Minnesota Brown

Minnesota Brown: Modern Life on the Iron Range

Tag: Hibbing

  • Deadline or bust

    Deadline or bust

    “Deadline” is such a harsh word. “Line” seems to imply a fixed point after which some consequence is realized. And “dead” suggests that the consequence is death. You know, pass away, croak, kick the bucket, go to heaven, expire, breathe one’s last, succumb, bite the dust, trip the light fantastic. Depart, transcend, buy the farm,…

  • Part History, Part Mystery

    Part History, Part Mystery

    Longtime readers at MinnesotaBrown might wonder where I am or why I only post my weekly newspaper column these days. The answer is found in this story by Kristen Vake at CBS 3 in Duluth. This weekend the radio show and podcast “Power in the Wilderness” by Karl Jacob and myself will re-launch on Northern…

  • The early swing for spring

    The early swing for spring

    They shouldn’t even schedule youth baseball games until it’s safe to plant your garden outside. Aren’t they pretty much the same thing?  Yeah, your kid can put on a sweatshirt, but so can your vegetables. That doesn’t make it a good use of our time. If you wait long enough the frost will let up.…

  • The way we were

    The way we were

    About 13 months ago I packed a bag from my office to teach and work from home. It would prove to be one of the most challenging years of my whole career as a college teacher and writer, but I really didn’t need most of what I put in that bag. A few notebooks, maybe.…

  • Power in the Wilderness on Almanac

    Power in the Wilderness on Almanac

    Each day I write like a madman. My book deadline fast approaches. But, you might enjoy another check-in on the Power in the Wilderness project. You know I’m working on the book, but you should also know that the limited-run podcast I’m working on with filmmaker Karl Jacob is about to re-launch. The first two…

  • Gearing for a century in spin

    Gearing for a century in spin

    In recent weeks my wife and I have been thinking about buying a car. We haven’t decided on one, nor are we in a hurry, but it’s been fascinating to research different vehicles.  Being from the Iron Range I always think about where cars are made before buying one. In the case of modern cars,…

  • Weighing the effects of a year at home

    Weighing the effects of a year at home

    Early in the pandemic I decided that I wasn’t going to obsess about body weight. Someone I know tweeted that they’re not a cow, so there is no need to keep a scale near their sleeping quarters. That made sense to me at the time.  Then over the next several months I ate an entire…

  • Legislative ‘bluff and bunk’ no different after 100 years

    Legislative ‘bluff and bunk’ no different after 100 years

    Just when did politics get so … weird? When did politicians become sociopathic performance artists, huffing their own vapors long past the point of inebriation? Of course, we begin by blaming the other party, whoever they may be. But then, upon sober analysis, we might conclude that it’s the internet’s fault. The answer, however, is…

  • It truly is robot-fighting time

    It truly is robot-fighting time

    There’s a lot of dumb TV out there. Thus, I hesitate to explain that one of my favorite shows is about fighting robots. But I also think there’s a lesson in this program that would reinvigorate northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range.  “Battlebots” wrapped up its tenth season on the Discovery channel recently. The New Zealand…

  • The passion of curiosity

    The passion of curiosity

    There is a crisis in local education that can be plainly seen by experts and laymen alike. It is a crisis of engagement, enrollment, and learning. Fueled (though not caused) by the COVID-19 pandemic, educators wrestle with questions of critical thinking and knowledge. Meantime, the drone of standardized testing grinds away at deeply distracted students…

  • Power in the Wilderness project nearing completion

    Power in the Wilderness project nearing completion

    Longtime readers know that I’ve eased up production here at MinnesotaBrown while I toil on several big projects. Here’s how it’s going. I’ve been working on a book for the University of Minnesota Press about Victor Power, called “Power in the Wilderness,” with a first draft due early this summer. I’m past 2/3 done now,…

  • Party labels fail to capture political change

    Party labels fail to capture political change

    In 2021 politics projects an animated mix of theatrical despair. People seem hopelessly angry all the time, though typically without understanding exactly what’s going on or how anything works. We pick our favorite avatars and cheer them as they battle perceived enemies, hoping for a victory that, even if realized, never seems to change anything.…

  • Now is our only time

    Now is our only time

    The other day my son Doug asked me a question. If I could live in any time in history other than our current time, when would I want to live? Doug loves starting conversations with training seminar ice breakers, even though he’s never been to a training seminar. (We suspect he’s on a management track).…

  • Future of Hibbing mine tied to rapidly changing steel industry

    Future of Hibbing mine tied to rapidly changing steel industry

    Today, the Minnesota Reformer published my new column, “The clash of two big steel companies will help shape the future of the Iron Range.” The piece explores the issues behind Hibbing Taconite’s need for a new iron ore supply. I’ve written before about Cleveland-Cliffs’ new position in North American iron and steel. Now we’ll see…

  • Northern Minnesota has what you need

    Northern Minnesota has what you need

    What do you need to live? You need air, of course. Food and water. Shelter.  Once you have these you may think about the other things you need. You need friendship, family and love. You need a sense of purpose, to believe that your efforts matter. And finally, once you have these things, you might…