One of my life’s most interesting relationships has been with the word, “journalism.” I’ve always considered myself a journalist, even after leaving daily newspapers 21 years ago. But the nature of that relationship changed with time and trends. In college during the late 1990s, our journalism professor bemoaned “citizen journalism,” a reference to the idea… Read More →
Talking Biden, bridges, Duluth, flags and fame
January 29, 2024 by Leave a Comment
I was on WCCO Radio early Monday morning talking about a host of northern Minnesota issues. President Biden was in town last Thursday touting more than $1 billion in funding to replace the Blatnik Bridge connecting Duluth and Superior. So was actor Timothée Chalamet, who visited Duluth and Hibbing to research Bob Dylan for an… Read More →
The old roads still taken
August 12, 2023 by 1 Comment
Travelers from Duluth to the Iron Range learn the rhythm of concrete on Highway 53. Staccato thumps mark time and distance between homes and cabins, town and country, and the consequential journey of small town patients to Duluth’s big hospitals. I’ve known this road all my life, and yet it is only one version of… Read More →
Northeastern Minnesota seat shuffle shows how it is when nobody knows your name
February 21, 2022 by 3 Comments
My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is up today. Entitled “Shifting lines and changing times on the big lake they call Gitchi Gummi,” this piece explores redistricting outcomes here in northern Minnesota. Specifically I take a look at the expanding geography and unique political culture of the Eighth Congressional District. For instance, this observation:… Read More →
Love, hate, and a year of Bob Dylan
May 23, 2021 by 11 Comments
EDITOR’S NOTE: I wrote another piece about Dylan’s 80th Birthday for the Minnesota Reformer a few days ago. That piece was designed for a broader audience, while I aimed this one at a more local readership for the Mesabi Tribune. It was a surprisingly fun exercise to approach the same subject with a different goal… Read More →
To think or not to think
January 10, 2021 by 3 Comments
For all its horrors, the pandemic allowed many Americans to finally experience what teachers do for a living. It’s certainly useful for parents to know that teachers aren’t just babysitters. Rather, the work teachers do at all levels remains complex and important. However, the pandemic has also taught us where modern society falls short when… Read More →
Iron Range becomes ‘living political meme’ in 2020 race
October 6, 2020 by Leave a Comment
As I’ve written already, the Iron Range finds itself at the center of the 2020 campaign these days. This happened mostly because of the attention being paid to us by President Trump. But does Trump really have all the answers for the Range or is this just part of a symbolic gambit in his “turn… Read More →
Duluth senate primary will document changing DFL coalition
August 11, 2020 by 11 Comments
It’s primary election day in Minnesota. And while there are some interesting races around the state — notably the 5th Congressional District DFL race for Congress in Minneapolis — only one merits significant attention here in the North. In the State Senate District 7 DFL contest Sen. Erik Simonson of Duluth faces a spirited challenge… Read More →
Don’t call it a mall
August 9, 2020 by 1 Comment
I once hung out in Iron Range shopping malls for fun. I didn’t even need to “get my steps.” No, I went to the mall to meet friends, buy Vanilla Ice cassettes, and sip something called “cappuccino” while surfing this new thing called “the internet” at a locally-owned mall coffee shop. It was very exciting… Read More →
Media mergers in northern Minnesota and beyond
July 14, 2020 by 3 Comments
By now you may have seen the last column I wrote for the Hibbing Daily Tribune and the first that I penned for the newly merged Mesabi Tribune. Then last Friday I did a couple interviews about the merger of the Hibbing Daily Tribune and Mesabi Daily News. First I went on the KAXE Morning… Read More →
