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How many economic collapses will it take?
I drove to work this morning past more evidence of our zombie economy. There’s an electronic billboard along the Highway 169 as you go through Hibbing. It’s one of those low res, pixelated types, not as sharp as the ones you see along Twin Cities highways. Kind of like the difference between a 60-inch rear…
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Super Bowl bread and circuses
“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.” ~Roman poet Juvenal, circa 100 A.D.…
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See film of President Calvin Coolidge in Hibbing
The Mitchell Yards Project has put together a truly wonderful step back in time. I first saw this on Perfect Duluth Day. I’m not above link-jacking about a topic so close to my wheelhouse. Below is film footage of President Calvin Coolidge’s famous 1928 visit to Hibbing. We see the famously concise Republican president touring…
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Slide on up to Aurora for Saturday’s show!
In a short time I’ll be making my way across the Mesabi Iron Range to Aurora and Palo as I prepare for this Saturday’s Great Northern Radio Show. If you’d like to see the show live, perhaps after a day of Laskiainen fun in Palo, you need to be seated at the auditorium in Aurora…
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Nashwauk mayor Ben DeNucci enters 6A race
Nashwauk Mayor Ben DeNucci announced his candidacy for the DFL nomination for House of Representatives in District 6A on the central Iron Range. DeNucci is the owner of DeNucci’s Saloon in downtown Nashwauk and Keewatin Auto Repair in nearby Keewatin, where he also works. DeNucci made his announcement in a Crystal Dey story in the Hibbing Daily Tribune.…
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Iron Range woes on the national stage
It’s always fun to watch what happens when reporters from national publications come to the Iron Range to do major stories. Movers and shakers whisper in low tones about their possible motives, while others clamber for their one chance at being quoted in a paper someone actually reads (maybe?). The results vary, but this time…
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Iron Range musher wins fourth Beargrease
Nathan Schroeder, a Warba native who lives near Chisholm, won his fourth John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon early this morning when his team crossed the finish line near Billys Bar in Rice Lake, just north of Duluth. Jason Campeau of Alberta finished second, while defending champion Ryan Anderson of Ray took third. Schroeder won in…
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Lost special session only one of Range’s problems
Laid-off Iron Range miners will have to wait until the late start of the legislative session this March to see if the legislature will act to extend their unemployment benefits. GOP House Speaker Kurt Daudt announced Tuesday that his caucus would not support Gov. Mark Dayton’s call for a special session to aid miners displaced by a global…
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Laskiainen 2016: the flax and the furious
(The complete Laskiainen schedule is at the bottom of this post) The winter doldrums of Northern Minnesota now roll over us with workmanlike routine. Don hats and gloves. Scrape the windshield. Warm up the car. Walk like a penguin. Repeat. Perhaps small comfort, but true the same, is how for millennia these same cold squalls…
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‘Pro-union’ Republican Farnsworth enters 6A race
On Friday, Republican Rob Farnsworth of Hibbing entered the House 6A race to succeed Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing). He’ll seek the GOP endorsement at the Feb. 9 local convention. Farnsworth described himself as a “pro-union” Republican, who cites his family connection to the iron mining industry. “I want nothing more than to see this region…
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Busy Hibbing intersection to get roundabout
One of the reasons the Highway 53 bridge project garners so much attention is that, for Iron Rangers, everything that happens on Highway 53 matters. It’s one of the two major highways that connects the band of communities that comprise the Range. The other major Iron Range highway is 169. Though also listed as a…
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New Quack City: giant rubber duck headed for Duluth
Tall Ships Duluth 2016 will be held Aug. 18-21 in the International Port of Duluth, Minnesota. Real, fully-functional wooden masted sailing ships that replicate historical vessels will dock at Duluth for tours, rides and historical interpretation. These are always huge events, drawing hundreds of thousands to Duluth at arguably the most beautiful time of year…
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Cliffs to close Empire, move production to Eveleth
Odds of United Taconite in Eveleth reopening this spring took a big jump today after Cliffs Natural Resources announced it would be closing its Empire Mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. From UpperMichigan Source: The Empire Mine will permanently close this year. That could mean over 500 employees losing their jobs. Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco…
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Steelworker Mark Larson joins 6A DFL race
Mark Larson announced late yesterday that he’ll run for the DFL nomination for House of Representatives in the central Iron Range 6A district. Larson is a Steelworker at Minntac who lives north of Chisholm. He’s also a woodworker, a former associate pastor at Hibbing Alliance Church and married father of three. Larson lists four major issues in…
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Teacher Julie Sandstede enters 6A race
Julie Sandstede, a music teacher who lives in Hibbing and teaches in Virginia, is the first candidate to announce for the House 6A DFL nomination. The central Iron Range seat is open due to Rep. Carly Melin’s Jan. 14 announcement that she will not seek re-election. Sandstede made her announcement in today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune.…