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#springmapmadness pushes me over electoral threshold
Massachusetts, Delaware and South Dakota BREAKING: At 10:48 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, the United States Postal Service delivered to me the state maps of Kansas and Connecticut, bringing my collected total to 281 electoral votes and the Presidency of the United States.* My Spring Map Madness campaign continues. Follow me on Twitter or…
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Hibbing, Duluth team up to honor famous son Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s northern Minnesota heritage is in no doubt, but invariably there are squabbles over who really gets to claim Dylan. He was born in Duluth, where he lived until he was six. The family then moved to his mother’s Iron Range hometown of Hibbing where he was raised and graduated high school. So technically,…
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Obama to name Charlotte mayor to transportation, not Oberstar
President Obama is expected to announce Charlotte, N.C., mayor Anthony Foxx to be the next Secretary of Transportation, according to the Charlotte Observer. Obama was considering several names, among them former U.S. Rep and House Transportation Chair Jim Oberstar (D-MN), a longtime northern Minnesota political figure and national transportation expert. Oberstar was considered a long…
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Duluth’s Homegrown Music Festival opens today
Today brings the start of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival, a week-long music extravaganza displaying the deep and growing music scene of northern Minnesota. Tomorrow night brings Trampled by Turtles, but really, you can find great music every night and day. If I were the kind of person who went to things, this is the…
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Paul Metsa to headline Range show May 3
Musician Paul Metsa, a singer and songwriter originally from Virginia, Minnesota, on the Iron Range, will perform Friday, May 3rd at The Loft @ Lyric Center for the Arts on Chestnut Street. The opening act is the The Hutter Bunch beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. The press release: Paul Metsa,…
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Dylan Days names 2013 B.J. Rolfzen writing contest winners
As many of you might recall, I am one of the co-organizers of Dylan Days in Hibbing, Minnesota. This arts and culture event celebrates Bob Dylan and the arts community of his Iron Range hometown. Dylan Days will be May 23-26, 2013. This year we’re celebrating Bob Dylan’s Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded last year…
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You could not axe for a better movie than this
Ladies and gentlemen. I don’t ask much of you. Today, I must ask one thing and one thing only. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, go below the jump of this post to see a trailer for the independent horror film “Axe Giant: the Wrath of Paul Bunyan.” Really, just…
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Metsa submits Hwy 53 bill: "We have to take action"
State Rep. Jason Metsa (DFL-Virginia) and State Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) are taking direct action in response to the controversy over the required rerouting of Highway 53 on the Iron Range to accommodate expanding iron mining. On Tuesday, Metsa announced he will be submitting an amendment to the transportation bill that specifically prohibits the least…
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Ticked off about winter? Spring into tick season
This Steve Kuchera story in the Duluth News Tribune warns us that even though northern Minnesota is experiencing a prolonged winter we should still expect a horrifying onset of blood-sucking ticks, mosquitoes and ishy-squishy forest tent caterpillars. These creatures are built for winter. They just sit there, preparing for it to get warm. They can…
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Iron Range media brushes aside Hillcrest neglect allegations
Last Thursday, the Star Tribune ran a Paul McEnroe story about allegations of neglect at the Hillcrest assisted living facility in Chisholm, Minnesota. It begins as follows: When the ambulance crew members arrived at the assisted-living facility in Chisholm, Minn., they entered a room so foul with the smell of urine that their eyes watered.…
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11,700 miles by dog, ski and sea
This is my column for the Sunday, April 21, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. You can read more about Amy and Dave Freeman’s adventures here. I’ve posted some photos of their expedition below the jump. 11,700 miles by dog, ski and seaBy Aaron J. Brown Anyone who’s ever paddled a kayak or strapped…
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From me, dialectically to you
David Frum recently blogged about the complexity of the English language in North America. He shared the graphic from a study on this topic. You can (and should) look at the larger, more detailed map here. Not unsurprisingly, many readers for this blog probably speak with the North Central and Western North dialects. But zoom…
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Highway 53 reroute a generational test for the Range
This Dan Kraker MPR story provides the clearest narrative I’ve seen yet as to the proposals and local reaction to the proposed rerouting of Highway 53 on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, something we’ve discussed here before. The cheapest route would devastate many businesses and create a really mixed-up way of driving around the Quad Cities.…
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Booms and busts both change rural culture
Calumet, Minnesota (Aaron Brown, 1998) I’ve been looking to North Dakota a lot recently because the state is going through an oil boom and is getting fresh attention. People I know are moving there, in dribbles and drabs, to work the oil fields. And something about it reminds me a great deal of the mining…
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Group aims to re-engage Hibbing theater community
The cancellation of the award-winning theater program at Hibbing Community College amid the budget tumult of the past several years shook the Iron Range arts community. But there are green shoots here and there, notably with the foundation of a new community theater group called “Encore of Hibbing.” A group of actors and theater types…