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Divining the economic power of the arts
Last week, the Creative Minnesota initiative released a comprehensive report on the economic impact of the arts in communities and regions across the state. Download it here. Nearly 1,300 independent arts organizations in the eight arts funding regions of Minnesota participated in the study, including hundreds here in Northern Minnesota. The top line numbers? The arts contribute $1.2 billion…
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Iron ore tumble highlights hole in mining debate
Over the past two weeks of the Minnesota legislative session, mining politics and environmental regulation has dominated the headlines here on the Mesabi Iron Range. I’m not sure how many people not directly involved in the debate read the stories. I can barely choke down the blend of rhetoric and repetition myself, but I suppose regular folks…
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Great Northern Radio Show metro debut
It’s no secret that more than half of the people who read this site aren’t located on the terra firma of the Mesabi Iron Range. A goodly segment of you, the ones who aren’t spambots, live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Perhaps, and I might be dreaming here, you’ve seen me talk about my Great Northern Radio…
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Star Tribune investigates IRRRB political ties
This morning the Star Tribune published an investigative story by Jennifer Bjorhus exploring political connections between the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the projects under its sway. Bjorhus paid particular attention to a 2006 IRRRB project funding an Eveleth telemarketing firm that primarily did calls for Democratic-leaning candidates and causes. For years, prominent Democratic candidates and political groups…
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Great Scott! ‘Doc Brown’ visits Iron Range hot spot
For most in my generation, the actor Christopher Lloyd is best known as the eccentric recluse scientist in the “Back to the Future” movies who sends Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly to the past, the future, the past again, and then finally the present. Today, that present is past, while the previous future is now…
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Film highlights rugged northern MN endurance race
Tonight at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm (formerly Ironworld), you can catch a free showing of “Among the Wild,” a documentary about the Arrowhead 135, an annual cold-weather endurance race in Northern Minnesota. Here is more information from the Minnesota Discovery Center. The Arrowhead 135 race is an annual endurance race which is held…
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Rough weekend for tough-looking fish in Walker
The annual Eelpout Festival was held this past weekend in Walker, Minnesota, something I mentioned in my last Great Northern Radio Show which we broadcast live from this little town on big Leech Lake. Eelpout are — to be blunt — ugly, bottom-feeding fish that taste good fried if you can get past their general appearance. According to this TV news report,…
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Magnetation announces ‘indefinite idle’ of Keewatin plant
After Mesabi Nugget announced a “warm idle” a couple weeks ago, another Iron Range iron ore producer announced an old fashioned “cold idle” today. Magnetation, the scram mining and iron concentrate producer based in Itasca County, announced today it would indefinitely shut down its Plant One facility near Keewatin. The plant, Magnetation’s smallest, will be…
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Duluth’s modernist library faces existential crisis
In November, we spoke about the unsettling news that the city of Duluth, Minnesota, faced with two unpleasant options — spend many millions to repair the Duluth Public Library, or many similar millions to demolish and replace the 35-year-old building. A few weeks ago, the steering committee formed to make a recommendation announced it favored rebuilding…
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Dayton’s $6B transportation bill includes Highway 53 funds
This week Gov. Mark Dayton (D-Minnesota) released details of his enormous $6 billion transportation package, which uses gas taxes to fund and otherwise accelerate highway and bridge repairs around the state. More than two-thirds of the projects would be located in Greater Minnesota, with the rest in the densely packed metro counties. The topic will…
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More miners diagnosed with rare lung illness
The Minnesota Department of Health announced yesterday that 21 more cases of mesothelioma in former Iron Range miners were diagnosed, bringing the region’s total to 101. The Duluth News Tribune, among others, has the story this morning. The news is significant because a major study by the University of Minnesota recently concluded with uncertain results,…
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Cliffs CEO details DRI hopes, swipes at Essar
Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves spoke yesterday morning at the company’s annual community breakfast in Virginia, Minnesota. WDIO was there: To stay strong in the steel industry, the company is very seriously considering making DRI grade pellets, which have a higher iron content. Northshore Mining has already tested this possibility. “We are working on three…
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Fond du Lac Band seeks elk renaissance
The Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwa has announced plans to restore the North American Elk to Northeastern Minnesota. Stephanie Hemphill wrote a fine story on the matter for MinnPost: Advocates say bringing the native animals back will increase diversity, encourage wildlife tourism, provide hunting opportunities, and restore the ecosystem more closely to what it was…
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RAMS posts for new future
The Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS) held their annual dinner last Friday in Hibbing. Attended by a smattering of city councilors, school board members and county commissioners, the event also featured a defiant speech by now former executive director and State Sen. David Tomassoni. According to one report, the speech was read verbatim…
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Gov Dayton on Sen. Bakk: ‘I can’t trust him’
Sometimes the phone rings and you’re told that a relative was arrested for a crime — maybe drunk driving or maybe bank fraud, depending on your brand of family. To be honest it’s not surprising news, though the situation spurs family drama, deep uncertainty and consequences. Ultimately this could be a good thing if used as an opportunity to change…