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DNT continues must-read investigation into failed Range project
Peter Passi of the Duluth News Tribune continues his must-read investigation into the troubles facing Minnetonka-based startup Excelsior Energy. Over ten years Excelsior received more than $40 million in public funds for its “clean-coal” Mesaba Energy Project on the Range but has little to show for it. Today, the story is where Excelsior stands today.…
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Duluth paper runs damning report on Range energy boondoggle
Peter Passi has an important Sunday story in the Duluth News Tribune on Excelsior Energy’s controversial Mesaba Energy Project, the Iron Range clean-coal proposal that has yet to materialize, despite its $40-some million in public dollars. I urge you to read Passi’s story. It is a wholly effective explanation of the project’s origins and political…
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A final word on Range political history and voting patterns
The history keeps coming! My Silent Cal post from two weeks ago and my update about historical Range voting patterns last week have elicited an important clarification from the Iron Range’s most prominent and respected working historian, Pam Brunfelt. Actually, it is not accurate to state that voters had to request a ballot for the…
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Big Range ore shipments signal big opportunity for diversification
A banner year for Iron Range ore shipments on Lake Superior. Not so for the IRRRB, where the lingering woes of 2009 are dragging down the agency’s three-year taconite tax formula. The 2011 boom of mining activity on the Iron Range should be taken for what it is: another, perhaps final chance to retool our…
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Wide variety of free live music lined up for the Range
The “Art in the Park” free Thursday night music show at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm continues. Several fun acts seem lined up for the next few weeks. Thursday, August 18, Minnesota Discovery Center welcomes Fathers and Sons, performing “bluesy acoustic” music on the MDC amphitheater stage at 7 p.m. followed by Mark Henderson…
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Georgia chopsticks factory conjures failed Range experiment
I recently learned about this Georgia factory making chopsticks and exporting them to China. This NPR story points out the contrast of the phenomenon, an American company sending chopsticks to China while we fail to produce so many of our own goods, including electronic devices we ourselves invented. Folks from the Iron Range might remember…
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Pedaling on the bones of old industry
Do you like post-industrial imagery? Do you like bike tricks? You will like this. There’s a whole symbolic commentary thing I could do here, but that would cut into the time you have to watch the aforementioned bike tricks. Though this appears to be filmed in Scotland, that red color that pops off the ground…
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Another thought on early GOP politics in Range history
Folks seemed to like my Aug. 2 post “Silent Cal at the Hull Rust Mine” detailing the visit of President Calvin Coolidge to the Iron Range on that same date in 1928. I gave a brief overview of the Republican politics in the early 20th century on the Range. David Bednarczuk wrote me with this…
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A generous endorsement from Alaska’s Big Fat Babies
Sitka, Alaska-based punk rock band The Big Fat Babies has generously listed my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” as their notable reading selection this week on their rather entertaining website. It probably helped my case that one of their members and legal counsel Andrew C. Miller is a friend and the former…
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In these lost places we find the holes in our economy
The recent news that the United States Postal Service would be closing scads of post offices around the country, mostly in rural, small towns, has opened a lot of eyes about the true existential danger facing rural America. I’ve just read a couple of great Minnesota entries in the discussion, an Aug. 12, 2011 article…
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I suppose I am ready for some football
Speaking of new ventures, I’m thinking of starting my own fantasy football league this year. It’s hard to say why I enjoy fantasy football. I think it’s because it’s one of the few traditional male activities that I enjoy and can use to relate with men who are married to women I work with. What…
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Doc ‘Moonlight’ Graham Days begin today in Chisholm
The first ever Doc “Moonlight” Graham Days event starts today in Chisholm. This is a new take on the classic Iron Range summer festival concept, with arts displays, performances, a street dance, car show and Saturday parade. Find the full schedule at the Chisholm Chamber’s events page. Longtime Chisholm doctor Archibald Graham, known locally as…
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Stable mining sector highlights core woes in post-industrial North
You may have noticed the crumbly, jumbly economic news lately. Between the huge Wall Street stock selloff over the past few days or the general stagnation of growth and employment as our population grows and costs rises, we’ve got problems in America, sure. And we’ve got specific problems here in northern Minnesota, but not the…
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Bikes, deer and rock ‘n’ roll; let’s do this week right
We begin the week with some Iron Range stories that you might have missed if, like me, you’ve spent the last couple weeks trying to find a historical precedent for what’s going on in America (hint: noooooooo!) The annual Great River Energy Mesabi Trail Tour is next weekend. The ride spans from Chisholm to Grand…
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Thomas the Tank Engine arrives in Duluth
If you have preschool boys in America you know all about Thomas the Tank Engine. I have three boys who’ve grown up with this talking train, his friends and the odd human controllers who interact with them on the vaguely British Island of Sodor. Have I written about this before? Yes, I have. A time…