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Onward to America’s better nature
Osama bin Laden is dead. This morning I remember my feelings behind the editor’s desk of a small Iron Range afternoon daily putting together the front page on Sept. 11, 2001. Each minute brought more horror. Each revision to the page better reflected the long, ugly period in our history that would follow. Today, I…
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Range cities explore shared services; can they move fast enough?
It was one of those bad news/good news/additional bad news days on the front of Sunday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. There will be a few more of these in coming months. The bad news is not really news. Cuts to local government aid (LGA) at the state level will force cities on the Iron Range to…
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Hibbing nurses call off strike
The Hibbing hospital nurses have cancelled their impending strike after a productive negotiating session. (Story, Fox 21) Related posts: No related posts.
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Range labor community to hold May Day celebration
Iron Range labor backers and DFLers will be holding a May Day luncheon Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at the Operating Engineers Local 49 Hall on Enterprise Drive in Virginia. This is the labor hall just off the freeway as you approach Virginia from Mountain Iron on Highway 169, or just off the 53 exit from…
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Barefoot in the Park? In this weather?
The Neil Simon play “Barefoot in the Park” opens tonight at 7:30 at the Hibbing Community College Theatre. The show runs this weekend and next with nightly shows Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday matinees. The reviews from last night’s benefit performance for the HCC Foundation Dinner were very good. After our 2009 kerfuffle over the…
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Cravaack taking early flak; MN-8 race shaping up as mega-tussle
Today would be a great day for me to link bait some nonsense about Northern Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District race, the new attacks on the Medicare votes of Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8), or the strange collection of fascinating Democrats you’ve never heard of who are going to run against him. I just wanted to write…
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Major Range nurses’ strike could happen May 4-7
I was out of town when this was announced, but the Hibbing hospital nurses have set strike dates of May 4-7. The local members of the Minnesota Nurses Association authorized the strike April 15 against the Range Regional Medical Center over staffing levels, patient safety and opposition to the merger of sick days and vacation…
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Fire at Poor Gary’s in Biwabik
There was a structure fire at Poor Gary’s Pizza in Biwabik overnight. The new site Range News Now has the story. Related posts: No related posts.
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Short memory on gas prices prevents progress
It’s happening again. Gas prices are inching upward, approaching and soon to breach $4 a gallon with some experts saying that even higher prices are possible. Local, state and national media outlets are going to gas stations, sticking cameras and microphones into the faces of motorists to garner their opinion. People don’t like price increases.…
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Iron Range Maidens score another roller derby win
So the Iron Range has a roller derby team, the Iron Range Maidens, and they just sent me a press release. Such an occasion requires me to share the item with you in its entirety. I hope you agree. IRON RANGE MAIDENS WIN SECOND BOUT! The Iron Range Maidens competed in their second bout on…
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Officials: Maintenance work spark caused Soudan mine fire
A spark from maintenance work that left a smoldering ember on old timbers has been identified as the cause of the fire at the Soudan Underground Mine state park. It appears unlikely that the mine will open for tours this summer. There was no damage at the advanced physics laboratory located deep within the mine.…
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Nursing strike, fast internet, highway news, squad smashups, etc.
The news backlog has grown large so I’ll just link you to some stories about what’s going on around the Iron Range. Hibbing nurses authorized a strike at the town’s big regional hospital last Friday (Duluth News Tribune). Parties now enter a 10-day “cooling off” period while labor and management continue negotiations. At issue is…
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Yet unresolved Range pension issue coming into focus
I’m a few days behind on this, but it’s worth mentioning that a top official with the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation traveled to the Iron Range to reassure National Steel retirees who saw their pensions stripped down after the company declared bankruptcy in 2003. The PBGC pledge to fix the problem now enters its strongest…
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Essar moves ahead with Nashwauk plans
Business North leads today with an update on the Essar Steel project slated over the boneyard of the old Butler mine outside Nashwauk. Company officials explain the progress of what is supposed to become the first integrated mining and steelmaking facility on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. Others, (including, as I now see, myself), are quoted…
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Range profile eyes political culture, trends of storied region
Session Weekly’s Nick Busse pens a profile of the Iron Range legislative delegation worth reading. Perhaps repetitive for political insiders, “Ranger in a Strange Land” is a great primer for those who have wondered about the mindset of the fabled Range Delegation, which held its annual “Ranger Party” in St. Paul last Tuesday. For me…