-
Massive bridge likely as Highway 53 re-route solution
Iron Range residents will soon learn the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s final decision on the new route for Highway 53 between Eveleth and Virginia. The Highway 53 route is likely to be announced in November, but a MNDOT official is quoted by WDIO saying that the most likely outcome will be one of the state’s highest bridges across the…
-
Biden to campaign for Nolan at Hibbing Community College
UPDATE (Oct. 19, 2014) — Details have been announced. Find out more in my new post. UPDATE (Oct. 13, 2014) — Two sources have confirmed that Vice President Joe Biden will appear at Hibbing Community College on Thursday, Oct. 23, in support of U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan. Further details are pending. Since I work at HCC, I can…
-
Only one debate in MN-8, but stark differences show
At long last Taconite, Minnesota’s entrance sign rings true: Northern Minnesota is once again “hub of the nation.” Minnesota’s “Fightin’” Eighth Congressional District is one of just a few in the country in which the outcome is not 99 percent assured. Yet despite several million advertising dollars scorched on behalf of Democratic incumbent Rep. Rick…
-
Mayor Don Ness will not seek re-election in Duluth
This morning Duluth mayor Don Ness announced on social media that he would not seek a third term. He had hinted months ago that he was leaning against running, but said a formal decision would be made in the fall, about one year before the Fall 2015 election (I had written then about why it…
-
Rail delays prompt Hibbing Taconite to haul pellets by truck
Last week we talked about how rail delays were causing huge stockpiles of iron ore at Iron Range taconite mines. This afternoon it was announced that Hibbing Taconite, a Cliffs Natural Resources mine, has made the rather bold decision to begin hauling its pellets by truck to the Twin Ports. From the press release: HIBBING, MN –…
-
In a small Iron Range town, the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ blinks shut
I can still hear the tinny speakers perched above Tommy Koskela Memorial Field at my alma mater of Cherry High School. A cassette tape pulsates the floppy, weather-worn woofers, creating the approximate sound of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” This was the sound of Friday nights in the fall through my teen years, both as a…
-
Gas falls below $3 across Northern Minnesota
There’s a strange phenomenon happening amid the high-churn noise of the Information Age. Events of just a few years ago are quickly forgotten or, as a former president might have said, “misremembered.” Such is the case as, today, stories of gas prices falling below $3 across much of Northern Minnesota hit the front pages and newscasts…
-
Connect Itasca redoubles effort to expand rural broadband
UPDATE: Hear the Morning Show interview that I did with Itasca County manager Trish Klein and Northern Community Radio’s Scott Hall Tuesday about this topic. Itasca County’s efforts to bring broadband access to every resident continue despite an early setback. The initial goal is to gather survey responses from underserved residents. Early confusion made it difficult for many…
-
LIVE at 8 a.m.: Only scheduled MN-8 debate via @theuptake
The 2014 election is now less than a month away, and while several Minnesota polls show statistically significant leads for DFLers Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Al Franken, other state races are very much coming down to the wire. Control of the State House of Representatives could come down to a few hundred votes in a dozen…
-
Remembering my mentor and friend Mike Simonson
UPDATE 2: Mike’s full obituary ran in the Wednesday Duluth News Tribune. I was honored that his wife Jennifer asked me to write this, with her expert editing. UPDATE: Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 4831 Grand Ave., in Duluth. Visitation will be held…
-
‘Mesabi Pioneers’ spins fiction amid rich history
Ever since humans first crawled from the primordial ooze they have made futile attempts to write novels, ultimately abandoning these crude failures inside file cabinets crafted from the bones of long-extinct beasts. So it was in the beginning, so it shall be in the end. I’ve got a botched literary bun in the stone-cold oven…
-
Great Northern Radio Show to rebroadcast Park Rapids show
UPDATE: You can now download the podcast here. This Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. you can hear the rebroadcast of my Great Northern Radio Show, which aired live last Saturday night from Armory Square in downtown Park Rapids, Minnesota. The show will air on Northern Community Radio, including 91.7 KAXE (Grand Rapids and…
-
Hej, Bob: Swedish scientists sneak Dylan lyrics into papers
Living or working in Bob Dylan’s hometown means you form connections with people for unusual reasons, beyond your control and unrelated to your own ego. Some guy, class of ’59 I think, wrote a thousand songs and got so famous that people in China learn English just to decipher his lyrics (good luck with that, China).…
-
The lights are on in Duluth
This piece in the Duluth News Tribune shared a fascinating find: photographic evidence of one of Northern Minnesota’s most iconic folk legends from the economic collapse of the early 1980s. As the story goes, shown to be true in the above snapshot, someone put up a billboard up on I-35 that year imploring “would the last one…
-
Essar claims financing; Magnetation rolls pellets
It’s been a big week of economic news on the western Mesabi Iron Range. Late last week, Magnetation LLC, announced it was producing taconite pellets at its Indiana processing plant using iron ore concentrate recovered from Itasca County pits. “This first production marks another significant milestone in Magnetation’s history,” said Larry Lehtinen, CEO of Magnetation.…