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Minnesota blogger featured on Colbert Report
Kudos to my fellow greater Minnesota blogger Sally Jo Sorensen for her shout-out on last night’s Colbert Report on Comedy Central. She was the one who found the weird TV ad Tom Emmer did in Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, where he endorsed a construction company as a candidate for Congress. This is blatantly illegal, and…
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Iron Range solar company dubbed ‘Made-in-Minnesota’
After last year’s somewhat contentious legislative debate over a rebate program for Made-in-Minnesota solar panels, an Iron Range solar manufacturer has become the state’s first certified Minnesota-made solar company. From Mt. Iron-based Silicon Energy: October 7, 2013 – St. Paul, MN – Silicon Energy’s locally made solar photovoltaic (PV) modules have been awarded official certification…
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Physicists who inspired Soudan lab win Nobel Prize
The scientists who first theorized about the Higgs boson particle, the so-called (usually by non-physicists) “God Particle,” will share this year’s Nobel Prize for Physics. Normally that’s not something you’d see touted here on this unusual regional website, but it so happens that there is a sophisticated laboratory located deep beneath the Iron Range at…
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Minnesota DNR to allow extra fishing on Canisteo Pit
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will open a liberalized fishing season on the Canisteo Pit near Bovey, Minnesota from Oct. 17 until Dec. 1. The Canisteo has been rather infamous in recent years as it had flooded the city of Bovey, which required several million dollars in state aid to mitigate. Times have changed.…
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Shutdown spawns new nation of ‘Greatlandia’
Speaking of Minneapolis, a guy I know from the western Mesabi Iron Range has declared his house and yard apartment in Minneapolis as the sovereign nation of Greatlandia, citing distrust over the federal government’s inability to function. He and friends are crowd-sourcing funding to pay for the nascent nation. Their primary accomplishment so far seems…
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Minneapolis dating scene as depicted in the Times
Here’s this weird story from the New York Times about the Minneapolis dating scene. The lives depicted therein do not appeal to me, though that is no surprise given the fact that I’m wearing khaki pants in my country office right now. As soul-sucking and vacuous as all this seems to me, the story is…
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Shutdown clouds northern MN mining controversy
Northern MN mining controversy remains in the news here. We had a steady go of it a couple weeks ago. Then the government shut down and yet the debate continues. A Star Tribune report late last week showed that the mining company PolyMet has acknowledged that its proposed mine’s tailings pond would require 500 years…
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Bemidji mayor honors Muppet in front of Paul Bunyan
Video presented without commentary. Bemidji Mayor Rita Albright awards the key to the city to Sesame Street’s Grover in front of giant statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. The video heats up just after two minutes. Related posts: No related posts.
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‘Duck Dynasty’ trend blossoms in Iron Range towns
I was talking to a student the other day and she showed me a cell phone picture of her first grade son dressed up as Si from “Duck Dynasty” for a homecoming dress-up day at their school. I imagine several schools are trying that out this year. “Duck Dynasty” is one of the biggest cultural…
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The art of building an Iron Range economy
One finds resistance discussing the diversification of northern Minnesota’s economy into areas outside natural resources. Convincing local leaders that real economic growth can come from abstract concepts like art and design is often as difficult as extracting 100 long tons of iron ore from the earth. I mean, you can’t even use dynamite, which would…
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The Empire Builder: James J. Hill be not forgotten
Amy Goetzman begins her recent story “James J. Hill and the day the railroads roiled Wall Street” in Minnpost this way: James J. Hill was responsible, perhaps more than any other one person, for the rise of Minnesota industry and agriculture, and its lasting international impact. His robust railroad empire drew the state’s arterial maps,…
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Building small town economy with new attitude
I’ll point your attention to a fascinating post by Brian Gumm, who lives in rural Iowa and is the author of an Christian blog called Restorative Theology. In “Small town vitality: No community without economy” Gumm reviews the writings of several thinkers on the topic of restoring small towns — not just economically, but their…
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Jerry Springer in Duluth: a tale of comedy, woe
Jerry Springer is coming to Duluth, Minnesota, on Saturday, Oct. 12 as host of “The Price is Right Live,” a stage version of the long-running TV show once hosted by Bob Barker, now Drew Carey. Springer is best known for his cable TV talk show in which tank-top wearing guests are known to throw chairs…
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Great Northern Radio Show live in Crosby Oct. 19
CROSBY, Minnesota – The Great Northern Radio Show will broadcast its live traveling radio program from the stage of the Mayberry Auditorium at Crosby-Ironton High School in Crosby, Minnesota from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. The show, a production of Northern Community Radio (kaxe.org), combines music, comedy and storytelling to showcase the unique culture…
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The Finnish sauna, proven cure for the busy mind
The BBC has a fascinating story on the cultural meaning of the Finnish sauna. Many people in northern Minnesota and the Great Lakes states owe their heritage to Finland. For that reason, sauna (and its correct pronunciation, SOW-na) has deep meaning in our part of the world as well. If you’ve ever wondered why saunas…