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Hockey’s iconic Hanson Brothers are ‘home’ on the Range
The Hanson Brothers — real life brothers and pro hockey veterans — are practically legend for anyone who follows hockey in Northern Minnesota. The cult classic “Slap Shot,” starring Paul Newman, cast Jeff, Steve and Jack Carlson to play themselves … along with Dave Hanson, an actor cast to replace Jack when he was called up…
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Magnetation to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Last week we reported the financial woes of Magnetation, the scram mining and iron ore processing company based on the western Mesabi Iron Range. Their partner and chief customer AK Steel declined to continue putting money into the company and Magnetation began working with financial advisors to keep the company afloat. Rumors were grim, to…
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Dire challenges ahead for Magnetation
The scram mining company Magnetation appears headed for a make or break moment in coming months after partner AK Steel said Tuesday it would not put any more money into the company. Right now Magnetation processes waste rock at old Mesabi Iron Range mine sites into iron pellets that feed AK Steel’s operations in Indiana.…
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New Iron Range plant produces ore ahead of schedule
Fans of “Star Wars” might appreciate this reference: The scram mining and iron producer Magnetation announced on New Year’s Eve that its Plant 4 production facility is quite operational. Just like the Death Star in “Return of the Jedi,” the ongoing completion of construction wouldn’t deter the timely execution of the company’s strategy in 2015. A strained metaphor perhaps (Magnetation…
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Rock and a hard place, change coming to the Iron Range
Some of life’s biggest myths are that 30 years is a long time, that today doesn’t matter, and that anything is permanent. Here on Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, the lessons of change that come from digging out the ground beneath our very feet have been hard learned. But what’s learned is so easily forgotten after those paltry 30 years.…
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Report: Evidence of discrimination at Greenway school
Earlier this week I wrote a piece about the need for empathy amid racial discord on the Iron Range, mentioning the story of Isaiah Gatimu, a former Greenway student who faced racially-motivated harassment and later took his own life. The Scenic Range News Forum obtained a copy of the report from the Minnesota Department of…
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On the Range, Race and Healing
Race is one of the main variables of American life. This fact was written directly into our flawed Constitution more than two centuries ago, a truth demanding hard reckoning ever since. Sometimes it can be comfortable to pretend that race isn’t one of the main variables of life here in Northern Minnesota, however. This is an…
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A schoolhouse divided will not stand
Last week, the Nashwauk-Keewatin School Board voted to dissolve its shared services agreement with the Greenway School District on the western Mesabi Iron Range. Days later Greenway also backed away from most elements of the partnership. This marks the end of an experiment exposing many hard truths about the future of school and community collaboration on the Iron Range.…
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‘Red Ore Renaissance’ on the Iron Range
Magnetation continues to grow on the western Mesabi Iron Range. Gov. Mark Dayton named Thursday, May 22, “Red Ore Renaissance Day” in Minnesota. Last night, the company celebrated the ongoing construction of its fourth processing plant, turning piles of waste rock from early iron mining operations into quality iron concentrate for the production of steel. Here’s…
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Scenic Range NewsForum expands web presence
The Scenic Range NewsForum on the western Mesabi Iron Range recently launched its new website, a mobile-optimized site that tosses aside its clunky PDF reader-style predecessor. Along with this comes news that the Scenic snatched the low bid for becoming Itasca County’s newspaper of record, leaving the Grand Rapids Herald-Review to this painfully defensive story. As…
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Range mine extracts holiday spirit with clever video
One of the big 2013 success stories in northern Minnesota’s Iron Range has been Magnetation. The scram mining operation is hiring workers and turning over old mine dumps to extract iron with new technology. But, importantly, Magnetation’s recent holiday video shows that iron concentrate isn’t the only product Magnetation produces. Why, look, they’re helping out…
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Range town mergers could protect jobs, services
One of the under-reported outcomes of last Tuesday’s off-year local elections was the overwhelming vote by the northern Minnesota communities of Carlton and Thomson to merge. In local media, this was portrayed as the simple matter of tiny Thomson’s overworked mayor and staff. In practice, however, these towns are providing a blueprint for many small…
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Go west, young miner!
Today’s Duluth News Tribune explains a proposed new taconite plant between Coleraine and Grand Rapids. That’s right, I said Grand Rapids, the historic non-mining western edge of the Iron Range. Magnetation, a scram mining operation that’s worked along the western Mesabi iron formation, mostly near Keewatin and now Taconite, Minn., is looking ahead to its…