-
U rejects, rejoice! Rural Minnesota is probably fine
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the University of Minnesota system is exploring strategies to build enrollment statewide. The main University of Minnesota campus in the Twin Cities remains popular, constituting 71 percent of the system’s enrollment. They even have to turn away students from elite programs. But to reach its goals, the Board…
-
Build steel bridges, not steel cages
We’ve outlived our immigrant ancestors. Imprints of hungrier times remain etched on our communities, but they are easy to ignore. The fight for workplace safety and fair pay. The demand for free public education. The streets and amenities built to last beyond the mines on the edge of town. The shared humanity of the many…
-
German TV station explores Bob Dylan’s Hibbing roots
Last fall the German/French art network ARTE-TV visited Hibbing, Minnesota, as part of a “Bob Dylan’s America” series exploring the roots of the erstwhile Robert Zimmerman, Hibbing Class of 1959. Host Wolfgang Niedecken interviewed me for local color up at the former Hull Rust Mahoning Mine View in North Hibbing. You can view the episode…
-
President Trump to hold Duluth rally June 20
President Trump will hold a June 20 rally in Duluth, Minn., to sell his policies and stump for Republican candidates. The rally will be held at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center at 6:30 p.m. June 20. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. UPDATE: The rally has been moved to AMSOIL Arena in the DECC…
-
Activist Sorensen joins Minnesota 8th District race
Yesterday, Minnesota media reported on numerous tales of political intrigue as the state and federal candidate filing period closed. Here in the North, we learned that we’d have an unexpected Republican primary in the Eighth Congressional District, but we also got another candidate in the crowded DFL primary. Progressive activist Soren C. Sorensen of Bemidji…
-
Welty jumps in 8th District GOP race
Former Duluth School Board member Harry Welty jumped into the Eighth District race for Congress as a Republican Monday. Welty, who has run for office as a Republican and as an independent in the past, will compete with GOP-endorsed St. Louis County Commissioner Pete Stauber for the Republican nomination. The Eighth District represents one of…
-
Summer brings 2018 Duluth-Superior Film Fest
The Duluth-Superior Film Festival opens Wednesday with a movie called “Virginia, Minnesota.” The film’s title refers to a character, not the Iron Range town. Nevertheless, this Minnesota-made film represents the creative spirit of this annual celebration of cinema here at the head of the Great Lakes. First, “Virginia, Minnesota” opens the festival with a special…
-
Duluth, Hibbing ready for 2018 Dylan celebrations
This May 24, Bob Dylan turns 77. His twin hometowns of Duluth and Hibbing, Minnesota, prepare to celebrate with live music, tours and cultural activities. From May 19-27, the Duluth Dylan Festival brings something for fans of Dylan and the arts every day. The Hibbing Dylan Project also offers activities on May 19. Some of…
-
Remembering Ray Szmanda, the ‘Menards Guy’
Ray Szmanda, known to TV viewers of the Upper Midwest as “The Menards Guy,” died Sunday according to his son. He was 91. Growing up in the Duluth, Minnesota, TV market during the 1980s and ’90s meant watching this man sell home improvement tools and materials during nearly every local TV break. It wasn’t just…
-
Up in Smoke: Superior disaster reminds why we watch industry
Just six days ago the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin could have been blown to smithereens. A billowing fire engulfed the Husky Oil Refinery in Superior, encroaching just 150 feet from a tank of hydrogen fluoride. An explosion of that tank would have atomized Superior and released a deadly toxic cloud for…
-
Notable Iron Range mutant making whiskey now
In so many ways, Bob Dylan is a Northern Minnesota mutant. And I say that with respect, in the evolutionary sense. Born in Duluth, raised on the Mesabi Iron Range, Dylan shot out of this place like a rocket almost 60 years ago. You know the rest. Dylan might never be like the kids he…
-
2018 Homegrown Music Festival runs April 29-May 6
This Sunday, April 29, the Homegrown Music Festival opens in Duluth, Minnesota. This year marks 20 years of original music in the Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas. The Duluth sound, if you believe such a thing exists, was either created at or amplified by Homegrown. Duluth manages to support hundreds of acts. Full time…
-
Refinery explosion rocks Superior, injures several
Today an explosion rocked the Husky oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, shaking the whole city and causing several casualties. We’re still awaiting word on the total number of those hurt and the severity of their injuries. Already, this might be one of the worst industrial disasters in recent memory for this blue collar region. UPDATE:…
-
Sam Cook retires from Duluth News Tribune
Starting tomorrow, the outdoors page at the Duluth News Tribune will look a little different. Longtime outdoors editor and columnist Sam Cook will retire Friday, April 27. Cook held that post 38 years. Sam Cook is a gifted storyteller. His grasp of details makes any story he writes a portal into whatever forest or lake…
-
Phifer drops out of Eighth District race
Leah Phifer announced today she would not seek the DFL nomination for Congress in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. Phifer had lead all ten ballots at last Saturday’s MN-8 Convention in Duluth. “My goal, since first declaring my candidacy in October 2017, has always been to win the DFL endorsement, bring new voices to the table…