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‘Odd’ poll suggests silent coup at NoMinn newspaper
What silent protest is going on at the Duluth News Tribune? The newspaper’s Sept. 3 online poll asks the question “Do you keep the volume on your TV or car stereo at an even or odd number?” The options include the following: Even Odd Doesn’t matter You have to log in to the DNT site…
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Mr. Ed’s Farm shows off true Iron Range horsepower
This Saturday I’d recommend a family fun day at Mr. Ed’s Farm in Hibbing. Mr. Ed’s Farm will be holding its official “grand opening” Saturday, Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 10796 Foss Road, found south on Highway 5 near the Hibbing/Cherry line. It costs $5 per person, free for kids 2…
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Rick Nolan draws hard line on Syria intervention
U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) ran for Congress in this “mines and pines” northern Minnesota district with an unusually large amount of foreign policy in his platform. From Day 1 of his campaign, Nolan used language like “avoiding wars of choice” to have more funding for the things that matter back home. This week, Nolan…
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Bear #56, in memorium
Bear #56, a female black bear from the Marcell, MN area, died of old age last week. She was the oldest wild bear ever recorded. Was she the oldest wild bear ever? Hard to say. Is this Jordan Carlton Schaul National Geographic piece the best obituary for a bear you’ve ever read? Probably. I know…
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Just a Cold War, drug running, snowmobile mystery
The marketing wizard behind “Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan” has shared with me another northern Minnesota-themed film project, the documentary “Wild Bill’s Run” by independent Minnesota filmmaker Mike Scholtz. This is the strange but true story of Wild Bill Cooper. Part Arctic adventure and part crime caper, WILD BILL’S RUN is an unforgettable…
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On wormholes and fantasy football
In the movie “Napoleon Dynamite,” caretaker Uncle Rico can’t escape past mistakes. “If I had a time machine,” he said, “you’d better believe things would be different.” He was referring to a football game in which he didn’t even play, but also life. So, too, go the folk mantras of many among us this week…
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Celebrating Labor Day the Iron Range way
For those looking to celebrate Labor Day in true Iron Range fashion, the Iron Range Labor Assembly will hold its annual “Day Before Labor Day” picnic Sunday 1-5 p.m. at Olcott Park in Virginia, Minnesota. The event is held then to accommodate northern Minnesota’s largest labor events in Duluth and Cloquet. Additionally, Bovey’s “Farmers’ Day”…
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I can’t believe we never saw the signs
About 100 acres of forest fires have burned this week in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. They are now mostly contained (though fire danger remains high in the BWCA) and weren’t especially bad given how dry the region has been lately. However, they have prompted the daily airing of this corresponding BWCA forest fires graphic…
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Video of northern Minnesota tornado near Remer
“Tornado Bob,” the contributing meteorologist at Northern Community Radio, chased the storms passing through our area last night and got video of something that’s actually pretty rare: a tornado in northern Minnesota. The northern Minnesota tornado was sighted near Highway 200 between Remer and Hill City. It’s unclear the extent of damage, though it appears…
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Ira Glass brings tour to Northland this weekend
LaReesa Sandretsky scored the “public radio nerd” coup of the week by getting this Aug. 29 Duluth News Tribune interview with Ira Glass of NPR’s “This American Life.” Glass will be appearing at Big Top Chautauqua this Saturday, Aug. 31, in Bayfield, Wisconsin, the Lake Superior tourist town where the live tent radio show of…
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Lake Vermilion State Park grows slowly
The Mesabi Daily News, via the Associated Press, recently published a story on the progress at Lake Vermilion State Park, Minnesota’s first new state park in 30 years and one that grew out of an odd set of political considerations. The project emerged from the administration of Gov. Tim Pawlenty without the request of local…
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How to Talk Minnesotan again, you know, if you want
Much of contemporary Minnesota humor owes something to Howard Mohr’s seminal 1987 work “How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor’s Guide.” While there remain regional and ethnic differences within Minnesota, particularly in the more eastern European, louder Iron Range dialect, Mohr’s observations about Minnesota language are not only funny, they’re often dead accurate. I was pleasantly…
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Bears bearing collars bear burden beyond bearkind
With fall comes the annual DNR request for hunters not to shoot their research bears. The research bears wear reflective collars and distinctive yellow ear tags. These bears help researchers understand the movements, actions and reproduction of bears, so that they can recommend shooting more or fewer of them the following year. Kind of a…
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King’s speech, from the prodigious dumps of the Iron Range
I’m sitting in my office at the college and I look up to a poster that’s been there a while. It’s the text of the “I Have a Dream” speech by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s the 50th anniversary of the delivery of King’s speech during the March on Washington in 1963, something…
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148th Fighter Wing loses alert status at Duluth base
Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing has lost its 24-hour alert status, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The Air National Guard base had been one of the units ready to deploy action-ready air defense capabilities at a moments notice. The base remains open and will continue operating as a part of air defense. Nevertheless, this…