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Competitive 2016 races set in Northern MN
The filing period for federal, state and many local races closed Tuesday, May 31. Here in Northern Minnesota some interesting races have emerged alongside many sleepy contests. Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District No surprises here. Incumbent U.S. Rep Rick Nolan, a Democratic-Farmer-Laborite from Crosby faces challenger Stewart Mills, a Nisswa Republican. The only news from filing is that there…
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Tuesday is last chance to file for many offices
Tuesday, May 31, brings the last day to file for local, state and federal offices in Minnesota. While there are some interesting legislative and county races shaping up across Northern Minnesota in 2016 (I’ll have more on those Wednesday), something else stood out to me. City council races on the Iron Range are fairly quiet. In…
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Fired up for the end of school
The Jack Pine must burn to live. While most everything in nature is adapted to avoid fire, the Jack Pine welcomes the flame. Old Jack’s branches and needles evolved to attract and spread fire. Indeed, most of its tightly-sealed cones contain seeds that will only be released by temperatures above 112 degrees. It’s amazing to…
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Giant iron ships sail on
Last Saturday I was camping with my family. In the cold, dark hours of a restless second sleep, I dreamt. In my dream I spied a pile of overburden on the edge of an Iron Range town. We call them mine dumps. Through the window of some public place, a restaurant perhaps, I observed a haul truck winding its way up the rocky…
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Congratulations, whoever you are!
The gold-lined invitation glinted from the pile of mail, classing up the usual stack of junk and bills. Addressed by hand, the heavy stock envelope coughed out yet another envelope from inside the first one. This envelope was smaller, but meant business. Inside this fat envelope was a collection of photos of a proud member…
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Four advance to DFL primary in House 6A
After five ballots, Iron Range DFLers opted not to endorse a candidate in the race to succeed State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) in House District 6A. The endorsing convention was held this morning and into the afternoon at Hibbing Community College. All five candidates had stated they would not abide by the endorsement anyway, so a competitive…
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Mesabi Academy to close
The Kidspeace Mesabi Academy juvenile corrections and school facility in Buhl will close at the end of June. The move comes amid controversy over an American Public Media investigative report on allegations of abuse and interference with a county investigation at the facility. American Public Media is the parent organization of Minnesota Public Radio. Those allegations have…
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Junkyard Politics in Northern Minnesota
Another election year has arrived in Northern Minnesota, though this is hardly news. In our country it’s difficult to tell when there isn’t an election. American society has built up a politics tolerance that would require a rigorous treatment program if it were, say, whiskey. Thus my approach to the 2016 election, so far, has…
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We are not monsters
The world keeps turning on the Mesabi Iron Range. Lawmakers defend the IRRRB in St. Paul, while the local paper lambasts a city council for a foreign steel pipe found in a construction project. At risk, we are told, is “our way of life.” Controversies come and go. Another election year bulges on the horizon. Two…
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Dylan Fest 2016 coming to Duluth, Hibbing
Fun Fact: The IRRRB, the Blandin Foundation, M&Ms and Bob Dylan all turn 75 this year. This is the kind of information that passes through my mind on a lovely May day in Northern Minnesota. It’s been a few years since we closed up shop at Dylan Days in Hibbing. I’ve now totally expunged from…
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Daniel Berrigan, radical priest & Range native
On Saturday, April 30, peace activist and Jesuit Catholic priest Daniel Berrigan died at the age of 94. Berrigan was probably best known for his high profile protests of the Vietnam War, including multiple arrests for anti-war demonstrations. Most notably, Berrigan and fellow protesters seized draft records from an office in Maryland and burned them…
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MPR: Abuse cover-up at Buhl juvenile center
For residents of the Iron Range, the KidsPeace Mesabi Academy in Buhl is just a part of the tapestry of the region’s economic metamorphosis. Once the beloved neighborhood Buhl school, the building was “saved” by becoming a juvenile correction center for boys. This week, American Public Media Reports — a organizational relative of Minnesota Public…
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On Letters of Hope
“Plant a nut, get a nut,” someone once told me about my son Doug’s antics. Approaching 9 years old, he has somehow outpaced my childhood obsession with historical trivia and the macabre. Last year, he wandered down to my home office and extracted a ten-pound American history textbook left over from my college days. “Can…
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U.S. Steel charges at Chinese imports
U.S. Steel, once the vaunted industrial giant of the world, is taking one last Rooster Cogburn charge at the global steel crisis that has the Pittsburgh-based corporate titan cornered in some western meadow. J.P. Morgan’s flagship corporation has been contracting for decades, illustrated perfectly by its move out of a Pittsburgh skyscraper into a much smaller suburban…
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Great Northern Radio Show from Pequot Lakes
The speed of life seems to have accelerated lately. End of the semester. Kids in school and activities. In any event, I’ve not talked about my April 9 Great Northern Radio Show from Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. The Pequot Lakes show was a lot of fun and turned out well. The musical lineup delivered big time. Reina…