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Rukavina whips Bakk in SD-05 DFL convention
A highly placed source informs me that yesterday’s SD-05 DFL Convention in the heart of the Iron Range was a blowout. State Rep. Tom Rukavina took 16 delegates to fellow Iron Ranger Tom Bakk’s mere 3. Four delegates were elected as uncommitted. Rukavina represents District 5A, which is the core of the Mesabi Iron Range’s…
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This week’s column bumped for newspaper vs. teachers fight
My weekly column for today was bumped from the opinion page of the Hibbing Daily Tribune to make space for an ongoing kerfuffle between HDT publisher Wanda Moeller and the local teacher’s union, a sprawling epic that’s played out each of the past three Sundays. I expect my column — which was about rural homelessness…
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EPA EPA EPA!
The Canadian mineral company Polymet’s proposed copper-nickel mine on the Iron Range hit turbulence this week with a ding to its draft environmental impact statement from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. “Inadequate” was the word used to describe Polymet’s plans to mitigate the environmental protections for the new-style nonferrous minerals mine on the former LTV…
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Rural Iron Range sheriff rides into sunset (rise?)
Itasca County Sheriff Pat Medure announced today he wasn’t running for re-election. The top law enforcement officer in this rural, largely liquid northern Minnesota county made the announcement at today’s county board meeting. Theory of the day: We haven’t heard the last of Pat Medure insofar as elections are concerned. The pages of any paper…
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COLUMN: "Driving into the sun"
This is my column for the Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Driving into the sunBy Aaron J. Brown Last year a woman described to me how her dad was worn down by the grind of commuting from the Itasca County portion of the Iron Range into the St. Louis County…
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In Praise of the Iron Range
The right honourable Kermit over at the conservative Minnesota politics blog True North has penned an earnest screed entitled “In Praise of the Suburb.” Go over and take a read. He’s a little quick to turn an anthropological issue into a political one, but he presents a new point of view. Suburbs exist for a…
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Five GOP candidates seek Oberstar’s seat
After a couple cycles where the GOP candidate for the 8th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) emerged late in the process, I just realized that five announced Republican candidates are running this year. I knew that 2008 nominee Michael Cummins from Isanti and Justin Eichorn of Grand Rapids were running, both…
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Iron Range may sway MN-GOV DFL endorsement
Over at Minnesota Progressive Project (yes, the lefties) I’ve written a post about how I believe the road to the DFL endorsement in this year’s governor’s race will pass through the Iron Range. I have decided to move more of my blatantly political analysis over to that blog (and possibly others) as I consider new…
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Phantom Woodsy Lakesy Park (a Minnesota story)
If you missed it, the state and U.S. Steel have reached a potential deal for the mining/steel-making giant sell a large chunk of land on Lake Vermilion to become a new state park. The Iron Range-area park was a rather unexpected proposal from Gov. Tim Pawlenty two years ago that stalled when U.S. Steel got…
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Speculation of the House
Iron Range media outlets (in this case, the Mesabi Daily News by way of the Hibbing Daily Tribune) are reporting on the potential for DFL House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) to become Speaker of the House under a handful of scenarios in 2010. The reality of this scenario depends on two things: 1) the…
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The King Holiday in a new century
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The King Holiday in a new centuryBy Aaron J. Brown How are race relations in your neighborhood? Yes, that’s still awkward, isn’t it? Just ask Harry Reid, who had some rough headlines last week after using some archaic…
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Oh ya, we got that dark matter real good now
My apologies for failing to pass along this story. Scientists might be closer to understanding dark matter, the nature of the universe and the origins of the Big Bang thanks to results from experiments conducted at the bottom of one of the Iron Range’s oldest and deepest underground mines. A collaborative effort including physicists from…
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Iron Range research library to remain closed after all
Business North is reporting that Iron Range Resources will not follow through on the board recommendation to temporarily fund the Iron Range Research Library at the Minnesota Discovery Center (formerly Ironworld) over the winter. It will fund the winterization, audit and planning costs for the Ironworld Development Corporation to reorganize. So, the research library remains…
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Iron Range agency extends funds for audit, limited operation at former Ironworld
The Mesabi Daily News is reporting (subscription link) that the Iron Range Resources Board has approved a $450,000 expenditure to the Minnesota Discovery Center, formerly Ironworld, “to pay some bills do an audit of the operation, heat the buildings, secure its historical documents and also to reopen the facility to those who want to use…
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COLUMN: ‘Problems of an iron world demand iron will’
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Problems of an iron world demand iron willBy Aaron J. Brown Ironworld (by any other name) is, or was, the interpretive center designed for the sole purpose of telling the story of the Iron Range. In a fitting…