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Inauguration stage graphic shows Minnesota stoicism
The New York Times has a fascinating graphic showing the stage during President Obama’s inauguration address yesterday. It’s a high resolution photograph taken during a completely random moment of Obama’s speech. Some people are paying close attention. Some are checking their phones. It’s clear the weather is only so-so. Some people are happy. Some are…
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President Obama writes to Ely; ice fishing invite stands
Yesterday, NBC’s Today Show aired a feature story on the Iron Range city of Ely. A local resident wrote a letter to President Obama asking for a letter to put in the town’s 50-year time capsule. After a while, with hope fading, a beautiful hand-written two page letter from the president himself arrived in the…
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Celebrating the meaning of ‘the mountaintop’ on the Range
This seems like the best way to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the Iron Range: The North East Area Labor Council will feature a showing of the 1993 documentary “At the River I Stand” on Monday, Jan. 21, 6 p.m., at the Iron Range Operating Engineers Local 49 Hall, 8381 Enterprise Rd, Mt.…
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Inauguration Day is (was) here!
UPDATE: President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address from earlier today. Today is Inauguration Day (Observed). At noon today President Obama will take the oath of office for his second term. It’s a formality. Inauguration Day is always Jan. 20, but when that date falls on a Sunday, like it did this year, the pomp and circumstance…
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The complicated emotional baggage of admitting it’s cold
We’ve got quite a predicament here in northern Minnesota. It’s cold. We’re under a wind chill advisory right now. Tonight at midnight we have a wind chill warning, with -50 wind chills and a high tomorrow of -14. That’s a high. If we’re lucky, -14 is as hot as it’ll get. Exposed skin will experience…
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Brown on the Air: Talking Northern MN politics this afternoon.
I’ll be appearing on the LeftMN Radio Hour on AM950 in the Twin Cities Sunday from 2-3 p.m. You can stream the station online. The program will eventually be archived at LeftMN. The topic will be U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and his first few weeks on the job representing northern Minnesota in Congress. Related posts:…
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COLUMN: The broadband crossroads
This is my Sunday column for the Jan. 20, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The broadband crossroadsBy Aaron J. Brown Last week I chatted with my cousin and his new wife. They were in Philadelphia; we spoke through an internet video phone connection at my grandparents’ home in Keewatin, Minnesota. While my cousin…
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NY Times highlights Sax-Zim bog in recent story
Oh, my bog! The Sax-Zim Peat Bog, the location of my childhood, is in the New York Times. It’s a bird story. You gotta like birds. The picture at right, which often appears on this blog, is of a former road sign once found in the Sax-Zim Peat Bog. Every year I write a predictions…
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Trampled by Turtles to mark 10th anniversary with MN tour
Trampled by Turtles announced their 10th Anniversary Minnesota Tour this week and tickets just went on sale. My Cheapskate bride and I nabbed a pair of tickets for the May 8 Grand Rapids, Minnesota, show at the Reif Center. Get your tickets here. I’m sure this show will have me scheming for my June 29…
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EPA issues plan for taconite industry to cut haze
The Duluth News Tribune reports on the EPA’s plan to reduce haze from taconite plant emissions on Minnesota’s Iron Range and in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It seems like the mining companies are still sorting out exactly what the regulations will mean, but certainly some environmental upgrades at most taconite plants are in the offing. The…
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Trampled by Turtles go shells to the wall on Conan
If you missed last night’s performance by Duluth-based Trampled by Turtles on “Conan,” here it is: It’s pretty sweet. Boy these guys look like they’re from here, don’t they? Related posts: No related posts.
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Now we know what happened to the toilet garden in Skunk Hollow
Lee “Woody” Jackson, a local septic system entrepreneur, has written a letter in today’s Grand Rapids Herald-Review about the fate of his toilet garden in a part of the northern Minnesota town known as Skunk Hollow. This letter should rightly shame city leadership. I, too, miss the toilet garden. Related posts: No related posts.
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Grand Rapids readies for Hockey Day showdowns
This weekend, Hockey Day comes to Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Saturday, Jan. 19 brings outdoor hockey to Pokegama Lake. Some of the state’s top prep hockey teams will play a triple header that is aired on statewide cable network Fox Sports North. First on deck, Eagan vs. Hibbing. Need I say more?UPDATE: I should say more.…
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The economics of taconite and melting ice
Last Sunday, Robin Washington at the Duluth News Tribune raised an interesting question. With melting polar ice, new shipping lanes are opening in the Arctic Circle. The Russians are capitalizing by running ore boats through the slush, cutting down massive costs. The United States? Our trade routes this far north are questionable, but with steel…
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Leading by Skype? Not at public meetings, says attorney
An interesting question for local governments has been raised in the small northern Minnesota town of Cohasset. Recently, a city councilor participated in a meeting via Skype, from somewhere in California. According to this Lisa Rosemore story in the Grand Rapids Herald-Review, councilor Dennis Blankensop was involved in discussions and voted. The city believes this…