It's been a busy summer so I neglected to post an update on our broadcast of the Great Northern Radio Show from Central Lakes College in Brainerd on June 16. The show went very well, arguably our best effort yet, certainly a major step forward in pacing and production value.

If you missed it, the Brainerd edition of the Great Northern Radio Show will be rebroadcast Sunday, July 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 91.7 KAXE in Grand Rapids and the Iron Range, 89.9 in Brainerd and 90.5 KBXE in Bemidji and Bagley. The Northern Community Radio network stretches from Minnesota's western border all the way to the edge of Duluth and the Boundary Waters. You can listen online anywhere in the world at www.kaxe.org. A downloadable podcast will be available after the rebroadcast.

KUMD Duluth and WTIP Grand Marais might run the show on Fourth of July as well. Call or write your local independent public radio station and let them know that the show is available free for Minnesota independent stations through PRX, Public Radio Exchange.

Additionally, and I'm VERY excited about this, KAXE will be rebroadcasting a marathon of all three of our first episodes of the Great Northern Radio Show on the Fourth of July. The Hibbing premiere will run from 8-10 a.m., our acclaimed Bemidji show runs 10 a.m. to noon, and the Brainerd show will run again that night from 7-9 p.m. I'm very proud of the way this show has grown and excited for the future, as we've been picked up for a new season that begins Oct. 20 in Eveleth, continues Dec. 15 in Bigfork and will be hitting new towns in 2013.

My thanks to the actors in the Brainerd show: Nancy Waller, Sue Johnson, Charlie Johnson, David Vieths, Jon Bjorkquist and C.J. Anderson who starred as "Doc" the engineer in the "Fate Train" sketch. Matt Nelson wrote a fun melodrama "Boxcar, 1875" and we had a hilarious guest sketch about northern Minnesota bugs written by John Ramos of Duluth.

We had marvelous musical performances by the headline band The Bitter Spills, Eric Pollard (in his solo act "Actual Wolf"), The Danver Patients, John Pribyl's Hollow Hearts, and our show regulars Iris Kolodji and Sonny Johnson who each wrote original music for the program. Brainerd's own Katie Wig delivered a knockout piano version of "Can't Help Falling in Love With You" near the end of the show.

We had some engaging interviews with Chuck Marohn, high school birders Ben Stubbs and Kevin Gohman, and young media pros Andy and Spencer Olson. Our show regulars were great as always: Scott Hanson on foley sound and Nickolai Koivunen on keyboards. Lovely direction from Shelly Nowak and backstage work by Kelly Gustavsson.

I owe KAXE's professional staff, led by program director/Brainerd native Heidi Holtan and sound engineer Dan Houg, a great debt of gratitude.

The Iron Range is an immigrant region. The immigrant cultures have Americanized since the early 1900s but vestiges remain, not least of which is the enthusiastic way that people here celebrate the Fourth of July. Iron Rangers use festive parades and fireworks to show their patriotism while using alcohol and emotional eating to reconcile economic struggles in this new land. It’s been going on a very long time and it's actually a lot of fun, even if you find healthier pursuits.

I thus present the 2012 schedule for Iron Range Fourth of July parades, street dances and fireworks. I have limited my scope to the three historic iron ranges of Minnesota -- the Mesabi, Vermilion and Cuyuna.

Saturday, June 30

• 8 p.m. (all night) - Keewatin Street Dance
• Dusk - Keewatin Fireworks

Tuesday, July 3

• 10 a.m. - Swan Lake (Pengilly area) flotilla parade
• 6 p.m. - Aurora Parade
• 7:30 p.m. - Gilbert Parade
• 8 p.m. (all night) - Eveleth Street Dance
• 8 p.m. (all night) - Nashwauk Street Dance
• 10:15 p.m. - Eveleth Fireworks
• Dusk - Nashwauk Fireworks

Wednesday, July 4

• 9 a.m. - Virginia “Calithumpian” Parade
• 9:30 a.m. - Eveleth Parade
• 9:30 a.m. - Mountain Iron Parade
• 11 a.m. - Side Lake Parade
• 11 a.m. - Tower Parade
• 11 a.m. - Hill City Parade
• 11 a.m. - Crosby-Ironton Parade (starts in Ironton, ends in Crosby)
• Noon - Aurora Children's Parade
• Noon - Nashwauk Parade
• 1 p.m. - Biwabik “Patriotic” Parade
• 1 p.m. - Ely Parade
• 2 p.m. - Keewatin Parade
• 7 p.m. - Biwabik “Calithumpian” Parade
• Dusk - Crosby Fireworks
• Dusk - Tower Fireworks
• Dusk - Ely Fireworks
• Dusk - Virginia Fireworks
• Dusk - Grand Rapids Fireworks (Pokegema Lake) POSTPONED DUE TO WATER LEVELS

If I've missed any or gotten something wrong, please e-mail or comment on this post and I'll update.

And if you're new to this site, welcome to the Iron Range's fastest-growing daily news and culture blog. Opinions are shared, but all readers are welcome to join in the discussion. Follow MinnesotaBrown on Facebook, Twitter or read Aaron's book, "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range."

Duluth is struggling with a big drop in tourism after last week's floods. The most popular tourist areas are largely cleaned up from the mess, but visitors haven't returned at normal summer levels yet. Residential areas and streets were the worst hit. This is a great city and could use your support this summer.

I did a live video interview with Michael Olson at MPR's Minnesota Today this afternoon talking about labor politics on the Iron Range. You can view the conversation here at MPR or below. Yes, that is MinnesotaBrown world headquarters. I put the white fedora on my coin jar to class up the dehumidifier for the occasion.



A modified version of this post is due to appear on MPR's Commentary page this week as well.

I'll be doing a live video chat over at Minnesota Public Radio's "Minnesota Today" site at 2 p.m. talking about my recent post about the union vote at Mesabi Nugget last week. The Steelworkers lost that organizing vote in this Iron Range labor region by a 2-1 margin.

I'm hoping that my satellite internet holds through the whole conversation. The video will also be archived at MNToday if you can't be there at that time.

So Excelsior Energy is still kicking around. This is the collection of energy industry lobbyists and lawyers who had proposed a $2.1 billion coal gasification plant that never got built because it was overpriced and unwanted by any potential customers. Nevertheless they received more than $40 million in local, state and federal taxpayer dollars. Now the Star Tribune brings us up to date on their efforts to build a natural gas power plant at the same location. This time, private money. Still no customer.

There had been rumblings of a concert event to benefit Duluth, Minnesota flood victims and those from affected areas in the surrounding region. Now something has come together and it's pretty big.

The Twin Ports Bridge Festival, already scheduled for Saturday, July 7, has added a second day on Sunday, July 8 that will be entirely dedicated to raising money for flood victims. The headliner for next Sunday will be Trampled by Turtles, who are flying back from their national tour to do the show. But many of the top acts from Duluth's music scene are part of the show as well and it promises to be an excellent show. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the recent Homegrown Music Festival condensed into a single date. Bear in mind that the Jayhawks are the headliners on Saturday, another premium act.

The first day of the festival was already slated as a fundraiser for the Music Resource Center, but once that fundraising goal is met all additional Saturday revenue will also go to flood relief.

Last Friday, the United Steelworkers conceded defeat in the unionization vote at the Mesabi Nugget plant near Aurora. The Mesabi Daily News had the story.

According to Mesabi Nugget the vote was 57-21. The vote took place over two days, included a complete unionization drive by the Steelworkers and was overseen by federal labor officials.

In an Iron Range region known as a labor bastion, the first question has to be how did this happen? And what does this mean?

Mesabi Nugget is among the newest iron ore processing facilities on the Range, using a modern process to create iron nuggets that are purer than taconite pellets. It opened after the early 2000s mining slowdown and before the big recession of 2008-2009.

Thus, the people working there were very happy to get those jobs. And why not? The pay has started at about $50,000 a year with a $75,000 a year average, plus incentive programs based on production. That's really good pay on the Range, especially if you've strung together jobs at foundries, manufacturing companies or the like over the years. For a younger worker here, this is as good as it can get.

The union's dominant argument seemed to center on safety. Union representation would mean a consistent eye on safety so that the rush to meet quotas for incentives didn't threaten lives. But the workers simply opted for the good pay and a work environment they apparently like. That could change. But it didn't sway the vote last week.

It's hard to avoid the political ramifications. Private industry labor unions were the backbone of the region's DFL political coalition from WWII to recently. With workforce reductions the mines are still the dominant employers, but in much smaller numbers than the '70s. A modern mining job is better than ever, but less plentiful. As those jobs have become more technical, mines have become more precise in how they hire (you have to take a personality test, for instance). Those two factors taken together makes unionism harder to take hold.

Further, younger workers on the Iron Range have no personal memory of the kinds of working conditions that made unions as important as they once were. I know a lot of the folks just hired at the mines these days. I went to school with them. They've struggled through sluggish construction trades and attempts at self-employment for a decade; now these mines are paying good money. What's a union?

This means that the DFL's strongest ally -- labor -- is still alive, but weaker. All but one of the mines are still solidly union, but any union steward would tell you its harder to get people excited and active in the union these days because the pay is good. Several Range mine unions willingly voted away the eight-hour day because younger workers prefer longer shifts with more days off.

So, while the DFL has a socioeconomic and cultural advantage on the Range today it will have to dramatically retool its long-term strategy to hold its historic margins here.

Finally, the vote at Mesabi Nugget is one thing. But when looking ahead at future union votes on the Range -- particularly at Essar Steel when it opens and any of the potential nonferrous mineral mines on the east Range -- we have a real question. Can labor regroup and become relevant to newer workers, both young Rangers and those who come in from outside the area? That's a daunting challenge.

The labor movement was absolutely critical to the growth and success of the middle class across America, particularly on the Iron Range. As labor has waned, so too have the fortunes of your average Range worker (remember, they don't work at the mines). But the times are changing and it's important for labor and free marketers alike to deal with the future in real terms.

This non-union vote at Mesabi Nugget could be marked as a major milestone on a shift that in ten years takes the 75 percent DFL Mesabi Range and makes it more like the DFL-leaning swing districts found on the Cuyuna Range north of Brainerd or in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There are ways to avoid this fate but all involve something different happening than is currently happening.

This is my Sunday column for the June 24, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Those who would like to do something to help the people in Duluth, either financially or with your time and effort, should go here.

When the water comes
By Aaron J. Brown

Like most folks we’ve encountered leaky basements in the past and tried most of the things you can do to fix them. Digging and trenching outside. Tubes. Pumps. Stuff from spray cans. These tactics worked sometimes. But then I saw a picture of a frightened seal on a Duluth street last Wednesday, drenched with heavy rain drops sparkling in the headlights of a parked car on Grand Avenue.

Indeed, sometimes the water comes and you no longer control what is going to happen.

Water is one of those forces of nature that remind us the limits of our overblown sense of human importance. If you’ve spilled a glass of water on your table you are unlikely to stop things on the table from getting wet. A flowing body of water may only be redirected with great feats of human engineering, all of which are fallible, indeed likely to fail eventually.

This week an entire summer’s worth of rainfall quite literally fell on Duluth in one night. Though estimates are still in flux, the public and private damages are monumental, certainly the worst flood event in the city’s history. The countless washed-out streets are one part of the bill; the water-damaged businesses and homes will also rack up vast amounts of insurance claims.

And it wasn’t just Duluth. Towns and roads all over northern Minnesota and Wisconsin experienced some damage, not least of which Superior across the bridge. The net result is a regional economic blow during the peak of tourism season. Rebuilding will be conducted quickly and the community pride seen in Duluth is truly inspiring. Nevertheless, a difficult task lies ahead.

The flood was an exercise of unexpected, unstoppable force. Only two Duluth rain events in the last century have come close to this but neither had this much water, nor did they occur in such a short period. And while there will surely be finger pointing and policy changes as a result of the flood, it simply doesn’t seem that any the damage could have been predicted or prevented. Like many, I went to bed that night hearing talk of three or four inches of rain – no small amount – but the nine or ten that came were simply astounding.

The strain on limited local resources will be enormous. State and federal emergency funds will come, but costs remain. The one good thing is that human decency still generally allows such endeavors to occur in a bipartisan way; arguments about the role of government fade when the role of government in this case is painfully clear.

That no human lives were lost is truly remarkable. Considering how much water fell at once, surprising nearly everyone, everyone made it through the night and following day. There were close calls. The story of an eight-year-old boy who was swept through a mile of culvert before being spit out in a holding pond is a tearful miracle.

Of course, many animals at the Lake Superior Zoo perished in the flood, while a polar bear and two seals managed to escape their pens. This was the story that drew the most attention; and admittedly it’s a grabber. The polar bear was tranquilized by a dart as it wandered the zoo. The two seals managed to escape, but were recovered quickly – one in a nearby river and the other, more famous seal got all the way to Grand Avenue where motorists and police surrounded it until it was picked up by zoo officials. This is the seal that “started a Twitter account” that very day, which provided a much needed smile for many during a terrible time.

Whether it’s an individual basement or a large, proud city on a hill, when the water comes we must contend with something we do not control. In the end the only solution is a sense of community and higher purpose. We might not be thankful for the flood; but we should be thankful that we are surrounded by people who will rebuild what the flood took; perhaps even better than before.

Aaron J. Brown is an author and college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts 91.7 KAXE’s Great Northern Radio Show on public stations.

Here is the definitive story of that 8-year-old boy who was sucked into the Duluth floodwaters Wednesday, dragged through a culvert and spit out to relative safety, by Jana Hollingsworth for the Duluth News Tribune.

It will be sometime before we have a full picture of the damage caused by the Duluth-Superior flood, but a remarkable number of businesses in the affected area are reopening today. The Duluth News-Tribune, which has done a fantastic job with its coverage, has an update. The Miller Hill Mall is still down, but expects to reopen tomorrow. There remains, however, road and street damage all over the place.

This is the widely distributed Ellie Burcar photo of the seal that has become the emblem of the 2012 Duluth-Superior flood. As always, the eyes tell the story. The zaniness of the zoo escape story has distracted from the utter devastation across Duluth. Amazingly, no human lives have been lost.

The flooding in Duluth brings a state of emergency. The North Shore has lost 911 and most phone service. Sinkholes all over Duluth. Some of the Lake Superior Zoo's barnyard animals drowned while two seals escaped along with the polar bear, which was subdued with a dart. One of the seals started a Twitter account before being captured on Grand Avenue and returned to the zoo, which is flooded along with the rest of the city.

MPR has collected some stunning photos.

This is very, very bad. And weird. But mostly bad.

UPDATE: The Duluth News Tribune is maintaining an excellent live blog of reports around the city, including specific information about how to get out of troubled areas.

UPDATE II: Mayor Don Ness and others held a press conference this afternoon:

The big grinding mills have arrived at Essar Steel Minnesota's taconite plant north of Nashwauk. The photo here shows one being unloaded at the Port of Duluth Tuesday. These mills are a distinct feature of taconite plants, constantly rotating 24 hours a day crushing rock down to fine powder for concentration into iron-rich taconite pellets. These pellets then feed steel mills out east.

The plant is on track for production launch during the middle of 2013. They are upping their production estimates from 4 million to 7 million tons and doing some hiring in the region, a reminder that this longtime "proposed" project is inching closer to reality.

Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin have seen some historic flooding in the past 12 hours, mostly due to flash floods and overwhelmed storm sewers from an unrelenting rain which continues at this hour. No travel is advised in Duluth, Superior, the North Shore and in other parts of the region. The city of Duluth is all but shut down today.

Duluth appears to be the worst-hit, though towns like Floodwood, Grand Rapids and others along the Highway 2 and 169 corridor have seen flooding. Superior and parts of northwestern Wisconsin are also under the water hammer now.



We were in Grand Rapids last night for the boys' swim lessons and it took us a long time just to leave the city as many of the main routes were underwater. Some cars and trucks were getting through, but one or two had stalled out and police were closing the roads. That appears to be nothing compared to the water in Duluth, Carlton County and other places.

This is my Sunday column for the June 17, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Happy Father's Day!

Celebrating modern dadhood this Father’s Day
By Aaron J. Brown

It’s Father’s Day today, or as I like to call it: ME DAY. Then again, I like to think of every day as ME DAY, so the pomp and pretense of a special day seems almost too much. No need to showboat or draw unneeded attention. ME DAY will go on as planned.

I kid, of course. Every day is not ME DAY, a fact I must confront daily. But it should be and don’t think I’ve forgotten.

It’s impolite to speak of Father’s Day in the first person. You’re supposed to buy greeting cards for your dad(s) and grandpa(s) picked out special, just for them. And apparently your dad needs to be an active alcoholic or Biblically slothful for most of the jokes on the cards to work.

*OPEN CARD* “Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Have some beers and sit there, waiting to die, just like every other day.”

I’m sorry, that’s not as funny without the picture of the dog wearing a hat on the front. Or music. I forgot. The card plays music.

But when you do find an appropriate card you send it and then you call dad to make sure he got it. It’s kind of fun repeating this ritual from Mother’s Day last month. When you call mom she says “Thank You!” and you have a lovely conversation. When I call my dad or grandpas there’s always this underlying sense of “Oh, we’re doing this, huh?” to the conversation. “Yup, it is a day and I guess they call it Father’s Day, so here we are. How’s the boat?”

Fatherhood endures through the ages, but keeps changing along the margins. It’s why everyone’s always in a tizzy over “This Changing Nation,” because some fairly unfair cultural mores of the past are unraveling and no one knows what to do with themselves.

My wife went somewhere on a recent evening and I was home with the boys.

“Thanks for looking after us, dad,” said Doug, 4. “It is your job, though.”

Indeed it is. We may finally have reached a tipping point where people stop referring to a father tending to children as “babysitting,” a term normally referring to an outside party who comes into the home to monitor children in absence of a parent. I still sometimes hear women describe their husbands watching their kids in a congratulatory sort of way. “He didn’t even kill any of them with power tools! What a trooper!”

Because I work from home so much I’m around more than a lot of old-timey dads were. I have a garage, but I don’t know how to do anything productive out there so I stay in the house with the kids. I’m around, like furniture with vague authority. I have to jockey for time on the iPad just like everyone else.

The roles of a dad are changing to incorporate a fairer way of divvying up household chores. Moms and dads often both work outside the home now; and there are enough stay-at-home dads out there that it’s no longer particularly interesting. And good! It’s about time.

You know, a generation ago it was the dad’s job to dispense daddy issues and the mom’s job to dispense mommy issues. Now we can all acknowledge the truth of our modern times: generational emotional issues can and should be shared regardless of gender. 

I’m grateful that Christina and our boys Henry, Doug and George are in my life, allowing me to join in on the fun today. So Happy Father’s Day to all my fellow dads out there. And special greetings to my dad, father-in-law and grandpas as well.

Now, time to join in the Father’s Day cliche that best applies to me: “Let’s go grill some meat outdoors while thinking things and not saying them!” Sounds like I’ve got a new greeting card to write.

Aaron J. Brown is an author and college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts the Great Northern Radio Show on public stations like 91.7 KAXE.

You can hear the Great Northern Radio Show today at 5 p.m., broadcasting live 5-7 p.m. from the John Chalberg Theatre at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. I am proud to write, produce and host this show with a large cast of very talented people. Please give it a listen.

In Grand Rapids, the Iron Range and Aitkin, tune to 91.7 KAXE. In Brainerd, the repeater is at 89.9. In Bemidji and Bagley you can tune to 90.5 KBXE. The Northern Community Radio network covers most of northern Minnesota, but if you find yourself anywhere else stream the online feed at http://www.kaxe.org.

If you're in Brainerd, come down to the theater before 4:30 p.m. to grab one of the few remaining free tickets.

Today we pack up the overnight bag and trek from the Mesabi Range to the Cuyuna Range, a drive much more common to my family in the 1950s but one seldom taken nowadays. My dad spent some time in Crosby as a kid as his dad and grandpa mined the last underground iron ore there. That's all done now, and the nearby city center of Brainerd is better known for tourism these days. My family returned to the Mesabi and that's where I'm from.

I'm headed to Brainerd this weekend for Saturday night's Great Northern Radio Show at the John Chalberg Theatre at Central Lakes College. This is our third show, midway through our 2012 run as we head to towns around northern Minnesota playing music, telling stories and having a laugh.

Entitled "Maybe About Trains," this show will pay particular attention to Brainerd's railroad past and how it relates to the city's present and future. We cascade through time and space, using music and some well timed comedy as our portal.

We feature music from Rich Mattson and Baby Grant Johnson as The Bitter Spills, Eric Pollard and his solo project Actual Wolf, Brainerd's The Danver Patients doing punk rock in a whole new style, local singer and recent Brainerd High School grad Katie Wig, along with our old friends Iris Kolodji and Sonny Johnson from our past shows, and perhaps more surprises.

A very strong cast of local community actors bolsters our Great Northern Radio Players, including Nancy Waller, Charlie and Sue Johnson, David Vieths, Jon Bjorkquist, C.J. Anderson and Iron Range broadcasting veteran Scott Hanson on sound effects. We had some notable assistance from Dan Rohr.

I wrote the show with Matt Nelson, along with a guest sketch by Duluth writer John Ramos. We have a handful of guests lined up to talk about some aspect of life in Brainerd.

Some free tickets for the show remain, but I wouldn't wait to reserve them if I were you. Call 800/662-5799 to get on the list. We ask that the studio audience be seated by 4:30. There are usually a few tickets left at the door as well.

We broadcast live on the KAXE/KBXE-Northern Community Radio network 5-7 p.m. Saturday. You can hear us on 91.7 KAXE (Grand Rapids, the Range, Aitkin), 89.9 Brainerd, and 90.5 KBXE (Bemidji and Bagley). We stream live at kaxe.org. A podcast will be provided some time after the show. You may wish to listen to our Oct. 15, 2011 debut in Hibbing (Parts 1 & 2) or our April 7 Bemidji show from earlier this year. We continue to make progress toward what I hope becomes a very special program that shares a unique sound with a larger audience.

This appears to be a hot ticket. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) will hold a press event Friday at 10 a.m. at the MPCA office in Duluth to talk about the Polymet nonferrous mining project in northeastern Minnesota.

Washington, D.C. – On Friday, U.S. Representative Chip Cravaack (MN) will host the quarterly roundtable discussion on the PolyMet mining project, which would be located on the Mesabi Iron Range in Northeastern Minnesota.  The event will be attended by various representatives from interested parties, including state, tribal, and federal officials.  Following the meeting, Rep. Cravaack will be available to the media. 

WHO:  U.S. Representative Chip Cravaack, serving Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District 

WHAT:  Q & A dialogue regarding the PolyMet mining project 

WHEN:  Friday, June 15, 2012; 10 a.m. 

WHERE: MPCA Duluth Office | 525 Lake Avenue South | Suite 400 | Duluth, MN 55802 | small conference room 

WHY:  If approved, the mining project will provide a new domestic source of raw materials.  Ultimately, this will lower the United States’ reliance on foreign product and provide well-paying jobs at a time of high unemployment for Minnesotans.  The mine will also yield tax revenues for upgrades in infrastructure, which will help raise employment and prosperity for the people of Minnesota’s Eighth District

The Great Northern Radio Show returns to the airwaves this Saturday, 5-7 p.m., live from the John Chalberg Theatre at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota. You can still reserve free tickets with 91.7 KAXE at 800/662-5799. Meantime, hope you enjoy our promotional video, made possible by Spencer Olson Films. Spencer Olson and his brother Andy, along with their bluegrass and punk bands, will be guests on our show.

The IRRRB approved a $31.2 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year at its meeting this morning. The funds will cover many different projects around the Iron Range, among them a notable new effort to restore decaying housing stock in the old towns of the Range. This is an increasing economic and aesthetic problem in our towns.

This budget reflects a full recovery from the mining downturn of 2009. Because the IRRRB operates on a three-year average of mining production tax revenues, it is now working with three years of largely robust mining income. This budget allotment will stay about this size until the mines slow down again. CORRECTION: Commissioner Sertich has informed me that the mines pay a year after production, so next year's budget will be the one that reflects the full recovery from the 2009 downturn.

To remind, the mining production tax is what Iron Range mines pay in lieu of local property taxes. The money is then distributed to local units of Range government, mostly for property tax relief, but also for public works projects and programs designed to rehabilitate the Range economy.

Twin Metals is doubling their estimate of available copper-nickel minerals in the deposit they hope to mine near Ely. The geologists I talk to seem to agree, politics aside, there is a lot of copper and other minerals down there.

The Minnesota Discovery Center will once again be coordinating tours of Hibbing Taconite during the summer. Anyone making a trip up to the Iron Range who hasn't seen a modern taconite operation should check this out.

CHISHOLM, MN, JUNE 5, 2012 – Minnesota Discovery Center, Hibbing Taconite and Shubat Transportation are teaming up again this summer to provide Hibbing Taconite Mine Tours to the public. Departing from the Minnesota Discovery Center, tours are offered Thursdays from June 21st through August 16th and last approximately 2 hours. You’ll feel like an actual miner as you slip on your hard hat and safety glasses and watch as iron ore miners navigate 100-ton maintenance trucks, large drilling rigs and huge bulldozers. Cost for the tour is $5 per person. No photographs allowed while on Hibbing Taconite property. Small children (under 10) not allowed. Experience mining on the Iron Range. For reservations, call Minnesota Discovery Center at 800.372.6437.

One of the quirky throwbacks to the Iron Range's labor tradition is the Mesaba Co-op Park on the edge of Hibbing. It is a cooperative recreational park where labor organizers and early socialists once met, sometimes under the watchful eye of labor spies and the FBI. Built largely by the Finns who settled the Cherry area, among them the parents of the late Steelworker organizer and Communist leader Gus Hall, it remains a place for recreation and family-friendly fun.

Their big annual event is coming up in a couple weeks:

Mesaba Co-op Park celebrates its 83rd annual Midsummer Festival (Juhannus) June 22-23, 2012. Opening this year's celebration June 22, 7:30 PM are "The Cactus Blossoms," a hot western swing band called 'The Best Minneapolis Country Band of 2012' by City Pages.

Following the band will be an open stage. Saturday's events include a 1 PM forum, "Cooperation as a Social Value." Music at 7:30 PM will feature Derrell Syria, singer/songwriter from Conga Se Menne followed by a dance with the 'Mesaba Park Band.' The evening concludes with the traditional midnight bonfire. Admission to the Midsummer weekend events is $15 with children under 12 admitted free. Meals and childcare available at additional cost. For more information call: (218) 262-1350.

Mesaba Co-op Park is located 8 miles east of Hibbing off Hwy 37 behind the 'Thirsty Moose.'

One of the interesting legislative races to watch this year is the new 6B, where three DFLers and two GOPers are running to succeed retiring State Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township).

Though the district partisan index continues to favor the DFL, where Lorrie Janatopoulos, Jason Metsa and Dave Meyer are running in a very competitive primary, this year also brings a very rare Iron Range GOP primary. Endorsed Republican, Jesse Colangelo of Eveleth, a registered nurse, will face Dan Darbo of Hoyt Lakes.

Yesterday, Colangelo sent me his campaign announcement, identifying himself as a pro-union Republican looking to upset the orthodoxy of Iron Range politics.

Hello,
My name is Jesse Colangelo. I am a fourth generation Iron Ranger. I was born at the Virginia hospital in 1973.

I have been living in Eveleth since 2004. I was proudly raised in a Republican family with strong Christian values.

I am running for the first time as the Republican Endorsed Candidate for the NEW House District 6B.

I am running for the MN House of Representatives District 6B because the people of Minnesota deserve better. The people of the Iron Range deserve better. For too long have partisan politics divided our state and our people.

It’s time to come together and get things done in St. Paul.It’s time to elect officials who care about the people they represent. It’s time to elect officials who will protect the middle class. It’s time to elect officials who will protect the futures of our children. THE TIME HAS COME TO REDUCE OUR DEBT AND PAY BACK OUR CHILDREN.

I do realize that many people have misconceptions about the Republican Party and I would appreciate the opportunity to help educate the public. We are not a Party for the wealthy one percent of Americans, in fact most DFL and GOP members have much more in common than we have differences.

The Republican platform's most important issues are: Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government, Free Enterprise and Personal Responsibility.

Personally, I support all of these ideas. Additionally,

I strongly support reducing our debt and the rapid rate of inflation.
I strongly support our veterans and active duty soldiers.
I strongly support our individual and fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
I strongly support expanding non-ferrous mining on the Iron Range.

I also strongly support attracting more businesses to our area by making sure we are able to offer a skilled workforce. We can achieve this by making sure our community colleges and universities develop more relevant programs to fulfill the growing needs of employers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are currently 3 million job openings in the U.S. that are going unfilled. The biggest reason is a mismatch between the qualifications employers are looking for and the skillsets of the jobseekers. The Iron Range has the potential to provide the type of workforce employers are looking for and attract new businesses to our area.

Currently, I am a registered nurse and a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association. Prior to nursing I was a member of the Plasterers Local #265.

The Republican party and the Democrat party both have individual members who support unions and those who support making Minnesota a right to work state. I have heard many known DFL union members say “The union has not done anything for me.” I have heard many more who are outraged by union corruption and losing their pensions.

I am a Republican and I am proud to be a union member. I do not support making Minnesota a right to work state. I believe workers already have the right to choose for themselves whether or not they want to work for a union employer. I do not want to lose my right to be a union member and to have a livable wage. Please remember to vote for Jesse Colangelo in the primary on August 14th and in the general election on November 6th. Thank you for your support.

For more information to volunteer or to donate please visit jessecolangelo.com

I have not seen any official word on Darbo's candidacy, but Colangelo appears ready to challenge the Range DFL.

One of the marks the current national mood is a general sense of uncertainty and financial strain. It's not a Depression. We're technically recovering from the "Great Recession" that began in 2008 and hit hard at the turn of 2009. It doesn't feel like a recovery, though, and this is probably why:

The net worth of Americans is now at the same level as it was in 1992. That's not referring to income, which has continued to increase slightly, but rather the total accumulation of income, property and portfolio value. The housing bubble's collapse and the shock to traditional stocks that occurred just a few years ago has created a lasting effect that might take a very long time to fix. NPR also talked about this recently.

These kinds of stories are seldom reported without a political context. And though I normally try to stay out of the day-to-day partisan bickering, I'd argue this. Some want to pin these problems on President Obama, who took office as the worst effects of the Great Recession were setting in. Some would argue he did too much or too little in the year after he took office to address the issue. I'd argue that he had few choices but to try to stabilize the markets and nation, which he did accomplish even as it doesn't "feel" particularly good. What he contributed to the fiscal mess was not nearly as bad as what he inherited.

No, I'd look to the causes of our fiscal instability in this country first, a blame that knows many culprits. The housing "bubble" was called that because prices were inflated beyond their actual value. When people began counting on their inflated values as equity, trouble ensued. People ran up private debt that mirrored, perhaps even eclipsed the national debt. Wall Street exuberance overinflated the value of companies and funds in much the same way. Voters sometimes elected politicians to cut taxes but then quickly elected others to protect beloved public spending programs, never anyone to raise taxes or actually cut meaningful spending. Or at least, never in enough numbers to form lasting political initiative.

I found this post by Andrew Sullivan to be staggering. Though former President Bush was not the only culprit in our fiscal woes, he did turn an opportunity to eliminate the national debt into a fiscal crisis that vexes us still, and that will follow not only President Obama to the end of his term or terms, but a potential President Romney and anyone else that happens into the job in foreseeable future. Just, wow.

Hey, the world is going to be OK. I do think that. But it is going to be different and we're going to have to wrap our heads around the idea that we might need to rethink the nature of what "prosperity" means, particularly for a vast majority of the country not buffeted from this ongoing storm. A slow recovery will take time, but bit by bit the country can get back on track -- if we manage to avoid a war in Iran, spending without tax increases, tax cuts without spending cuts, and degradation of our creative sectors. These are the parts that require college degrees, which now cost more than nice houses.

I'm sticking with the president (my choice; you're entitled to your own), but another president would face the same circumstances with the same dwindling options. All of those options preclude artificial bubbles that create rapid, euphoric growth, something we've gotten fat on for 30 years. Literally fat. I need to go for a walk now.

A new twist has been added to the revelation that Magnetation would build their taconite pellet plant in Wisconsin or Indiana instead of in northern Minnesota where the iron concentrate is produced. Dan Kraker of Minnesota Public Radio reports that company officials say land issues related to their properties in Itasca County prevent them from building here on their necessary timeline.



In other words, the oft-repeated assumption that Minnesota permitting rules are too slow isn't the concern here. The bill passed by Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) last session would have addressed that. The land issues -- problems with a lease, siting concerns, etc. -- are, nevertheless, unexpected. Just two months ago the proposed site in Itasca County was being vetted for use.

In the Kraker MPR story, IRRRB Commissioner Tony Sertich said he was given the impression that Indiana was Magnetation's top choice and, given the language and circumstances, that seems true. The chief customer for the proposed Magnetation pellets is AK Steel, whose blast furnaces are in Ohio. When considering that, one can see how AK Steel would want more of its production capacity located closer to its onus of control (Indiana). The driver, of course, is cost. Control is an added benefit, and related to cost.

Still, the timing of the company's final decision at the "end of the year" seems oddly slow considering the company's need for speed in all other regards. The end of the year seems not-coincidentally linked to the end of the election and whether the company thinks it can get a better deal in any of the three states, particularly here. I don't know that any given election result would change practical considerations here in Minnesota, however. The advantage of northern Minnesota continues to be the region's proximity to the ore and available labor with taconite production experience. But labor costs must also be considered, and Indiana's anti-union environment might be tempting.

Ultimately Magnetation will do what it feels it must to build its plant and compete. It continues to amaze me, however, how the swirling churn of politics is, in effect, factored into the business plan. Rep. Anzelc is seeking a private meeting with Magnetation and perhaps that will yield some answers or possibilities.

(Disclosure: Anzelc is a friend and I run his campaigns).

UPDATE (June 13): Magnetation President Matt Lehtinen wrote to clarify that permitting was a factor in the decision, along with other land and site issues:

"So to summarize, our decision to eliminate MN from the pellet plant site list was based on several site-specific issues and a permitting timeline that did not meet our goal to strive to have the plant running by middle of 2014.”

As I've already explained, I'm the son of several generations of Iron Range mechanics, truck drivers, railroaders and miners. I'm the first male in my direct family line since American naturalization doing work that doesn't require the occasional turning of a wrench. I think you have to go back to a long line of 18th century Swedish ministers in my paternal great-grandmother's family to find people talking for a living.

So I've always been simultaneously mystified and comforted by the sounds of people talking about machines. It's like an immigrant tongue. I know the words but don't know the conjugations. Each year it slips further away. But I always have an accessible reminder of my roots that comes over the radio every week, or at least I did.

Last week it was announced that Ray and Tom Magliozzi, "Click and Clack" of NPR's "Car Talk" program, would be retiring this September. NPR will continue running re-runs for some time, but there won't be any more original shows. These guys always have a magical way of making car repair and maintenance seem interesting no matter your level of expertise. It's a joyful show, and NPR is going to miss it when the people Click and Clack reached don't automatically gravitate to their other programming.

MPR's Bob Collins wrote about this today, asking if public radio was going to be able to take chances on bold new programming now that it's become such a big business, with high stakes expenses and revenues. He argues that Car Talk and A Prairie Home Companion might not have made the airwaves had they started under today's conditions.

I would argue that the people at KAXE-Northern Community Radio are taking some chances. After building a 30-year legacy for KAXE-Grand Rapids, Bemidji and Brainerd they've added KBXE-Bagley to become the state's second largest public radio network (behind, ahem, the considerably larger MPR), Northern Community Radio is doing yeoman's work to share original Minnesota music, cultural programming and (pardon the self-aggrandizing) our 21st century blue collar remix on the variety format, my Great Northern Radio Show.

KAXE/KBXE kicks off their summer fundraiser this week. Please, check them out.

As we ready for the June 16 Great Northern Radio Show (live from Central Lakes College in Brainerd at 5 p.m.) consider becoming a member of KAXE (a proud "Car Talk" NPR affiliate). This station has taken a great chance on my work over the years and I ask the readers of this blog to do their part in joining something truly special for northern Minnesota's media landscape.

A year after the frightening underground fire that threatened both an important historical state park and a multi-million dollar physics research laboratory, the Soudan Underground Mine has reopened for tours.

If you're like me, your weekend was consumed by a massive garage sale, purging the tangible evidence that the small boys in your house were ever babies. OK, that's a mite specific. But my point is maybe you'd like next weekend to be even more hip and happening than this one. We know it might be a hot one.

Well, you should of course check out my Great Northern Radio Show, airing live from Central Lakes College in Brainerd on Saturday. (Live show 5-7, free tickets if you call KAXE at 218-326-1234 during the week). We're taking some creative risks on this one and it should be entertaining.

Then, extend the weekend with a Fathers Day Twins game Sunday afternoon at Target Field, which I just learned will include musical interludes from the Duluth-based progressive bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles. I don't know the ticket situation for this game; I only know that would be a pretty sweet weekend.

This is my Sunday column for the June 10, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. This is based on a shorter piece that aired on "Between You and Me" last week on Northern Community Radio.

Northern Minnesota’s awkward dance with summer
By Aaron J. Brown

The other day the dog went outside and barked her way back in within a couple minutes. Later that day the boys did the same thing, although their barking had verbs. We haven’t seen this kind of behavior since January.

Indeed, temperatures have crept up along with the sun’s position in the sky, back to the hammer-to-anvil position usually reserved for lower latitudes. It’s plausibly hot now, though in no way that people outside of northern Minnesota would understand.

In northern Minnesota, hot is a term reserved for any condition warmer than a room in which one could wear pants comfortably. Pants are really just heat tubes. If you could grow tomatoes in there, it’s hot.

So we have the shorts out now and they fit OK, always a good test of winter’s diet. The legs are still there; need to tan them up some to be presentable.

I always slump into June the way Hemingway’s Santiago from “The Old Man and the Sea” walks back from his boat after catching the monster fish only to have it eaten by sharks over several days. Literary scholars argue about whether the old man goes back to his house to die or whether he lives for a while and then dies. Anyway, June.

I teach, so May brings papers and end of the semester business. Our kids are in school now so May also brings programs and activities. May piles up community events, like politics, the arts and radio shows. By the time May is over, I’m lucky to be functional at all and my luck is middling at best.

And here comes June. In northern Minnesota June is the promise. To abuse another literary reference, June is California in “The Grapes of Wrath.” When the Joad family finally escapes the Dust Bowl to get there, the realization that picking peaches for a nickel a bushel is what waits.

In these north woods summer is fleeting and magical. It arrives suddenly and, despite having more daylight hours, somehow seems to pass faster than any other season. You’ve got to be ready for summer, with your list of projects ready to go, supplies requisitioned, ambition steeled for the heat and humidity. Because summer means projects and if you haven’t planned them by now there’s only a 50/50 chance you’ll complete them at all. July is hot. August is hotter. Then the school year returns, fall and rumblings of winter.

The lawn needs to be mowed. The deck needs to be stained. We need to do some dirt work to keep the water from pooling along our basement wall. There’s talk of putting patio block down, but the honest motivation there is simply to avoid having more grass to mow. It is probably best if we don’t let the children play Angry Birds in their pajamas all summer. We should, I don’t know, read books or something. And maybe this is the year we put in the shrubbery. Maybe.

Summer is a big hot season that wants very much for you to take it easy. And maybe we should. But every June we have to decide whether we’ll take that advice or wring every possible hour of enjoyment out of these long, luscious days. I think a lot of us choose to live in Minnesota because this quandary only lasts a few weeks.

Hot? Oh, it’ll get hotter. But not for long.

Aaron J. Brown is an author and college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts the Great Northern Radio Show on public stations like 91.7 KAXE. The next show is Saturday, June 16 at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota. Find out more at kaxe.org.

Congratulations to the girls from my alma mater, Cherry High School, for their state championship victory today. Cherry is a tiny school. I graduated from a class of 38 and it's much smaller now. Their only other team championship prior to this was the 1997 baseball title won when I went to school there (and watched from the stands ... on account of my spastic ways). I rode back in a long parade of cars from the game in St. Cloud, the unforgettably-named Dick Putz field. There were hundreds of people -- which means all the people in Cherry -- along Highway 37 waving and honking horns. They parked the fire trucks out in front of the Clinton Township Hall and set the lights going. The boys emerged from the bus in tears.

I hope the girls get the same welcome home today. Congratulations, Tigers.

Magnetation announced Thursday it will not build its pellet plant in northern Minnesota as locals had hoped. Instead the scram mining operation that's expanded quickly on the western Mesabi Iron Range is considering the sites of Superior, Wisconsin or Butler, Indiana.

Permitting issues are the top reason, according to the company. Magnetation President Matt Lehtinen made the announcement to a gathering of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday, while his father CEO Larry Lehtinen discussed it with WDIO.

That being said, recent legislation passed by Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam) would have created a 10-month path to permitting for the company, within its previously stated timeline. It would appear other factors are also at play in this decision. Given the investment of Iron Range resources in Magnetation over the last few years this development is a disappointment. A final decision on the plant location is expected at the end of 2012, after the election, so perhaps more can be done.

Magnetation will, however, build two more concentrate plants in Itasca County, creating a total of five scram mining sites in northern Minnesota. While Minnesota could lose the 100 jobs that would have come with the pellet plant it stands to gain 200 jobs in ore extraction.

I wrote about Magnetation's plans to seize a chunk of the domestic taconite market in April.

So you know about Friday's jazz concert and next week's Great Northern Radio Show, but if you need even more Iron Range-based entertainment consider this Saturday night's Iron Range Maidens roller derby bout.

The Iron Range Maidens will face the Babes of Thunder of Thunder Bay, Ontario, in the team's first international smackdown. The bout starts at 5 p.m. at the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids. They're on the metric system in Canada. Does that make the women bigger or smaller? WE WILL FIND OUT!

On the B-side of the ticket the Maidens B-team the "Attackonites" will face a new team from St. Cloud called S.C.A.R.

I've watched the Maidens play before. If you've never seen a roller derby match you should try it. It is everything you expect in addition to nothing you expect.

What's new, AB? How you been? Well, the Great Northern Radio Show returns Saturday, June 16 at the John Chalberg Theatre at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesota. So things are looking up.

Great Northern Radio Show heads to Brainerd

Variety program to broadcast live from Central Lakes College June 16

BRAINERD, Minnesota (June 5, 2012) -- The Great Northern Radio Show, a popular new variety program produced by Northern Community Radio (KAXE), heads to Brainerd on Saturday, June 16.

The show will be broadcast live from the John Chalberg Theatre at Central Lakes College from 5-7 p.m. on 89.9 KAXE in Brainerd, 91.7 KAXE in Grand Rapids and on the Iron Range, and 90.5 KBXE Bemidji. The program will also be streamed live at kaxe.org. Tickets for the June 16 live performance are free, but must be reserved by calling KAXE at 800-662-5799. Audience members are asked to be seated by 4:30 p.m.

Written and hosted by northern Minnesota writer Aaron J. Brown, the Great Northern Radio Show features music, stories and comedy about modern life off the beaten path.

“We try to reflect the unique culture and history of northern Minnesota with every show,” said Brown. “We pay particular attention to the stories and people of the towns we visit, using mostly local actors and musicians with a few of our regulars brought along.

The June 16 show features several musicians, including The Bitter Spills, a rock and blues band from the Iron Range, Eric Pollard and his solo act “Actual Wolf,” Brainerd singer/songwriter Seth Doud, recent Brainerd high school graduate and musician Katie Wig, Central Lakes student brothers Andy and Spencer Olson and their bands the Danver Patients and Hollow Hearts, with John Pribyl. Past show guests Iris Kolodji of Hibbing and Sonny Johnson of Bemidji will return.

The Great Northern Radio Players, a rotating group of actors from towns around Minnesota, will feature Brainerd and Pequot Lakes area actors Nancy Waller, Charlie Johnson, Sue Johnson and Jon Bjorquist, along with other surprise guests from the Brainerd area.

The June 16 episode is entitled "Maybe About Trains," and will pay special attention to the railroad history of Brainerd and the nearby Cuyuna Iron Range.

Great Northern Radio Show regulars include director Shelly Nowak and stage manager Kelly Gustavsson of Hibbing. The house keyboardist is Nickolai Koivunen of Zim. Longtime Iron Range broadcaster Scott Hanson provides foley sound and other performance material. The show is written by Brown and Hibbing native Matt Nelson.

“Each show is unique, exciting and unpredictable,” said Brown. “Whether you attend the live performance, where you get to see behind the scenes, or listen on the radio, you’ll have a great night of free entertainment.”

The Great Northern Radio Show started last year with a show on Brown’s native Mesabi Iron Range in Hibbing. This April the show broadcast from the Chief Theatre in Bemidji. After the June 16 Brainerd program, the Great Northern Radio Show heads to Eveleth on Oct. 20 and Bigfork on Dec. 15.
“Right now we do a show every season and we’ll try to visit as many different towns as we can in the first couple years of this show,” said Brown. “After that we’ll consider whether we want to stay on the road or establish a home theater somewhere.”

The Great Northern Radio Show is rebroadcast on other independent public radio stations around the state and is available as a podcast. Find out more at www.kaxe.org. The show is underwritten by the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota and made possible in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Amendment.

Filings have closed for Minnesota's legislative and congressional races. Here's a roundup of some of the races in northeastern Minnesota that I'll be following.

District 3: 
This is the big new district that covers the outskirts of Duluth, the North Shore a vast chunk of northern St. Louis County and Koochiching County (International Falls). State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) will face Republican Jennifer Havlick of Two Harbors in a rematch of 2010.

In District 3A, Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake) faces Republican Jim Tuomola of Babbitt in another 2010 rematch. In 3B, Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown) faces GOPer Keith MacDonald of Hermantown. Both of these are rematches. The DFL incumbents are favored in all these races.

District 5:
This new district includes Grand Rapids, Bemidji and Walker and becomes a "Woods and Waters Battleground." State Sen. John Carlson (R-Bemidji) was paired with State. Sen. Tom Saxhaug (DFL-Grand Rapids) in one of the state's premiere match-ups. Saxhaug drew an unexpected primary challenger, however, in Bemidji's Laverne Pederson. He is likely to prevail there for the tougher contest with Carlson.

In 5A, Rep. John Persell (DFL-Bemidji) was paired with Rep. Larry Howes (R-Walker). This will be a close race, with the index slightly favoring Persell but with Howes as an extremely tough opponent. In 5B, my friend Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam) was paired with Rep. Carolyn McElfatrick (R-Deer River). This is a pure toss-up. No primaries in the District 5 house races. Districts 5, 5A and 5B will be heavily targeted by both parties.

District 6:
This is the "Range" district now. State Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) drew a Republican opponent in Brandon Anderson, also of Chisholm. Anderson has a Facebook page. Tomassoni is heavily favored here.

In 6A, freshman Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) has a challenge from GOPer Roger Weber of Nashwauk Township. Weber is likely to invoke charges of union corruption as a member of the group of retired miners whose pensions were robbed in the bankruptcy and sale of National Steel. Still, the district index heavily favors the DFL.

The big race here is 6B, where Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township) has retired. Three DFLers, Jason Metsa, Lorrie Janatopoulos and Dave Meyer, have filed. There were no surprises at the end of filing, so a contentious primary battle -- especially between Metsa and Janatopoulos -- awaits the eastern Iron Range this summer. In an interesting twist TWO Republicans filed for this seat, Dan Darbo of Hoyt Lakes and Jesse Colangelo of Eveleth. This will be the first Republican legislative primary on the Iron Range in recent memory. Nevertheless, the fall index heavily favors the eventual DFL primary winner.

District 7:
This is Duluth. State Sen. Roger Reinert, a DFLer, will face Republican Tyler Verry. In 7B, State Rep. Kerry Gauthier faces Travis Silvers in a 2010 rematch. In 7A, Rep. Tom Huntley drew a DFL primary challenge from Brandon Clokey, but is likely headed to a general election against Republican Therese Bower. The DFL incumbents are all heavily favored here.

District 9:
The district is dominated by Little Falls and the south end of the Central Lakes area. Incumbent Sen. Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) moved to this district to run again. He faces former DFL Sen. Al Doty. Gazelka is favored here, but it could get closer.

In 9A, Mark Anderson (R-Lake Shore) faces Don Niles (DFL-Wadena). In 9B, Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls) faces Adrian Welle (DFL-Piersz). Both districts favor the Republicans.

District  10:
This Crow Wing and Aitkin County district features incumbent former Sen. Carrie Ruud (R-Breezy Point) and a DFL primary between Taylor Stevenson of Baxter and Anne Marcotte of Hill City. This could be a competitive race.

In 10A, Rep. John Ward (DFL-Baxter) faces a tough challenge from GOPer Chris Kellet of Brainerd. District 10B is an open seat featuring Republican Dale Lueck of Aitkin and two DFLers, Joe Radinovich of Crosby and David Schaaf of McGregor. Radinovich has been running longer and has the DFL endorsement, but I don't know much more than that. This will be a competitive race, pitting the GOP precincts of Aitkin County against the DFL lean of the Cuyuna Range.

District 11:
This is Carlton and Pine counties and other nearby precincts. Incumbent Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL-Kerrick) faces GOP challenger Bill Saumer of Pine City. Lourey is favored here but it could be close.

District 11A is an open seat with a lot of variables. There will be a DFL primary between endorsed union organizer Mike Sundin and Cloquet Mayor Bruce Algren. This could be a very competitive contest. Meantime, Cory Pylkka of Carlton has filed for the Independence Party. Pat Omen of Barnum has filed as an independent. GOPer Jim Putnam of Scanlon awaits the DFL primary winner as well. The district probably favors the DFL, but there remain unique challenges with the primary and two third party candidates.

Down in 11B, DFLer Nathan Johnson is in a primary with former Rep. Tim Faust (DFL-Mora). There is a Republican primary between Ben Weiner of Finylason and Pine County Commissioner Mitch Pangerl of Pine City. Tom Ladwig Jr. of Brook Park has filed for the Independence Party. This district is probably a tossup.

SUMMARY:
Like the MN-8 Congressional race, which includes most of these districts, these races are much more competitive than they were 20 years ago when most were DFL strongholds. The Range still favors DFLers but the Range vote totals are smaller. The new District 5 is a bellwether for the GOP/DFL battle for the House and Senate, though just as important are some of the open seats south of Highway 2. The outcome of these northeastern races will greatly influence who holds the majority in St. Paul after November's election.

Culture, music and history converge this weekend for a special benefit concert in Virginia, Minnesota. Connie Evingson is a great talent who is back to the Range often and Sam Miltich always does a good show, whether in a concert hall or the V-Dub in downtown Grand Rapids.

Shows like this remind us of the Iron Range's unique and complex past, which includes a musical tradition that goes far beyond barroom polkas.

B'nai Abraham Center presents jazz vocalist Connie Evingson

Minneapolis, Minnesota -- The B'nai Abraham Museum and Cultural Center in Virginia, Minnesota presents Twin Cities jazz vocalist Connie Evingson and her Quartet in concert Friday, June 8 at 7pm. Evingson performed at B'nai Abraham in 2011 and is returning for a second appearance due to popular demand.

Connie Evingson was born in Hibbing, MN and is still a regular visitor to the Iron Range. Based in Minneapolis, she appears regularly at the Dakota Jazz Club and at concert, theater and festival venues in the Twin Cities and around the world. Her quartet includes saxophonist Dave Karr, active in New York big bands in the late '40's and early '50's and a first-call player in the Twin Cities since arriving in 1954 to attend the University of Minnesota, Grand Rapids guitarist Sam Miltich, founder of the Clearwater Hot Club and Big Dipper Jazz Band, bassist Matthew Miltich (father of Sam), also of Grand Rapids, and Minneapolis drummer Jay Epstein, a veteran of many popular Twin Cities jazz ensembles.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased after June 1st at the Virginia Area Historical Society, 800 9th Avenue North, Virginia (218)741-1136. Tickets are also available at the door beginning at 6:15 the night of the concert. We can accept cash and checks only, payable to the Friends of B'nai Abraham.  Ticket sales and donations help the Friends of B’nai Abraham bring outstanding entertainment to Virginia and continue the restoration of the building.  B'nai Abraham is located at 328 5th St. South (corner of 4th Avenue and 5th Street) in Virginia, Minnesota.

Further information at www.ironrangejewishheritage.org

This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

It's been a long time since I've read much about the study of mesothelioma occurrences among Iron Range workers. The Pioneer Press ran a story over the weekend.

The premise behind the state funding for this U of M study was that an unusual amount of mesothelioma was being found among current and former taconite industry workers. The worry was that fibers in the taconite itself might be causing this relative rare form of lung disease, most often found among people who have worked with asbestos fibers.

The researchers are not making a final conclusion yet, but left the door open for either declaring a definitive link between taconite and mesothelioma or no link at all. So, yeah. Stay tuned. I found the following excerpt from the PiPress story interesting, however:

On Thursday, researchers revealed that the study already has confirmed a 300 percent higher rate of mesothelioma on the Iron Range than the general population in Minnesota.

Thursday's update, the first since October, also reported that Rangers have about 20 percent more lung cancer and 11 percent more heart disease than the general population.

Yet while lung cancer can be caused by smoking and heart disease from bad eating habits and obesity, mesothelioma can come only from exposure to certain kinds of airborne fibers.

Researchers said they simply aren't finding many, if any, of the traditional asbestos-size mineral fibers in their study. So now they are focusing on shorter fibers. Once called "asbestos-like fibers," researchers are now calling them "elongated mineral particles" because they are not truly asbestos.

It would appear the high incidence of other health issues, such as smoking, among Range miners will make it hard to say why mesothelioma is so much more prevalent here.

Duluth Mayor Don Ness was the subject of an extremely positive profile in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune on Sunday. Duluth's success in diversifying its economy continues to be a good model for the region.

In fact, the Iron Range's historical and geographical relationship with Duluth means that the fate of these two places are intertwined. Either the Iron Range becomes more economically diverse and modern along with Duluth or else its inability to do so will limit Duluth's further growth.

I do know that two of my sisters left the Range for the economic and cultural promise of the Twin Cities in the last two years. One is already moving to Duluth and the other would like to. People vote lots of ways, but the biggest way they vote is with their feet (and stuff ... and money).

At this hour former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar is endorsing Rick Nolan in the DFL primary for Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District. Nolan was endorsed by the DFL last month and faces two primary challengers in former St. Cloud state Sen. Tarryl Clark and former Duluth city council president Jeff Anderson.

The Oberstar/Nolan press conference is taking place at Chisholm's Minnesota Museum of Mining in the replicated office of the "Iron Lady" Veda Ponikvar. Ponikvar, a longtime friend and ally of Oberstar who had already endorsed Nolan, will be present and the festivities will include a cake for her 92nd birthday.

I've avoided the breathless reporting of endorsements in this race so far just because there are few endorsements that will move tons of people in and of themselves in this race. I do think Oberstar's endorsement, along with the DFL endorsement and the support of all the state's top DFLers, will move votes for Nolan, however. In fact, earlier speculation that these endorsements give Nolan a counterbalance to the huge fundraising advantage held by Clark is probably true. It's Nolan and Clark out front.

Clark is using today to "announce" her filing for office this afternoon. Meantime, Anderson continues to build a highly local coalition of Iron Rangers and Duluthians with a strong focus on mining and natural resource jobs. He's announcing endorsements today from more Range mayors, a demographic strongly in favor of local mining projects. Anderson, whose fundraising has been anemic, has been doggedly working a grassroots strategy that more closely resembles a giant State Senate campaign. He will need a break or a flame-out by one of the frontrunners to break the 34 percent or more needed to win the primary, but it's not unthinkable that he could do so.

So, meet your field:

Rick Nolan: Traditional 8th District DFLer; a happy progressive fighter with experience and old fashioned retail political skills.

Tarryl Clark: A 21st century-style "tailored message" campaign running for the general election; lots of money for name ID ads to run at some strategic point leading up to the primary.

Jeff Anderson: young leadership; heavy biographical focus on Duluth and the Iron Range; elevated support and prioritization of new mining projects on the Range.

The weaknesses these candidates have are evident in the flip side of their strengths. Nolan is older and more tied to DFL establishment. Clark's campaign has an outsider feel to it. Anderson runs the risk of relying too heavily on Duluth and Range votes he might not be able to deliver in numbers sufficient to win.

Each, however, brings something unique to the coming fight with U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8), the freshman phenom who ousted the venerable Oberstar in a 2010 upset.

Nolan would probably match up best against Cravaack in debates and in energizing DFL turnout. Clark could potentially outspend him. Anderson has the most direct life experience in MN-8, and would neutralize Cravaack's argument that he is the pro-mining candidate in what could be a mining job-focused election (bearing in mind that no candidate in this race has expressed direct opposition to new mining).

There will be more news and drama in this race before the Aug. 14 primary, but really it will just be the process of public opinion forming around this dynamic. A clean, quieter primary campaign will elevate a DFL candidate with a strong chance of winning a competitive election. An uglier, louder campaign could give Cravaack a chance to eke out another win. All of this is predicated by the fact that a strong national wave, one way or the other, will likely take this seat with it.

This is my Sunday column for the June 3, 2012 Hibbing Daily Tribune.

Iron Range political universe to change in 2012
By Aaron J. Brown

When my father turned 30 I said, “Dad, you’re eligible to run for the Senate!” My goodness, I was 7. That’s the kind of kid I was. But dad, a mechanic laid off from Cummins Diesel, did not run for the Senate. Instead we moved out to Zim and he helped run the family junkyard. It made no sense to me why a person wouldn’t run for political offices when they were old enough: 21 for the legislature; 25 for Congress; 30 for the Senate; 35 for President.

I’m 32 now and I think I finally get it.

I come from a non-political family that has long lived in the middle of a very political place: northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. The region has always been an economic and political frontier, home to a mix of Teddy Roosevelt progressive Republicanism (with a streak of Eugene Debs socialism) 100 years ago, to the labor DFL bastion it became after WWII, to the oddity it is today.

So much of my life has been lived on an Iron Range that seems never to change, but that’s only an illusion. The change has been building for a long time and we’ll watch the results this year, 100 years after the days of Debs and Roosevelt. Some will point fingers at the redistricting process that changed many of the boundaries of state legislative races, but those changes were foretold by a demographic shift that has been occurring here since the economic catastrophe of the early 1980s.

First, in the race for Congress, voters will determine whether U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) was a mere fluke after his upset win over longtime Congressman Jim Oberstar in 2010, turning over conventional wisdom that the district was safely DFL. Cravaack will face one of three DFLers running in an Aug. 14 primary – Rick Nolan, Tarryl Clark or Jeff Anderson, each of whom represent some different path for their party.

Perhaps the biggest local change occurred recently with the retirement of State Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township), who has represented the eastern Iron Range for 26 years, earning a robust reputation as a hard-nosed, happy warrior for the labor movement and his constituents. His seat, now called 6B, is open and three DFLers -- labor organizer Jason Metsa, AEOA planning director Lorrie Janatopoulos and construction laborer Dave Meyer, and perhaps more -- have announced a run for a Aug. 14 primary. Republican Jesse Colangelo has also filed.

Here in Hibbing, it’d be tempting to say little has changed in the legislative seats. State. Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) is up for re-election in the new district 6, as is freshman State. Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing) in the new 6A. Melin has drawn an opponent in Roger Weber, a Republican from north of Nashwauk, a retired miner and former airport employee.

Familiar faces, but a new dynamic. The Iron Range state senate seat was once wholly located on the central Iron Range has not only expanded down to the gates of Duluth, but also west into Itasca County. This reflects the fact that there will now be only one senator who represents a “majority Range” district from now on.

That has affected the district represented by Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township). The Keewatin native loses his hometown to the new sixth district, along with Nashwauk, Marble and even Effie. He joins freshman State Rep. Carolyn McElfatrick (R-Deer River) in a new district 5B that includes DFL cities like Bovey, Coleraine and Taconite, gains the DFL-leaning but swing city of Grand Rapids and the more conservative cities of western Itasca County. Included is a swath of new territory in Cass County. (Disclosure: Anzelc is a friend of mine and I help him on his campaigns).

State Sen. Tom Saxhaug (DFL-Grand Rapids) finds himself in the fifth district with State Sen. John Carlson (R-Bemidji). This might be the first time since the railroads arrived that Bemidji and Grand Rapids have been in the same district. Saxhaug has drawn an unexpected primary challenge from Laverne Pederson of Bemidji, though Pederson has filed without any announcement.

Meantime, to the north, State Sen. Tom Bakk finds himself in a District 3 that stretches from Koochiching County, through the Boundary waters to the North Shore and down into parts of Duluth, Hermantown and Proctor. One needs a truck, a canoe and a country club membership to entirely traverse this massive tract (which, confusingly, is shaped like the Number 7). State Rep. David Dill (DFL-Orr) has the same issue, only without the Hermantown/Proctor section which is similar to the district Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown) has long represented.

The issues are the same: less representation for more northern territory. New alliances and coalitions must be formed. What we do is more important that what was done before.

The filing period closes Tuesday, June 5, so more surprises could be in store. Regardless of voters’ choices this fall, change has already been forged. The people of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range must plan for a future in which our political traditions are steeped less in legend, and more in forethought.

Aaron J. Brown is a writer and community college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts the Great Northern Radio Show on public stations like 91.7 KAXE. The next show airs Saturday, June 16 from Central Lakes College in Brainerd.