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Minnesota’s Haley Bonar does NPR ‘Tiny Desk’ concert
Minnesota’s own Haley Bonar performed an NPR “Tiny Desk” concert this month, which was shared this week on NPR’s website. The popular series features up-and-coming musicians playing 2-3 songs on or near the music desk at NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. NPR’s Stephen Thompson previews Bonar’s induction into the pantheon of Tiny Desk participants: The first time…
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Hibbing elementary school mulls future of gun range
In one of those “only on the Iron Range” headlines, today’s top banner on the Hibbing Daily Tribune reads “Lincoln Elementary gun range may close.” The story isn’t that there’s a gun range in an elementary school. It’s been there for 60 years, and other Range schools have gun ranges too. The story is that after all…
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Candidates debate in northern MN
With only a month to go before the Nov. 8 general election, folks are finally tuning into their local elections after 18 months of hardcore bloviation about the U.S. presidential race. Here in Northern Minnesota, legislative, city council and school board forums will take place over the next few weeks. These are often the best way to learn about…
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Sunny outlook for Northern Minnesota … too sunny
Who doesn’t love the sun? The sun lights the world, warms the atmosphere, and keeps Earth from hurtling into the cold vacuum of space. It’s neither the biggest star in the universe, nor the most interesting. The sun is just a working class star that keeps the gas burning 24/7. Sure, the sun can cause…
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Magnetation to shut down operations
A U.S. bankruptcy court ruling today released AK Steel from its contract with Magnetation, effectively ending the Grand Rapids-based mining company. Efforts by Magnetation officials to find a buyer for the project before this outcome were unsuccessful. Business North reported this week that Magnetation’s chief prospective buyer walked away from the project. The company will now proceed with closing Plant…
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Warming up to cold fury of ‘Viking Chant’
The Minnesota Vikings are 4-0, defying expectations after injuries knocked out their two biggest star players. Powered by a suffocating defense and a scrappy attitude, the purple and gold offer genuine hope to beleaguered Minnesota sports fans in 2016. This, even though our skittish kicker is a Chekov pistol waiting to fire, wide and to…
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Chisholm has a clown problem
The local paper doesn’t issue “Breaking News” alerts very often. Mine closures, fires and meth busts, mostly. But on Wednesday night the Hibbing Daily Tribune issued a breaking news alert about a clown. What’s the big deal? Well, the video below, which originated from a tweet by William Butkovich, shows someone dressed as a clown throwing around a…
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‘Makers’ in the STEM spotlight on the Iron Range
The Range Engineering Council will host its annual Iron Range STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Showcase this Friday, Oct. 7, at the Hibbing Memorial Building. Among the exhibitors will be Iron Range Makerspace, the new company seeking to create space for creative people to build and design things using sophisticated technology that few garage tinkers…
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Newsweek: Trump favored foreign steel in his projects
In this week’s edition, Kurt Eichenwald writes about a Newsweek investigation of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s construction projects. The magazine found that Trump favored cheaper Chinese steel and aluminum in two of his three major recent projects. Trump, the candidate, has attracted support from many former Democratic strongholds across the Rust Belt, including here on…
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Time runs out for Northland Building
In a follow-up to an earlier story, St. Louis County will demolish the historic Northland Building in Virginia, Minnesota, next year, according to this Jerry Burnes report in the Mesabi Daily News. The building is owned by St. Louis County, which seeks to replace the facility with a new office complex. Attempts to find new tenants or a new…
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Milford Mine now a regional park
In 1924, the Milford Mine near the Cuyuna Iron Range town of Crosby, Minnesota, was the site of the worst mining disaster in state history. Forty-one miners died when a lake flooded the underground mine. I’ve written about the story before, and we explored the history in the Crosby edition of my Great Northern Radio…
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Sanders, Nolan to campaign in Duluth Tuesday
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) will campaign with U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) in Duluth on Tuesday evening. The pair will also make their pitch for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to Northern Minnesotans. Sanders carried Minnesota and Nolan’s district handily at last March’s Minnesota caucuses in his unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination. Sanders, who has since…
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Grandpa has something to tell Grandma
Gray skies hang low over the idled Keewatin Taconite plant. I meet my grandpa, Marv Johnson, at the very busy Sinclair gas station. We’re on a secret mission. “Too crowded,” he says. I peek around the corner at the gas station’s only table and chairs. Several townsfolk stare back like whitetail deer. Grandpa’s already back…
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Mark Cuban on American automation
One of the more disturbing thoughts about the 2016 presidential election is how little we know about what’s actually going to happen after it’s done. Hillary Clinton could win, but how will she break the congressional logjam that vexed her more popular boss President Obama? No landslide will help her. Donald Trump could win, but how will…
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Bob Dylan’s ironwork built to last
Bob Dylan is only a few years younger than my Grandpa Brown. In fact, Robert Zimmerman grew up just down the street from Pops in Hibbing, Minnesota. Pops would have been one of the tough kids revving engines past the Zimmerman place on 25th Street, perhaps prompting young Bobby to look down from his bedroom…