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Cliffs to unveil ‘Mustang’ pellet project at UTac
On Thursday, Cliffs Natural Resources breaks ground on its “mustang” pellet project at United Taconite in Eveleth. The $64 million investment coincides with the imminent shuttering of the Empire Mine in Michigan, and resulting demand for specialized iron ore pellets by Cliffs’ customer ArcelorMittal. The revival of United Taconite (still called by its old name, “EvTac,” by your average Iron…
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Range DFLers hurtle toward Tuesday’s 6A primary
It’s Primary Election Eve in Minnesota. Tuesday, Aug. 9, brings the statewide primary election, in which local candidate pools will be narrowed and parties will sort out their nomination battles for state and federal offices. Today I’ll analyze the only major Iron Range legislative primary: the House 6A race to succeed State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing).…
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Only time knows ‘truth’ of Great River
With more than 1,000 lakes and many rivers, Itasca remains one of Minnesota’s most watery counties. And like the old adage goes, “whiskey is for drinking, but water is for starting wars.” The word “Itasca” comes from the inner syllables of the Latin words “Veritas” and “Caput,” meaning “Truth” and “Head” of the Mississippi River.…
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Remembering the author and storyteller Jim Northrup
Jim Northrup was devastatingly funny. That means two things. He was a naturally funny writer and speaker, a gifted storyteller. But Northrup also used his humor to heal the devastation of mind, body and spirit. Northrup died Monday after battling cancer and other health ailments for the past couple years. If you’ve heard of Northrup, you’ve…
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Enbridge may drop Sandpiper pipeline
The controversial Sandpiper oil pipeline that would have cut across Northern Minnesota’s lakes region might be going down the drain. Enbridge, which sought to build the pipeline connecting Canadian shale oil supplies to a refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, is now working with a partner to buy into a different pipeline. Enbridge and Marathon Oil would…
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The man who saw the forest and the trees
Jack Rajala was a lumberman. He was the son of a lumberman. He was the father of a lumberman. Trees were his business, and he knew his business well. The Rajala company is one of the best known timber and lumber operations in Itasca County, and has been for generations. But that’s not the main reason I had…
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Researchers list ideas for Range economic resilience
Economic diversification on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range has been a hot topic ever since I learned how to spell those words, and surely long before that. The darnedest thing about the subject is that most folks will support the concept of diversification, but fewer will accept a role in making it happen. This is only amplified by what is,…
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‘Today Show’ highlights BWCA, mining debate
The debate over copper/nickel mining in Northern Minnesota reached national news this morning. The weekend edition of NBC’s “Today Show” profiled Dave and Amy Freeman. This Ely and Grand Marais couple have been living in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for more than 300 days. The Freemans started their year in the BWCA to…
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New bike park planned for Itasca County
A long, long time ago, humans arrived in Northern Minnesota on narrow, bumpy paths that wound through trees and around walls of ancient rock. It’s the future now. People look forward to the next big thing. In the future, what we want is … a narrow, bumpy path wound through trees and around walls of…
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Range mines catch a Super Mario star
If Iron Range mines were Super Mario, they’d be blinking while knocking off Goombas left and right. More on that below. This week brought quarterly earnings reports from the two biggest mining companies on Minnesota’s Iron Range, U.S. Steel and Cliffs Natural Resources. Both companies show significant improvement from a dismal 2015. Cliffs posted a profit…
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Ely’s State Theater to relight iconic marquee
The towns of the Iron Range stretch along a 135 mile line, each at one time a shining beacon of what a bustling industrial city would look like if it were instead a network of small towns. Like the fortunes of a Rust Belt city, the small towns of the Iron Range have mostly suffered…
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Hibbing disc golf course will survive mine expansion
When Hibbing Taconite announced it was expanding its mining footprint in May, most were relieved. Here was an Iron Range mine that, in the short run anyway, would avoid a shutdown. But there was a cost. The iconic North Hibbing mine view and Hibbing Disc Golf course would be blown to smithereens. The attractions will…
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Inside fundraising in House 6A Range DFL primary
Last week at the blog we dove into a debate over who funds Iron Range campaigns. At the time we didn’t have access to the first major campaign finance reports. Well, the Campaign Finance Board released those reports Tuesday morning. You can view them for yourself here. So let’s explore the fundraising for Northern Minnesota’s…
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Loggers, classic cars and blueberries, oh my!
We now wind into the “flurry of activity before we realize the leaves are already changing” part of our Northern Minnesota summer. It’s hot and time moves fast. On the western Mesabi, Grand Rapids holds its annual Weekend of Wheels car show and swap meet, an event I always find preferable to the county fairs. My…
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Sister Hazel headlines Merritt Days 2016
In recent years, the Iron Range city of Mountain Iron booked some hot act from the 1990s to headline its Merritt Days festival. This year is no exception, as the announced Aug. 13 act will be Sister Hazel. Now, Sister Hazel didn’t leap off the screen at me, either, until I looked them up and…