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The midwestern town where ‘brain gain’ is happening
Today I’m sharing my latest piece for The Daily Yonder, a Kentucky-based online magazine exploring rural issues and development in the United States. This time I’m talking about Mitchell, South Dakota, an I-90 stop-off we visited on the way to and from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Probably best known for its iconic Corn Palace, Mitchell has…
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Essar financing appears to fall apart … again
The financing necessary to resume construction at the Essar Steel Minnesota taconite plant in Nashwauk is now in question, according to a Ron Brochu report that ran in the Scenic Range News Forum and Business North. For five years, India-based Essar Steel has been building a new iron mine near where the former Butler Taconite…
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DFL economist, 7A candidate Schultz dissects MNSure news
It’s been a long time since a candidate for office sent me a press release that was both substantive and informative. Jennifer Schultz is a health care economics professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She’s also the DFL candidate for the open seat in State House District 7A in eastern Duluth. Tonight she sent out…
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No more dress-up for Bemidji’s Paul Bunyan and Babe
It’s not terribly difficult to find likenesses of Paul Bunyan and his trusted blue ox Babe in Northern Minnesota. And if it’s not Paul, it’s some cockamamie relative or ex-girlfriend that a town dreamed up as a hook. But among the most iconic Paul Bunyan and Babe statues are the pair you see in Bemidji,…
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The tricky trouble of polling Northern Minnesota
This piece was cross-posted with my Up North Report blog at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Today, the latest in a battery of polling data from Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race was released, this time the Star Tribune’s Minnesota Poll. The results of the poll are not my reason for this post, though if you’re interested Sen. Al Franken, the incumbent…
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Another cold winter? Gee, you think?
Several news outlets are reporting the annual weather predictions offered by the Farmer’s Almanac. In short, Minnesota is poised for another cold winter, much like the last one. One recalls that while few all-time-low temperature records were broken last winter, we smashed records for consecutive days below zero degrees Fahrenheit. It was a slog, an…
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The Empirical Strikes Back: Historians debunk speakeasy
Two weeks ago I joined media outlets around the state in reporting on the speakeasy re-enactment held at Annabella’s in Bovey, Minnesota. Organizers held a fun event recreating a Prohibition era party in an underground room featuring unusual “escape” tunnels. And, by most accounts, a good time was had by all. However, the way organizers…
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Eveleth mine celebrates 50 years with public event
I spent most of my childhood trying to find shapes in the steam cloud billowing out of Eveleth Taconite’s plant at Forbes. Now known as United Taconite, the Iron Range iron mine and processing facility will celebrate 50 years of mining this Sunday with a public event. EVELETH, MN – Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:…
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Rail delays knock Minnesota power plant units offline
For more than a year, rail congestion in the Upper Midwest has created high-profile delays for the iconic Empire Builder passenger train. Oil and coal trains out of the western Dakotas and Montana have clogged rails from Williston to Chicago. This week, however, brought the issue to another level. Wisconsin Public Radio reported yesterday that…
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Cliffs to close Duluth office
WDIO is reporting that Cliffs Natural Resources will be closing its Duluth office at the end of the month. About 30 people work at the office. Some will be moved to mine sites, while others will be offered jobs at company headquarters in Cleveland. Cliffs has a long history of operations in Northern Minnesota. The…
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Floating concrete art project sinks in Lake Superior
The Ark of the Anthropocene at Duluth Harbor September 2014 #arkoftheanthropocene pic.twitter.com/m8JMMAeVbK — Sean P Connaughty (@SeanConnaughty) September 5, 2014 Last week, a floating concrete sphere sank in the Duluth harbor on Lake Superior. That’s weird. But it gets much weirder. The concrete sphere was an art project by Minneapolis artist Sean Connaughty called the…
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Silent strain: growing hunger in community demands action
A kindergarten teacher ducks into the lounge shortly after first bell. She rustles through a collection of abandoned snacks: forgotten granola bars and leftover lunches. She got the call from a working mother who was running late. Her daughter would be here soon. “She never gets to eat on mornings like this,” says the teacher.…
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Talking MN-8 politics on MPR, Star Tribune
It’s already been a busy election season for me, and for the first time it’s been dominated by doing commentary on Northern Minnesota politics for other media outlets around the state. A couple items dropped today that I’ll refer you to, and then leave you alone for a while. I was on early this morning…
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School is in
School is in. That means I’m back teaching classes full time at Hibbing Community College. That means my kids are back at school, needing rides to things, doing activities. I’m preparing another radio show this month (Sept. 27 in Park Rapids, FYI). All of these things together mean I’ll be even more deliberate in how…
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Trampled by Turtles on NPR’s ‘tiny desk’
Minnesota’s hometown band Trampled by Turtles appeared on the well-regarded NPR Music “Tiny Desk” concert series recently, with the video being released today at NPR (which you can view below). They performed three songs off their new album “Wild Animals.” Having enjoyed listening to that album, I appreciated the depth of the songs upon seeing them…