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Great Northern Radio Show throws down the LEGO gauntlet
The Great Northern Radio Show returns to the airwaves this Saturday, 5-7 p.m., live from the John Chalberg Theatre at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota. You can still reserve free tickets with 91.7 KAXE at 800/662-5799. Meantime, hope you enjoy our promotional video, made possible by Spencer Olson Films. Spencer Olson and his brother…
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IRRRB approves $31.2 million as mining revenue fully recovers
The IRRRB approved a $31.2 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year at its meeting this morning. The funds will cover many different projects around the Iron Range, among them a notable new effort to restore decaying housing stock in the old towns of the Range. This is an increasing economic and aesthetic problem in…
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Twin Metals doubles mineral estimate near Ely
Twin Metals is doubling their estimate of available copper-nickel minerals in the deposit they hope to mine near Ely. The geologists I talk to seem to agree, politics aside, there is a lot of copper and other minerals down there. Related posts: No related posts.
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Hibbing Taconite mine tours open summer Thursdays
The Minnesota Discovery Center will once again be coordinating tours of Hibbing Taconite during the summer. Anyone making a trip up to the Iron Range who hasn’t seen a modern taconite operation should check this out. CHISHOLM, MN, JUNE 5, 2012 – Minnesota Discovery Center, Hibbing Taconite and Shubat Transportation are teaming up again this…
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Mesaba Park holds midsummer event June 22-23
One of the quirky throwbacks to the Iron Range’s labor tradition is the Mesaba Co-op Park on the edge of Hibbing. It is a cooperative recreational park where labor organizers and early socialists once met, sometimes under the watchful eye of labor spies and the FBI. Built largely by the Finns who settled the Cherry…
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Colangelo looks to reverse GOP fortunes on the eastern Range
One of the interesting legislative races to watch this year is the new 6B, where three DFLers and two GOPers are running to succeed retiring State Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township). Though the district partisan index continues to favor the DFL, where Lorrie Janatopoulos, Jason Metsa and Dave Meyer are running in a very competitive…
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Economic reality won’t be politicked away
One of the marks the current national mood is a general sense of uncertainty and financial strain. It’s not a Depression. We’re technically recovering from the “Great Recession” that began in 2008 and hit hard at the turn of 2009. It doesn’t feel like a recovery, though, and this is probably why: The net worth…
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Magnetation now cites land issues in dropping MN plant site
A new twist has been added to the revelation that Magnetation would build their taconite pellet plant in Wisconsin or Indiana instead of in northern Minnesota where the iron concentrate is produced. Dan Kraker of Minnesota Public Radio reports that company officials say land issues related to their properties in Itasca County prevent them from…
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On public radio and automotive repair
As I’ve already explained, I’m the son of several generations of Iron Range mechanics, truck drivers, railroaders and miners. I’m the first male in my direct family line since American naturalization doing work that doesn’t require the occasional turning of a wrench. I think you have to go back to a long line of 18th…
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Soudan underground mine reopens after last year’s fire
A year after the frightening underground fire that threatened both an important historical state park and a multi-million dollar physics research laboratory, the Soudan Underground Mine has reopened for tours. Related posts: No related posts.
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Plan a Great Northern Twin Turtles weekend for your hip dad (or your hip self)
If you’re like me, your weekend was consumed by a massive garage sale, purging the tangible evidence that the small boys in your house were ever babies. OK, that’s a mite specific. But my point is maybe you’d like next weekend to be even more hip and happening than this one. We know it might…
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COLUMN: Northern Minnesota’s awkward dance with summer
This is my Sunday column for the June 10, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. This is based on a shorter piece that aired on “Between You and Me” last week on Northern Community Radio. Northern Minnesota’s awkward dance with summerBy Aaron J. Brown The other day the dog went outside and barked her…
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Cherry Tigers are state softball champs!
Congratulations to the girls from my alma mater, Cherry High School, for their state championship victory today. Cherry is a tiny school. I graduated from a class of 38 and it’s much smaller now. Their only other team championship prior to this was the 1997 baseball title won when I went to school there (and…
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Magnetation to build plant in WI or IN, expand MN ore operations
Magnetation announced Thursday it will not build its pellet plant in northern Minnesota as locals had hoped. Instead the scram mining operation that’s expanded quickly on the western Mesabi Iron Range is considering the sites of Superior, Wisconsin or Butler, Indiana. Permitting issues are the top reason, according to the company. Magnetation President Matt Lehtinen…
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Iron Range Maidens host international roller derby bout
So you know about Friday’s jazz concert and next week’s Great Northern Radio Show, but if you need even more Iron Range-based entertainment consider this Saturday night’s Iron Range Maidens roller derby bout. The Iron Range Maidens will face the Babes of Thunder of Thunder Bay, Ontario, in the team’s first international smackdown. The bout…