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At DFL convention the Range yells a mighty Yalp
I’ve spent a day decompressing from my service as a delegate to the DFL state convention in Duluth this weekend (or, if you are not of that political ilk, I was instead gathering among the Bear People). Margaret Anderson Kelliher won party backing for the office of governor. That’s well known. From my standpoint, the…
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Get your signed copy of "Overburden" between ballots
If you happen to be at the DFL convention in Duluth this weekend, consider stopping by to buy a signed copy of “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” I’m a delegate out of the Itasca County group and will be on the floor. The books probably won’t be on the floor, but I’ll be…
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Follow @minnesotabrown for Range-centric, utterly atypical convention feed
My 2010 DFL Convention blogging is off to a slow start. Good thing there’s a generous dropoff rule, or I’d be out of the running for most awesome bloggy person writing vaguely accurate information on an iPod Touch. Ever try to get out of the house with three screaming boys under age 5 when you…
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SOUTH to Duluth
While most of the state’s DFL bloggers and politcos pack up their stuff for tomorrow’s state party convention in the great “northern” Zenith City of Duluth, Minnesota, some of us look to the southern horizon with a sense of uncertainty and excitement. Unlike most, I’ll be driving a hundred miles south to fulfill my duties…
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Peppermint Patty and Marcie up north
You all know I love living in northern Minnesota and talk about it all the time. But why? Well, there’s the trees and lakes and history, but that’s just stuff I write books about. No, I’m a media person and I judge a place by its media. And northern Minnesota is the only place in…
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Go(ogle) jump in a lake
Duluth’s efforts to be selected as one of the test sites for Google’s new super high speed fiber internet technology have reached fever pitch. In addition to filming a high end short film with the entire community last weekend, organizers have been using all sorts of online, grassroots efforts to demonstrate the city’s desire for…
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Al Franken joins Google Twin Ports coalition of the willing
Another clever video from Google Twin Ports, seeking the selection of Duluth, Minn., as the Google Fiber test city. Kudos to Sen. Franken for lending his efforts to this one. Related posts: No related posts.
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Duluth, MN, pwns Topeka, KS
For years I’ve been pushing high speed internet and 21st century e-commuters as perhaps the most important way to diversify the natural resource-based economy of northern Minnesota. We can’t out-sprawl the suburbs. We can’t out-hipster the big cities. We can be ourselves and attract people who like the laid-back, comfortable, yet education-focused atmosphere of northern…
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Employees picket the Duluth News Tribune
Employees at the Duluth News Tribune picketed the building today in protest of continued job cuts at the Forum Communication-owned property. The entire newspaper industry is enduring economic hardship, particularly at dailies, but the cuts at the DNT have been staggering over the past few years, lately augmented by an increasingly tense relationship between management…
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‘Overburden’ at Northern Lights Books in Duluth this Saturday
Hey, Duluth. You are so awesome. I know so many people from you. You are a large freshwater port with cool bridges and a Norwegian brick tower and a crazy big hill. Guess what, Duluth baby, I’m comin’ down for a visit. The holiday tour for my award-winning, well-reviewed, otherwise-hyphenated book “Overburden: Modern Life on…
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No one’s been shanked … yet
The first Hell’s Angels riders have begun arriving in the Carlton area for this upcoming weekend’s gathering of the famed motorcycle club. The comments in this Cloquet Pine Knot/DNT story pretty much sum up the divide in the community over how to handle the situation. I predict that nothing happens except for a lot of…
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When Hell comes to Town
My friend and fellow UWS Yellowjacket Paul Ryan has written a fine column for the Reader Weekly about the upcoming visit of the Hell’s Angels to the Duluth area. He provides some important tips for locals should they encounter members of the aging motorcycle gang. I, for one, plan to remain far away from Duluth…
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Our balls are safe
Boy howdy, it’s a hot day for Duluth news. The man with a history of stealing large rubber exercise balls and slashing them as part of an elaborate sexual fetish has turned himself in. What can I add that would read more smoothly than the facts? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing. Related posts: No related…
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Don’t fear the wood chipper
Duluth now has its fifth city administrator in two years. I wish I could offer something profound about this situation but all I can offer is the predictable snark. Personally, I was conflicted about making a 1980s New York Yankees joke or something involving the state of the local media. Meh. Mayor Don Ness has…
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Beauty, Beauty and the Beast
So much human drama in one drama preview. Read through this Christa Lawler Duluth News Tribune story about the Duluth Playhouse production of “Beauty and the Beast.” There are two Belles! Why? Why not? I’d entertain your theories in the comments. Related posts: No related posts.