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Election Day! Election Night! Election Week?
Please forgive some brief wistfulness over the old days here at MinnesotaBrown.com. On an Election Day like today, I once breathlessly live blogged northern Minnesota election from the closing of polls to the final results. I nurtured a network of courthouse moles across the region and sometimes was the first to call races on the…
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Political signs breaking our minds … and bank accounts
It’s almost over. Tuesday brings Election Day here in the United States, a moment for each of us to solemnly express our civic opinions through the exercise of democracy. After that, things will calm down. Political disputes will fade into the background and everyone will turn their attention toward the hard work facing our troubled…
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Blue dirt, red dirt, dust to dust
My latest column, “When a blue district turns red, the dirt stays the same” is in the Sunday, Oct. 27 Minnesota Star Tribune. The “Iron Range is shifting to the GOP” story is now a well-worn trope in Minnesota media and political chatter. As a 20-year columnist in the region, I’ve documented every inch of…
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Change defined Rick Nolan’s scrappy political career
Last week, former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan died at the age of 80. His death surprised many. Nolan had campaigned for Democrats here on the Mesabi Iron Range just two weeks earlier. It’s often said that the passing of a venerable politician is “the end of an era.” I’ll spare that language of Nolan because,…
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For sale: childhood memories, adult heartbreak, one sports team, slightly used
Earlier this month, the Pohlad family announced they would explore selling the Minnesota Twins. This unexpected announcement came on the heels of a disappointing season in which a talented but injury-prone team listlessly limped its way out of the playoffs after a promising summer. Sports franchises are both profitable and a status symbol among the…
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Despite checkered history, reorganized Essar Group ready to launch Mesabi Metallics
My new essay appears in the Minnesota Reformer today. (“Good news on the Iron Range: $2 billion Mesabi Metallics is finally happening; for real this time.”) Like much of what I write, it will interest readers on the Mesabi Iron Range. But the impact hits wider. Here we see the corporate maneuvering that shapes our…
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100 years later, still waiting on the Prince of Wales
With rain pouring from gray autumn skies, about 10,000 men, women and children swarmed the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha rail depot on West Fifth Avenue in Duluth. The unexpectedly massive crowd spilled across the tracks to greet the Prince of Wales. It was Sunday, Oct. 12, 1924 — 100 years ago today. Anticipation…
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Stuck in the middle with you: life in the ‘sandwich generation’
My latest column for the Minnesota Star Tribune, “In the quick of time — a dispatch from the ‘sandwich generation’ years,” is out now. Readers here might remember the jolt my family took when my mom suffered a stroke in 2022. In one terrible turn of events, a relatively healthy child care provider in her…
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As disaster costs mount, we all pay the price
This week, we witnessed the scope of devastation in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. The miles between northern Minnesota and the impacted area create only the illusion of distance. In truth, the effects of this far-away storm will soon hit home. Asheville and many surrounding cities and towns face historic flood and storm damage…
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What dreams may come
The best thing we can do for our health is to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep costs nothing and feels good. At night, your brain provides a “dream lineup” of free streaming content tailored specifically to your most persistent fears and weirdest fantasies. You never get bored, gain weight or spend money while you…
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Weighing past and future impact of U.S Steel on the Iron Range
Eight years of intensive historical research and 44 years of intensive living on the Iron Range taught me more than I ever planned to know about the steel industry. My latest column, “With merger on the ropes, the fate of U.S. Steel will shape the future of the Iron Range,” is in the Wednesday, Sept.…
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Re-watching ‘The Paper’ in the smartphone era
I recently re-watched the 1994 film, “The Paper.” I hadn’t seen the movie in many years, but probably saw it half a dozen times in the late 1990s. Most viewings came from a VHS tape rented from the gas station near my childhood home before I left to major in print journalism at an affordable…
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The future is all thumbs
Arthur C. Clarke once wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Before I go any further, let me ask you a question. How many thumbs would I need to have for you to think I was magic? One? No, that’s just a band saw accident. Two? (checks notes) Nope, that’s the regular amount.…
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Baby birds fly when they must; so do our children
We built our house the summer after our oldest son was born. Since then, generations of eastern phoebes raised their hatchlings in a nest constructed under our deck by one of their ancestors. You might know these fly-catching birds for their dark heads, fidgety tail pumps and their “fee-bee” call, which is how they got…
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Who’s driving the bus?
It’s back to school season! For me, this has always been a special time of year. I loved school as a kid. College, too. I covered education as a reporter and editor. Then I became a college instructor. As a parent, school meant something different: freedom, maybe, but also the growth and development of those…