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Cleveland Cliffs acquires ArcelorMittal USA
Cleveland Cliffs becomes North America’s largest producer of iron ore and flat-rolled steel after acquiring the assets of ArcelorMittal USA. Reuters reported over the weekend that ArcelorMittal and Cleveland Cliffs were negotiating an asset merger that would dramatically affect the taconite industry on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The deal merges ArcelorMittal’s American operations with those…
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The comfort of seasons
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3.1) A bear bumbled through Keewatin a while back. It knocked over some garbage cans and left on the bike trail. I heard about some bears in Hibbing, too. This is the season when yearling cubs strike out…
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FARGO, Season 4 Preview
The FX show “Fargo” returns for its long-delayed fourth season this Sunday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. CST. This season features comedian Chris Rock in a starring role within a large ensemble cast. The premise sounds good: two warring organized crime families — one Italian, one Black — face off in 1950s Kansas City. They…
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‘Power in the Wilderness’ book one step closer to reality
Longtime readers know that I’ve been generating fewer posts these last couple years because of an enormous research and writing project. Today I have some exciting news to share. Last week I signed a book deal. The University of Minnesota Press will publish “Power in the Wilderness” sometime in early- to mid-2022. I’m due to…
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Don’t let the music die
If I missed anything this summer it was live music. I’m not one to pile into a crowded club or concert venue, but I do enjoy the sound of local musicians performing in parks and restaurants. The list of people affected by COVID-19 is long, with many legitimate claims for our collective sympathies and support.…
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Tyrannosaurus Rex, are we next?
If you were a lucky dinosaur you were vaporized when the meteor hit. Most of the others died very painfully minutes later, torn to shreds by bullet-like debris falling back to earth. Within an hour, many others cooked to medium well within a super heated atmosphere. A smaller group lived long enough to starve. An…
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National media do the Minnesota swing
On Nov. 3, voters will elect either incumbent Donald Trump or challenger Joe Biden as President of the United States. Biden holds a wide lead in the popular vote according to national polling, but it’s actually the Electoral College vote that determines the winner. That’s why American presidential elections become a mishmash of individual state…
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The electric slide at Iron Range mines
History tends to repeat itself here on the Mesabi Iron Range. Whether it’s labor practices, politics, or economic cycles, the new often bears striking resemblance to the old. But I honestly did not think I’d see the word “trolley” come back. It has. And it means a lot more than a tourist jaunt around the…
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Labor Daze on the Iron Range
I feel bad that I’m not posting more often about what’s going on around the Iron Range these days. Hip deep in writing my book and teaching remotely I just don’t have time to whip up posts like I once did. As a result these events keep happening and the social arbiter of it all…
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Zooming in on public meetings online
Like many of you I’ve become accustomed to attending meetings using video conferencing software. The COVID-19 pandemic demands no less. Entire segments of the economy and educational system have shifted to home-based work. Right now, all of my professional meetings take place on Zoom. I collaborate on a media project via Google Hangouts. Interviews. Civic…
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Warning the future about ourselves
As a species, humans expend relatively little thought on a future beyond ourselves. We’re just not wired for it. The survival instinct keeps us focused on our next meal, how we feel now, and our social relationships. Don’t get me wrong. We’ve come a long way. We now spend up to two decades of our…
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Sabotaging the mail harms democracy and rural life
When you grow up in the country you form a special relationship with the mail. Back at our family’s junkyard in Zim my sisters and I would fight over who got to run up the driveway to get the mail each day. One time I almost got hit by a truck because I lurched for…
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Don’t call it a mall
I once hung out in Iron Range shopping malls for fun. I didn’t even need to “get my steps.” No, I went to the mall to meet friends, buy Vanilla Ice cassettes, and sip something called “cappuccino” while surfing this new thing called “the internet” at a locally-owned mall coffee shop. It was very exciting…
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The politics of unemployment
My latest for the Minnesota Reformer is up. Here’s a taste: The extension of mining unemployment benefits is an ever-present Iron Range campaign issue and legislative priority. Now it could prove to be the biggest national campaign issue in the entire 2020 race. Welcome to Thunderdome! I’m afraid to report the real winners are in…
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Destroyer of worlds
Seventy-five years ago the world’s first atomic bomb detonated across the arid expanse of the Jornada del Muerto Desert in New Mexico. Upon witnessing the otherworldly power he had unleashed physicist Robert Oppenheimer considered a line from Hindu scripture. “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds,” said the god Krishna. A reflective Oppenheimer quoted…