Farmer-Labor tradition means more than just jobs
We see some curious sights this election year. Oh, I can’t get into all of them. Our times are too strange for that. But one thing struck me as especially odd. It was members of the Republican Party arguing that they are now the “Republican Farmer Labor” party. This comes amid claims that candidates like… Read More →
Big change coming to Hibbing Taconite
Yesterday, Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would exit its agreement to manage Hibbing Taconite next year. On Aug. 1, 2019 owners will need to have a new management structure in place to run the second largest iron mine in Minnesota. Hibbing Taconite is owned by a combination of three companies. They include the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal… Read More →
Up in Smoke: Superior disaster reminds why we watch industry
Just six days ago the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin could have been blown to smithereens. A billowing fire engulfed the Husky Oil Refinery in Superior, encroaching just 150 feet from a tank of hydrogen fluoride. An explosion of that tank would have atomized Superior and released a deadly toxic cloud for… Read More →
‘Saving Brinton’ in Duluth this week
I had my 20th class reunion this past Saturday. It was a lovely day of telling stories about the past. One of the scheduled events was a stop at our old high school. The plan was to watch a video my friends and I made my senior year. This short film, shot and edited on… Read More →
What to watch in today’s MN-8 primary
The polls just opened in Minnesota’s 2018 primary election. If you haven’t yet, get out and vote. Plenty of federal, state and local races are on the ballot no matter your party preference. The DFL and GOP races for governor will be closely watched. Insiders tell me Tim Walz, Erin Murphy, and Lori Swanson seem… Read More →
Hot Off the Press
Big change coming to Hibbing Taconite
Yesterday, Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would exit its agreement to manage Hibbing Taconite next year. On Aug. 1, 2019 owners will need to have a new management structure in place to run the second largest iron mine in Minnesota. Hibbing Taconite is owned by a combination of three companies. They include the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal… Read More →
MinnesotaBrown.com is an independent website by author and journalist Aaron J. Brown. It covers Northern Minnesota news, culture and politics with an authentic back woods voice and award-winning experience.
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POWER: A new book project about Victor Power by Aaron J. Brown
Victor Power
For a time, Victor Power was the most powerful small town mayor in the United States. Nevertheless, his short yet extraordinary life fighting the steel trusts from his office in Hibbing slowly slips into obscurity. Aaron J. Brown is working on a book about Victor Power and his early 20th Century world, which stretched far beyond a little boom town in the forests of Northern Minnesota, from the ganglands of Chicago to the ivory towers of New York. Contact Aaron with any Hibbing-area stories from 1900 to 1926 even remotely related to Victor Power or his family, labor unions, the Oliver Mining Company, Al Capone, bootleggers, politicians or any first-hand material about what life in Hibbing was like then. This may be the last chance for many longstanding family legends to become part of permanent history.
