-
Bad times getting worse slower, and other good news
Even the sunshine crew at the Duluth News Tribune editorial board can’t spin their way out of this week’s economic malaise storyline: So the glimmer of hope? Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday, during testimony he provides semi-annually to the House Financial Services Committee, that the economy is showing “tentative signs of stabilization.” Of…
-
2009: ‘worst ever’ year for taconite mines?
Charles Ramsay of the Mesabi Daily News reports that 2009 is on track to be the worst year on record for Iron Range taconite production. Keewatin Taconite and Hibbing Taconite are likely down for the rest of the year with limited production expected from the other four: MinnTac, Minorca, United Taconite and Northshore. Read more…
-
The Stewart generation?
This Time. com graphic has been traveling around the web today. No doubt not all agree with Stewart’s politics, but he shows tenacity in asking actual questions and using evidence to demonstrate hypocrisy (on both sides). Network news is pretty mopey. What’d that crazy lady say about dead fish? Anyway…(h/t Daily Dish) Related posts: No…
-
The Bakk tapes keep rolling
Grace Kelly at MN Progressive Project continues her interview series with State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook), gubernatorial candidate and Iron Range legislator. Today’s topic is unallotment and the crushing budget deficit facing the next person foolish enough to take the oath of office for governor. Related posts: No related posts.
-
Me so sad
If you like grim statistics, today’s Duluth News Tribune has a story that further explores Northern Minnesota’s unemployment and low iron ore shipping numbers discussed yesterday. On the bright side, TWINS WIN. Related posts: No related posts.
-
Cooking the numbers
As I said yesterday I’m exploring educational outcomes this week. We all want better schools, but what does that mean and how do we get there? We read a lot about the results of standardized tests. Indeed, we can read the numbers in the paper like they were a batting average or election result. But…
-
18.7 percent unemployed on the Iron Range
Paul Tosto at MinnEcon, from Minnesota Public Radio, has an excellent post about today’s staggering news of Hibbing’s 18.7 percent unemployment rate, now the highest among Minnesota cities. Virginia, Minn., another Iron Range town, is close behind at 17 percent. These numbers have shot up over the past few months with the massive downturn in…
-
‘Kings’ is too good for you, America
NPR’s John Ridley asks the question I bellow at the TV after every showing of the NBC drama “Kings”: Why isn’t America watching this show? “Kings” is a modern day retelling of the Biblical story of David. It combines the political intrigue that fans of the West Wing would like, the philosophical questions that “Lost”…
-
Read more, get mad
This week I’ll be exploring education issues for Sunday’s column in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I may sneak a couple of preview posts onto this blog. Why is it that the only time people get good and mad about schools is when it comes to taxes or pride in the sports teams? What about reading?…
-
When Hell comes to Town
My friend and fellow UWS Yellowjacket Paul Ryan has written a fine column for the Reader Weekly about the upcoming visit of the Hell’s Angels to the Duluth area. He provides some important tips for locals should they encounter members of the aging motorcycle gang. I, for one, plan to remain far away from Duluth…
-
Our balls are safe
Boy howdy, it’s a hot day for Duluth news. The man with a history of stealing large rubber exercise balls and slashing them as part of an elaborate sexual fetish has turned himself in. What can I add that would read more smoothly than the facts? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing. Related posts: No related…
-
Don’t fear the wood chipper
Duluth now has its fifth city administrator in two years. I wish I could offer something profound about this situation but all I can offer is the predictable snark. Personally, I was conflicted about making a 1980s New York Yankees joke or something involving the state of the local media. Meh. Mayor Don Ness has…
-
Steel shipments halved
The Mesabi Daily News is reporting a 52 percent drop in steel shipments in May, more or less commensurate with declines in the automobile and manufacturing sectors. The Iron Range’s taconite industry is a lagging indicator in this economic equation. Followed, of course, by unemployment … the granddad lagging indicator. Related posts: No related posts.
-
Another Range quirk: the grocery reunion
I think this qualifies as another quirky example of something that seems to happen only on the Iron Range. The former employees of the Red Owl grocery store in Virginia held a reunion Sunday 20 years to the day after the store closed in 1989 (Mesabi Daily News). I remember when the store closed because…
-
COLUMN: Watch for the turtles
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 19, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece was part of last week’s edition of “Between You and Me” on KAXE. Watch for the turtlesBy Aaron J. Brown Each year turtles crawl from an ancient landscape into our modern world. Lately…