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MN-8 DFLers to debate in Brainerd Monday night
Readers in the Brainerd area can catch another MN-8 DFL debate Monday night at 7 at Central Lakes College. This might be the last one before the Aug. 14 DFL primary. Rick Nolan, Tarryl Clark and Jeff Anderson are competing for the nomination to challenge freshman incumbent U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8). Related posts: No…
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Dylan’s long journey still echoes home
As a regular reader of the AV Club (a pop culture offshoot of The Onion), it was a treat to come across a story about Bob Dylan’s connection to Hibbing. Writer Sean O’Neal interviews my friend Linda Stroback Hocking of Zimmy’s and tours the town. He comes to a conclusion that seems about right to…
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Closing TV ad salvo begins in MN-8 DFL primary
The closing ads are rolling out in the hotly contested MN-8 DFL primary campaign. Endorsed candidate Rick Nolan put out his campaign’s first ad this week, following one put out by the DFL on his behalf. Nolan’s ad is a distillation of a fiery speech Nolan gave to the State DFL Convention last spring. It…
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Federal government cuts off Excelsior Energy
The beleaguered Excelsior Energy Mesaba Energy Project took another blow recently, as the federal government announced it is ending financial support for the proposal. The Duluth News Tribune‘s Peter Passi has the story. This leaves the 11-year-old start-up company with the money it has collected so far, almost entirely from local, state or federal sources,…
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Candidates to debate in race to succeed Rukavina
Candidates for the State House seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Township) will debate Aug. 7 in Virginia, Minnesota. All three DFLers, including Lorrie Janatopoulos, Jason Metsa and Dave Meyer, and both GOPers, including Jesse Colangelo and Dan Darbo, will participate in the debate. This will probably be the last and best…
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Duluth is back; see for yourself
The city of Duluth and the surrounding area was hit hard by last month’s historic flooding and then again when FEMA announced last week it would not provide disaster relief for individuals affected by the storm. But day-to-day life has largely returned to normal in the city, which is why Duluth has invested heavily in…
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COLUMN: Death and taxes can’t be stopped; unfairness can
This is my Sunday column for the July 29, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Death and taxes can’t be stopped; unfairness canBy Aaron J. Brown As the old saying goes, the only sure thing in life is death and taxes. But how you die and how you’re taxed is not inevitable. People’s choices…
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Clinton endorses Clark in MN-8; candidates debate in Grand Rapids
Interesting. Former President Bill Clinton just endorsed Tarryl Clark in the MN-8 DFL primary. Clark announced the Clinton endorsement in the form of a fundraising e-mail. Not sure what a personal endorsement does in this race. Rick Nolan has former Rep. Jim Oberstar, for instance. And Jeff Anderson has Northland native and comedian Maria Bamford,…
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Cravaack to preview MN-8 campaign on Almanac (updated with video)
Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) will appear on TPT’s Almanac tonight, following up the MN-8 DFL primary debate last week. The visit should hearken the coming general election campaign. If you missed that DFL debate last week, check it out. UPDATE: Here is video of Cravaack’s interview: Related posts: No related posts.
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Future of Range DFL politics at stake in 6B primary
With all the attention paid to the DFL primary in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, state political watchers are missing out on an equally interesting DFL primary in State Rep. Tom Rukavina’s soon-to-be former House district. For that matter, the new District 6B will also be home to one of the first Republican primaries in recent…
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Fair caps the closing innings of an Iron Range summer
The famous St. Louis (Minn.) County Fair opens today at the fairgrounds in Chisholm and runs through Sunday. Dubbed the “Five Best Days of Summer” by, well, the people who run the fair, this spectacle is usually a signal of the end of another brief but memorable Iron Range summer. Find out more. I shared…
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The tilted stool of Minnesota’s taxes
Last week I spoke with my home state’s Commissioner of Revenue Myron Frans as he made his way across northern Minnesota for a tax reform discussion tour. I always like to see the ways in which bland-seeming statistics can be applied to real problems in our communities. Frans and I had an interesting chat and…
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Trampled by Actual Turtles
Fans of northern Minnesota’s music scene know well the progressive bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles. But have any of us ever contemplated what it would be like to actually be trampled by turtles? I think not. The Consumerist has the story of 1,600 turtles who slowly escaped a Georgia turtle farm. Scrap metal thieves apparently…
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Return of the Zombie Power Plant
Leslie Brooks Suzokamo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press penned this story about the latest attempted resurrection of Excelsior Energy’s failed Iron Range power plant. As we’ve observed here before, the beleaguered decade-old start-up has proposed a natural gas plant now instead of its originally-planned coal gasification plant. Give the story a read. Founded by…
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A little metro AM talk radio for this rustic fellow
I was a guest on the LeftMn Radio Hour with my blogging/speech instructor counterpart Aaron Klemz on AM 950 Sunday afternoon. I talked about the MN-8 DFL primary and the debate this past Friday on Almanac. You can hear the show in the embedded player below. My section is about halfway through. Podcast Powered By…