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End times for Excelsior’s Mesaba project?
The state PUC almost killed the Mesaba Energy Project yesterday. Readers of this blog know I’ve been wailing away at this boondoggle for a long time. It’s encouraging that the commissioners are starting to realize the risks and trends involved in this “clean coal” debacle. The only thing that caused the PUC to hold off…
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Game on!
Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Wednesday that state support for Essar Global’s Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk is back on after the company assured him it wouldn’t violate U.S. sanctions against Iran. The whole ordeal became a rather fast and scary lesson in international trade and politics. Fortunately, it has worked out in the favor of…
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Sup Town is on our side
And here’s why I like Superior, Wisconsin: EDITORIAL: Pawlenty favors dogma, jeopardizes developmentThe Superior Daily TelegramPublished Tuesday, October 30, 2007 It appears Republicans are courting Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to run for vice president. Why else would he jeopardize a $1.6 billion Iron Range development to defend Republican terrorism dogma? Pawlenty is threatening to oppose…
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Update: After stinging report, gov seeks facts
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has officially asked the U.S. State Dept. for clarification about Essar Global’s involvement in Iranian oil. It’s a good thing he did this before he called a press conference blasting state support for Essar’s Nashwauk steelmaking project as Minnesota possibly funding terrorism. Oh, wait. D’oh! Pawlenty asks State Department for clarification on…
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Steel plant Iran away; we need to Iget it back
The shakeup over Gov. Pawlenty’s new found opposition of the Essar Minnesota Steel mining/steelmaking plant near Nashwauk continues. Local and state officials are uniting behind a cohesive message (for once): that the Iron Range wants to enter the global marketplace and that snap decisions and loaded rhetoric like Pawlenty’s Sunday diatribe harm the Range economy…
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Bell’s stock rising in Duluth
I’m reversing my prediction for the Duluth mayoral race. This isn’t reflective of any personal opinion about the candidates, just a gut political feeling. I had predicted Ness would win by about four points. I now predict Bell will win by 8. Here’s why: Ness and Bell had their profile stories in the Duluth News-Tribune…
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Steel plant, mining study make statewide news
A couple of items discussed this week made Saturday appearances in non-Range papers. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a story today (“Iron Range steel mill fires up region’s hopes”) about the Essar Global Minnesota Steel plant in Nashwauk. This is the first major positive news about something on the Range to hit the Star Tribune in…
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IRR project season off to fast start
The Iron Range Resources Board met Thursday. (Iron Range Resources is the unique state agency dedicated to diversifying and strengthening our volatile Range economy, supporting public works and infrastructure across the region while repairing the damage from a century of mining. Some call the agency a form of socialism; others call it the shining hope…
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Health carnage system
What really gets me about the health care debate in this country is that so many people are willing to continue tolerating or even supporting a system that almost everyone believes is broken and unsustainable. At the federal level, President Bush and the Republican minority caucuses in the House and Senate are holding the line…
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Passing of an Iron Range legend
If the Iron Range was a book, Mary Anderson would have been one of the most important characters. Anderson passed away yesterday. I never had the chance to meet her, but she remains one of the great figures in Range history. She’ll always be most remembered for leading the city of Kinney’s secession from the…
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Duluth mayoral prediction 2007
I’ve mentioned this before, but in the odd years I like to place inordinate attention on off-year elections that have only tangential influence on my life. Such is the life of a political junky. As such I have been following the Duluth mayoral race somewhat closely. Everyone outside of northeastern Minnesota might think that Duluth…
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Please don’t talk about your children on your phone in the men’s room stall
I’ve seen this one other time in my life but this time seemed more disturbing. I went in the men’s room and heard a guy talking. This is rare in itself. Men usually have a code of silence in public bathrooms. (Note that the Sen. Craig scandal, sordid as it may have been, did not…
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Oy! The Range is on the BBC
That little news ticker on the side of this blog is already paying off. Check out this Lucy Ash story from the BBC about how Chinese demand for steel has re-energized the Iron Range steel industry. But when you go to your next public meeting, or talk to community leaders, or go to vote, remember…
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Chain of Command opens Thursday, Oct. 25 for two weekends
My friend Mike Ricci, director of the Hibbing Community College Theatre, is opening an original show this week. You should always come to Hibbing to see Mike’s shows, but this one especially. A Minneapolis playwright worked with Mike and his cast to write an original play speaking to the human element of the Iraq war.…
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Essar buys Minnesota Steel: Project is for real
The headline may seem redundant to a business section editor, but on the Iron Range we are so used to getting burned on big economic projects that we don’t start popping bottle tops until the ink is dry. (Or is it that we don’t STOP popping bottle tops until the ink is dry; maybe both).…