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Trump uses U.S. Steel ‘Golden Share’ to maintain status quo when industry needs deeper investment
These are challenging times on the Iron Range in more ways than one. Of course, prices are rising while economic uncertainty settles in across the United States. But there is a great sense of generalized anxiety surrounding this region’s mining industry, dominated locally by U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs. Cliffs’ Minorca mine was idled indefinitely last…
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Duluth shipping trends hint at economic challenges and opportunities
The Port of Duluth is a remarkable part of our lives in northern Minnesota. The people who settled here over the centuries hold many different cultural traditions, but they all share a connection to the far western terminus of the Great Lakes. Those lakes are the aorta of the continent. As much as I geek…
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Safety concerns rise from more ATVs on trails and roads
Growing up in a machine-oriented family in northern Minnesota, ATVs and later UTVs were always around. Four-wheelers were never my passion, but I got to operate them time to time. I get the appeal. To some rural residents, owning one of these devices is almost as important as a septic system. Though you can get…
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Economic fear amplifies wild rice sulfate debate on the Iron Range
I have stayed on Minnesota’s Iron Range my whole life for two reasons. First, it is my home in every sense of the word. Second, I am a writer by trade, and like the fruited plains the Range has always provided ample subject matter. One of the most interesting dynamics in writing about the Range…
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How Minnesota helium could boost regional business
I’ve written about the helium deposit being explored in northern Minnesota several times now. Pulsar Helium continues to see green lights in its test data and market position. But today I’m exploring an aspect of the story that might be more impactful than the helium processing plant alone. In today’s column, I expand on the…
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Keeping the humanity in labor
I’ve written a lot about the changing nature of work over the years, probably because I’ve always felt a little funny about how I’ve made a living. Untold generations of mechanics, tinkers, engineers and craftsmen built my family tree. Then I arrived with aptitude for writing and speaking. Is this work? My family always accepted…
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Forestry for birds
Longtime readers have watched my cliched descent into middle aged bird watching in cringeworthy real time. Ten years ago I would have made fun of birders, now I am one. Today’s column touches on that amusing transition, but also expands a conversation I’ve been having with readers about forestry and resource management. The best management…
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Stuff and more stuff
Today’s column is about stuff. The stuff in our house moves through a metaphorical digestive tract. We pay for stuff we like and savor it somewhere in our home, perhaps in the closet or the living room. Years later, the good stuff becomes old stuff. Usually it goes to the basement where a jumbled family…
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The phones that bind us together, tear us apart
My latest column explores new cellphone policies sweeping Minnesota high schools, many of them expanding limitations enacted last year. When we talk about limiting cellphones at school, we’re often trying to address distraction. Distracted students can’t learn. That’s an important problem that was improved significantly in schools that implemented phone limits last year. But some…
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Minnesota’s popular higher ed experiment turns 40
Minnesota is home to the Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) program. Enacted 40 years ago, PSEO was replicated in other states, but never as robustly as envisioned by Minnesota Gov. Rudy Perpich in 1985. I didn’t use PSEO when I was in high school, but did take advantage of concurrent enrollment courses — college in the…
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Detroit Lakes trolls teach rural resilience
By now, you may have heard about the Dambo trolls in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. These massive sculptures made of natural and recycled materials were unveiled last year by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. Since then, hundreds of thousands of visitors have poured through the Detroit Lakes area to see the trolls. Christina and I went to…
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Talking ‘sauna diplomacy’ with the Finnish ambassador
This week I interviewed the Finnish ambassador to the United States, Leena-Kaisa Mikkola. She’s speaking at FinnFest in Duluth this weekend. The soft-focus nostalgia of the Finnish-American experience on the Iron Range tends to dominate a lot of my history conversations. So, in today’s column, I was glad to explore something less theoretical: Finland today. …
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Arts scene makes conflict-prone community edgy in a good way
Ely, Minn., is one of those far-flung communities that stoke the imagination of the big outside world while remaining the entire planet to the people living there. Like any small town, you take the bad with the good. I never lived in Ely, but have family connections there. My great-grandmother lived just outside town on…
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The soul, the psyche & the end of a series
Today brings the last entry in my series of columns about mental health in the Minnesota Star Tribune. Shortly after I started at the Strib, I floated an idea for a column about mental health in an editorial meeting. My editor said that sounds more like a series than a column. Ramrod that I am,…
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It’s getting late
Late night television once dominated our bedtime routines, occupying space now held by doomscrolling and mindless videos. Years ago, I wrote about my unique relationship with late night television when I was growing up. In particular, my teen years were anchored by daily viewing of the strange routines of comedy talk shows — Carson, Letterman,…