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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…
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Eveleth telemarketing firm closes; 104 jobs lost
A St. Cloud-based telemarketing firm abruptly shut down its facility in Eveleth this week, leaving 104 employees out of work. Fox 21 News has a good recap of what happened. Meyer Telemarketing was founded in the ’70s as a fundraising contractor for mostly Democratic Party campaigns and causes. As a northern Minnesota resident with Democratic…
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A century later, U.S. Steel’s west Duluth mill
Zenith City Online commemorates the 107th anniversary of U.S. Steel’s 1907 announcement that it would build a steel mill in West Duluth. It would be 1915 before U.S. Steel would actually produce steel, and that mill closed in 1987, but this occurrence dramatically shaped history for Duluth and northeastern Minnesota; keeping more of the labor…
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Angler loses record lake trout to authorities
The greatest baseball player of all time might have been Pete Rose, but he’s not in the Hall of Fame. The greatest ice fishing catch of all time might have been a 52-pound lake trout caught by Rob Scott of Crane Lake. Rose bet on baseball. Scott caught what certainly would have been a…
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Ely, MN, launches ‘The Ely Channel’
The Ely, MN, Chamber of Commerce announced today, April 1, it was launching the 24-hour cable network “The Ely Channel.” Featuring original programs like “DNR Cold Case,” “The Real Housewives of St. Louis County,” “Iron Range Chef,” and Sauna Wars,” this channel was unveiled at a news conference this afternoon. Today the Ely Chamber is…
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Always darkest before a long, losing baseball season
We’re going to win, Twins; we’re going to score. We’re going to win, Twins, watch that baseball soar. Knock out a home run, shout out … Ugh, I can’t even finish this year. It’s fitting that this year’s quintessential spring holiday — Baseball’s Opening Day — is marred by an ice and snow storm in…
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How heavy is a dime bag of taconite?
If the domestic iron mining industry ever goes to pot, perhaps we in northern Minnesota could take matters into our own hands, running ore across the border like bootleggers. Case in point, the Knights Templar drug cartels in western Mexico has now diversified to the point that illegal iron mining and processing is a major…
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East Range shared school plan having bumpy roll-out
One of the biggest stories on the Mesabi Iron Range this year has been the proposal to build a new co-located high school in Mountain Iron that would serve students in the Virginia, Eveleth-Gilbert and Mountain Iron-Buhl school districts. Jana Hollingsworth of the Duluth News Tribune penned a Sunday feature on the shared high school…
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Winter wanes and what’s been done
No sense talking about weather. You know what’s been done. Another winter in northern Minnesota just passed, technically. The equinox came and went. We’re tilting toward the sun, into the warmth. Sure, the air is still cold. Sure, the wind still blows. Sure, we’re encased in ice. Still. For some time, too. Sure, all of…
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Winter ain’t over; winter ain’t ever over
Spring in northern Minnesota means dealing with setbacks. So, last weekend, two ships left the Port of Duluth to start the spring shipping season. Sure, they needed the help of ice cutters, but still: Spring! Well, according to Duluth Shipping News, those ships have been damaged by the crushing late season ice on Lake Superior…