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Klobuchar’s Range/Biden comment
Here’s a line from a recent AP story on Joe Biden’s selection as Barack Obama’s running mate: “Minnesota will love Joe Biden when they get to know him. I can just see him up on the Iron Range right now. He has blue collar roots, he’s a very warm person,” Klobuchar told The Associated Press…
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Overheard in the halls
Two traditional aged female students overheard talking as they passed my office door at the community college where I work: ONE: I don’t care what he says. I’ll take f***ing Communism over $50,000 in debt for college. TWO: Uh-huh. Don’t forget, the people are angry. This is a volatile electorate. They will go with the…
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More 7B campaign videos: compare and contrast
Twin Ports Action has posted a section of videos from its recent forum with the DFL and IP candidates for House District 7B in West Duluth. The topic of these videos is Duluth’s so-called “Red Plan” for school infrastructure. Those looking for opportunities to see the candidates in action can get a look. I’m still…
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Range community journalism club to meet tonight
For those interested, a meeting of the Iron Range Community Journalism Club will be held tonight: August topics: Tips and technologies for conducting interviews. Scott Hall of 91.7 KAXE community radio will provide interviewing tips. Shelly Ceglar, Mountain Iron-Buhl technology and media specialist,will provide information on interviewing technologies and uploadinginterview files (audio/video) to the Web.…
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Education lawmakers to converge on the Range Tuesday for crucial hearing
This is a reminder that the Minnesota House of Representatives committees on K-12 finance and policy will be holding a session to discuss the state of education at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 26 in the Nashwauk-Keewatin High School gym. Local State Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) is on the committee and helped organize the…
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Fresh Start
It’s day one of a new school year. One of the nice things about working in education is that you have a natural flow to your year and every year brings a new beginning. Today is just such a new start. I’ve got a fresh pack of pens and a clean grade book, ready to…
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Sportsmen for the Issues That Matter
The more things change the more they stay the same. As with the past several elections, the GOP has determined that its best move is to use “Sportsmen” as their primary outreach group on the Iron Range. (The surprisingly balanced story is in Sunday’s Mesabi Daily News). I get the political strategy. Fleck off working…
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McCain’s website timeline includes Civil War, pictures of old timey biplanes
I get the general idea behind what John McCain is trying to do on the “time line” portion of his website. It juxtaposes his life history with U.S. history to show how “American” his story is. But is it a good idea to have the thing scroll back to 1840? I mean, doesn’t that just…
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Coupon quest
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008 Hibbing Daily Tribune. Coupon questBy Aaron J. Brown Economic woes introduce many people to the world of couponing. It’s not that our current economy is oppressively bad; no one is selling apples on street corners or loading family possessions into cars to go pick…
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The GOP war against popularity
This Michael Kinsley column (“Convicted of Charisma”) in today’s Washington Post discusses the fact that John McCain and the Republicans are, thus far effectively, using Barack Obama’s popularity and ability to communicate against him. How dare he be liked? How dare he attract people to attend his events in large numbers? Most Americans can’t do…
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It’s Biden Time
I should have put the cellphone on the night stand, but we’ve all got our text messages now and have seen that Joe Biden is Barack Obama’s running mate. A long time ago, when I was analyzing the primary candidates from an “Iron Range” perspective, I commented that Joe Biden seemed like a guy who…
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Cornival is here
For a guy who loves puns, I can’t go wrong with today’s Cornival at the Lawron Presbyterian Church along Scenic Highway 7 in Itasca County. They’ve got silent auctions, flea markets, giant gorilla bouncy things for the kids, and … corn. Oh, lordy, the corn. As you walk up from the parking lot you see…
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Women’s leadership initiative continues on the Range
Earlier in the year, a Go Run Iron Range conference was held to gather and encourage women interested in political leadership and gave them basic training on how to conduct local and broader campaigns. The effort was an extension of the White House Project. Efforts to expand female leadership on the Iron Range continue and…
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Mud, destruction, fun at Embarrass Fair
The Embarrass Fair starts today. I’m posting this in honor of Roland Fowler, the unofficial spokesman for the town, who manages to sneak references to the fair every time he is interviewed about Embarrass being the coldest place in the Lower 48 in the national media each winter. He grabbed about 30 seconds of CNN…
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MN Indy posts great analysis of Obama’s challenges up north
Paul Demko at the Minnesota Independent posted an excellent story about the challenges facing Barack Obama in Pine County. Pine County is considered “central Minnesota,” but is right on the border of Carlton County which is considered “northern Minnesota.” While always more conservative than Duluth and the Iron Range, it’s hard not to notice the…