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Steelworkers ratify contract with Cleveland-Cliffs
Members of the United Steelworkers of America voted to ratify a new labor contract with Cleveland-Cliffs this week. The new deal maintains their current benefits while increasing their pay. Cliffs operates United Taconite and, until next year, contracts to operate Hibbing Taconite. Their plant at Northshore Mining is nonunion. Negotiations with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal…
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Northern Minnesota’s legislative linchpins
One of the prevailing trends during the Trump Administration is the ease with which we ignore other politicians or, really, political topics of any substance. For instance, two years ago I was the campaign manager for a DFL incumbent in a critical rural swing race in the Minnesota House of Representatives. We lost. Two years…
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Angry Lake Superior shuts down Duluth’s lakefront
An autumn storm infuriated Lake Superior today, sending large, dangerous waves into Canal Park and forcing the evacuation of much of the lakefront area. A gale warning remains in effect until midnight tonight. The Duluth News Tribune reported on the power outages, damage and flooding found along the shores of Lake Superior. Duluth photographer Andrew…
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One month left in Minnesota’s Fightin’ 8th
Just four weeks remain in the 2018 campaign. Unlike rehab, we’ll spend these next 28 days getting dirty. We should expect fireworks in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. Here Democrat Joe Radinovich hopes to keep the seat held by his former boss, outgoing U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, in a district that veered sharply toward Donald Trump…
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Great Minds trivia battle coming up soon
On Tuesday, Oct. 16, Great Minds Learning Center holds its second annual trivia battle fundraiser and silent auction at the Blandin Foundation in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. I host the event as your B-List celebrity quizmaster. The silent auction runs from 5-7 p.m. The quiz battle starts at 6 p.m. The winning team gets prizes. Everyone is…
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Remembering George Perpich, special era of Range politics
On Sept. 26, former Iron Range State Sen. George Perpich died at age 85 in an Arden Hills, Minn., care center. He had suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for the past several years. Perpich was one of four brothers, sons of poor Croatian immigrants in Hibbing’s Carson Lake location. Rudy, Tony, Joe and George all became…
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Reading coded language of Iron Range landscape
The youngest parts of the Mesabi Iron Range are the century-old towns spotted along its back like so many pimples. The geology, the nature and even human occupation go back millennia. Nevertheless, most people who live here see “local history” as a mysterious narrative that begins suddenly during the Grover Cleveland Administration. It’s not hard…
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Drunk birds maintain Gilbert’s wet reputation
Some birds got drunk in Gilbert, Minnesota. They didn’t mean to. That’s not what they planned when they went out with their friends. But that’s what happened. And now their antics have reached the Washington Post. This isn’t the first time alcohol consumption has landed Minnesota’s Iron Range in the national press. Nor is it…
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Glimmers of hope in Steelworkers negotiations
Late last week, the United Steelworkers reached an agreement with Cleveland-Cliffs on a labor contract. Broadly speaking, the talks between Cliffs and the USW seemed to go well. The company acknowledged the improving state of the domestic iron ore and steel business, and shared some of the success with its workers. However, more contentious negotiations…
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MinnesotaBrown wakes up from California Dream
It’s been quiet the last few days here at MinnesotaBrown. It’s not that there isn’t anything to write about. Election 2018. Steelworker negotiations. The continuing saga of Northern Minnesota’s rough water landing in the future. But I had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco last weekend to conduct an interview for my book project…
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Mapping new world, new climate
We learn in history class about the search for the fabled Northwest Passage. This coveted sea route between the East Indies and Europe promised untold riches to explorers and traders of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. They searched the Great Lakes, cut inland through Lake Vermilion, forging West. Always these aquatic prospectors crashed headlong…
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Lake Superior generates cold wind, clean beer
Duluth brags about its local beer. Maybe too much. But brewers and scientists alike suggest that Lake Superior water really does aid the process of beermaking. Dan Kraker recently filed a story on this topic for Minnesota Public Radio. He talks to several local brewers who swear by the pure water available to them in…
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LIVE: First major debate in Minnesota’s 8th District
This morning the three candidates in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District face off in their first major debate. Democrat Joe Radinovich, Republican Pete Stauber and independent Ray “Skip” Sandman will talk issues. This brings welcome relief from a campaign marked by negative ads and low name identification. At 10 a.m., the Duluth Chamber of Commerce and…
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Crowd questions Mesabi Metallics in tense meeting
Hundreds packed the Nashwauk Township Community Center Monday night to ask questions of Gov. Mark Dayton, state officials and the CEO of Mesabi Metallics. The governor called the town hall meeting after months of local criticism. A proposal to build a new mine on the site of the long defunct Butler Taconite site once carried…
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DNR confirms Zebra mussels in Pokegama Lake chain
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed Monday it found invasive zebra mussels in the Blandin Reservoir along the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids. That means that several waters connected to the reservoir now enter the infested waters designation. They include: Lake Pokegama Jay Gould Lake Little Jay Gould Lake the Mississippi River from Lake…