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Great Northern Radio Show returns to Bemidji April 13
Spring slowly seeps into Northern Minnesota. Celebrate with the April 13 broadcast of my Great Northern Radio Show at the Chief Theater in Bemidji, Minnesota. Get your tickets here. I always tell you these things are good and that you should come. I suppose by now you either believe me or you don’t. The Latelys…
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March 3 Great Northern Radio Show set for Bemidji
Hello, reader. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with you. Somehow I’ve managed to keep a brisk output of posts here at MinnesotaBrown.com this year while still working on my other projects. That’s something to celebrate as I bring my Great Northern Radio Show to Bemidji State University on Saturday, March 3. My…
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Northern MN eelpout festival seeks new home
Eelpout aren’t pretty. These bottom-feeding freshwater fish fail to win any beauty contests, often surviving solely on the fact that anglers refuse to touch them. And that’s fine by the eelpout. But for 38 years, the annual Eelpout Festival in Walker brought revelers and outdoor enthusiasts to the frozen surface of Leech Lake at Walker,…
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New laws may block language counselors at Concordia
The director of the Concordia Language Villages program warns that new immigration and visa laws could dramatically impact its language and cultural immersion program located on a complex near Bemdiji, Minnesota. “There has been a very significant development over the weekend regarding our J-1 Camp Counselor Exchange Visa, writes Christine Schulze in a letter posted…
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Great Northern Radio Show this Saturday in Bemidji
I’m excited to report that my Great Northern Radio Show returns to the airwaves and the stage of the Historic Chief Theater in downtown Bemidji this Saturday at 5 p.m. They tell me tickets are selling fast so get yours now (audience should be seated by 4:30). For everyone else, the live event airs from 5-7 p.m. on…
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Great Northern Radio Show back March 4 in Bemidji
Barring some big news, the blog will go dark the rest of this week. I’ll be finishing the script for my next Great Northern Radio Show, live from the Chief Theater in Bemidji, Minnesota, on Saturday, March 4. This will be a good one. We’ll be celebrating the vibrant music scene in Bemidji with a…
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Happy Paul Bunyan Day!
I woke this morning to news that it was Paul Bunyan Day. So, Happy Paul Bunyan Day, I guess. I’m afraid I didn’t get you a card. I’m already dressed, so I’m not even wearing plaid. Paul Bunyan is, of course, the American folk giant who worked as a lumberjack in the heyday of the…
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Bemidjigamaag Powwow is Saturday
When the first-ever Bemidjimagaag Powwow was held last year at the Sandford Center arena in Bemidji, Minnesota, something powerful took place. In a community marked by past tensions between natives and whites, people from the three Ojibwe bands that border the city and those of non-native ancestry joined together for a shared powwow. Following up…
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Thomas X empowers with new rap on native issues
Red Lake rapper Thomas X is out with a new single and a powerful new video combining his unique hip-hop sound with the traditions of Northern Minnesota’s Annishinabe people. Here’s Rezolution, the latest single from Thomas X: Thomas X was a guest on last year’s Bemidji edition of my Great Northern Radio Show after his previous album “Have a Good…
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Leech Lake elects new chair; LaDuke falls short at White Earth
After announcing the funding for the new Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School near Cass Lake on Election Day, Leech Lake Tribal Chairwoman Carri Jones was nevertheless defeated by challenger Faron Jackson, Sr. KOJB reports that Jackson won with about 53 percent of the vote t0 Jones’ approximately 31 percent. Five other candidates combined for the remaining support. Jones…
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Feds finally fund new Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School
Many media outlets reported Tuesday that the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School near Cass Lake will finally get a new building thanks to $11.9 million in federal funding. Operated by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa, the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School is housed in what was once a bus garage. In recent years it has fallen into serious disrepair. As…
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Thunderbirds vs. Lumberjacks, mythical feud
Tonight at 8 p.m., the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks will play the Bemidji Lumberjacks in the Minnesota Class AA State Hockey Tournament in St. Paul. Hockey is a big deal in Minnesota. It’s a cherished winter tradition and the source of a historic rivalry between the Northern and Southern portions of the state. (Or perhaps more…
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Hear the Bemidji State edition of Great Northern Radio Show
LISTEN NOW to the Bemidji State show. This Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. you can hear the rebroadcast of last Saturday’s Great Northern Radio Show, which aired live Sept. 19 from the Bangsberg Theater at Bemidji State University. This was one of our more successful shows. The musical lineup featured American Scarecrows, Corey Medina…
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Great Northern Radio Show: Adding value to Northern MN
Like many local mines, Iron Range-based MinnesotaBrown.com will be entering a partial slowdown, or “hot idle” while we work out a little problem with the media commodities market. See, the price of a MinnesotaBrown blog post is down to a historically low $1.45 per long ton, due in part to limited demand and illegal imports…
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Rez comedians heal, hearten with laughs
“When people hear the words ‘Indian Reservation,’ they think of alcoholism, drugs, addiction, abuse and suicide,” levels Jon Roberts, a comedian from Red Lake. “We want to send a message that those shouldn’t be the only words you think of when you see us. Laughter is what brings communities together. That is the reason we…