Boat (and road) safety, biodegradable bait, Fourth of July traditions on the Iron Range, and what will become of the Crissy Lake Dam?
Transcript
WITH HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE STATE, I’M XAN HOLSTON.
COMING UP …
THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND … THE FOURTH OF JULY ON THE IRON RANGE ISN’T JUST FIREWORKS AND PARADES... IT’S A HOMECOMING AND HISTORY..
BUT FIRST…
[LT. ERIC SULLIVAN: NEARLY HALF OF ALL BOATING FATALITIES HAVE ALCOHOL INVOLVED. THESE AREN’T JUST STATISTICS — THESE INVOLVE REAL PEOPLE.]
STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES ARE INCREASING PATROLS FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND … ON WATERWAYS … AS WELL AS ROADWAYS.
OLMSTED COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA IS JOINING A STATEWIDE BORDER-TO-BORDER SPEED CAMPAIGN THIS WEEKEND AS PART OF THE STATE’S ‘100 DEADLIEST DAYS, ‘INITIATIVE... WHICH LASTS THROUGH SEPTEMBER SECOND...
OLMSTED COUNTY REPORTS TEN ROAD-RELATED DEATHS THIS YEAR SO FAR ... COMPARED WITH NINE IN ALL OF 2025.
MEANWHILE … D-N-R MARINE UNIT LIEUTENANT ERIC SULLIVAN WARNS “OPERATION DRY WATER” IS PUTTING MORE CONSERVATION OFFICERS ON THE WATER.
[ERIC SULLIVAN: DRUNK BOATING IS DRUNK DRIVING, AND THE LEGAL LIMIT IS POINT-ZERO-EIGHT.]
IMPAIRED BOATERS CAN LOSE THEIR LICENSE TO OPERATE BOATS... AS WELL AS CARS... AND RECREATIONAL VEHICLES.
STATE OFFICIALS ALSO REMIND EVERYONE THAT FIREWORKS THAT FLY AND EXPLODE ARE ILLEGAL IN MINNESOTA.
--FOND DU LAC MEDICAL CENTER--
THE FOND DU LAC BAND IS EXPANDING HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN DULUTH.
THE BAND BROKE GROUND THIS WEEK ON A 25-MILLION-DOLLAR EXPANSION OF ITS ‘CENTER FOR AMERICAN INDIAN RESOURCES.’
THE MORE-THAN 33-THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT SPACE WILL GIVE THE CENTER MORE ROOM FOR CLINICAL CARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH WORK FOR NATIVE PATIENTS IN DULUTH AND THE REGION.
THE EXPANSION IS EXPECTED TO OPEN IN 2028.
--THIEF RIVER FALLS HOUSING--
CONSTRUCTION IS ALSO MOVING AHEAD ON A NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN THIEF RIVER FALLS.
A CITY HOUSING STUDY FOUND RENTAL AVAILABILITY IS LESS THAN ONE-PERCENT...AND THE AREA HAS JOBS TO OFFER... BUT FEW HOUSING OPTIONS FOR WORKERS.
THIEF RIVER FALLS SAYS THE 65-UNIT APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT USES PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MONEY... IT IS EXPECTED TO OPEN NEXT SUMMER.
--EPA LAWSUIT--
A FREE-SPEECH FIGHT OVER SCIENCE AND POLITICS IS NOW HEADED TO FEDERAL COURT.
TWO FORMER BIOLOGISTS AT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S GREAT LAKES RESEARCH LAB IN DULUTH ... ARE AMONG SEVEN EX-E-P-A SCIENTISTS SUING THE AGENCY.
THEY SAY THEY WERE FIRED FOR SIGNING A PUBLIC DISSENT LETTER LAST YEAR CRITICIZING POLITICIZATION, RESEARCH CUTS AND A CULTURE OF FEAR.
--BIODEGRADABLE FISH LURES – ZERO TRACE BAITS--
A NEW WEST-METRO STARTUP IS TRYING TO TURN ONE OF FISHING’S POLLUTION PROBLEMS INTO A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.
ZERO TRACE BAITS … BASED IN LONG LAKE … MAKES SCENT-INFUSED SOFT BAITS FROM FOOD-GRADE BIOPLASTICS INSTEAD OF TRADITIONAL SOFT PLASTIC.
THE FOUNDER STARTED THE IDEA AS A STUDENT AT UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS.. HE DESIGNED THE LURES TO BREAK DOWN IF LOST IN A LAKE OR RIVER … SO PLASTIC WON’T BE LEFT UNDERWATER FOREVER.
--CRISSY LAKE DAM--
A NEW DEAL-ERA DAM IN WEST-CENTRAL MINNESOTA COULD BE REPLACED WITH RAPIDS … TRADING A SHALLOW RESERVOIR FOR A SAFER, HEALTHIER RIVER.
THE D-N-R IS NOW TAKING PUBLIC COMMENTS ON PLANS TO REMOVE THE CRISSY LAKE DAM IN MORRIS … AND REPLACE IT WITH TWO ROCK ARCH RAPIDS.
THE PROJECT WOULD RESTORE THE POMME DE TERRE RIVER CHANNEL THROUGH THE LAKE … IMPROVE FISH PASSAGE … AND REDUCE SAFETY HAZARDS TIED TO THE AGING DAM.
GIVE YOUR COMMENTS ON THE DNR WEBSITE THROUGH JULY 15TH.
--MAADA’OOKIING GRANTS--
A DULUTH-BASED FOUNDATION IS PUTTING SMALL GRANTS BEHIND NATIVE-LED CULTURE WORK ACROSS NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA.
SEVEN PEOPLE WILL RECEIVE FIVE-THOUSAND DOLLARS EACH FROM THE NORTHLAND FOUNDATION.. THROUGH ITS MAADA’OOKIING PROGRAM.
MAADA'OOKING MEANS “THE DISTRIBUTION” IN OJIBWE... THE PROGRAM IS NATIVE AMERICAN-LED AND SUPPORTS CREATIVE AND IMPACTFUL COMMUNITY BUILDING.
THE GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE IN TWO HARBORS... GRAND PORTAGE... AND LAPORTE.. AND INCLUDE PROJECTS FROM OJIBWE LANGUAGE LITERACY AND MOCCASIN-MAKING.. TO INDIGENOUS FILM... COMICS... WELLNESS AND COMMUNITY GATHERINGS.
--IRON RANGE FOURTH OF JULY--
AND FINALLY …
[AARON BROWN: AMERICA IS AN IMMIGRANT STORY, BUT THE RANGE IS A PARTICULARLY ACUTE EXAMPLE OF IT …]
ON THE IRON RANGE … THE FOURTH OF JULY HAS LONG BEEN MORE THAN FIREWORKS.
KAXE CONTRIBUTOR AND STAR TRIBUNE COLUMNIST AARON BROWN SAYS THE HOLIDAY BECAME ONE OF THE RANGE’S GREAT MEETING PLACES.
IN JUST A FEW DECADES … RANGE MINING TOWNS FILLED WITH IMMIGRANTS FROM ACROSS EUROPE WITH THEIR OWN LANGUAGES AND TRADITIONS.
BROWN SAYS THAT FAST-MOVING BLEND OF CULTURES HELPED CREATE SOMETHING NEW … A SHARED RANGE IDENTITY .
[AARON BROWN: AND SO EVEN IF YOU HAD AN ITALIAN AND A SERBIAN AND A SLOVENIAN AND A CROATIAN AND A FINNISH KID IN A ROW AT SCHOOL, THEY WERE SEPARATED BY A LOT OF DIFFERENCES, BUT WHAT THEY SHARED WAS RUNNING AROUND THE MINES, PLAYING BASEBALL, AND DOING AMERICAN THINGS IN THEIR OFF TIME, AND SO THE FOURTH OF JULY BECAME THIS GREAT EVENT THAT KIND OF SHOWED EVERYBODY YOU CAN GET YOUR AMERICAN FLAGS OUT AND BE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT IS HERE, NOT JUST WHAT YOU WERE BEFORE.]
BROWN SAYS THE FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND IS STILL THE RANGE’S BIG HOMECOMING.
SO COME FOR THE FIREWORKS … STAY FOR THE HISTORY.
FOR NORTH STAR STORIES, I’M XAN HOLSTON.