The tradition of Iron Range public education excellence once required no explanation. Most local kids attended grand, palatial high schools with theaters, pools, cutting-edge science labs and vocational training facilities. Range superintendents recruited the best college education graduates in the state to teach the sons and daughters of miners. The children learned about boundless opportunities… Read More →
Public talk to explore past, future of Iron Range schools
July 11, 2024 by 2 Comments
I know it’s summer vacation, but here’s the deal: I love school. I loved preschool. They had this crane that used magnets to pick up blocks. I loved kindergarten. I learned to read early, which felt like a superpower. This continued all the way through college. Sitting in lectures for classes my advisor put me… Read More →
Rich town, poor town
February 25, 2023 by 3 Comments
A century ago, Iron Range communities like Hibbing, Virginia and Eveleth drew the ire of conservative business and political minds for their lavish spending on public works and education. Hibbing even boasted the nickname “the Richest Village on Earth” for its ability to levy enormous tax revenues off of the unfathomable wealth of nearby… Read More →
Iron Range 4th of July returns with gusto in 2021
June 22, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Today I present one of my favorite annual features at MinnesotaBrown: the annual Fourth of July weekend lineup of Iron Range regional parades, street dances and fireworks displays. I’ve only been posting my newspaper columns this year as I finish my book. But I just had to come out of my book-writing cave to put… Read More →
The world changed and it’s not changing back
June 13, 2021 by 8 Comments
The iron mines run hot. Houses sell fast. Cars and trucks fly off the dealership lots, to the point where some customers must wait to buy one at all. Anyone raised amid the booms and busts of the Mesabi Iron Range would recognize this as a boom. And yet, dissatisfaction oozes from local dialogue. The… Read More →
Competitive legislative races slated across Northland
June 7, 2020 by 3 Comments
NOTE: This post appears in today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune as part of a news sharing arrangement. Generational change. A historically contentious presidential race. Not one, but two major parties devoted to legalizing marijuana. These factors and more will influence several interesting northern Minnesota legislative races that formed after last Tuesday’s filing deadline. Though the presidential… Read More →
With final permit, PolyMet project enters ‘prove it’ stage
March 22, 2019 by 19 Comments
Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the last required federal permit for PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. With this permit, the company now enters the next phase of its development: proving that it has the capital and ability to execute its mine plan. Local news and Northern Minnesota social media… Read More →
Iron Range DFL legislative primary pits Lislegard against Hainey
August 9, 2018 by 2 Comments
With so many races in the 2018 Minnesota primary, I’ve not spent much time analyzing the only legislative primary on the Mesabi Iron Range. It’s an interesting contest that will test some of my earlier theories about Iron Range politics in a new more volatile electoral environment. DFLers in House District 6B head to the… Read More →
Northern Lights brings Barber of Seville to Iron Range
July 3, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Each summer the Northern Lights Music Festival brings a fully staged classical opera to stages across Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. This summer, festival founder Veda Zupancic and her company bring Rossini’s Italian comic opera “The Barber of Seville.” The festival also backs chamber orchestra, instrumental trios and kids programming across the region. Events kick off… Read More →
Summer 2018 brings color to Range communities
June 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
I drive through Nashwauk, Minnesota, most days. It’s a nice little town, but a little worn down. That’s not unusual for the cities of the western Mesabi Iron Range. These boom towns bloomed in a white pine wilderness a century ago, each at the mouth of a specific iron mine. Now that mining is more… Read More →
