-
Country life turned this driver soft in the city
Sorry, today was a blogging bust for me. I was in Duluth most of the day visiting my grandma in the hospital. She’s doing much better; recovering well from a near-fatal aortic aneurysm two weeks ago. She pulled out her own feeding tube two days ago and threatened to do the same with her chest…
-
House bonding bill includes partial funds for key Range projects
The Minnesota House of Representatives’ proposed bonding bill includes money for the Essar Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk and to abate the flood risk at the Canisteo Pit near Bovey. I hear that the governor is sticking to his guns about the creation of the Vermilion State Park I mentioned yesterday, however, which means that…
-
Vermilion state park plan lives
One of the odd things that happened last year is that Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed something new for the Iron Range that the state and even some local leaders didn’t even ask for or especially want. Pawlenty suggested that the state buy land along Lake Vermilion from U.S. Steel to create a new state park.…
-
Smoky theatrics at Minnesota bars
This is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for March 2, 2008. My columns are archived at my homepage. Smoky theatrics at Minnesota barsBy Aaron J. BrownChange isn’t easy, especially when addictive drugs and thousands of billable lobbying hours are involved. That’s why last year’s “Freedom to Breathe Act” took so long to become law…
-
If you can’t smoke ’em, drink ’em
State Rep. Tom Rukavina is one of the great characters of the Iron Range. I mean great in that he personifies our unusual culture rather well and that his heart is usually in the right place, too. That said, he has a knack for randomly enhancing the Range’s longstanding reputation as a place of loud,…
-
Brown on the Air: Souvenirs and ‘C is for Comfort Food’
I am a triple media threat this weekend. Jump back! Old Media (TV): I will be baking fudge bars using a recipe from Bob Dylan’s mom’s personal file on “C is for Comfort Food” on WDSE Channel 8 in Northern Minnesota from 1-4:30 p.m. this Saturday, March 1. I promise to tell you the story…
-
The "Coleman Letters" controversy
By now, you may have read the news about Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign distributing mass letters to the editor for supporters to submit to papers around Minnesota. (MPR, MNPublius, AP). The letters were criticizing Coleman opponent Al Franken, the leading Democrat. While encouraging supporters to write letters to the editor is common practice, the concept…
-
Session battles cast eerie light
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) lashed out harshly after the legislature overrode his veto of the transportation bill. Today, the Senate is expected to oust Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau from her dual role as Transportation Secretary by denying her long-delayed confirmation. The Senate’s bonding bill does not match the governor’s (the House’s bonding bill is expected…
-
Help a Range family this weekend
This Saturday night, March 1, there will be a fundraiser for an Iron Range family at the Hibbing VFW. The Kempas experienced tremendous joy and a terrible scare all within one week last year. Just six days after Ben and Katie welcomed their first daughter Aunika into the world, Katie suffered an almost fatal brain…
-
I am a cooking fraud, but no one is calling me on it … yet
Sometimes in life, strange opportunities will come your way. My philosophy is to always embrace them, no matter how bizarre. This strategy is the only possible explanation for why I will appear on a cooking show this weekend and was featured in the “Taste” section of the March 27 Duluth News-Tribune. A couple weeks ago…
-
House Republicans purge the infidels
A lot of DFLers were surprised that the six Republican state representatives who supported the transportation bill stuck with the coalition in overriding Gov. Pawlenty’s veto. But the roads need to be fixed and I suppose these six finally got sick of the “no new tax, unless it’s a fee” games played by Pawlenty and…
-
Graphic designers lining up with Obama
This might be for strung out political junkies like me more so than “normal human beings,” but check out this story about Barack Obama’s unprecedented use of branding and design in his campaign. A graphic designer tells an interviewer how Obama’s font-choice represents a much larger future trend in political branding. Yes, it’s a story…
-
Excelsior’s new strategy?
Excelsior Energy is running large, color ads in the Mesabi Daily News thanking the Iron Range for all its support for their boondoggle coal gas power plant called the Mesaba Energy Project. Of course, the lobbyist-run company’s most important supporters are the ones on their political contributions list, but I suppose the sentiment is nice.…
-
Yeah, we’ll fix the roads anyway
On Monday, the DFL-controlled Minnesota House of Representatives overrode Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill, which fixes roads and bridges around the state by raising the state gas tax five cents a gallon. They were able to win over six Republicans to aid in the override. While no one wants to pay more…
-
UPDATE (sort of) on smoking ban loophole
I see Duluth News-Tribune columnist Jim Heffernan has already written a humor column about the “theater loophole” in the Minnesota smoking ban now being used by northern Minnesota bars. Fortunately, the piece I’m working on takes a different angle. Good thing, because Heffernan is phoning his columns in from Florida and I’m within a smoke…