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Minor misconception, redfox. In no way did I try to construe that Ely today is vibrant and "alive" as compared to my youth. Ely was far more vibrant when the lumber sawmills and the underground mines were operating in my younger days. There were far more tourists when there were resorts in what is now called the BWCA. And those tourists weren't granola and water bottle people, they rented a cabin for a week, they rented or brought their boat and outboard motor along, in the winter, they came to stay in those resorts to go lake trout fishing with their snowmobiles. Those real tourists spent money when they came to town, not like most of the current tourists who look for a free restroom to use and free tap water to fill their water bottle, and mostly to tell us how to live our life.

Sheridan and Chapman were bustling, summer and winter, John Dee's place had music most nights, all the other bars were full, the movie theatres (there were 2) were full, the bowling alley was full. Today, Ely is deadsville compared to the 40's, 50's and 60's. Just want to clear that up.

As far as mining companies sharing in the development of the community, you did not mis-understand me. Mining company big shots pick and choose their involvement in community affairs. In the case of Virginia, U.S. Steel always made sure they had a "management" employee or more on the hospital commission (a wage and hour employee did not count), they always managed to have a management employee or two on the planning & zoning commission to keep tabs on how zoning will affect their operations, not so much to add talent or contribute to the community. I could go on and on about other Range cities, who had the same situation. Did anyone ever notice how these projections about how many jobs these mines will create? Inflated, anyone. Minntac, for example, had 4800 jobs at one time, now that figure is closer to 1800. The goal is, and always has been, to do as much work with as little people as absolutely necessary. The mines, like other manufacturing companies, are always quick to embrace automation, enhance the size of equipment and pay as little as they can. So all the promises of thousands of jobs can reasonably be reduced to a few hundred by the time things get started up. Granted our area needs the jobs, but to believe there will be as many as the politicians and mine operators claim is foolishness.

All that being said, I'd still much rather have the mining companies around rather than the Sierra Club and their umbrella of environmental wackos. Even the worst Republican is better than any Sierra Clubber, and Ely would be a much better town if the Sierra Clubbers, that have infiltrated the community, were eradicated.