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Hunting for the heart of Northern MN
The firearms deer hunting season in Minnesota opens Saturday morning, kicking off a venerated November tradition in Northern Minnesota. This year’s season runs Nov. 5-20. How firmly entrenched is Minnesota’s deer hunting tradition? Behold this e-mail sent out to parents in my son’s 6th Grade class this morning: Attention Deer Hunters! If you are so fortunate to bag a deer…
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Enough! Commemorating 1916 Mesabi Range Strike
I’m not a historian. I like to say I’m a “histrotainer.” I cherry pick interesting aspects of local history and share them with new audiences. Occasionally I happen upon some original source material, but mostly I rely on the work of actual historians. When I was a young newspaper reporter at the Hibbing Daily Tribune, I…
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U.S. election trudge even longer this year
It’s a simple rule. The United States of America holds elections the first Tuesday of November of an even-numbered year. Unless, of course, the first Tuesday is the first of the month. In that case, the election will be the next Tuesday, Nov. 8. Every seven years, American elections last even longer than usual. By happenstance,…
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Dylan acknowledges Nobel, unbunching many undies
Stand down, World. Bob Dylan is fine. He seems happy to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He’s suitably grateful and probably attending the Dec. 10 ceremony in Stockholm. (Naturally, Dylan never makes a hard commitment, saying he’ll be there “if at all possible.”) Dylan is one of those guys who makes news when he talks,…
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Great Northern Radio Show in Duluth
Come celebrate the 10 year anniversary of MinnesotaBrown.com with the Duluth debut of my Great Northern Radio Show on Saturday, Nov. 12. In 2011, the Great Northern Radio Show gave me the creative outlet I needed to be able to continue mining the depths of Northern Minnesota politics and economics here at the site. I…
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Louisiana Pacific eyes Cook for siding plant
During the 2016 legislative session, the prospect of a potential Louisiana-Pacific wood siding plant in Northern Minnesota drove the agenda of the Iron Range legislative delegation. The original concept made Hoyt Lakes the preferred site. A deal in the tax bill offered tax incentives, but the tax bill never became law. So the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board…
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Turnout key in closing days of Nolan-Mills race
You can tell when Northern Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District race heats up. My phone rings a lot. People want to know what the Iron Range’s only independent news blogger sees happening on the ground. To that, I can only say that it’s hard to see what’s on the ground. It’s covered with discarded political mailers and…
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Trampled by Turtles retreat into shell
When you think about the Northern Minnesota music scene, one band stands out like a banjo at a rock ‘n’ roll show. They go by the name Trampled by Turtles. The Duluth- and Minneapolis-based Americana band brings a hard-charging bluegrass sound. TBT basically put the Duluth scene on the map. They were working local musicians who remade…
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Joe Biden to campaign in Duluth this Friday
Vice President Joe Biden will campaign for the Democratic ticket in Duluth this Friday, Oct. 28. Biden appears in Duluth to support former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who leads Donald Trump for president in Minnesota but trails Trump here in the Northeast. Biden also will drum up support for U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8), locked in a tight…
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Dancing horses for Nolan-Mills in MN-8
The race between U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) and Republican challenger Stewart Mills is already among the nation’s most expensive and closely watched Congressional races of 2016. Yet, most of the coverage has been tied to the speculation that the race was close two years ago and will probably be close again. Today, I argue…
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New airplane manufacturer on Oct. 17 IRRRB agenda
The Grand Rapids/Itasca County airport (GPZ) could become home to an airplane manufacturing company employing 20 professionals at first, with the potential of more jobs once production ramps up. On Oct. 17, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board will consider loans for ACC Manufacturing, a subsidiary of One Aviation, that seeks to make airplanes in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.…
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Minnesota’s Haley Bonar does NPR ‘Tiny Desk’ concert
Minnesota’s own Haley Bonar performed an NPR “Tiny Desk” concert this month, which was shared this week on NPR’s website. The popular series features up-and-coming musicians playing 2-3 songs on or near the music desk at NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. NPR’s Stephen Thompson previews Bonar’s induction into the pantheon of Tiny Desk participants: The first time…
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Hibbing elementary school mulls future of gun range
In one of those “only on the Iron Range” headlines, today’s top banner on the Hibbing Daily Tribune reads “Lincoln Elementary gun range may close.” The story isn’t that there’s a gun range in an elementary school. It’s been there for 60 years, and other Range schools have gun ranges too. The story is that after all…
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Candidates debate in northern MN
With only a month to go before the Nov. 8 general election, folks are finally tuning into their local elections after 18 months of hardcore bloviation about the U.S. presidential race. Here in Northern Minnesota, legislative, city council and school board forums will take place over the next few weeks. These are often the best way to learn about…
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Magnetation to shut down operations
A U.S. bankruptcy court ruling today released AK Steel from its contract with Magnetation, effectively ending the Grand Rapids-based mining company. Efforts by Magnetation officials to find a buyer for the project before this outcome were unsuccessful. Business North reported this week that Magnetation’s chief prospective buyer walked away from the project. The company will now proceed with closing Plant…