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D’oe: MN deer hunt will be antlers only in Northeast
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued a statement that the 2014 MN deer hunt rifle season will include mostly bucks, including no doe or antlerless permits for much of the northern part of the state. The conservative restrictions will allow the deer to recover from lower numbers reported during last year’s MN deer hunt, particularly…
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Essar’s Algoma steel mill restructured in bankruptcy
Essar Steel’s Algoma mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is reorganizing in bankruptcy after massive debts inhibited operations. The Sault Star reports that Essar filed for bankruptcy protections from both the Canadian and U.S. governments. Algoma’s corporate parent Essar will infuse $300 million into the facility to allow for existing debt to be refinanced. What’s not…
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Hibbing’s Kate Lange signs pro volleyball deal in France
Here’s a neat story: Hibbing native, (former student of mine) and University of Minnesota-Duluth star Kate Lange just signed a professional contract to play volleyball in France. She’s the first UMD player to sign a pro deal. Northland’s NewsCenter had the story yesterday: I don’t know anything about professional volleyball, but I do suspect that…
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Mills vs. Nolan in MN-8 tilts back toward swing status
Forgive residents of Northern Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District some sense of disorientation. Since 2010, the district elected as many new congressmen as it had in the previous six decades. After former Rep. Chip Cravaack scored the region’s biggest Republican upset in three generations, defeating longtime Rep. Jim Oberstar, Cravaack lost by 9 points to current Rep.…
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Casting call for new movie at Soudan mine
This Saturday, July 26, producers of the new movie “Sdanka’s War” will be holding an open casting call at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. You need to be there by 7 a.m. The Duluth-based production by LZ Productions and Almighty Dog Entertainment is seeking “20 or more guys dressed in plain tees,…
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It’s official: ‘Fargo’ headed for Sioux Falls ’79
In the FX series “Fargo,” the EMMY-nominated Northern Minnesota-based caper, we met Lou Solverson (Keith Carradine). He’s the gruff ex-cop who now runs a cafe in Bemidji. His daughter is Molly (EMMY-nominated Allison Tolman), and he offers her sage advice and words of caution as she hunts down the evil criminal Lorne Malvo (EMMY-nominated Billy…
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I’ve (not) got the power
Last night’s storm knocked out power for 14,000 Lake Country Power customers, including MinnesotaBrown World Headquarters in Balsam Township. A storm like this knocked us out of power for three days two years ago. I drove into town for a work thing, so I’m going to go shave in the bathroom after I post this.…
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Timberjay reports stunning legal fees at St. Louis Co. schools
Marshall Helmberger and Tom Klein at the Timberjay newspapers report this week that more than $450,000 in legal fees have been paid by the rural St. Louis County School District #2142 in Northeastern Minnesota over the past two years. That’s a number that dwarfs what similar sized districts paid in the same period. In essence,…
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Highway 53 plan may create ‘highest bridge in Minnesota’
Iron Rangers might have seen some barges floating out on the Rouchleau pit near Virginia, Minnesota this past week. Crews are drilling the rock formations beneath the deep, cold water pits to see if the craggy mine waste and rock below can sustain the weight of what would become “the highest bridge in Minnesota.” In a…
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Eat, love, spray? Summer of the Skeeter
We all know that northern Minnesota’s summer was a little late this year. If you don’t recall the wailing and gnashing of teeth over that miserable second winter masquerading as spring, you’d only be blocking an important emotional crossroads we all faced together. As far as I’m concerned, no matter how hot this summer gets…
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Crowdsourcing comeback for Hibbing’s Bob Dylan hot spot?
This week my friends Linda Stroback-Hocking and her husband Bob Hocking launched a crowdsourcing campaign to reopen Zimmy’s, the Bob Dylan-themed bar and restaurant in Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota. The campaign uses the Indiegogo platform, and represents something of a grand experiment in saving one of the Iron Range’s most unique night spots. Zimmy’s,…
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LeBron James or pro-mining editorial?
Living most of my life on the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota I’ve always held an affinity for steel towns like Cleveland and Pittsburgh out East. That’s where the iron ore that passed by my house on steaming taconite trains would end up, and the fortunes of folks in those big cities often mirrored the ups…
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VIDEO: Trampled by Turtles drop ‘Wild Animals’ on Letterman
UPDATE: Here’s the video! It warms my heart to hear David Letterman talk about taconite. Good stuff, and a great performance. Progressive bluegrass/folk band Trampled by Turtles will appear on tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman on the very day their new album “Wild Animals” is released. This is Trampled by Turtles second appearance on Letterman,…
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Vermilion Range Old Settlers Picnic this Saturday
After talking about the Cuyuna Iron Range yesterday, we have to spend a little time talking about the Vermilion as well. I was just up there last month with my Great Northern Radio Show, and am happy to pass along word that the Vermilion Range Old Settlers Picnic will be held this Saturday, July 19…
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The secret of Minnesota baseball, where weather is hope
It’s probably for the best that the weather is a little cool for tonight’s Major League Baseball All Star game at Target Field in my state’s capital of St. Paul, Minnesota. After all, the national press will need to toughen up some before the Super Bowl held at our new open air stadium in January…