Minnesota Brown

Minnesota Brown: Modern Life on the Iron Range

Author: Aaron Brown

  • Buying local in a flat world

    Buying local in a flat world

    This Minnesota 2020 think tank keeps coming up with interesting items. The Duluth News-Tribune has a story about the challenges and possible impact of the “Buy Local” movement. Read it here, or an excerpt below: Economists say buying local is a complicated idealJane BrissettDuluth News Tribune – 12/10/2007 Christmas shopping at J. Skylark, a locally…

  • The Kentucky / Iron Range comparison

    The Kentucky / Iron Range comparison

    As some of you know, I am one of several people who claim the title “Former Editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.” (There are more of us than there are licensed pilots in many large western states). It’s a tough job but an important one. The Tribune just hired a new editor after publisher Wanda…

  • Range ‘Boom’ talk continues to intesify

    Range ‘Boom’ talk continues to intesify

    The Duluth News-Tribune has another story of note today, one that asks the question “Is the Iron Range ready for all the change that will come if some of these major economic development projects come to fruition?” The full story is available here. Exciting times, for sure. My only qualm is that it seems officials…

  • Duluth’s mayor-elect readies for change

    Duluth’s mayor-elect readies for change

    Duluth will have a new mayor and city council this January. This is important to us Iron Rangers, partly because Duluth is an important part of the local economic equation but mostly because we are subjects of the Duluth media market and must sit through stories about Duluth ribbon cuttings and task forces to hear…

  • Perfect winter eludes us again

    Perfect winter eludes us again

    Well, here we are in early December. We just got a good foot of snow last weekend with more coming this weekend. That’s plenty for snowmobiling. I could tell people were anxious last Saturday because when the first flakes began to fall we saw a guy in what appeared to be new jacket, helmet and…

  • Miners’ health issues not easy to figure out

    Miners’ health issues not easy to figure out

    The Duluth News-Tribune and others are reporting that the state health department has begun compiling data on the Iron Range miners who died from a rare form of cancer. The findings are inconclusive, other than few of the miners involved worked in a ceiling tile factory in Cloquet. That was the story many officials and…

  • Bill, the Big O and the Big Mo

    Bill, the Big O and the Big Mo

    This is the make or break weekend for the Iowa caucuses. We’re going to find out how big a help or liability Barack Obama’s “celebrity factor” is in winning over voters as Obama’s high-profile supporter Oprah Winfrey stumps for him. On one hand, it’s exciting and potentially groundbreaking political theatre … on the other it…

  • Brown on the Air: Sports Woes

    My radio essay for this week is about sports, specifically my inability to successfully play sports. The piece will air early in the “Between You and Me” program on 91.7 KAXE this Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007. Scott Hall and Fred Friedman, co-hosts of the “Sports Page” segment on KAXE will be guest hosting the Saturday…

  • Do not forsake me, oh my DVR …

    Do not forsake me, oh my DVR …

    We got the DVR (not TiVo, but same as TiVo) last summer. People told us have the digital recorder would change how we watched TV and it’s true. But there are hazards. Since late August I’ve been holding onto a recording of the Gary Cooper classic “High Noon,” waiting for the right time to enjoy…

  • Holly was here $$$

    Holly was here $$$

    Here’s an image I saw on an Iron Range highway on my way into work this morning around 9 a.m.: A rusty red pickup with two-by-fours nailed to the body to replace a missing tailgate. In the back, what would appear to be most, if not all, of the male driver’s possessions. Written in white…

  • Copper and nickel to become pennies, nickels in local economy?

    Copper and nickel to become pennies, nickels in local economy?

    Sorry for the headline. If you’ve ever had to write newspaper headlines you spend the rest of your life unable to lay off the puns. They’re like crack. Anyway, check this out: more mining news from today’s Duluth News-Tribune. Mining company expands Range copper, nickel deposits estimateDuluth News Tribune – 12/04/2007The size of a copper-nickel…

  • Another ‘new’ mine in Iron Country

    Another ‘new’ mine in Iron Country

    Steel Dynamics and Cleveland-Cliffs closed a land deal that will allow the Steel Dynamics iron nugget plant to begin construction on the East Range in the vicinity of the former LTV taconite plant. LTV’s demise in 2001 kicked off a mini-panic on the Iron Range that included other taconite plant shutdowns or closures and paved…

  • Iron Rangers: a fickle weather lot

    Iron Rangers: a fickle weather lot

    Like I said, we got our first big Iron Range snowfall this past weekend, about 8-12 inches. The previous week had been very cold so the first sheet of ice was forming on our lakes; however, most of the ice wasn’t thick enough for vehicles yet. Then came the snow. I now learn from many…

  • First big snow

    First big snow

    We white-knuckled it through the first big snow storm of the year last night. We averaged about 20 miles an hour from Hibbing out into the Itasca wilderness where we live. We made it, but it wasn’t easy. I was just informed, however, that we left our winter boots out in the car. Which means…

  • Banana ethics

    Banana ethics

    Bananas look funny, sound funny and they’re a three-dimensional euphemism for something naughty. (Have you ever noticed how a banana resembles a hot dog? Those have so many nitrates! OMG!). Meantime, old bananas are turned into a great source of alliteration (and carbs): banana bread. Banana bread is tasty and beloved, harkening Midwestern memories of…