emissions by about 90 percent at another of its power generation units at the Clay Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset. The Duluth News Tribune reports the story, though I heard about this elsewhere today. The improvements were required to meet tightening state standards, but the investment…
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‘Defiant’ Duluth music scene gets its due
MPR’s The Current writer Andrea Swensson penned a review of Duluth’s 14th annual Homegrown Music Festival which wrapped up last weekend. She reviewed several of the bands here but also shared her impression of the whole local music scene. This paragraph caught my eye: There’s an underlying seriousness and sadness to Duluth that has penetrated…
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A jazzy start to Mother’s Day (fishing) weekend
Those looking for some quality entertainment up north this weekend might consider this concert in Grand Rapids featuring accomplished Minneapolis-based jazz guitarist Joan Griffith and the versatile northern Minnesota jazz guitarist Sam Miltich. The show takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Community Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids and will raise funds for the…
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Fear and wolving in Minnesota
It’s hard to lament our times because it is so often difficult to determine which times we’re in. For instance, I read today that Minnesota officials are preparing for a wolf hunt and conceding large amounts of money to “Vikings.” Those sound like old school, old world problems, which is why it’s so vexing that…
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Nolan cruises to MN-8 DFL endorsement
Former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan easily won a first-ballot endorsement for Congress by DFLers in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. The victory was expected after a string of convincing victories in local delegate selection contests over the past two months. His DFL opponents Tarryl Clark and Jeff Anderson will challenge Nolan for the nomination in the…
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Big ship marks big weekend in Duluth
Fans gathered for the conclusion to the Homegrown Music Festival and delegates assembling for today’s DFL Eighth District Convention on Spirit Mountain might soon catch a glimpse of this wild-looking ship, the Clipper Gemini, arriving around midday in the harbor. It’s not often that Duluth ends up being a port of call on a ship’s…
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Greeting car’d
The Mesabi Daily News reports that a car plowed into a Hallmark gift card shop in downtown Virginia, Minnesota this afternoon. No one was seriously injured. The incident is under investigation. The building sustained damage. First, the low hanging fruit: Is there an apology card for that? Or is this more of a “flowers” thing?…
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MN-8 DFL convention to reboot hot race
This weekend DFLers in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District will hold their convention in Duluth. The top agenda item will be endorsing a candidate to run against Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8), the upstart freshman conservative in a race that most national watchers are calling a true toss-up. Cravaack was already endorsed for re-election by MN-8 Republicans…
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Range Shrine Circus opens today in Hibbing
UPDATE: For information about the 2014 Range Shrine Circus, go here. This weekend I’ll be bringing my family to a biennial gathering in a large hall. Loud people, some of them attractive, others frightening, will yell grandiose statements and perform theatrical feats to impress the crowd of sticky, confused onlookers. And no, I’m not talking…
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"These boys are a hit"
If I am to believe recent site statistics, readers of this blog care about three things and in the following order: Trampled by Turtles, Bob Dylan’s Minnesota roots and scuttlebutt on the race for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional seat. So, like a lucky songwriter penning furtive screeds about the IRRRB, I must accept that the concert…
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Talking rural transportation on live MPR blog
Yesterday I wrote a post in response to a Minnesota Public Radio story about rural transit issues, connecting it to some Iron Range economic realities. Later today, at noon, MPR will host a Public Insight Network online forum on these topics. I may participate, if conditions allow, but either way you may choose to check…
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Riding the rural urban frontier up north
One of the quirks of the Iron Range is the way in which it is neither urban nor rural. In this way it’s like light, neither a particle nor a wave. The Range is a series of small towns strung along a 135-mile ridge of iron deposits in northeastern Minnesota. Each town is autonomous, but…
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Would the real Iron Man please stand up?
Residents of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range know the iconic image of the Iron Man Memorial situated along Highway 169 in Chisholm. This statue, the third-tallest free-standing statue in America (a very distant third, behind the Statue of Liberty and the Arch of St. Louis), was dedicated in 1987. It took 11 years to commission and…
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Bob Dylan to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Today, President Barack Obama announced that Duluth native and Hibbing-raised Bob Dylan will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. MPR has the story. From the White House press release: “One of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century, Dylan released his first album in 1962.…
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Trampled by Turtles delivers big on Letterman show
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the July 2014 appearance. Duluth’s own Trampled by Turtles appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman last night. They did a great job. It’s been wonderful to see the northern Minnesota arts scene share the joy of seeing these guys make it to the big stage. Related posts: No…