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In all things, moderation
Thomas Friedman isn’t as bad as my fellow progressives think he is. From his latest column in the New York Times: … we don’t just need a bailout. We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among…
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And in the end …
I honestly thought I would write a comprehensive post about the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota before the end of the year, but it appears that I won’t have that chance. There’s a lot of information we just don’t know yet. There will be lots of armchair analysis from both sides on this race, but…
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Stats in the middle with you
Nate Silver provides a fascinating look at the importance of the middle class in our economy today. It has the appearance of being boring but it simplifies some large concepts very well, explaining how incomes are related to stability in the housing sector and how both are related to the policy that emerges from Washington.…
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In the Info Age, facts are the new oil
By way of the Politics in Minnesota morning report, I found this story from the St. Paul Legal Ledger about the massive workload of Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor. From the state’s health care system to the JOBZ economic development program, the OLA staff has exhaustively investigated many important aspects of state government, saving…
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Biomass: a "copy cat" with nine lives
The Mesabi Daily News is reporting on a program to encourage biomass fuel use in the heating of Iron Range schools, dubbing it a “copy cat” program from one that is 25 years old. Iron Range Resource Board officials are quoted recollecting that the idea for using biomass in schools goes back to the Rudy…
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Steel bottom?
Check out how steel industry stocks leveled off last week after a huge price drops over the year. They’re not exactly up, but the free fall is more like a gentle roll. Nate Silver contends this has to do with high hopes for the Obama stimulus/infrastructure plan. Spending on bridges, roads and technology across the…
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Iron Range year-enders start pouring in
It’s that special time of year when media vacation schedules collide with a news vacuum to produce year-in-review specials! From my spot here in the North, here are a few good roundups I saw over the weekend: The Duluth News Tribune offered its top 10 stories of 2008 on Sunday which include a couple of…
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Klobuchar to head broadband roundtable on Monday
Below is a press release of note to fans of rural broadband expansion. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is convening a broadband roundtable this morning. It’s good to see a northern name on the list in Bill Coleman from the Blandin Foundation of Grand Rapids. The Blandin Foundation is working to expand internet infrastructure and use…
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Silver: Labor’s ‘existential’ session crisis
Nate Silver has earned fame in political circles for his spot-on statistical analysis of polling and election projections during the 2008 cycle. His site continues to explore current events and political issues with an eye toward statistics and trends. On Monday, Silver’s site Fivethirtyeight.com explored the issue of unions and the Employee Free Choice Act.…
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PolyMet gets EIS from DNR for new Range mine
It’s a busy Monday on the Iron Range! MSNBC reports from a Marketwire release that PolyMet has received its long-awaited Environmental Impact Statement from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. PolyMet wants to build a mine by Hoyt Lakes that would extract a variety of nonferrous minerals including copper and nickel. This EIS has been…
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Range economic condition featured in today’s Strib
This was in today’s Star Tribune. It’s an economic story that points out how the Iron Range “boom and bust” cycle we’re used to around here is happening much faster than the old days. Iron Range’s fast fall follows boomThe mining industry faces sudden shutdowns, but many see a silver lining in the long run.…
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Are we ready to survive again?
Another notable clip from Sunday: The Hibbing Daily Tribune reports on Scot Harvey, an Iron Range man volunteering to help people laid off from their jobs in this bad economy. Having been laid off for a long stretch during the last bad spell in the early 2000s before retraining for a new career, Harvey counsels…
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Another take on an Iron Range issue
I posted last week about the many different media approaches to the Iron Range Resources meeting this past Thursday. This is the meeting where Essar Steel received a one-year extension on its loan for its mining and steel project near Nashwauk. Here’s another: Beth Bily reports on the same meeting for Business North, reporting on…
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Friday night follow-up for Iron Range stories
Two late follow-ups to Iron Range stories that have appeared here: The Star Tribune reports on the public meeting in which experts explained the progress of U of M researchers exploring a rare kind of cancer that is more prevalent among Iron Range miners. Beth Bily of Business North covers the “Focus on India” conference…
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Overburden update: Finish your holiday shopping in Grand Rapids on Saturday
Another reminder: make plans to attend my book signing of “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” at the Village Bookstore in Grand Rapids Saturday, Dec. 20, from 2-4 p.m. “Overburden” makes an excellent Christmas gift for any Iron Ranger, but especially Iron Rangers who grew up here during the turbulent 1980s and ’90s and…