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Oberstar accepting retirement as 2012 battle brews
On Tuesday, MinnPost’s Doug Grow penned an interesting profile of the activities and attitudes of recently defeated former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) as his former district girds for a new political fight in 2012. It’s worth a read. Notably, he appears to be accepting retirement and vows to stay out of the 2012 race.…
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MPR: ‘Grandpa Taconite keeps the Range family together’
I’m still catching up from yesterday’s wonderful TEDx 1,000 Lakes Conference in Grand Rapids. They’ll be posting the videos early next week and I’ll write a detailed post then with links to some of the great ideas I heard, along with my speech (for those who are interested). It was a marvelous event, owing much…
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Speaking at #tedx1000lakes today
There’s a lot going on in northern Minnesota and we’ll get to it in due time. Today I’m speaking at the TEDx 1,000 Lakes Conference at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesotta. The event theme is “Expanding Opportunity” and my speech is titled “Courage: Northern Minnesota’s Untapped Resource.” I’ll be speaking in the morning…
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Speaking Monday at #tedx1000lakes in Grand Rapids, Minn.
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be speaking this Monday at the TEDx 1,000 Lakes Conference in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The event runs most of the day on the stage of the Reif Center for the Performing Arts. The theme is “Expanding Opportunity” and my presentation is titled “Courage: Northern Minnesota’s Untapped Resource.” TEDx is…
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Grandpa Taconite turns 56 today
Today marks the 56th anniversary of commercial production of taconite pellets on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. The first pellets rolled off the line at the Reserve Mining plant at Silver Bay, generated from ore mined inland near Babbitt on the northeastern Mesabi Iron Range. Today this plant still operates as Cliffs Natural Resources’ Northshore Mining.…
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Range trolley runs extended through fall (bring your jammies)
Etched into the woods north of many Iron Range towns is the faint outline of the trolley line that once spanned the mighty Mesabi iron formation, transporting workers from mine to mine, but usually from mine to the wet-and-wild city of Gilbert. (Gilbert would want you to know it is now a fine, upstanding small…
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BWCA fire reaches historical proportions
The big story in northern Minnesota right now is the raging Pagami wildfire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the state’s arrowhead region. About 500 firefighters will be working by day’s end to battle the 100,000-acre blaze which now threatens the region’s tinderbox of timber blown down more than a decade ago. The Milwaukee…
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Dayton holds jobs summit on the Range
Gov. Mark Dayton held a jobs summit yesterday in Virginia, Minn. Northland’s News Center had the story: Related posts: No related posts.
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The long money trail of Excelsior Energy on the Range
This is a quick update to the post earlier about the Duluth News Tribune investigation into Excelsior Energy on the Iron Range. Citizens Against the Mesaba Project (CAMP) released a response that includes this tidbit: The $1.46 million reported as spent on state lobbying does not include the $220,000 spent prior to 2005, or the…
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Duluth News Tribune details Excelsior lobbying, political contributions
Peter Passi continues his Duluth News Tribune investigation into Excelsior Energy, the start-up company that has spent 10 years and $41 million in public dollars without producing local jobs or any electricity. Today’s topic? The $1.8 million Excelsior and its officials have spent on lobbying and political contributions to state and federal officials of both…
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Gov. Dayton to hold economic summit on the Iron Range
On Tuesday, Sept. 13, Governor Mark Dayton will hold his fourth regional economic development summit on the Iron Range in Virginia at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College. The event will take place at 10 a.m. in the college theater (F-100). Dayton is holding several such events around the state before hosting a larger statewide…
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Range hotel housekeepers to zig, zag, clean for sport
Hotel housekeepers will compete in some sort of gladiator pageantry on the Iron Range later this Morning morning. There will be a color guard. And I do mean American flag, not laundry. So many feelings. Experience the press release with me. Clean, fold and go for the gold!Iron Range hotel hosts seventh annual Housekeeping Olympics…
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Iron Range Maidens to derby battle Wisconsin women
The Iron Range Maidens roller derby team will host a Wisconsin team for a new “Grease”-themed bout next weekend on Saturday, Sept. 24. Christina and I attended their first home bout a few months ago and had a blast. I thought I knew what roller derby was when I went, but I learned that I…
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Brown on the Air: ETHNICITY!
My essay for this week’s 91.7 KAXE edition of “Between You and Me” is about “my people.” The show’s topic is ethnicity. Guest host Linda Johnson will be taking stories from you, the listener, and playing great music. I’ll have some amusing observations about my strange blend of Iron Range nationalities. You can hear “Between…
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Crime, car wash bath, cozy times in northern Minn.
The Grand Rapids Herald-Review is playing a hot hand. Their police reports, the style of which is local must-read material, included a couple gems this week: Things that make you go “huh?” A man stripped at the laundromat in Bigfork, put his clothes in a washer, then went to the car wash to bathe. He…