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DFL candidates debate Friday in Grand Rapids
This Friday I’ll moderate a DFL candidates forum at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids. All six announced DFL candidates for governor are scheduled to attend the debate, which begins at 7 p.m. The forum is free to the public and will be held at Chuckers Auditorium. Itasca Community Television (ICTV) will record and rebroadcast…
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The Hunt for Bob October
All this brisk autumn air reminds me of the first time I saw Bob Dylan perform at the DECC in Duluth on October 22, 1998. The show was an elaborate excuse for me to see my girlfriend from Hibbing after I had moved away from the Iron Range for college. She wasn’t as much of…
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Hibbing homecoming for Great Northern Radio Show
This Saturday, Oct. 14, my Great Northern Radio Show broadcasts live from the Hibbing Community College Theater from 5-7 p.m. on Northern Community Radio. This is a “home” show for me, our first time back to the place where we broadcast the Great Northern Radio Show pilot episode in 2011. (I wrote more about the…
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Leah Phifer announces DFL challenge in MN-8
This summer, national security analyst Leah Phifer of Isanti drove more than 7,000 miles of Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District on her motorcycle to meet voters and decide if she should run for Congress. Today, Phifer announced she would seek the DFL endorsement for the MN-8 seat, challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan of Crosby. Though…
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The pasty, perfect food above ground or below
Minnesota’s Iron Range gets plenty of attention for its ethnic foods. Melting pot. Immigrants. Grandma’s kitchen. Yada yada. But you’ve got to reckon with the fact that it’s a lot easier to nosh on a can of pizza-flavored Pringles at the gas station than it is to get your hands on some halfway decent krumkaka.…
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DeNucci, Venema advance in Itasca Co. primary
Ben DeNucci and Casey Venema advanced from a low-turnout Nov. 3 primary election to the Dec. 12 special election for the open District 5 Itasca County Board seat. DeNucci, the mayor of Nashwauk, won 757 votes to 449 for Venema, a Lawrence Township supervisor. Roger Weber of Nashwauk Township finished with 142 votes. The story…
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Great Northern Radio Show returns to Hibbing Oct. 14
On Saturday, Oct. 14, I bring my Great Northern Radio Show back to the site of our first broadcast. This show at Hibbing Community College represents our sixth anniversary of doing live radio variety shows from small towns and forgotten places around Minnesota. We’ve got a lot to talk about in Hibbing. The mine is…
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Gov. Dayton OKs Chippewa Capital Partners plan
One way or another, a long awaited new taconite mine and iron briquette mill near Nashwauk, Minnesota, puts new meaning in the old phrase “take a slow boat to China.” On Saturday, Gov. Mark Dayton said he was satisfied with the financial package put together by Chippewa Capital Partners, the new owner of the former…
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Learning to love swamps, even the dismal ones
Another northern Minnesota fall brings me to the family hunting shack in Greaney, a scrubby stretch of land near Cook and Orr. Most folks would get there on Highway 53, but I live north of Nashwauk. That means I get there by cutting across the back roads of Itasca and Koochiching counties, through the ghost…
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Iron Range STEM showcase Friday, Oct. 6
This Friday, Oct. 6, the Iron Range STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Showcase will again welcome area 6th graders and the general public to explore concepts and careers in science. First, during the school day, more than 2,000 sixth graders from 28 northeastern Minnesota schools will take part in more than 60 interactive activities…
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Delays to steel tariffs show complicated problem
In the past few days, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross signaled an indefinite delay in a long-anticipated decision on whether to impose stiff new tariffs on foreign steel. Ross told Bloomberg News that the matter will now be pushed back until after the federal tax reform bill. That process is just getting started and at least…
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Tuesday special election for Itasca County board
This Tuesday, Oct. 3, voters will select from three candidates in the District 5 Itasca County board primary election. The top two will advance to a Dec. 12 general election in the race to replace Commissioner Mark Mandich, who resigned due to health issues earlier this year. The Scenic Range News Forum previewed the race…
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Young Range professionals seek to ‘Be the Change’
The Iron Range young professionals organization ReGen will launch a month of “Be the Change” events in October. The kickoff is Thursday, Oct. 5 at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm. That program features the Theater of Public Policy, a comedy act that blends good natured local and Minnesota political humor. Here’s how ReGen describes…
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Northern Minnesota fall colors in full swing
It’s time for the annual foliage report in Northern Minnesota. Autumn means fall colors, which typically arrive here in early September and remain (weather permitting) until mid-October. Deep, rich colors pop a little ahead of schedule here in Northern Minnesota, particularly in the woods just north of the Iron Range where I live. But wherever you’re traveling…
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Moving mountains for an Iron Range future
Soon the Hull Rust Mine View in historic North Hibbing will be closed for good, set to reopen next year at a new location to the east. Shortly thereafter Hibbing Taconite will blow to bits the very mountain of taconite on which the viewing stand sits to send the iron ore on its way to…