Free Republic

ISLE ROYALE, Mich. (WLUC) - A lake freighter with 22 people on board experienced a water emergency on Lake Superior Saturday morning. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the M/V MICHIPICOTEN, a vessel carrying taconite, allided or struck something underwater and began taking on water Saturday morning.

U.S. Steel announced Thursday that it will idle its Keetac taconite iron ore operations starting May 13, another victim of the huge glut of global iron ore and steel that's far outpacing demand. The company said up to 412 workers at the facility will be affected and that they are being notified. Some employees will be kept on to maintain the operations, so the exact number of layoffs hasn't yet been determined, the company said. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel said the Keewatin, Minn., plant will be idled indefinitely "due to the company's current inventory levels and ongoing adjustment of its steelmaking...

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, who represented northeastern Minnesota for 36 years and brought millions of dollars to the state as chair of the powerful House Transportation Committee, died unexpectedly early Saturday morning. He was 79. A statement released by his family said Oberstar died in his sleep. A cause of death was not provided. His former chief of staff, Bill Richard, said Oberstar died at his home in Potomac, Maryland. […] Oberstar, a Democrat, was elected to Congress in 1974 and served 18 terms—the state’s longest-serving member of Congress. Oberstar became chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee...

MADISON – Gov. Scott Walker delivered a sternly worded statement Friday, demanding that environmental “extremists” disrupting preliminary work at a proposed northern Wisconsin mine site and destroying private property be held responsible for their actions. “These extremists – who are disrupting work and causing harm to law-abiding employees – should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Walker said of incidents last month. No More: Gov. Scott Walker on Friday said he wants protesters who disrupted and threatened workers at a proposed mine site to be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The governor, who is...