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Researchers list ideas for Range economic resilience
Economic diversification on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range has been a hot topic ever since I learned how to spell those words, and surely long before that. The darnedest thing about the subject is that most folks will support the concept of diversification, but fewer will accept a role in making it happen. This is only amplified by what is,…
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‘Today Show’ highlights BWCA, mining debate
The debate over copper/nickel mining in Northern Minnesota reached national news this morning. The weekend edition of NBC’s “Today Show” profiled Dave and Amy Freeman. This Ely and Grand Marais couple have been living in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for more than 300 days. The Freemans started their year in the BWCA to…
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New bike park planned for Itasca County
A long, long time ago, humans arrived in Northern Minnesota on narrow, bumpy paths that wound through trees and around walls of ancient rock. It’s the future now. People look forward to the next big thing. In the future, what we want is … a narrow, bumpy path wound through trees and around walls of…
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Range mines catch a Super Mario star
If Iron Range mines were Super Mario, they’d be blinking while knocking off Goombas left and right. More on that below. This week brought quarterly earnings reports from the two biggest mining companies on Minnesota’s Iron Range, U.S. Steel and Cliffs Natural Resources. Both companies show significant improvement from a dismal 2015. Cliffs posted a profit…
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T-bone fever: Tales from a meat raffle
Though humans evolved as omnivores, many people on earth do not eat meat. Early vegetarianism could be found in ancient Greece. Abstinence from animal flesh has been part of Hinduism and Buddhism since the 7th Century BC. One finds vegetarians in many parts of modern society, many swearing by the health benefits and moral authority…
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Nothing stops viking mauraders, except red tape
By now, many of you may have heard of the woes facing the Norwegian replica longship (aka, viking ship) Draken Harald Hårfagre as it makes its way into the Great Lakes. This ship sails around the world doing exhibitions, and now sails the Great Lakes as part of a tour of historical tall masted sailing ships.…
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Many credit Nolan for steel tariff success
U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) faces another tough challenge from Republican Stewart Mills in 2016. Earlier this year I described this race as a tossup, possibly the biggest fight of Nolan’s later-in-life return to Congress. That’s saying something. Minnesota’s Eighth District has been treated as a swing district since 2010, when Republican Chip Cravaack ended more…
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House 6A candidate decries lobbyist influence
An Iron Range DFL primary usually creates sparks, but until Friday the House 6A DFL contest had been remarkably quiet. One letter to the editor even complained that the candidates seemed too similar to make a decision. The race features four DFL candidates seeking to replace Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing), including Nashwauk Mayor Ben DeNucci, teacher Julie…
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Breaking Broadband: progress in rural Minnesota
“If I were the hugging kind, I would hug you.” “OK, then.” I had clearly unnerved the surveyor on my township road, but I knew why he was there. He was mapping the route for new fiber optic cables near my home. You can see the little flags all over the Itasca County countryside.…
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What makes Minnesota alligators different?
Passers-by found a baby alligator along a bike train near Brainerd earlier this week. A reptile handler from a nearby wildlife center retrieved the creature, the aftermath of which you can see in this YouTube video: Authorities believe it was either someone’s pet that escaped or was released illegally. It’s safe to say that alligators will…
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The steel tariffs are working
The good news is that Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves is an avid reader of MinnesotaBrown.com. Apparently that is also the bad news. Tuesday, I received what I would describe as “corporate sass” from Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves after I asked a question at the public forum he and Gov. Mark Dayton held in Nashwauk Township. After the…
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Ruffian elk mobs held at bay, for now
When you drive around Minnesota, from the western prairies to the northern forests or southern farmland, you see scads of whitetail deer. They’re everywhere. And sure, they’re beautiful and all. We have that “Bambi” baggage from our childhoods, so we get excited to see them. But deer are plentiful. Even in the “down years” they are not hard…
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Cliffs CEO, Dayton to talk Essar on the Range
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves will come to the Iron Range on Tuesday, July 12. Their visit aims to showcase how a long suffering Iron Range mining project might find new life. Dayton and Goncalves will discuss the governor’s recent decision to cancel the mineral leases for Essar Steel Minnesota’s new iron…
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The future of the Iron Range is already here
“Where are all the young people?” Anyone involved in a graying committee, civic group, city board or arts organization has probably heard a comment like this. The words often come from someone who wouldn’t know what to do with a young person if they saw one, like the dog who caught the proverbial car. And…
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Clinton vs. Trump: a war within ourselves
It’s July 2016. Donald and Hillary are about to run the race of their lives. I’m referring, of course, to the two hogs who will sprint against each other this Sunday, July 10, as the main event in the Nevis Pig Races in north central Minnesota. It’s hard to say what motivates these cloven-hoofed animal athletes, but one…