-
Hot lineup at Northbound Caravan this weekend
The Northbound Caravan music tour kicks off once again this weekend in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It’s a good ticket this year with a solid lineup of Minnesota musicians, including past Great Northern Radio Show guests the Slamming Doors, along with the Fattenin’ Frogs, i like you and Rob Wheeler. The Northbound Caravan show opens under…
-
NPR features MN musician Charlie Parr
It was fun to see this video of Northern Minnesota roots musician Charlie Parr — an inspiration to many in the Minnesota music scene — featured by National Public Radio. Here he performs “Over the Red Cedar,” a wonderful song from his widely acclaimed new album “Stumpjumper.” This song just beautifully captures the unease of…
-
Paper shows PolyMet runoff could reach BWCA after all
While the proposed nonferrous Polymet mining project near Hoyt Lakes nears the end of its environmental review process, questions remain about the speed with which it could receive permits. One of the most fascinating developments I’ve seen recently is this Marshall Helmberger story in last week’s edition of the Tower Timberjay. According to a June 18,…
-
House 3A special election will be Dec. 8
To update my earlier report, the House 3A Special Election to fill the seat vacated by the untimely death of State Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake) will now be held Dec. 8, with a primary on Sept. 22 29, according to sources familiar with the situation. The Governor will likely issue his call for the special…
-
Highway 53 to the Danger Zone
Right now preparations are underway to reroute Highway 53, Northeastern Minnesota’s north-south corridor, to accommodate a nearly 50-year-old agreement with mining interests. The Cliffs-run United Taconite has put in notice that it wants to mine the area under the current highway, requiring a new one. Engineers say the new Highway 53 will track further east out…
-
History’s human forge
Throngs of civilians gather inside the ramparts of Fort Snelling in St. Paul. The heat, nearly 100 degrees, oppresses all movement. Ladies fan themselves while the men soak stiff collars with sweat. Cooks fry and boil a feast over open flames; the smell hangs heavy in the air. At once a light breeze blows in…
-
Kurtfest 2015 is Aug. 29 in Eveleth
My first two jobs were in Eveleth. The first gig was delivering pizza’s at Snicker’s; the second was spinning adult contemporary records (and also carts and CDs) for 97.9 WEVE-FM. The combination of these jobs gave me a holistic view of the town that it would normally take many years to get. In short, it’s a charming blue collar…
-
Crowd rallies for Steelworkers on the Iron Range
The United Steelworkers held a large rally in the Mesabi Iron Range city of Virginia, Minnesota, last night. The event was well attended by union members and citizens supportive of the union’s ongoing contract negotiations. A pricing and market collapse in iron and steel has caused U.S. Steel and Arcelor-Mittal to demand concessions from labor…
-
Biking the red dirt trails of Cuyuna for The Daily Yonder
Today is the day my big story about the Cuyuna Range is live on The Daily Yonder, a fantastic national publication dedicated to rural people and rural issues. The story is entitled “Pedaling New Hope for an Old Mining Town” and features a wide array of pictures, interviews and perspectives about a set of small…
-
Action! Chisholm to sell city hall to movie studio
Here’s one of those stories that I saw coming a long time ago but hadn’t shared because I just didn’t believe it. The Mesabi Iron Range city of Chisholm is planning to sell its century-old city hall to a developer who wants to use it as a movie studio. The developer is Jerry Seppala, a…
-
Financial Times explores Essar project
The new Essar mine project near Nashwauk has attracted the attention of the Financial Times of London. This summer, Financial Times reporter Aaron Stanley visited the Essar construction site and interviewed both local and international sources on the conditions facing this long-awaited new iron mine on the Mesabi Iron Range. You can read the Aaron…
-
Hibbing’s Dylan named Rolling Stone’s top songwriter
Last week, Rolling Stone magazine named Hibbing’s own Bob Dylan the greatest songwriter of all time. Dylan’s vision of American popular music was transformative. No one set the bar higher, or had greater impact. “You want to write songs that are bigger than life,” he wrote in his memoir, Chronicles. “You want to say something about…
-
Another closed blast furnace a warning to Range mines
On Monday, U.S. Steel announced plans to close a steelmaking facility in Alabama and its accompanying blast furnace. The company said its goal is to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in its production. More than 1,100 workers are affected by this closure. From a U.S. Steel press release: “We have made some difficult decisions over the last…
-
DFLers already running in 3A special election
Though official word on the special election has yet to be announced, DFL candidates have already emerged in the House 3A race to succeed the late State Rep. David Dill. UPDATE: A supporter tells me that Ely City Councilor Heidi Omerza, current president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, is also considering a run for State Representative in this…
-
Aurora hit by loss of drug store
Aurora isn’t a very big town, but it’s a sweet little place on the eastern Mesabi Iron Range. It was among the towns most brutally hit by the closure of LTV Steel 14 years ago. While Aurora has carried on since it has also seen the gradual decay of its economy and population, as have most Iron Range…