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Update: Forums scheduled for hot 4A race
Here’s an update from the House District 4A race. This is the seat that popular incumbent Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji) is abandoning to pursue a Ph.D. and focus on his family. We’ve got endorsement fights on both sides of the aisle. DFLThere are still only two announced DFL candidates for endorsement: Leech Lake band member and…
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More steel and speculation in this week’s Biz North
Wayne Nelson and the writers at Business North do a fine job of covering the economic news of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This week’s edition has a couple of interesting Iron Range stories. First, this story reviews Essar Global’s North American steel ambitions, something I talked about earlier in the week. This is the company…
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Brown on the Air: Mom’s Cooking
My weekly commentary for Saturday’s “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE is entitled “High Heat” and talks about a couple kitchen stories and life lessons in honor of my grandma on this upcoming Mother’s Day. The call-in show will discuss the nostalgic topic of “Mom’s Cooking” while sharing great music and probably a recipe…
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Great news! The Range is getting shafted by lobbyists!
Maybe you heard on the TV the great, fantastic super duper news that lobbyist-run Excelsior Energy got a gabildyzillion dollars in tax credits for their boondoggle Mesaba Energy Project. Wow! That’s great! Except that the tax credits apply only if they build the plant, a prospect that requires private investment and a customer willing to…
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Rural broadband needs a little less hooey and a little more Huey
You know, it’s not necessarily cool to idolize the late Louisiana Gov. and Sen. Huey Long, who was assassinated at the peak of his power in 1935. Most people don’t know who he was and, technically speaking, he was a corrupt despot. But he took a poor state, Louisiana, and brought it from one century…
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Getting along
Minnesota Public Radio has a story today on why Republicans and Democrats can’t get along. Iron Range State Rep. Tom Rukavina is quoted near the end. His diagnosis: not enough free beer. His solution: more free beer. Makes sense to me. Related posts: No related posts.
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City Pages reports on Iron Range past, present
I’m not sure what drew them to us, but City Pages — the Twin Cities’ alt weekly — profiles a snippet of Iron Range history and provides a surprisingly detailed look at new nonferrous mineral mining technology on the East Range in this week’s web edition. The history portion in particular puts a bit of…
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A one paper state?
Mainstream media, especially newspapers, continue to struggle in the Internet Age. As I’ve said before, there remain many questions about what will happen to the mainstream media this decade and beyond. But one things seems clear: The Twin Cities will probably be a one paper town sooner than you’d think. Minnesota will have only one…
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Excelsior petitions for delay in PUC ruling on Mesaba project
Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Energy Project will not be on the docket for Thursday’s Public Utilities Commission meeting. The PUC had been expected to rule on two key aspects of the proposed coal gas plant, but Excelsior asked for and received a delay. Why? Some mumbo jumbo about an appeal to a previous administrative decision. The…
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Obama blasts through cable news flak
Well, I watched several consecutive minutes of cable television news last night and at no point did I feel the need for alcohol. That’s a good night. Barack Obama has Fort Clinton surrounded on all sides. He should offer to pay her campaign debt and end this thing. Meantime, let’s take a look at his…
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Obama, Clinton bar fight reaches "hard to watch" stage during awkward moment between de facto conclusion and police arrival
So you all know I’m in the tank for Obama so I’ll spare the feigned objectivity here. I am, however, finding ways to enjoy this protracted race for the Democratic nomination even though it hasn’t been very good for my guy. Have you ever been to an Iron Range bar? At night? Sometimes, around 11…
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Nashwauk is just one push pin on a big map for global steel company
It’s been said before, but Essar Global’s ongoing purchase plans of the Minnesota Steel project — a proposed iron mining and steel-making operations near Nashwauk — sends the Mesabi Iron Range deep into the complicated global steel market. For two decades, Iron Rangers have come to view the prospective mine and steel mill on the…
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Anzelc speaks truth on Mesaba boondoggle
In this Mike Jennings story rescued from last Saturday’s edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, my friend and colleague Tom Anzelc becomes the highest level public official to acknowledge the foolishness of the Mesaba Energy Project: Efforts to sort out the legal and administrative tangle that has ensnared Excelsior Energy will continue next week, but…
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Northern Cheapskate featured in Star Tribune
For those who don’t know, my wife Christina is the Northern Cheapskate, blogging about family budgeting, money-saving tips and personal finance. She got a great write-up in Kara McGuire’s Star Tribune “Ka Ching” column in the Money section today. Check it out. Here’s the setup, which is followed by several specific tips that Christina suggested…
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Buck up, Dollar!
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, May 4, 2008 Hibbing Daily Tribune. I archive past columns at my writing page. A shortened version of this piece also aired as a radio commentary on KAXE’s “Between You and Me” yesterday. Go to http://www.kaxe.org/ and click into the archives if you would like me from…