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Loving and loathing where we’re from
If you’re interested in the survival and development of small towns and rural places, you’d be well served to follow my friend Chuck Marohn, CEO of the nonprofit Strong Towns, a firm helping smaller cities make good decisions with their money. Chuck’s a big advocate of the notion that many expensive infrastructure investments that small…
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Sertich scores historic win in final IRRRB meeting
Earlier this week I wrote that outgoing Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) Commissioner Tony Sertich would either emerge from his last meeting today as Gary Cooper from “High Noon” or end up like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We have our answer. I just checked in with my friend Rep. Tom Anzelc…
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Emily Larson announces bid for Duluth mayor
At 12:30 p.m. today in front of the Duluth Library, City Councilor Emily Larson will announce her plans to run for mayor of Duluth. Larson becomes an early entrant in what could become a fascinating campaign to succeed popular incumbent Don Ness, who is not seeking re-election. Larson, a DFLer, is currently president of the…
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‘Night Before Christmas’ dances onto iconic Hibbing stage
A Hibbing High School alumnus will bring her dance company to the school’s historic auditorium stage this Saturday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. for a free holiday show based on the classic poem “The Night Before Christmas.” Danielle Ricci founded the award-winning Borealis Dance company in 2008 in Austin, Texas, before moving it to Minneapolis last year. This…
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Celebrate the solstice at Olcott Park Greenhouse
The longest nights of winter will be this weekend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live it up in a warm tropical environment right here on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. The Friends of the Greenhouse will be hosting their second annual Celebration of the Winter Solstice this Saturday, Dec. 20, at noon at the Olcott…
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Ambitious plans, controversy for Sertich’s final IRRRB meeting
On Thursday, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) will hold its final meeting of the year, and the last in which Tony Sertich will be commissioner of the board’s unique state agency funded by local Iron Range mining revenue. The agenda is filled to the brim with everything the IRRRB has come to be known…
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In the South, the politics of culture still show ‘Huey Long’ gap
I’ve always found the story of the late Louisiana Gov. and U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long to be a fascinating tale of the shifting power and potential of America in the early half of the 20th Century. My favorite book is “All the King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren and, while I agree with Warren…
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Northeastern Minnesota: jobs a’ plenty, wages a’ thppphtt
For the last year I’ve written fairly consistent economic observations of living and working on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range: There are jobs here, but most of them pay low wages and are found in the service sector, not in mining. An overwhelming majority of the region’s workforce is found outside the “traditional” blue collar careers typically associated…
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Northern journalists taunt each other with lutefisk
The “Great Northern” states extend from the Dakotas through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan and are marked by the strong and enduring influence of Scandinavian immigrants. In addition to being the genetic forebears of many people who live here, these Scandinavians (Norwegians and Swedes, in particular) brought and kept many traditions that have lasted to this…
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Captivating Iron Range history series shared by IRRRB
With the impending announcement of a new commissioner at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), it’s worth explaining what all those words mean. Let’s start with “Iron Range.” Historian Pam Brunfelt, my Iron Range history mentor, shared a series of articles with the IRRRB for use on their website. Entitled “A Walk Through…
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Duluth mail center to close this spring
The United States Postal Service is planning to close the mail sorting center in Duluth, Minnesota, on April 18. This according to a Dec. 10 Brady Slater story in the Duluth News Tribune. Duluth’s closing will be followed by similar closings in Bemidji, St. Cloud and Mankato on July 11, 2015. Mail in those centers…
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“‘Emoji,’ ‘ebola’ lead top words for 2014
To continue my annual tradition of writing about the year’s top words and how they shape our world I will have to explain not just the word, but the very concept of “emoji” to many, many grandmas and grandpas, including my own, who will read these words as ink on paper. If I survive, and…
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Local, weird, darkly funny: ‘The One Who Watches’
A new short film, “The One Who Watches,” by Duluth filmmakers Nicholas Sunsdahl and Molly Josefson, made the following impressions on me, in this order: 1) the mix of Bemidji, Iron Range and Twin Ports settings and characters, 2) the abject film school weirdness, and 3) the dark, persistent humor, punctuated by one scene that made me laugh…
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‘Rattling Ray’ rings in big numbers for Duluth Salvation Army
With the holidays approaching, there is no shortage of schmaltzy Christmas-themed news packages on local TV airwaves. Still, sometimes they hit the spot, especially in this case. Our friend Ray Rogers is from Hibbing but moved to Duluth a few years ago. He’s confined to a wheel chair because of cerebral palsy, but is bar…
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Andrej’s famous Iron Range potica now at Tobies
For many on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, Christmas time is potica time. This walnut-based dessert bread from the slavic states of Eastern Europe was long ago embraced by the whole region for its flavor and portability. (Like the pasty, Iron Ranger love foods that require no silverware and fit into the pockets of overalls). In addition…