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Range school woes like canaries in the coal mine
Public schools everywhere face challenges from unfunded federal mandates, tighter state aid and local tax bases that are tapped out. But here on the Iron Range some special circumstances threaten the very existence of two districts, which I think are like canaries in the coal mine for school districts all over the state. First, in…
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Just deal with the scary flood pit already!
Janna Goerdt of the Duluth News-Tribune reports today on the ongoing saga of the Canisteo Mine Pit near Bovey. The long abandoned mine pit has been filling with water for decades, causing what many residents and scientists fear will be a major flood risk. Others, including those at the DNR charged with monitoring the pit,…
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For sale, cheep!
Economic gloom reaches the Iron Range. A sign seen along a country highway north of the western Mesabi today reads: “Lake home for sale. Cheep!” That’s not a typo. The home is owned by large, sentient birds who can’t afford the rising cost of seed. Related posts: No related posts.
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More on Reinert in House 7B race
I continue to monitor the House 7B race, which has become vastly more exciting after last month’s surprise retirement by longtime State Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth). Currently there are four DFLers and one Republican running, with the potential for more to jump in before the filing deadline of July 15. A source tells me that…
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Iron Ranger profiled in Star Tribune
The front of the state edition of the Star Tribune features Chisholm native Philp Falcone, an Iron Ranger turned New York hedge fund manager, who made it big betting that the mortgage bubble would pop. I don’t know Mr. Falcone, but I wonder if growing up on the Range influenced his success as someone known…
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The ‘Wall-E’ election
Frank Rich of the New York Times has a great column today about the Pixar movie “Wall-E” that effectively sums up my present opinion of the summer’s best movie and the state of the presidential election. Check out “Wall-E. “It’s a much more important movie than the previews would indicate. Related posts: No related posts.
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Derbis enters 7B race in West Duluth
The race for State Representative in West Duluth’s House District 7B keeps getting more interesting. John Derbis, a UM-Duluth student and longtime DFL activist, announced his candidacy today at the Boys and Girls Club in West Duluth. Durbis, 23, lives in West Duluth. His campaign presents this biography: (Derbis) … was born in Minneapolis and…
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KSTP readies hit piece on Iron Range landmark
A promo that aired on KSTP Channel 5 in the Twin Cities indicates that everyone’s favorite news whore station is preparing a hit piece on Ironworld. “See what your state dollars are paying for” says one tag line of Monday night’s “expose.” Except I’m betting KSTP lacks the attention to nuance to realize that Ironworld…
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Corrections to Franken parade post
Please note the corrections to the Al Franken Iron Range parade post from earlier in the day. My bad. Related posts: No related posts.
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Franken to appear on Iron Range for 4th of July, RE-UPDATED
UPDATE x2: For real this time! After a great amount of confusion, Franken’s Range parade schedule is finally in my hands. July 3 (today): Al joins the picket line at a labor protest outside the Hibbing Wal-Mart. I have been seeing this picket line the last few days and will be posting about it at…
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MinnPost: Oberstar doesn’t rule out Cabinet position if Obama wins
MinnPost has an intriguing story about veteran Minnesota Congressmen Colin Peterson and Jim Oberstar. Peterson ruled out serving in an Obama Cabinet, but Oberstar left the door open just a tiny little bit. Now, I agree with comments made on a post I wrote about this last month. Oberstar won’t leave his chairmanship of the…
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First day filers
Iron Range State Reps. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) of District 5B and Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) of District 3A have filed for re-election today. Here are the corresponding press releases. Sertich will face Republican John Larson, a Hibbing bar owner, in the general election. Anzelc will face Republican Marvin Ott, a former county veterans official. I…
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Keeping tabs on job creation results
I don’t always jive with what happens on the editorial page of the Mesabi Daily News, but the MDN fired off a pretty good editorial last Saturday about the proposed hire of an Iron Range business recruiter for our mining-funded state agency Iron Range Resources. Like the MDN, I’m not against business recruiting, but I…
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Industry insiders sour on technology for Iron Range ‘clean coal’ boondoggle
There hasn’t been much to report about Excelsior Energy’s boondoggle proposed Mesaba Energy Project, a coal gasification power plant that would be situated on the Iron Range. The state PUC has not scheduled a final decision on whether or not to force Xcel Energy to buy the high-priced theoretical electricity that would be produced if…
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The Bus Factor
This story (“Big, yellow and putting schools in the red“) in today’s Star Tribune details the woes of some suburban Minnesota school districts in covering the skyrocketing cost of diesel fuel for their bus fleets. I don’t have the data to compare miles and fuel use between suburban and rural northern Minnesota school districts, but…