…with all the aviation I get to write about — and experience. Last week I took a ride on a Cirrus Vision jet, the Duluth company’s long-awaited addition to its fleet that has been heading to customers since December.. Here’s a personal take on the ride (with a video I shot) and what it all means for our booming regional aviation sector.

I also broke the news on AAR Corp. getting a new airliner to service in its hangar here — multiple sources say it’s United, but the companies won’t confirm. It’s United, though, yeah.

Back on the ground I took a look at why big retailers are sticking with Duluth, how Cloquet’s pulp and paper mill is thriving in the face of industrywide decline, local labor’s uphill battle, how to put the success in business succession and, of course, more news on the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline.

I’ve also spent some time on campus lately, writing about changes at UMD’s student media outlet and even talking to one of John Hatcher’s classes about, well, what I do. Professor Brooks in training, eh? I also went after the youth vote with a column in our back-to-school section and a look at what to do in the long, ever-approaching winter. It’s nice to break out of the inverted pyramid sometimes.

Finally, a few weeks ago, while working a Sunday shift, I had to write the story you never hope to read or write — a vibrant local 15-year-old, Will Schlotec, jumped into a storm-roiled river and died. I called around the next day to see what can be done to prevent another such tragedy, and hopefully we can.