-
Iron Range Obama meeting now set for Saturday in Hibbing
The Barack Obama organizational meeting in Hibbing has been rescheduled for the day of the important South Carolina primary. Those interested in joining or learning more about the Obama campaign on the Iron Range are invited this Saturday, Jan. 26, at 3 p.m. to the Bob Dylan room of the Hibbing Public Library. The public…
-
Early challenge in West Duluth House race
For the most part, I believe it will be a fairly uneventful election year in Northeastern Minnesota legislative races. However, it appears there will be a least one interesting race in west Duluth’s District 7B House District, a seat currently held by longtime Rep. Mike Jaros. Clokey to run for Jaros’ seatDuluth News Tribune Following…
-
Obama meeting CANCELLED, to be rescheduled
UPDATE: The Obama organizational meeting for tonight has been cancelled and will be rescheduled because the field organizer is out sick today. Watch this site for an update in a day or two. Find out more about Barack Obama’s campaign for president and plans for the Iron Range at an introductory meeting tonight. It’s at…
-
Spin, baby, spin
Remember that scene in “Monty Python’s Holy Grail” where King Arthur is dueling with the Black Knight and keeps cutting off the knight’s arms, then legs. Each time he cuts off a limb the knight refuses to admit defeat, saying things like “Oh, it’s just a scratch.” Yeah, Excelsior Energy and their boondoggle Mesaba Energy…
-
In honor of Dr. King
I’m again posting from the deep woods instead of the office today in honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday. The Hibbing Daily Tribune has an interesting story about a community outreach effort that I’m involved with at the college where I teach. We help bring a diverse group of college students…
-
Old school nomination fight
The more things change, the more they come full circle. By now you may have heard that despite coming up just short in the Nevada caucuses, Barack Obama takes more state delegates out of Nevada because of how delegates are allocated by congressional district. Let’s just use this as a time to remember that this…
-
A view of the presidential race from the Iron Range
I have a cold and lost my voice yesterday, so I have to watch the political coverage today in relative silence. My particular throat issues prevent me from saying the words “yeah,” and “uh-huh” without pain. I had never realized how important those words were in my vocabulary, especially at home. Hillary Clinton just won…
-
The Range and the "Recession"
The good and bad thing about the Iron Range economy is that it operates somewhat independently from the national economy. Pretty much, our fortunes follow the international steel market. While the so-called mortgage crisis has some reverberation here, people are strangely more optimistic about the future on the Range than they are in the Minneapolis/St.…
-
Update on U.S. coal plant woes
Check out this release from a partnership of energy and environmental research groups. In essence 57 proposed new traditional and “clean” coal power plants were officially cancelled, abandoned or shelved in 2007, not 46 as I reported last week. The reasons are primarily economic, based on the high cost of clean coal technology. Included on…
-
Good news for Duluth air base
Here’s part of a story from today’s Duluth News-Tribune. The Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing has been in limbo for awhile as the government decides whether it would be part of the military’s plans for future bases or put on the list of those that might close. It would appear that the Air Force…
-
New Al Franken bio ad is pretty good
-
Boots on the ground
The Minnesota caucus campaign is on. I’ve gotten calls from representatives of the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns in recent days looking for caucus support and organizers. The Clinton camp had a local activist call me last week. Obama’s people had a field organizer call me tonight. For being only three weeks out of…
-
Pawlenty releases 2008 bonding bill
Gov. Tim Pawlenty released his proposal for the 2008 bonding bill in the Minnesota State Legislature. (See MPR’s coverage). This is the plan he would like to see pass, though he will be working with a DFL House and Senate that will have different priorities for borrowing and spending. Two encouraging things for northern Minnesota:…
-
Rochester column honors the Range
Greg Sellnow is an accomplished columnist from the Rochester Post-Bulletin. He ranks among Minnesota’s best daily newspaper scribes. He wrote a nice piece about the Iron Range recently. Check it out. See, Minnesota. We’re not the crazy relative; we’re the eccentric, lovable relative. Greg Sellnow: Feeling at home on Da RangeRochester Post-BulletinHIBBING — You can…
-
Another look at redistricting
I hate to talk about legislative and Congressional redistricting so early, but I caught an AP wire report today and see that there are three potential plans to change how Minnesota will draw its new districts after the 2010 census. It matters because Minnesota may lose one of its Congressional seats and the Iron Range…