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Entering the next generation of late night
When David Letterman announced his retirement last week, I wrote this note on social media: For about six years I watched Letterman every night. I don’t know what that means, or if the numbers matter, but it feels to me like this mattered a lot. I hope this doesn’t come across as silly, but when…
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‘Green Envy’ for Iron Range botanical garden
This Saturday, April 12, from 4:30-8 p.m., the Friends of the Greenhouse in Virginia, Minnesota, will hold its second annual “Green Envy” fundraiser for the Olcott Park Botanical Gardens. The greenhouse and gardens at Olcott Park are holdovers to a time when many Range towns poured effort into beautifying their public spaces. Virginia has held…
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Crows keep it real
Springtime in northern Minnesota means all kinds of migratory birds make their annual through-trip. No one migratory bird reminds me of spring, however; rather I look to a bird that hangs around all year to tell me about spring: the crow. Crows are starting to get busy this time of year. They’re louder, more insistent,…
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Education, broadband as economic development
Two items across the wires today illustrate the often unheralded spurts toward actual economic development and diversification in rural, post-industrial places like northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. First, the work of my colleague Ken Strukel at Hibbing Community College was featured in today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. He’s developed a computer application design program at HCC, training…
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UPDATE: MN lawmakers reach deal on minimum wage
The Associated Press is reporting that Minnesota lawmakers are nearing a deal to increase the state’s minimum wage to $9.50. The deal does not include the more controversial indexing of the minimum wage to inflation, though that is still being negotiated. UPDATE: The deal is done, and there is a provision for indexing (see bottom…
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Hot webcam chicks at L&M Supply
The cold broke over the weekend here in northern Minnesota and we are again operating under the assumption that spring is here. Another sure sign: the chicks at L&M are rocking under the hot lights. Allow me to explain. “The chicks are here” is the phrase you’ll see on the marquee at L&M Supply stores…
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Ancient mysteries on Minnesota’s Iron Range
Cindy Kujala at the Hometown Focus includes a buffet of interesting mysteries and factoids about Iron Range history in her column this week. Most of it is reprinted from a project compiled by the Iron Range Historical Society and University of Minnesota at Duluth. My favorite excerpt: There is a place where the Embarrass River…
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The Old Fish and the Lake
Last month a Minnesota angler pulled a 52-pound lake trout through a 10-inch hole in the ice on Lac La Croix near Crane Lake. Because the fisherman was 100 feet over the Canadian border, he ran afoul of Ontario’s catch limits. His fish, likely a world record holder, was confiscated. Despite crushing the previous record…
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Range lawmakers spiked wild rice report
In late February, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was about to release a wild rice report indicating that the state’s wild rice standards (no more than 10 parts of sulfate per million) was an appropriate limit to ensure the health of wild rice crops. However, Iron Range lawmakers, concerned that the wild rice report would…
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“In a world where gravity is reversed …”
“In a World Where Gravity is Reversed” is part of my 2014 winter/spring sanity project. I will post original cartoons about modern life in northern Minnesota every Friday until the snow melts. Related posts: No related posts.
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Iron Range original music showcase this Saturday
The Iron Range Original Music Association (IROMA) will hold its 5th annual spring showcase Saturday night at 7 at Mac’s Bar in Mountain Iron. Seven local acts will put together six hours of original Iron Range music. Hometown Focus has the press release: Included in the line-up are opening solo acoustic sets by Mark Henderson…
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Hear the Virginia, MN, Great Northern Radio Show
You can hear our most recent episode of the Great Northern Radio Show this Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m.-noon on Northern Community Radio. Later you’ll be able to download the podcast, allowing everyone to hear the broadcast we did in front of an audience at Mesabi Range College on March 22. We filled the…
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Range projects faring well in bonding proposals
There’s still a few miles of debate ahead, but Iron Range bonding projects seem well situated in either the House or Gov. Mark Dayton’s bonding bill proposals. The Senate is expected to release their bill soon, where Majority Leader Tom Bakk, an Iron Range state senator, is unlikely to short shrift the region. The Duluth…
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The unexpected poetry of northern Minnesota
April is National Poetry Month, and while I don’t normally remark on the passing of these chronological marketing designations, I do feel inclined to mention poetry here in Northern Minnesota. Most of my instruction regarding poetry came in college from my professor Barton Sutter, a working poet and author in Duluth. If you’re going to…
