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Pawlenty really doesn’t want to be a wallflower in ’08
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‘West Wing’ in real life?
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New Hampshire speaks tomorrow
The New Hampshire primary is Tuesday. There is a good chance that my “endorsed” candidates, Barack Obama for the Democrats and John McCain for the Republicans, will win on both sides of the aisle. The biggest story of this election so far has been Obama. I feel like his candidacy could be remembered as a…
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JOBZ analysis in Hibbing paper
One of the primary economic development strategies of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration has been the use of tax-free zones in rural areas, called “JOBZ.” The program gives businesses a break from property, payroll and sales taxes during a fixed period to encourage growth. It’s one of those ideas that sounds foolproof at first blush, but…
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A ‘surge’ of ‘hybrids’ last year
With politics in full swing after last week’s Iowa caucuses and next week’s New Hampshire primary, it’s easy to overload on words right now. Candidates pour words aplenty upon the voters, some true, some truish, some true lite, and the rest regular old false. But while people sometimes distort the truth, words themselves don’t lie.…
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Brown on the Air: Coffee
My weekly radio essay for Saturday’s “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE is about coffee, which is also the show’s theme this week. Breaking a recent trend I don’t wax philosophic about the deep meaning of coffee. Rather, I talk about the base value of coffee: a fast, reliable source of caffeine. I do…
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No U.S. Senate candidate has Range advantage
The Iron Range doesn’t always line up votes in statewide endorsement battles, but often it will. Not so this year. If you recall some of my earlier posts about Range politics (Part 1 and Part 2) the Range has three basic DFL factions: labor, progressives and opinion leaders. Sometimes they line up and sometimes they…
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Obama wins Iowa
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News from the Iowa front
I’ve been getting some hilarious e-mails from a friend of mine who lives in Dubuque, Iowa. I wrote her because I was curious about what life was like in Iowa amid the nonstop statewide campaigning going on by the 8 or 9 top presidential candidates. She gave me these hilarious details: 1) She hasn’t had…
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MinnesotaBrown endorsements: Obama, McCain
2008 will be regarded as an historic turning point election in the United States. Someone always says that about every election, but this year we have some evidence. No modern U.S. election has ever featured such wide-open primaries in both parties. No modern presidency has ever left such deep ideological divides in this county as…
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Happy 2008!
We’re in a bit of a holding pattern today. Not much locally and all the national news focuses on Thursday’s Iowa caucuses. The MinnesotaBrown endorsements — irrelevant though they may be — will be out tomorrow. So, Happy New Year! I’ll post later if I hear something. Related posts: No related posts.
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Rukavina’s flag law takes effect
The legislative delegation of the Iron Range is known for great successes and monumental failures over the course of state history. They are also known for quirky stands on random issues. Rangers put their full pressure behind legalizing low-grade fireworks a few years ago. They made a Quixotic stand against the smoking ban last year,…
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The shot heard ’round the Range
That old DWI could keep you out of CanadaThanks to post-9/11 border security, new crime databases and a tougher stance on DWIs, U.S. citizens get the cold shoulder. By LARRY OAKESStar Tribune, December 30, 2007 INTERNATIONAL FALLS, MINN. – Yanks with youthful indiscretions, beware: That faded citation for driving drunk or smoking pot might not…
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Holy Highway
The Star Tribune has an interesting story today about some Christians’ interpretation of scripture that I-35 is a “holy way” indicated in the Bible. The relevant verse is Isaiah 35:8, which reads: “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not pass over it, and fools…
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Behold 2008’s great bounty
