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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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Cliffs CEO defies global trends, predicts strong 2016
In today’s earnings report, one in which earnings were less than expected, the CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources said that he sees the domestic iron ore business turning around later in 2016. Lourenco Goncalves said Iron Range mines at Northshore Mining and United Taconite in Eveleth would stay closed through March, but would reopen after that.…
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Range economic talk needs focus on future, not past
It’s been interesting reading the responses to my recent post about the Highway 53 bridge. On one hand, we have a question about an expensive bridge and its place in our infrastructure planning for the future. But really, like most things related to mining, it quickly becomes a litmus test on your perspective toward the…
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Iron Range Rep. Carly Melin won’t seek re-election
Today State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) announced that she would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives. Her announcement was a surprise to many, but those in politics knew the challenges she faced in balancing her job as a lawyer in Hibbing with a young family and legislative service. Melin won a special election to…
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Iron Range lessons from Mars
Every time NASA beams down new pictures from Mars we are reminded how much this desolate planet resembles an Iron Range taconite mine. The red landscape. Pits like craters. Dumps like dunes. Yet, every time commodities prices tumble in topsy-turvy global trade we are also reminded that economic survival here can seem just as difficult…
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The hope and woes of Iron Range special session
Before Friday, chances for a special session to address expiring unemployment benefits for laid-off Iron Range miners seemed bleak. Today, state leaders express more optimism. Nevertheless, with the clock ticking, legislative leaders have very little time to plan before some Iron Range miners will lose their benefits. At issue is the fact that Minnesota’s legislative session…
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MinnesotaBrown’s Top Posts of 2015
Each year, my top posts are usually a hodgepodge of Northern Minnesota interests. Sometimes, however, they present a real trend. That’s certainly the case this year as my posts about troubles in Northern Minnesota’s mining industry and related musings dominated my annual list. More on that below. Before we dive into the specifics, let me again…
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My Christmas story in the Star Tribune
Merry Christmas, dear reader. I’m very proud to share this piece I wrote for the Star Tribune, which runs today as part of their “10,000 Takes” essay series. It’s a Christmas story, but much more than that. In fact, I’ve never written anything as personal as this piece, certainly not for a large publication. I’m a little…
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IRRRB OKs major Itasca broadband project
Today, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board approved a $1.25 million matching grant for the Paul Bunyan Communication broadband project in Itasca County. The funding secures a project that will connect 1,250 households, 3,500 people and up to 100 small businesses with service as fast as 1GB/second. The IRRRB vote was 7-1, with Sen.…
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LIVE BLOG: MN House 3A Special Election today
Today voters head to the polls in Minnesota District 3A. This district is the state’s largest geographic House seat sprawling across Koochiching, northern and eastern St. Louis, most of Lake and all of Cook counties. This is a special election to replace the late Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake), who died last summer. Polls will…
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Talking Iron Range woes on MPR
This morning at 11 I’ll be on Minnesota Public Radio News with Tom Weber talking about the economic slump that has hit the Iron Range mining industry. Other guests include Tony Barrett, an economics professor at St. Scholastica in Duluth, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk of Cook. I’ve written about the downturn in the iron ore…
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Everybody wants to save the Range
I can’t stand this indecision Married with a lack of vision Everybody wants to rule the world Say that you’ll never never never never need it One headline why believe it? Everybody wants to rule the world ~ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears So, that’s the tune, only try it…
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Is this the 1980s again on the Iron Range?
I grew up in the 1980s on a junkyard just a few miles south of Eveleth Taconite. Growing up on a junkyard is probably the best way to understand the things humans build, sell, use and discard. So let’s consider a new car. I’ve only ever bought one brand new car fresh off the lot. It…
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Magnetation warns union of plant shutdown in 2016
Today, Magnetation announced it has warned its union that it will likely shut down one of its Iron Range iron concentrate plants on or after Jan. 31, 2016. Fifty More than 160 employees could be laid off or otherwise affected for longer than six months. Magnetation, based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, is a scram mining operation on the…