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Community builds strength to save health facility
In building fitness, our greatest obstacle is often ourselves. That’s true in building community, too. Here on the Iron Range, people aren’t shy about what they want. On social media, people demand more chain restaurants. Sports complexes seem to beget calls for even more sports complexes. These are the desirable outcroppings of healthy communities, the…
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Red October, no surprise
I’m still editing the big book, so most of my northern Minnesota political analysis has been confined to my columns in the Mesabi Tribune and Minnesota Reformer these days. Even there, I’ve avoided horse race politics this cycle, mostly out of disinterest. But sometimes the horses stick their heads through your front window. This week…
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Core Conversations on the future of mining in northern Minnesota
Last Friday I made my television hosting debut with a special episode of Almanac North on WDSE. It’s part of a quarterly series called “Core Conversations.” This one focused on the future of the mining industry in northern Minnesota. You can view the episode in the embedded video above or by following the link. Guests…
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Life is a dangerous activity
They say that cars might one day drive themselves, but could they eat a sandwich at the same time? I don’t think so. We drive using mental patterns so engrained that some can do it half asleep or thinking about something else entirely. These memory grooves run so deep that, years later, wracked with dementia,…
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Ode to the minivan
I can always tell when new parents are about to say the thing they’ve dreaded their whole lives. They hesitate. The pause grows longer. The couple glances glumly at one another. “So …” he says, trailing off. “Yeah,” she adds, aimlessly. “We’ve been shopping for a new vehicle.” “We’re thinking about one of those three-row…
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100 years of fascism, here and abroad
My latest essay for the Minnesota Reformer is out today: “Fascism from Italy to Hibbing and back again.” In recent years I’ve avoided the hyperbole and repetition of our national political debate. My thinking has been that you don’t really need another Trump/Biden screed that only reinforces what you already believe. I seek instead to…
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The woman who lifted up those who were low
When I was 21 years old I was named the editor of the erstwhile Hibbing Daily Tribune, which has since merged into the Mesabi Tribune newspaper you read today. How does a 21-year old get to be a daily newspaper editor? That’s a good question that lots of people had at the time. After the…
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Snacks, dogs and rock ‘n’ roll
Music festivals are to the music-loving introvert what a seed catalogue is to the over-enthusiastic gardener. They seem like a good idea months in advance of what will actually become hard work. And, like any hard work, the results are worth it. (Though, usually, not until well after the fact). Last weekend, my wife Christina…
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Subterranean home septic system blues
Guess what, everyone? We put in a poo. That’s not a typo. Indeed, we did *not* install a heated in-ground pool. That is, unless you consider an underground reservoir where you should never, ever swim to be the same thing. No, we put in a new septic system. People like to use the term “adulting”…
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Carp 2.0: Mmm, they’re palatable
Technically speaking, you’re not supposed to eat pets. But there are work-arounds. For instance, you can reclassify your pet. That’s not my pet. That’s a chicken. I know I’ve been talking cute to the chicken for some time now. But it’s NOT a pet. It’s food. Cultural taboos prevent us from eating cats and dogs.…
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The labor movement strikes back
Last week, my oldest son and I were camping in the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. It was an important trip for us; a rite of passage. It’s his last year in Scouting and he’s starting college today. More on that trip later. While I was gone, my latest essay for the Minnesota…
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The old ways are over
Everybody gets a little older each day. String a few days together and you get a lot older. As I begin my trot through middle age I’m breaking all sorts of promises I once made to myself. “Who cares about watching birds?” Well, now I do. I love birds. Can’t get enough birds. “Don’t talk…
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A ghost in the woods
I have a friend who’s into mushrooms. Not those mushrooms. Well, sometimes those mushrooms. But mostly the kind you eat. This is how we ended up going for a hike that became a walk that became a slow meander off the trail while scanning the underbrush for fungi. I learned about some mushrooms you…
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Primary colors in late summer hues
This Tuesday, Aug. 9, voters head to the polls for Minnesota’s primary election. The results will winnow down several races so that we have an easier time picking the least objectionable candidates come Nov. 8. Though there are a few interesting partisan races I’ll talk about in a moment, I’d first like to acknowledge what…
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The best and worst of times on the Range
It’s the best of times; it’s the worst of times. And, if you’re reading northern Minnesota news these days, both times seem to be happening at once. The unemployment rate hovers around historic lows. Gas prices, which spiked to record highs earlier this summer, are coming back down. Some were heartened by a new partnership…