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Jobs, jobs, joints: Marijuana in a mining town
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that a biotech company is exploring an abandoned copper mine in Michigan’s upper peninsula for the cultivation of medical marijuana, recently legalized in the Wolverine State. Stop what you are doing. Watch this video from the Detroit Free Press: Is this the future of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range? They’re…
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Dylan Days names top poems, stories for 2012
Dylan Days in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, announced the winners of the 2012 B.J. Rolfzen Memorial Creative Writing Contest over the weekend. As always, it’s an interesting mix of midwestern, national and international writers. I help coordinate the contest, serving as one of three fiction judges, editor of the journal and co-chair of…
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IRRRB transparency provision searches for daylight
Over the weekend, Peter Passi of the Duluth News Tribune continued his coverage of Rep. Tom Anzelc’s bill to end an unusual privacy provision on the books at the IRRRB.* The rule was adopted without debate four years ago and shields much of this unique state agency’s loan agreement data from the public, something that…
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COLUMN: A magnetic pull to the future
This is my Sunday column for the April 22, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I’ve included some photos I took during my visit to Magnetation that did not appear in the newspaper. A magnetic pull to the futureBy Aaron J. Brown Along the shore of the Lind-Greenway Pit a rusted steam shovel stands…
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Snap your fingers for some spoken word in Grand Rapids
If tonight’s political brouhaha in Duluth isn’t your thing, maybe try the Spoken Word Event scheduled at 7 tonight at the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. They’re opening a mic for new and favorite poems in honor of National Poetry Month. The MacRostie Art Center is located on 1st Ave. NW downtown, just…
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Stuck, but operational
We have a winter storm warning here in Itasca and north central St. Louis counties. Most Range schools are cancelled. The community college didn’t cancel, but I can’t get out of my driveway so let’s call that an intervention by a higher authority. It’s a great day for a drill on how well this blog…
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Dylan’s Minnesota story shows poetry in motion
This is my Sunday column for the April 15, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I read a shorter version of this piece on Northern Community Radio’s “Between You and Me” Saturday, April 14. Dylan’s Minnesota story shows poetry in motion By Aaron J. Brown This 1978 quote from Bob Dylan opens the March…
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Welcoming new strategies for northern Minnesota’s future
A couple northern Minnesota stories caught my eye this week and I’m here to argue that they’re related. First, there’s this Ron Brochu story from Business North about Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board Commissioner Tony Sertich speaking in Duluth. Brochu picked up on a subtle quote that shows the substantive change in policy Sertich…
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MPR’s nonferrous mining cheat sheet
MPR’s Paul Tosto condenses the debate over nonferrous mineral mining into a simple story. It’s a great primer if you want to know what this whole deal is about. Related posts: No related posts.
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The deep meaning of random acts of wackiness
Star Tribune columnist Gail Rosenblum pens a story about a Mankato man originally from the Iron Range who developed a master prank that lasted years. A world traveler, Jim Moore, selected a North Dakota couple at random and sent them handwritten postcards from all over the world. The joke was that he pretended that he…
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Shedding light on a dark chapter of Range policy
MPR has an informative update on the provision to shed more light on development deals under the purvey of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. A law that effectively hides key financial details about companies that receive agency funds was tucked in a conference bill a couple years ago to protect Excelsior Energy and…
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Dayton signs bill streamlining permits, could aid Range project
Yesterday, Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill streamlining the state environmental permitting process for several projects in development. The bill included language proposed by State Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam) that makes it easier for Magnetation to build their processing plant in Itasca County. Magnetation still hasn’t committed to a site for its proposed pellet/nugget plant,…
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Reif Center release has height, width AND depth
Happy April Fool’s Day! I’m sure there are a lot of great gags out there, but my favorite so far is this press release from the Reif Center for the Performing Arts in Grand Rapids, Minnesota: Reif Arts Council President David Marty has announced that, effective immediately, ALL performances at the Reif Performing Arts Center…
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Highway 53: Herbie Rides the Range
This is my Sunday column for the April 1, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. SCENE: Jesse, a dejected-looking boy of 12, looks out over the Mine Overlook south of Virginia, Minnesota, in the heart of northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. He speaks with his mentor Mort, the kindly retired miner who staffs the…
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Iron Range Maidens roller derby bout set for Saturday
The Iron Range Maidens roller derby team takes to the flat track this Saturday night from the Hodgins-Berado arena in Colerpain … I mean Coleraine, Minnesota. The Maidens will play the Fargo Furies. The Maiden’s parent organization GRARDA also has a B-team called the Attackonites, who will play a B-team from Duluth’s Harbor City Roller…