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On comments
I’ve often spoken about my stint as the 21-year-old editor of a small daily newspaper on the Iron Range. You could argue I was too young, too inexperienced, and too pie-eyed for that whole thing to work, and that’s all objectively true, but I sure learned a hell of a lot. One of the duties…
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Tyranny by copycats
If you walk the halls of power long enough you start to realize how closely they resemble the halls of your high school. Here we find fragile egos, self-absorption and a profound desire for good grades without homework. Our frustration with legislative bodies comes not from their wickedness, but from their mediocrity. So many people…
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‘Think spring’ with latest Great Northern Radio Show
You can now hear the latest podcast for the Great Northern Radio Show from our April 13 broadcast at the Chief Theater in Bemidji, Minnesota. It was the 30th variety show I’ve written, produced and hosted for Northern Community Radio, our fifth from the “First City on the Mississippi River.” It was the first time…
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Radinovich to resign from Iron Range Resources post after hiring controversy
Joe Radinovich will resign his high-level post with the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation after last week’s report detailing irregularities in the hiring process. Radinovich is a former state representative from Crosby. He was the 2018 8th District DFL Congressional nominee. He previously served at the IRRRB as a politically-appointed Assistant Commissioner.…
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Cliffs CEO ‘in no hurry’ to build 2nd HBI plant
These days, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves seems positively jubilant in his quarterly earnings calls with investors and the media. And why not? The first quarter of the year is normally pretty slow. That’s when iron ore ships are docked until ice retreats from the Great Lakes. Nevertheless, Cliffs performed well ahead of expectations in the…
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Everything is wet
So, let’s play some word association. Note your reaction to the following words: damp; moist; squishy; slush; sludge. What do these words have in common? Well, they’re all pretty gross, that’s for sure. They’re also associated with spring in Northern Minnesota. The Center for Disease Control doles out medical expertise every day. One of the…
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Report details irregularities in IRRRB hiring of former Congressional candidate
A recent investigative news story highlights the unusual way in which former State Rep. and recent Congressional candidate Joe Radinovich was appointed to a high level permanent job at the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation. Marshall Helmberger of the Tower Timberjay published the report Wednesday. The story quickly spread to media outlets…
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In Duluth, spring returns with national champs and international shipping
After a temporary setback with last week’s winter storm, spring seems to have finally arrived … again … in Northern Minnesota. One sure sign includes the arrival of the first “saltie” into the Port of Duluth-Superior The Maltese-flagged Maria G arrived in the Port of Duluth to take on a load of grain early this…
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Places and names
When I was 12 my grandparents took me to southern Pennsylvania and western Maryland to meet my grandmother’s family. We toured the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside, including the Sideling Hill Cut near Hancock, Maryland. Engineers gouged this 340-foot deep passageway through the heart of a sturdy Allegheny mountain more than 50 years ago…
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When the vote fails, rural districts hold few cards
On Tuesday, voters in the Floodwood, Minn., school district rejected a $700,000 operating bond referendum by a vote of 352-336. This close vote in a small district will make a big difference. Teachers and officials suggest up to eight teachers could lose their jobs without the local funding. Elementary sections could be combined. Most electives…
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Prairie River Minerals aims to restart scram mining on western Mesabi
Amid high demand and temporarily limited global supply, another new scram mining venture aims to reclaim natural iron ore on the western Mesabi Iron Range. Prairie River Minerals seeks to mine about 1.3 million tons of iron ore annually, mostly in Itasca County, hiring about 125 union workers in the process. The chief partners in…
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Child care: a defining issue mired in status quo
Working people with children will tell you that child care is their biggest day-to-day challenge. The logistics are maddening and the cost is overwhelming. The stakes are no less than the well-being of the next generation. Yet, if you talk to child care providers, they’ll tell you the same thing. Frustrating logistics and high costs…
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Iron Range’s most active live music venue to close soon
In a blow to the Iron Range music scene, the 218 Taphouse and Shop Coffeehouse in downtown Virginia, Minnesota, will close April 15. Owners issued the news via an April 3 Facebook post, which reads as follows: Due to unforeseen circumstances The 218 Taphouse and Shop Coffeehouse will be closing April 15th. We would like…
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Minnesota’s 8th District losing bellwether status
After five consecutive nationally-significant campaigns in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, this rural blue collar bellwether slips out of the spotlight. Simone Pathé of Roll Call reported yesterday that national Democrats aren’t even targeting new incumbent U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber in their early plans for 2020. Meantime, they are focusing on new suburban districts in states…
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Generational payback on sleepovers
I’ve forgotten much about life between the ages of 10 and 13. I suppose there’s a psychological reason for that; something something brain development, something something puberty. A lot of it might be self-preservation. In most pictures from this time I resemble an oversized grub with greasy blond hair. I’m wearing sweat pants and Coke-bottle…