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Rare wolf attack near Lake Winnibigoshish
Wolves don’t normally do this, but a wolf emerged from the woods at the West Winnie Campground in northern Minnesota over the weekend and attacked a human, latching on to a boy’s head and causing lacerations. The 16-year-old was laying on the ground near a tent and was taken by surprise in a 4 a.m.…
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St. Louis County might avert major strike
St. Louis County has offered concessions to its AFSCME workforce which might avert a nearing strike. The sticking point was over the accumulation of sick leave hours and payment for those hours upon retirement. The County had hoped to cap those hours for new workers, but the union didn’t want different benefits for different aged…
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Farewell, Highway 53 western route plan
Land speculators in Iron Junction were saddened to learn yesterday that the Minnesota Department of Transportation has now, finally and forever, cancelled the remote possibility that Highway 53 could be routed west of Eveleth and Virginia. Highway 53 is the aorta of Minnesota’s Iron Range and it has to be re-routed between Eveleth and Virginia…
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Iron Range mines in Rust Belt rumble over CAT deal
In the global economy, sometimes your friends are your enemies. That seems to be the case with a federal loan project to help sell American-made mining equipment to a new iron mining venture in western Australia. John Myers at the Duluth News Tribune wrote about the deal, including the obligatory reference to our “mates” Down…
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Hot debate over cold Farmers Almanac forecast
OK, so like I said it’s really hot in northern Minnesota today, something that might amuse people from many of the states where the governors wear tank tops to their inaugurations (or will … in the future). We had intermittent air conditioning at the college today, cool in my office but sauna-like in the classrooms…
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PolyMet EIS delayed until November
PolyMet’s Environmental Impact Statement won’t be released to the public until November, according to the Minnesota DNR. State and federal agencies reportedly have concluded their review of the mining company’s proposed plan to extract nonferrous minerals from northern Minnesota, but other agencies have input that needs to be included. This represents another delay, albeit a…
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Hot mess go time
Minnesota is not a place where the weather matches the arbitrary progression of the Roman Calendar. That’s why I am about to teach my first day of classes for the Fall Semester on a day where the heat index exceeds an average human’s IQ. Yesterday was the same. I mowed the lawn, which might not…
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Summer ends with turtle-racing flourish
Summer lives, of course. It’s still kind of nice outside. The leaves are still kind of green. The calendar places the start of fall in September, but we all know that’s junk. Tomorrow I’ll pilot the car early in the morning to teach a college class for something called “Fall Semester” and how can you argue…
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MinnesotaBrown on the move
Flickr Creative Commons license, RBerteig It’s been quiet on the blog the last couple days for two reasons. One, the semester is about to start and I’m prepping classes for Monday. Two, perhaps more relevant to you, we are gearing up for a big change here at the blog this weekend. On Saturday, I’ll be…
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Hibbing special education teacher jumps into MN governor race
Another northern Minnesota Republican has jumped into a statewide race. After yesterday’s announcement that St. Louis Co. Commissioner Chris Dahlberg was jumping into the U.S. Senate race, today Hibbing special education teacher Rob Farnsworth announced his bid for governor on the GOP ticket. Farnsworth joins several Republican candidates seeking to challenge Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN),…
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Rethinking laws of attraction on the Iron Range
Friend of the blog Aaron Klemz has a commentary recently on the site “Be Pollen” combining the theories of Richard Florida’s Creative Class and the nonferrous mining debate in northern Minnesota. Klemz, who is spokesperson for the Friends of the Boundary Waters organization, pens the following as the thrust of his piece, “A Creative Class,…
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Dahlberg to seek GOP nod for Senate
St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg of Duluth made a surprise announcement yesterday, throwing his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. He becomes the fourth Republican to announce a challenge to U.S. Sen Al Franken (D-MN) after State Rep. Jim Abler, State Sen. Julianne Ortman and businessman Mike McFadden. Dahlberg…
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This is a photograph of local police chasing a bear
Shannon Leigh Sweeney Shannon Leigh Sweeney took this photo of an area law enforcement official chasing a black bear cub on Willow Lane in Grand Rapids, Minnesota this morning. She posted it to the Grand Rapids Herald-Review Facebook page. I’m sure there are more details and we’ll share them in time, but let’s just enjoy…
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Cornish pasty finds buttery love at French food expo
The Daily Mail in the UK reports that the Cornish pasty, the butter-crusted meat pie that followed its people to Great Lakes region of the United States, was the big hit at a French food festival. The West Country staple was the surprise star of the renowned event in the city of Lorient in Brittany,…
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Strike looms for St. Louis County in northern MN
Burgeoning labor troubles in the state’s largest geographic county are coming to light. The St. Louis County unit of AFSCME has authorized a strike as contract negotiations appear stalled after a meeting with a state mediator on Friday. There is a 10-day “cooling off” period before a strike would begin. The hope is that negotiations…