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IRRRB reform divides Iron Range delegation
The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board would see its governance structure change under new reforms currently attached to House Republican legislation. The board, comprised of legislators from the Taconite Tax Relief Area, now oversees IRRRB spending of taconite tax revenue. This is money paid by iron mines in lieu of local property taxes. The…
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‘Three’s company’ in Essar bankruptcy case
Things happen quickly in bankruptcy proceedings for the former Essar Steel Minnesota iron ore mine near Nashwauk in Northern Minnesota. Late yesterday, we learned of a new player on the scene. This, after I reported new developments early Monday morning. Mesabi Metallics, the reorganized successor to Essar Steel Minnesota, still wants to finish the project with its…
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Another salvo in Cliffs, Mesabi Metallics iron ore war
If this sounds familiar, bear with me. Cliffs Natural Resources and its outspoken CEO Lourenco Goncalves think very little of the former Essar Steel Minnesota or its reorganized successor, Mesabi Metallics. Goncalves’ company wants the leases to mine iron at the former Butler Taconite site near Nashwauk on the western Mesabi Iron Range. But Mesabi Metallics…
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The Chinese engineer who mined an American life on Minnesota’s Iron Range
Wen Ping Pan was arguably the fastest man in China in 1912. Also among the nation’s best tennis players, he had his pick between competing in the Olympics against Jim Thorpe or playing in the esteemed Davis Cup tennis tournament. Ultimately, he did neither. Geopolitical change would radically alter this young man’s life, most of…
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For peat’s sake: making the most of the moist
I grew up in the Sax-Zim peat bog in Northern Minnesota. This glorious 300 square mile swamp provides bountiful food and breeding ground for migratory birds the world over. It was also the site of my family’s ill-fated junkyard where, so far as I knew, all water swirled in rainbow hues. Growing up in a…
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Rural identity crisis in Minnesota politics
Minnesota stands at a political crossroads. On one hand, the North Star State remains much the same. A majority Democratic Congressional delegation. High rankings for quality of life that come at the expense of relatively high taxes. High rates of health insurance and educational success. Minnesota seemingly remains a progressive place to live, if you can stand…
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Chinese president’s visit holds Iron Range implications
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Florida today to meet with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago golf resort. This is the first meeting between these leaders of the world’s two largest economies, and the stakes are high. First of all, new nuclear saber-rattling from Chinese ally North Korea threatens the Pacific region. Reports from…
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Truth behind the numbers on mining jobs
Like screeching crows or the rattle of a train yard, Northern Minnesota’s never-ending debate about risks and prospects of new mining eventually fades into the background. You get used to it. It matters, but it doesn’t change. So it’s been interesting to watch a similar debate enter the national discussion. President Trump, during the campaign and…
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Trump’s budget betrays rural America
Rural voters backed Donald Trump in the 2016 election for many reasons. For some, it was ideological. Rural areas have become more politically conservative, home to more people who believe in hands-off government and stricter regulation on social issues. Other voters saw the progressive social changes of the past ten years and felt overwhelmed. For…
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We’re (probably) gonna win Twins, we’re (occasionally) going to score
Javier Ponce? Pedro Jaramillo? Francisco Velasco? Who are these guys, and how did they end up on the roster of the Minnesota Twins? Major League Baseball kicks off its 2017 season on Sunday. The Minnesota Twins open Monday at Target Field. And it doesn’t look good. For instance, Ponce, Jaramillo and Velasco? Those are actually members…
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38% of U.S. jobs could be lost to automation within 15 years
A diagnostic scan of the economy along Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range turns up several problems, and several causes of those problems. But nothing has contributed to more job losses in the Iron Range economy than the improved technology and automation of the iron mining industry. Those same changes literally saved the industry, while reducing the number of…
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From horse and buggy to hybrids, the woman who lived history
My great-grandmother Ruby Peck died Feb. 26, 2017 at the age of 103. For most of my life she lived alone in a small house set amid the rolling hills of southern Pennsylvania. My great-grandmother was a rock-ribbed Republican who voted that way because the GOP was the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S.…
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Stunning North Woods buzzer beater advances Grizzlies
The Minnesota Boys Basketball Tournament is going on in St. Paul this week. The North Woods Grizzlies, champions of northeastern Minnesota’s Section 7A, are still in the hunt, thanks to this heroic shot by sophomore Cade Goggleye. Check it out: WDIO has the same shot from a different angle. The Duluth News Tribune also has…
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Dylan talks hunting, fishing and Northern Minnesota in new interview
Like most who grew up on the Iron Range, Bob Dylan reminisces about hunting and fishing. He also insists there’s a profound difference between Northern and Southern Minnesota. Dylan, born in Duluth and raised in Hibbing, doesn’t give many interviews. When he does, they become their own art form. His answers, rarely direct, ebb and flow around some ambiguous concept,…
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Trump’s tricky American steel promise
What happens when the promise of political change meets the rocky cliffs of reality? Every president, every Congress, every legislature must weather this shift. History shows that all suffer at least some political fallout in the process. There’s a reason incumbent parties tend to lose seats in the midterms, and that presidential approval (usually) starts high…