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COLUMN: Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles
This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 2, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles By Aaron J. Brown Nothing sets the table for an interesting period in history like a failed strike. There was much-ballyhooed strike over Thanksgiving weekend surrounding employees at Wal-Mart. Garnering great attention,…
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The holiday project, light unto a dark universe
Today ends November and welcomes December, a month that, in America at least, brings a contradictory swirl of non-stop holiday and additional work duties. Have fun! Relax! Get your work done! We usually fire people before the end of the year! Don’t worry, though, we wouldn’t do that on Christmas! The topic on Saturday’s “Between…
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The lessons of a Rust Belt upbringing
I read this post, “Born into Ruin: How the Young are Changing Cleveland” by Richey Piiparinen yesterday and it floored me. Read this: It’s true. I am not happy all the time living in Cleveland. But I don’t want to be happy all the time. That’s unnatural. Said Nietzsche: “Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we…
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Next Minneapolis police chief has northern MN roots
Tomorrow the Minneapolis City Council is expected to confirm acting police chief Janee Harteau as the permanent chief of police of Minnesota’s largest urban area. Reaction to Harteau at a hearing yesterday was very positive. The story is generating a lot of attention because Harteau would be the city’s first female police chief and the…
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Nolan names campaign manager as chief of staff
U.S. Rep.-elect Rick Nolan (D-MN8) has named his campaign manager as his new chief of staff for his Washington office and Minnesota field offices. Michael Misterek led Nolan’s successful campaign against outgoing Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) in one of the nation’s most-watched congressional races. There are often mixed results when campaign staff are kept on…
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Finish your Iron Range holiday shopping with this book
If you’re looking for a off-beat gift idea for anyone with a connection or curiosity about northern Minnesota, consider my book, “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” It’s a couple years old, now, but has aged well in that I’d only add minor revisions after recent events. “Overburden” is a blend of personal memoir…
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Duluth’s economic rebirth among year’s top stories
One of the big northern Minnesota stories this year has to be the economic revitalization of Duluth. Seat of the northern Minnesota industrial frontier, Duluth long languished with its Iron Range brethren in economic dependence on a handful of volatile natural resource industries. This year, decades of efforts to diversify and attract residents and visitors…
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Dark chapter of Minnesota history gets national treatment
Last weekend’s episode of “This American Life” was entirely dedicated to Minnesota history. Holy cow, just let those words sink in. Monday’s podcast release made for a big day around here. The story, “Little War on the Prairie,” surrounds a Mankato native and public radio reporter John Biewen, now working at Duke University in North…
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Magnetation selects Indiana for iron ore pellet plant
After considering Grand Rapids, Minn. and Superior, Wis., Iron Range-based Magnetation has selected Reynolds, Indiana for the site of its new pellet plant. They will ship raw materials out of their unique scram mining operation in Itasca County to this facility, which will now include two additional processing sites. The press release follows: Magnetation LLC…
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The iron in our blood
Thought for the day: My family and the families of my neighbors and friends moved from countries around the world to one specific place, at one specific time, because of the iron in the ground. Twofer. Photo from FB site “I f***ing love science,” via friend-of-the-blog Jake Ramsey. Related posts: No related posts.
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MinnesotaBrown hits the million mark
This morning MinnesotaBrown.com passed the 1,000,000 page view mark. This dates back to the blog’s transition to Google Blogger servers in October 2007, though the blog officially began in November of 2006. Sure, that number includes search bots and various internet goblins. It includes myself, refreshing the blog during updates. I haven’t hit anywhere near…
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COLUMN: Atop hill of slime, a clear view of northern political landscape
This is my Sunday column for the Nov. 25, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. This piece is based on some analysis I did for the blog last week. Atop hill of slime, a clear view of northern political landscapeBy Aaron J. Brown As you know by now, Rep.-elect Rick Nolan (D-MN8) ousted Rep.…
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Celebrate Thanksgiving with the Great Northern Radio Show
Happy Thanksgiving weekend! MinnesotaBrown will slow down over the holiday weekend. Nevertheless, the doldrums of holiday radio in northern Minnesota will be restored to greatness (or something) by the Great Northern Radio Show. Our very successful Eveleth broadcast will re-air from 9-11 a.m. Thanksgiving Thursday on the Northern Community Radio network of 91.7 KAXE (89.9…
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Gov. Dayton pardons turkey, but bird ain’t got what it takes to make it on the outside
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton pardons (live) turkey. (Photo: Hunger Solutions) Well, it’s the time of year for state and federal executives to make a show out of “pardoning” a turkey before Thanksgiving, the time of year when untold millions of turkeys are sold and consumed in the United States. As you can see here Gov.…
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A night of jokes and thanks for Iron Range’s Rukavina
Last night, more than 400 people piled into the Mt. Iron Community Center to roast retiring Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township), one of the most outspoken and well-known Iron Range lawmakers in recent memory. I am told that footage of the event will be forthcoming, which I will share here, but John Myers of the…