Graduation day approaches for five northeastern Minnesota community and technical colleges. And as it so happens, this will be the last graduation day before the beginning of a new era in the region’s long tradition of higher education. The festivities start Tuesday, May 10, when commencement takes place at Vermilion Community College in Ely. Vermilion… Read More →
Five northeastern Minnesota colleges merge
March 16, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Today the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees approved the merger of five northeastern Minnesota community and technical colleges. The colleges include Hibbing Community College, Itasca Community College, Mesabi Range College, Rainy River Community College and Vermilion Community College. The new college will be called Minnesota North College with campuses in Ely, Eveleth,… Read More →
Latest Reformer column explores collapse of local news
June 14, 2021 by 1 Comment
The Minnesota Reformer published my latest column today, this one about the collapse of local newspapers. Last week the International Falls Daily Journal announced it would cease publication later this month. This comes after other small weeklies have closed while other papers have either merged or reduced publication. It’s not just happening here, but across… Read More →
On economic class, urbanization, and chickens
December 16, 2020 by 1 Comment
My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is up today. “Just Like a Century ago, there’s a class war in rural America, and the wrong side is winning.” This was quite the creative exercise for me. I had a few things on my mind when I wrote it. First, we seem mired in a hopeless… Read More →
Amy Klobuchar: the senator from Minnesota
February 12, 2020 by 8 Comments
I first met Amy Klobuchar in a back alley in International Falls, Minnesota, not far from a paper plant along the Canadian border. Looking back at that 2006 day gives us clues about her upcoming presidential campaign.
Five NE Minnesota colleges move toward merger
January 30, 2020 by 2 Comments
On Wednesday, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees approved plans to merge five community and technical colleges in Northeastern Minnesota. After a two-year planning period the board will vote again on whether to go through with it. The new college organization, if approved, would be in operation by Fall 2022. These five… Read More →
State OKs Highway 53 upgrades in 2019
December 20, 2018 by 1 Comment
Highway 53 between International Falls and Cook to receive $7.2 million upgrade this summer.
Northern Minnesota wolves maintain clear boundaries
December 12, 2018 by 2 Comments
Scientists with the Voyageurs Wolf Project study the behavior of wolves in Northern Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park. One recent social media post shows how wolves maintain their territory. As you see above, collared wolves from different packs move a great deal in pursuit of prey. But they almost never encroach on the territory of neighboring… Read More →
Enrollment decline poses new challenge to state colleges
January 30, 2018 by 30 Comments
Trying to read trends is difficult. You have to figure out what’s part of a normal cycle and what might be indicative of change. And then, if it is real change, you have to determine what’s causing the change. Is it inevitable or malleable? Are you causing it or is it something else? That’s the… Read More →
New film explores 1916-17 Northern MN labor uprisings
June 15, 2017 by 4 Comments
Filmmaker Gary Kaunonen of KCC-TV in International Falls just released a new documentary about a pivotal time in Northern Minnesota’s labor history. It’s called “Northern Minnesota’s Labor Wars.” The years 1916 and 1917 brought major labor uprisings in the mines of the Mesabi Iron Range and the lumber camps of the state’s far northern pine… Read More →
