Opinions/Editorials

Dear Editor:
The decision last Thursday to deny the renewal of mineral leases to Twin Metals Minnesota and to remove thousands of acres of Superior National Forest from mineral leasing for two years is widely regarded as a great victory for environmentalists.
This ruling by the Secretary of the Interior is certainly a win for those of us who want to keep the Kawishiwi watershed clean. It’s a win for those of us who run businesses in the Boundary Waters region that depend on the reality of clean water in the Boundary Waters and even the perception by our customers of the purity of the wilderness.
Our jobs are sustainable. Our payroll has been growing steadily for 37 years. How can anyone deny us the right to defend what we have worked so hard to build. To others this decision is a great disappointment. I believe I can empathize.

Dear Editor:
I wish everyone on the Range could have seen and heard Congressman Rick Nolan take on the radical anti-mining crowd from the Twin Cities at the DFL State Central Committee meeting last Saturday in Lakeville. Nolan was totally “on fire,” delivering a stem-winder of a speech denouncing the anti-mining Resolution 54 that threatened to put the DFL Party on record in opposition to mining.
Nolan reminded everyone that the “L” in “DFL” stands for Labor. He passionately defended the good paying mining and construction jobs we need to pay our bills, put food on the table and retire with security and dignity.
DFL leaders got the message and defeated the resolution overwhelmingly.
Good work Rick Nolan! You’ve got our backs, and I was proud to stand with you that day.
Jason George, Int’l Union of Operating Engineers Local 49

It was the irony of ironies that on Tuesday night, at the tail end of a meeting that attracted an overflow crowd that spilled out into the hallways, television crews from Duluth and even three police officers to maintain order at City Hall, the Ely City Council awarded the bid for next year’s July 4 fireworks celebration.
Those proved to be the only real fireworks of the night, much to the surprise of many who filled the room or followed along on social media.
The climax of the firestorm that erupted when council member Dan Forsman posted a political meme - on an internet site made up of Hillary Clinton supporters - was rather anti-climactic.
Forsman apologized, those demanding he resign or be thrown off the council kept their pitchforks at home, and civility reigned.
It was the best possible outcome to a situation that had turned ugly, with social media providing the fuel.
With this chapter of 2016 now hopefully closed, here are a few takeaways:

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
We take the First Amendment pretty seriously in the newspaper business in Ely, Minnesota. When a city council member was harshly criticized for posting a meme on a Facebook closed group for some reason it stoked a fire storm.
Let’s back up. What’s a meme? Here’s Google’s interpretation: “A humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.”
The meme so upsetting to some was a picture of Dr. Kevorkian that read, “Do you suffer from Trump acceptance rejection disorder (tard)? Ask you doctor if suicide is right for you.”

Dear Editor:
Accuracy is not a factor my classmate, Becky Rom, retains when forming positions that have grave consequences for a town she calls home....ELY, MN.
It is extremely important to remember that facts need to be correct and applied accurately to stories, which are intended to be perused by the reader.
If you do not state facts that support your intended perspective, you are falsifying your outcomes to suit your needs.
As your classmate I feel the need to bring out some inconsistencies in her recent article from the Minneapolis newspaper. First at age 12/13 she stated that in seventh grade she was selected by our English teacher, Mr Doug Drechsler, who was a first year teacher in 1962, to take the lead in a debate over the BWCA. At that age it was not a big concern of us since, we were still able to travel in the Basswood Lake area by motorboat and snowmobile.

The holiday season is upon us and we hope all of our readers had a happy Thanksgiving - and we wish all of you a season of warmth and good tidings.
Conversations at family holiday gatherings often turn to the news of the day, but it’s easy to understand if families try and steer clear of politics over their turkey and pumpkin pie. In Ely, it’s understandable to add copper-nickel mining to the do not discuss list, for fear of a food fight. Nobody wants to see grandma or a visiting aunt or uncle hit with an errant drumstick, after all.
But conventional wisdom and a lot of rhetoric from the anti-mining crowd, aided sometimes by gullible or left-leaning media outlets, looks to be misguided or just plain wrong when it comes to sentiment about mining in our neck of the woods.

For a community of 3,500 people, Ely sure knows how to make news.
We seriously doubt there’s another community our size anywhere in Minnesota that attracts as much state or even nationwide attention as we do.
Some of the reasons are obvious. Ely’s proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, nationally-known attractions such as the International Wolf Center and North American Bear Center, the vast recognition and acclaim as a tourism destination and outdoor hub, and certainly the ongoing and never-ending debate over copper-nickel mining are among the bevy of reasons Ely makes it into The New York Times, on the TODAY Show, or any of numerous other major media outlets.
Small towns across the state, from Eveleth to East Grand Forks, Barnum to Breckenridge, don’t get this type of publicity.

This week’s headline atop the front page - An election night for the ages - speaks volumes.
Shock waves continue to reverberate around the globe and throughout the United States in the midst of Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the presidential race.
It was a triumph that may know no match in American electoral history.
Indeed, even as the returns began pouring in on Tuesday night, and the raw vote total clearly signalled a Trump upset, many of the TV talking heads were rattling off talking points fueled by faulty pre-election poling as well as Election Day exit polls.
It was as if the pundits were trying to talk themselves into believing Clinton was heading toward a decisive win when the evidence clearly showed the opposite. They were expressing one narrative while the voters were delivering a thunderous and divergent message - one that took hours to recognize.

Finally, and safe to say thankfully, the finish line is in sight and the end to a tumultuous and far too long election season will come to an end on Tuesday.
We’re sure, and like always, Ely area residents will sift through the rhetoric and take a look at the mud-splashed candidates, at least at the national and Congressional levels, and make their own decisions behind the curtain. A growing number of residents, about 250 in the city of Ely alone, have already taken advantage of the early voting option.
As is our tradition, we don’t endorse candidates for president or the U.S. House, or for mayor or school board for that matter, on this page. We trust our readers to look at the facts, explore the issues and personalities and make a decision that best reflects their own interests.

The Ely community was in mourning on Thursday after a car crash resulted in the loss of one of our young people.
Jacob Forsman, 21, died when he exited the vehicle and came into contact with a live electrical wire, according to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department.
The accident occurred just outside of town on a sharp corner on Hwy. 21 near Moss Ridge Road.
We’ve had our share of car accidents and lives lost over the years. Each one brings with it hurt and heartache, feelings of loss and sorrow. We struggle with these as we think of the life taken too soon and the pain felt by family and loved ones.
We feel that pain as well. In a small town we have connections to those directly affected. It may be as a friend, a co-worker, a classmate, a city council member or a friendly face. It still hurts.