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House 6A candidate decries lobbyist influence
An Iron Range DFL primary usually creates sparks, but until Friday the House 6A DFL contest had been remarkably quiet. One letter to the editor even complained that the candidates seemed too similar to make a decision. The race features four DFL candidates seeking to replace Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing), including Nashwauk Mayor Ben DeNucci, teacher Julie…
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Midsummer festival at Mesaba Co-op Park
This weekend, the living vestige of Iron Range history known as Mesaba Co-op Park holds its 87th annual Midsummer Festival. The park, located near Cherry east of Hibbing on North Star Lake off Highway 37, was built by Finnish-Americans in 1929. The Midsummer Festival includes fun for all ages, music, food, storytelling, outdoor activities and more…
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Mt. Iron-Buhl OKs $29 million school
UPDATE: On Tuesday, May 3, Mountain Iron-Buhl voters approved the bond referendum, paving the way for the new school proposal to move forward. The original piece, published May 2 follows: Voters in the Mountain Iron-Buhl school district will decide Tuesday on whether to accept a $29 million plan to build a new high school on Highway 169.…
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Hakly plans House 6A write-in campaign
Steven Hakly of Iron has announced the unusual decision to seek the District 6A House of Representatives seat as a write-in candidate. Hakly, 59, is a union equipment operator and former Marine. “I’ve put myself behind the 8 ball right off the bat A write-in candidate! What the hell am I thinking?” wrote Hakly in…
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DFLer Mike Thompson joins crowded 6A race
Mike Thompson, a DFLer from Cherry, announced in today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune that he will run for the House 6A seat being vacated by State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) this fall. Thompson is a car salesman who works at the Hibbing Chrysler Center. Though it’s not clear how many candidates plan to honor the DFL…
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Super Bowl done, now for superb owls at Sax-Zim Bog
The 9th Annual Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival starts Friday, Feb. 12 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. It provides serious and casual birders alike a unique opportunity to see great gray owls, northern owls, pine grosbeaks and many other wintering species. The IRRRB’s Lee Bloomquist published an article on the Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival…
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Oracle breaks winds of change in 2016
The gas burner spews a flame of blue, red, orange and yellow into the ghostly white sphere above. I’m trying to type on an old manual typewriter, no easy task on a hot flying monstrosity operated by a muskrat. “Gnnaaaaagh!” shouts the muskrat. Steamy breath in cold air, his jaunty captain’s hat adding authority to…
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A tale of two junkyards
I was raised in the 1980s and early ’90s on a family-owned junkyard along the storied Iron Range Highway 7 on the edge of the Sax-Zim Bog. Two trailer homes rested upon these swampy grounds: one filled to the ceiling with hubcaps and the other which housed my family. The steam cloud from Eveleth Taconite filled…
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Rare moose sighting near Cherry
My social media feed has been abuzz with pictures and tales of moose patrolling Highway 37 near my ancestral lands of Cherry, Minnesota. The Mesabi Daily News reports this morning that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued a warning to motorists to be on alert for two young female moose in the area just…
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Journey to the Center of the Sax-Zim Bog
Like a gnarled oak, the world below the Iron Range is as complicated as the one above. This becomes clear riding underground in the DrillRover 5000X, boring a bullet’s highway from the long forgotten I. Tripplarbee underground mine south of Eveleth into the moist morass of the Sax-Zim bog. The DrillRover 5000X is a curious…
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In a small Iron Range town, the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ blinks shut
I can still hear the tinny speakers perched above Tommy Koskela Memorial Field at my alma mater of Cherry High School. A cassette tape pulsates the floppy, weather-worn woofers, creating the approximate sound of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” This was the sound of Friday nights in the fall through my teen years, both as a…
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Mesaba Park arts camp is June 16-19
The Mesaba Co-op Park, one of the unique vestiges of Iron Range labor history, will be holding its 20th Annual Northstar Arts Camp, “Poetry in the Park” this summer from June 16-19. If you’re interested in a cool arts and outdoor activity for 8-14 year old kids, check this out: Registrations are being accepted for the 20th Annual…
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Bird, Bird, Bird (Bird is the Word) in Sax-Zim Bog
Starting today, Friday, Feb. 14, and running through Sunday, Feb. 16, the Friends of the Sax-Zim Bog will be holding their 7th annual Sax-Zim Birding Festival, based out of Meadowlands, Minnesota. The Sax-Zim Bog is a mighty marshland found just south of the Mesabi Iron Range and north of Duluth. It was once the basin…
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Down in the Boondocks: Author Kate Ingrid Paul
Kate Ingrid Paul is a fellow Sax-Zim Bog spawn who, like me, found the experience worth writing about. She’s got a new book out entitled “Memoirs from Down in the Boondocks: A Spiritual Journey through Poem and Short Story.” Paul was featured in last Sunday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. Here’s an excerpt from her talk with Tony…
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The Bobby Aro Story airs tonight on PBS North
UPDATE: I watched The Bobby Aro story on WDSE last night and it was well worth it. If you were a Bobby Aro fan in the day you’ll be amazed at the memories, but even if you’re younger, like me, you’ll hear a story about a radio star with a compelling personal story who did…