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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! MinnesotaBrown is on the big city teevee
I’ll be part of a story that will air on Twin Cities NBC affiliate KARE 11 Sunday night during the 10 o’clock news. (Here’s the promo). Boyd Huppert does a segment called “Land of 10,000 Stories” and lately he’s been touring Greater Minnesota to see how the economy is affecting people outside the metro area.…
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Layman (finally) confirmed as IRR(RB) commish
The Minnesota State Senate has confirmed Iron Range Resources Commissioner Sandy Layman by a voice vote. Her confirmation was held up indefinitely by Iron Range state senators after her original appointment by Gov. Pawlenty in 2003. Belated diplomacy beats none at all, I guess. Related posts: No related posts.
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Get ‘shovel ready’ to rumble
Two items today from Jon Collins, the legislative correspondent for several Range newspapers, illustrate the way the federal stimulus package could be invoked in Minnesota’s budget mess. First, one analysis says that Minnesota could receive up to $3.23 billion in federal aid. That billion with a big “B.” For what? For who? It’d be exciting…
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What do Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and the Iron Range have in common? (Hint: not weather)
This PTI story from LiveMint.com details the Essar Steel group’s efforts to expand its standing in the international steel market. In addition to the Essar Steel Minnesota project we follow here (that’s the integrated iron ore mine and steel mill under construction near Nashwauk), the story details major plans for Essar in Brazil and Trinidad…
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Voters overwhelmingly rename Range Delegation "Range Delegation"
For the past several days I’ve been conducting a poll on this blog about a humorous, ideally affectionate nickname for the Iron Range’s DFL legislative delegation. I was getting tired of typing all those words. Well, I don’t know what happened. Maybe the malaise over the massive budget deficit, maybe the cheekiness of the nominated…
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MinnPost profiles Oberstar, future of transportation
MinnPost’s Steve Berg wrote a compelling profile about U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) in today’s edition. Oberstar is the Congressman for northeastern Minnesota including Duluth and his native Iron Range. He is also the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the story focuses heavily on his vision for the future of the…
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On Iron Range Ghosts and Sasquatch
In today’s Duluth News Tribune reporter Christa Lawler interviews Iron Range ghost hunters, the aptly named Northern Minnesota Paranormal Investigators. As the story states these guys have been around quite a while, before it was cool as they say. The Hibbing Daily Tribune did a story on these same guys and was subject to a…
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State media makes something from nothing on Keewatin surplus
A story is going around the state on the Associated Press wire that the Iron Range city of Keewatin ran a surplus this year (unlike most other cities, especially on the Range). This is true, but the fact that it’s being trumpeted as being so unusual is a bit misleading. (The story originally ran in…
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Greenway super staying put
I don’t know how I missed this, but Greenway Superintendent Rochelle VanDenHeuvel turned down the Virginia (Minn.) Schools Superintendent position for personal reasons, according to the Mesabi Daily News. This leaves Cook County Schools Superintendent Chuck Futterer the top choice for the Virginia job. I had written that if VanDenHeuvel had left Greenway, that trouble…
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Jeez, I guess history will vindicate just about anyone these days
Bless their hearts. The Mesabi Daily News ran an editorial today in the heart of Northern Minnesota’s blue collar Iron Range pumping up the legacy of George W. Bush. Sometimes I wonder if the MDN‘s editorial positions are, in fact, some kind of elaborate sociological experiment of which I am an unknowing participant. Well, anyway,…
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In honor of the King holiday, a bonus column … reprised
In honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, here’s a bonus column originally published in the Jan. 14, 2007 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. This was before I or anyone could have predicted we’d be swearing in an African-American president tomorrow. ‘Every mountainside’ means ore dumps too By Aaron J. Brown Monday…
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Range’s largest paper finally turns hoses on rabid commenters
A while back I posted about the bat guano insanity of the comments on the Mesabi Daily News website. The MDN is the Range’s largest paper, predominantly covering the eastern portion of the region. One of my friends even went in and determined that many of the comments were coming from the same person and…
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Paper: Range towns offer wide range of pay to elected officials
The Mesabi Daily News published a story Sunday, Jan. 18, comparing city councilor and county commissioner compensation on the Iron Range as part of a series detailing the financial woes facing government units in 2009. It’s interesting to see the differences between the towns. Most interesting is the $55,000 and full medical benefits enjoyed by…
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Iron Ranger was featured guest on The Daily Show last night
Hibbing/Iron Range native Bethany McLean appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” Thursday night to talk about the origins of the economic crisis. She spoke with great knowledge. I interviewed McLean when I was at the Hibbing Daily Tribune after she first broke the Enron scandal for Fortune Magazine. She now works as a…
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Iron Range arts event calls for writers, poets and playwrights for annual contest
One of my many projects as an cultural and political operative on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is Dylan Days. I am one of three co-chairs of this annual arts event in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing. One of my main tasks is the coordination of the Dylan Days Creative Writing Contest, which recognizes new and…