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‘If you want to predict the future, listen to the future’
Last week, students delivered informative speeches in my class at Hibbing Community College. One student spoke of the generational divide in how we communicate. He referred to Generation X, those of us born between 1965 and 1985, and said, “You know, like our parents.” Now, Gen Xers have been parents for some time. I’m 36.…
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It’s Iron Range week for state media
Looks like I picked a good week to take a few days off from the blog. State media are giving us plenty of Iron Range reading material. Today, of course, Minnesota Public Radio will hold its “Minnesota’s Iron Range: Ideas for the Future” forum at Hibbing Community College. The forum will take place from 6-8 p.m. in…
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Ideas at heart of MPR Iron Range forum
Every society has its elite. That might not seem possible here on the Iron Range, where ore dust still clings to old company houses and Mich Golden Light cans dot the ditches like poor man’s glitter. But even the Iron Range has its elite: the professional meeting-attenders, money-handlers and vote-collectors. They aren’t all bad people.…
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Embattled Hibbing school administrator resigns
Former Hibbing High School assistant principal Jac Fleming has resigned, according to a Tony Potter story in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Fleming was at the center of a major community controversy over his conduct with female students. The state human rights department released a finding of discrimination based on gender against Fleming earlier this year. Fleming…
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Powerful ‘What’s Left’ exhibit comes to Hibbing
The exhibit “What’s Left: Lives Touched by Suicide” will open at Hibbing Community College Monday and remain open throughout the month of April. This multimedia exhibit intends to create a proactive community dialogue about suicide and mental illness with a goal of reducing the stigma surrounding them. The exhibit will located in the main entrance…
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Breaking the code
In a March 27 op-ed in the Mesabi Daily News, Republican congressional candidate Stewart Mills argued that environmental regulations aimed at reducing the carbon emissions from coal is akin to a “war on ore.” “As your congressman, I will fight the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been weaponized by Democrats in the fight against safe…
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Let us see what we believe
When immigrants came to America, their first image of the new land was the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. This wasn’t just some green lady. She represented freedom and opportunity. She was all of America, welcoming those in need. The Statue of Liberty told a story that was happening in real time. She…
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Hibbing must right discrimination wrongs
What follows is more of an editorial, but one forwarded to advance a discussion. One of the most baffling stories on the Iron Range this year has been the sprawling saga of a Hibbing High School administrator found to have engaged in inappropriate and discriminatory behavior with female students. Last year, the administrator was fired…
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Secret Bob Dylan archive to be livin’ on Tulsa time
Today, the University of Tulsa and iconic musician Bob Dylan announced that a new archive of Dylan’s lyrics and papers would have a new home at the Oklahama college. The works will be housed not far from collection from that state’s famous son and Dylan’s early hero Woody Guthrie. The move comes as a surprise to many, for Dylan and…
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The front lines of democracy
Ever since control of the major parties was (at least partially) wrested from chain-smoking whiskey-soaked power brokers, Minnesotans have indicated their Presidential preference at caucuses. So what is a caucus? A caucus is a community meeting. Minnesota’s major parties hold them every two years in the late winter/early spring. Your caucus location is often, though…
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In union jacket, Bernie Sanders speaks in Hibbing
By Aaron J. Brown and Courtney Kerns / Photos by Wes Bailey and Courtney Kerns This morning Bernie Sanders brought his Democratic Presidential campaign to the historic Hibbing High School auditorium on the Mesabi Iron Range. Wearing a United Steelworkers jacket from Minntac Local 1938, the Vermont Senator took the same stage where a teenage Bob Dylan once played. Hibbing…
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Nolan staffer Tom Whiteside to run for 6A DFL nod
Today, former Rick Nolan staffer Tom Whiteside, 28, of Hibbing joined the growing field of DFL candidates for District 6A in the Minnesota House of Representatives. This central Iron Range seat will be open this year after Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) announced she would not seek re-election. “I am ready to serve and motivated to…
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Bernie Sanders to campaign on the Iron Range
Minnesota’s storied Mesabi Iron Range will host a major presidential candidate this Friday. Sen. Bernie Sanders plans a Feb. 26 morning rally at the Hibbing High School auditorium. See Sanders’ website for information. Doors open at 7:30. Minnesota’s presidential preference vote will take place at major party precinct caucuses next Tuesday, March 1. The Hibbing…
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UPDATE: Interesting races on St. Louis County board
St. Louis County is a huge swath of land in Northeastern Minnesota. The county includes the region’s largest city of Duluth, more than half of the Mesabi Iron Range, and much of the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area — along with miles and miles of woods, waters and small towns. Geographically St. Louis is the state’s largest…
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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…