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Hibbing film scores box office success
Last week I wrote about Karl Jacob’s movie “Cold November,” a quality indy film that tells a beautiful story set right here in Northern Minnesota. In the scheduled run last week, “Cold November” ended up being the highest grossing film at the Mann’s Cinema 8 in Hibbing. As a result, the theater added an additional…
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Comparing MN-8 candidates in first public forum
On Sunday, the seven announced candidates for Congress in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District participated in their first major public forum. The event was sponsored by student groups from the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The Uptake was there to gather video. Five DFLers — including Kirsten Kennedy, Michelle Lee, Jason Metsa,…
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So we started a trade war: now what?
Last Thursday, President Trump officially enacted steep tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum despite criticism that doing so could start a trade war. But the Trump Administration also enacted a system of waivers that would allow many allies to seek exception from the tariffs. And as soon as that window opened, top steel exporters like…
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Phifer, Radinovich hold best cards for DFL endorsement
This weekend Leah Phifer expanded her delegate lead for the DFL endorsement for Congress in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. Phifer, a former homeland security analyst from Isanti County, drew a large number of named and uncommitted delegates in Duluth while carrying Lake and Cook county conventions as well. Phifer’s chief rival for the endorsement, former…
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The sound of footsteps in an empty mall
I like to walk. My “five miles or more per day” habit is about all that’s keeping me out of the Big and Tall stores these days. (And I ain’t getting any taller). Walking is probably the only good habit I’ve ever had. So when I had an odd free moment the other day I…
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Breaking ice for the start of Duluth harbor spring
Today is the spring equinox. Here in Northern Minnesota, this event signifies something about daylight but little about weather. We’ve been having arguments with one of our boys about how the “first day of spring” doesn’t legally absolve you from wearing a jacket. But there’s another sure sign of spring on display in the Port…
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Itasca conference aids navigation of ‘Post-Truth Era’
The peacock is really just a 12-pound pheasant with a fancy tail that is probably delicious. It evolved and lives today because potential mates and predators alike believe they are much larger birds with many, many eyes. It’s hardly the only species built on deception, but it’s a particularly successful one. It’s got nothing on…
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Phifer scores early wins; DFL convention, primary loom
Local Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party delegates convened county conventions across Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District these past few weeks. Through hours of messy, complicated political wrangling, they elected delegates who will endorse one of five announced candidates at the April 14 DFL convention in Duluth. And Leah Phifer is winning. She hasn’t won. She doesn’t have the endorsement…
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Immigrant stories bring fresh energy to the Iron Range
With St. Urho’s Day honoring Finnish heritage today and the Irish fete of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, we may reflect on the roots of many who live in Northern Minnesota. It’s been a long time, but not that long, since the Mesabi Iron Range was majority foreign born. Nevertheless, that happened. The melding of immigrant…
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My thoughts on gun debate in Daily Yonder
Today, the rural American online magazine The Daily Yonder published a piece I wrote about guns. It’s more personal than political. This piece reflects what I think weighs at the heart of the gun rights/gun control debate. I know that many have tread over this controversial topic. My comments section stands ready to melt down…
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Iron Range downtown revitalization projects on tap
You can’t legislate beauty. But you can clean a place up and take some pride in your community. You can also deploy public art as a way to change attitudes and outlooks. That’s the logic behind a small but growing movement to revitalize Mesabi Iron Range communities. The IRRRB announced their 2018 Downtown and Business…
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2018 Minnesota High School All Hockey Hair Team
Nothing quite takes over the state of Minnesota like the annual high school hockey tournament. The quality of play resembles the Olympics. They sell out the arena for a week. And the hair flows free. That’s right, the Minnesota hockey tournament has its own spinoff sensations, including the Minnesota State High School All Hockey Hair…
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Who eats whom in Nashwauk mine showdown?
There’s an old trope you see in a lot of cartoons and movies. Someone is running through a jungle or forest, pursued by some fearsome beast. Only at some point an even more fearsome beast leaps from the shadows to snatch and devour the previous monster. And just as THAT creature takes off after our…
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U.S. Steel to reopen Granite City Works
When the steel industry hit the skids three years ago, one of the biggest signals of woe was the shuttering of U.S. Steel’s mill in Granite City, Illinois in 2016. That mill took iron ore from the Mesabi Range. Company officials cited its closure as one of the reasons for the idling of Keewatin Taconite.…
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Endorsement politics in Minnesota’s Eighth District
On April 14, almost 200 Eighth District DFL delegates will meet in Duluth to endorse a successor to retiring U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan. Five candidates want the job. Five candidates will seek the endorsement. But considerable speculation remains over whether some of them press on to a Aug. 14 primary regardless of the convention outcome. Former FBI…