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March: In like a ?, out like a ?
As I was walking through brown, crappy snow and lamenting the fact that I picked the wrong kind of jacket to wear … again! … I had a flashback to first grade at my now-defunct Forbes Elementary (My elementary school closed in 1988 and is now a bar called “The Boondocks”). We would make these…
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Opening Day brings irrational optimism to Twins country
A-hem: We’re going to win Twins,We’re going to score. We’re going to win, Twins,Watch that baseball soar! Knock out a home run,shout out hip-hooray! Cheer for the Minnesota Twins TO-DAY! So maybe this year’s Twins schedule features Michael Cuddyer on the front instead of Torii Hunter, Johan Santana or other players people might have heard…
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Iron Range editor pens fascinating Obama speech analysis
Sen. Barack Obama’s speech on race, “A More Perfect Union,” was designed to open a national dialogue to chart a way past the racial bitterness of the past. It was also, from a practical standpoint, designed to put out the flames of controversy that had engulfed Obama’s campaign after inflammatory video of hateful comments by…
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Weathering the economic storm, Range style
Here is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for Sunday, March 30, 2008. I archive my columns at my writing homepage if you’re interested in reading more. Weathering the economic storm, Range styleBy Aaron J. Brown, for the Hibbing Daily Tribune So we’re in a recession, or a correction, or some other kind of “…tion”…
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Ventura for President chatter reaches cable news
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is at the center of presidential political chatter again. This morning CNN has been promoting an upcoming interview with Ventura that leans heavily on his potential candidacy. What’s still unclear to me is how Ventura would actually run for president. As an independent? On the Unity ’08 ticket? Libertarian? He’s…
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Outcome prediction at the statehouse
I haven’t been writing much about the legislative session because the talks have been rather stagnant lately. Here are the questions to be answered next week and beyond: Will we get a bonding bill? If yes, does the governor get the exact dollar figure he demanded or does the legislature put more projects in there…
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Coal Hacks Are Making Propaganda (CHAMP!)
There’s an ad in this week’s Scenic Range News (a weekly newspaper on the western Mesabi Range) promoting a new group, CHAMP, or Citizens Happy About the Mesaba Project. This is an obvious turn on CAMP, Citizens Against the Mesaba Project, a large well-organized citizen group that has held the line against Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba…
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Brown on the Air: Statehood now!
Tune in Saturday, March 29 to KAXE’s “Between You and Me” with guest host Scott Hall to hear a show about rebellion. What kind? All kinds! My weekly essay will discuss the history of the “State of Superior,” the forgotten 51st state in the union. I’ll suggest, ever so gently and perhaps with a small…
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Thanks … now the work continues
A belated thank you to all the people who have attended the KAXE Community Journalism Project blog sessions across the Iron Range. We held our third session in Virginia last night and a great group of people spurred a good discussion of community blogging. The work continues. Stay tuned for news about future sessions and…
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Turbine time!
From today’s Mesabi Daily News: Work is progressing rapidly on the Taconite Ridge Wind Turbine project in Mountain Iron. These towers are part of a ten tower project which will produce 25 megawatts of power and will be hooked into the Minnesota Power grid. When completed the towers will be about 315 tall. Photo by…
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Blog revolution needs more revolutionaries
UPDATE: We’re on! You can still register, but we have enough people to hold the session now and you can just show up if you want. If you’re interested, please register for Wednesday night’s free blogging seminar at in room C-156 at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in Virginia. You can just show up…
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Internet changing the nature of news?
Here’s an interesting column from Swampland’s Michael Scherer on how the Internet has changed the ebb and flow of the national news media. Here is a basic shift that has occurred in the news business: Because of the Internet, you, the reader, no longer have to buy information in pre-fabricated packages like “newspapers.” You can…
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‘Round the dinner table on the Iron Range
I can’t stress enough the importance for Democrats to resolve the presidential race soon, before the convention, before June and preferably before Memorial Day. I write from the Iron Range, a place that gets little attention in political coverage ironically because of its reliably important role in Minnesota’s electoral makeup. The Range delivers 40 point…
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Final take on Clooney/Zellweger visit
I’ll let yesterday’s George Clooney/Renee Zellweger Duluth visit go after this, but here is the morning edition story from the Duluth News-Tribune. My new favorite detail: There were a few jabs in the news conference about the city’s size. Northland NewsCenter News Director Barbara Reyelts introduced herself as being from the city’s NBC and CBS…
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Fate of Iron Range school district hangs in the balance
Education remains one of the top political issues (and largest portion of the state budget) in Minnesota. But on the Iron Range, education takes on special importance. Here’s why: 1) As a blue-collar region with an immigrant history, quality public education has been the #1 priority for the Iron Range for about a century. It…