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The sounds of Sparta
On the topic of Minnesota musicians with ties to the Great Northern Radio Show, check out this marvelous Andrea Swensson “The Current” profile of Sparta Sound, where Rich Mattson and friends have crafted a respected recording studio used by many in the growing Minnesota music scene. From the story: Sparta may feel remote, but it’s…
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Range town thinks spring with ‘Green Envy’
For those longing for spring in this land where spring eludes us well into late April, how about this Iron Range shindig? This Saturday, March 2, an event called “Green Envy” will be held from 4-7 p.m. at the Olcott Park Greenhouse in Virginia, Minnesota. The tagline: “Be the envy of all your friends, get…
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Still time to enter poems, stories in Dylan Days contest
As a shiftless blogger with dreams of an illustrious writing career I know that you, a shiftless blog reader, probably pine for the same. How about you try a contest that I help run for Dylan Days in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota? The B.J. Rolfzen Memorial Creative Writing Contest is named for Dylan’s…
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Freshman MN state rep seeks 1st grade class presidency
Here’s something adorable and yet just uncomfortable enough to qualify as funny. State Rep. Joe Radinovich (DFL-Crosby), newly elected from Minnesota’s Cuyuna Iron Range and Aitkin County, recently spoke to a McGregor first grade class. After receiving letters from the students after the visit, he recorded this video in which he announces his candidacy for…
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Lyric Center celebrates ‘Range of the Arts’
Every year the Lyric Center for the Arts in Virgina, MN, hosts the “Range of the Arts” festival, a multi-day collection of workshops and gallery exhibits. Range of the Arts 2013 begins today. New this year is tomorrow night’s 6:30 p.m. live variety show at The Loft at 516 1/2 Chestnut Street. The event will…
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By water and land; perils of a man-made landscape
Two big stories this past have shown that the mines and mining in general still hold a lot of sway over northern Minnesota, particularly when it comes to public infrastructure. First, Cliffs Natural Resources rejected the most popular proposal to re-route the vital Range artery of Highway 53. The Minnesota DOT had proposed building the…
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The cancer of low expecations
Timothy Collins pens this essay for The Daily Yonder about the specter of low expectations found in rural high schools. While it is mostly a persuasion piece, with a flare for the dramatic, part of its effectiveness might be found in that those of us who know rural schools might feel some of the pressure…
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A casual defense of the ‘Harlem Shake’
Last month, when Duluth Mayor Don Ness official killed the Gangnam Style meme, northern Minnesota’s response to a national trend came nearly a full year after its emergence. But one cannot help but notice that Gangnam’s successor, the Harlem Shake, has not only emerged, but peaked, filtered to the small markets and died out at…
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‘Prairie Silence’ rings true across flatlands, woods or city
This is my Sunday column for the Feb. 24, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I previewed this column with some additional thoughts last Monday. ‘Prairie Silence’ rings true across flatlands, woods or cityBy Aaron J. Brown Having grown up shadowed by the trees and modified hills of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, I admit…
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Duluth mayor gives big speech from nasty snowbank
Peppy longshoreman Duluth, Minn., Mayor Don Ness is trying something new this year, delivering his annual state of the city address by cable access video instead of in a glitzy ceremony. Doing it this way will cost less and allow more people to see the speech, Ness argues. The speech, which was recorded this week,…
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Skol Uncouth Norsemen!
From “What if All the NFL Logos Were British” at Dave’s Art Locker by Dave Rappoccio. The Minnesota Vikings did draw the overseas game in London for next season. Perhaps a sniff of the Thames will remind them of the real vikings’ Scandinavian win streak. Related posts: No related posts.
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Even great state of Mesabi can’t save Electoral College
You know how I love maps, so the recent hubbub over a map project by artist Neil Freeman caught my eye. Rather than try to figure out how to reform the bizarre, arguably archaic Electoral College method of electing the President of the United States, why don’t we just re-align our state borders to reflect…
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Minnesota DFLers push Oberstar for SecTrans
Minnesota’s Democratic Congressional delegation, including five representatives and both senators, sent a letter to President Obama earlier this month, urging him to appoint former Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) as transportation secretary. Oberstar was a leading transportation expert in the Congress and former chair of the House Transportation Committee before his loss to Republican Chip Cravaack…
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A very mining-y baby announcement
On Tuesday, WDIO-Duluth anchor and Iron Range reporter Renee Passal made a very clever announcement that she’ll be having a baby in August. She framed it in the tone and language of a “This Week in Mining” news segment. For those of us who grew up watching “the channel” (WDIO’s twin WIRT Channel 13 in…
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Here comes the Bakk-mobile
If you learn politics on the Iron Range you grow to love verbal duels between Falstaff-like figures. That’s why I enjoyed this quote from State. Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston): “If you want to get on the Bakk-mobile, go ahead. I’m not getting on the Bakk-mobile.” That’s from Urmila Ramakrishnan’s story about an internal dispute among…