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Oracle breaks winds of change in 2016
The gas burner spews a flame of blue, red, orange and yellow into the ghostly white sphere above. I’m trying to type on an old manual typewriter, no easy task on a hot flying monstrosity operated by a muskrat. “Gnnaaaaagh!” shouts the muskrat. Steamy breath in cold air, his jaunty captain’s hat adding authority to…
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‘Microaggression’ top word of 2015
Before I begin, have you checked to see what you’re supposed to be outraged about today? See, it’s important to know, because the bulk of small talk in our times dwells on anger over etherial, untouchable matters. That might be a red cup at a coffee shop. The comments of a mayor in a small…
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The year Santa came early on the Iron Range
Every Christmas I’ve known occurred in the same place, in pretty much the same way. We spend Christmas Eve south of Eveleth with the Browns. Christmas is in Keewatin with the Johnsons. It’s been this way since before I can remember, all through childhood and long after I left home and got married. When my…
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Golden opportunity for broadband on the Iron Range
Many people reading this have access to reliable high-speed internet access for less than $60 a month. You use this bountiful bandwidth to work from home, communicate with family, attend college, or help kids with homework. But for people who live in rural townships throughout the Iron Range this service isn’t available. They pay twice…
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A nod to Iron Range roots on every Greyhound Bus
A century ago, a pair of iron miners in Hibbing, Minnesota, began charging 15 cents for a ride on a seven-passenger Hupmobile from Hibbing to Alice Location. Alice, then a bedroom community for miners and their families, would later become the new townsite when Hibbing was moved to access the ore beneath the ground. From this inauspicious beginning, a…
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Iron Range Makerspace: Making something new
In 2014, engineering student Andrew Hanegmon of Hibbing was walking through downtown Pittsburgh when something in a window caught his eye. It was a person working with a laser engraver. He went into the building to find an active maker space, a sensory smorgasbord of computers, electronic equipment, lathes, saws, 3-D printers and more. “I…
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Rich history, stark present, unknown future for iron and steel
From the beginning, humans forged a special relationship with iron. Ancient people knew the mineral before they had the ability to mine it, discovering slabs of pure iron that fell from the sky in meteorites. The Sumerians and Egyptians called it “heaven stone,” according to Brooke C. Stoddard’s in his new book “Steel.” The strength…
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Home for the holidays, as if we ever left
It’s fitting to talk about family reunions this time of year. Everyone’s coming home. First comes Thanksgiving. Then Hanukkah. Christmas. New Years. Car doors slam. Snow crunches on familiar sidewalks. Huggers hug, smokers smoke, the rest waive awkwardly before reaching for snacks. These early winter holidays center around families coming together to celebrate what matters…
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Stop it. Dot com. Dot … html.
Remember that cantankerous “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney? Or the old Chicago metro columnist Mike Royko? Even the Duluth News Tribune had Jim Heffernan. They each had an opinion about everything. As a young writer I admired them more than would be considered normal. I remember one of them, Heffernan I think, wrote something about…
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Miss the barn show? Tune in Sunday
LISTEN NOW to the Larson’s Barn show. Last weekend, I hosted another edition of the Great Northern Radio Show on Northern Community Radio. This one aired live from Larson’s Barn outside McGregor, Minnesota. It was our 17th show and marked four full years doing these hyper-local variety programs from small towns and off-the-beaten-path places around the…
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Ya, I guess I do have an accent then
Folks, it’s been brought to my attention that I have a Minnesota accent. It’s true. I didn’t believe it either. But last month I toured with a Swedish journalist researching mining in Northern Minnesota. In English better than most of my relatives, he concluded by saying he just had to ask me about my accent.…
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Come on down to the big barn show!
This Saturday, Nov. 7, I will join a dedicated group of radio professionals, musicians and barn enthusiasts to do another edition of our critically-acclaimed Great Northern Radio Show. This time we’re broadcasting live from a barn, specifically Larson’s Barn near McGregor in rural Aitkin County, Minnesota. We’ll have the Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank, a great…
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Range native holds high hopes for ‘Cold November’
This week, hunters across Northern Minnesota will check sights, erect stands and procure truckloads of cheese curds and jerky before opening the rifle deer season next Saturday. Most hope for that perfect shot, the big trophy and a freezer full of venison, but that’s often not the most important detail. For some, it’s the first…
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Book serves Range food favorites to new generation
Every member of the Cherry High School band knew from Day 1 there would come a time where we would spend the entire night in the school cafeteria making pasties for the big annual fundraiser. It was as sure as the sunset or a freshman missing the high notes. When pasty night came, every kid…
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Great Northern ‘goin’ up the country’ for Nov. 7 barn show
The blog will be entering another “hot idle” for the same reason as last time. I’ve got a show to write. On Saturday, Nov. 7, my Great Northern Radio Show will broadcast live from Larson’s Barn outside McGregor, Minnesota. The show airs 5-7 p.m. on Northern Community Radio and its northern translators. To be clear, we…