-
Questions linger over Highway 53 plan
Plans to relocate one of the Iron Range’s busiest highways to accommodate a mining company continue to progress, though the Virginia City Council opted to hold off its support, for now, after a recent public forum. The Mesabi Daily News reports that Virginia councilors remain concerned about how the new route of the highway will…
-
U.S. Steel to idle steel mill at same time as KeeTac
Today, U.S. Steel announced it will temporarily idle its Granite City Works steel mill in Granite City, Illinois in 60 days, at roughly the same time the company idles Keewatin Taconite here in Northern Minnesota. The closure of the Illinois plant, near St. Louis, Missouri, will lay off more than 2,000 workers until the plant re-opens.…
-
Lake by lake: complex plan to protect wild rice, industry
This has been a huge week of developments for those closely watching the debate about the intersection of industry and the environment as related to wild rice in Northern Minnesota. Yesterday, March 25, Gov. Mark Dayton said in an interview that the Minnesota wild rice sulfate standard of 10 parts per million was “outdated,” arguably too strict…
-
Governor: strict water regulations ‘outdated’
In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio’s Tom Scheck, Gov. Mark Dayton said that the state’s controversial wild rice sulfate standard might be needlessly strict and could threaten Northern Minnesota’s iron mining industry. The comments come after a number of bills from House Republicans and the mostly DFL Iron Range legislative delegation seek to strip…
-
Port of Duluth opens season amid uncertainty
First, the good news. Today, the Port of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, kicks off the 2015 Great Lakes Shipping season with the departure of the S.S. John G. Munson and its 24,000 tons of iron ore. The start of the Duluth shipping season represents the region’s de facto spring, a time when the industrialists definitively conclude…
-
The forgotten dome city of Northern Minnesota
One of the most compelling aspects of studying history are the “what-ifs” of our past. In our personal lives “what-ifs” can drive us mad — “What if I?” “Why didn’t she? If only he” — but in the abstract “what-ifs” make for enjoyable party talk. Since I don’t go to parties (I have children) I’ll…
-
Watershed map shows Minnesota’s true geography
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) released this fascinating map of the state’s watersheds. The Minnesota PCA describes a watershed this way: A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that drains off of it goes into the same place—a river, stream or lake. The smallest watersheds are the drainage areas…
-
Range town addition fades to mining
Parkville, Minnesota, is a place, but not a town. It’s one of the location villages common to the Iron Range, a place where miners and their families lived a literal stone’s throw from mining activity. Legally speaking, Parkville is an addition of Mountain Iron, the Mesabi Range’s first town. But U.S. Steel has been gradually buying…
-
Flags of many colors on the Iron Range
Today at 11:30 a.m., Hibbing Community College will dedicate its World Flags Project at the campus commons. Like many community and technical colleges around Minnesota, HCC has seen an influx of immigrants and first generation Americans. HCC’s diversity committee surveyed those students to determine their national origin. A flag from each nation is now displayed…
-
MNSCU Board selects Maki to lead Iron Range colleges
Today, Chancellor Stephen Rosenstone recommended Bemidji State University CFO William Maki to lead the five independent Iron Range-region colleges of the Northeast Higher Education District. The MNSCU Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Maki as President of NHED at its afternoon meeting. The Northeast Higher Education District consists of Hibbing Community College, Itasca Community…
-
Grand Rapids Library wants YOU to make Peep diorama
There is only one constant, and that is change. Our lives are but marks along the way of change. Nowhere is that more evident in the fact that four generations after mud roads and a multi-lingual society in the remote forests of Northern Minnesota, the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Area Library is now sponsoring a Springtime Peeps…
-
Hear (and see!) latest Great Northern Radio Show
See the Great Northern Radio Show as broadcast on Channel 12 Public Access in the Northwestern Twin Cities suburbs: On Saturday, March 7, we broadcast my Great Northern Radio Show live from the stage of North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. It was our first broadcast from the Twin Cities metropolitan area and our first…
-
The little town with blazing fast internet
This is an extended news feature I produced for Northern Community Radio that was broadcast today on the Morning Show and this week on the news magazine “The Give and Take.” This web version includes some visual add-ons. Please support Northern Community Radio during their pledge drive this week. In addition to being a vital producer of…
-
Magnetation moves to drain pit for new mine
Lost in the din of bad news about Iron Range mines last week was this nugget: The scram mining operation Magnetation is a step closer to dewatering the Canisteo Pit near Bovey to begin mining untapped ore reserves underneath the adjacent Buckeye Pit. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is taking public comments on the project…
-
The wheels on the bus go on your phone
Each morning, out on the dirt road by our house deep in the Northern Minnesota wilds, I wait for the bus with my elementary school-aged boys. It’s a special time for reflection, conversation and encouragement. We build the special bond between father and sons. I wouldn’t trade those first five minutes of the day for…