-
Four Days in Denver
New York Magazine tapped former “West Wing” writer Lawrence O’Donnell Jr. to write a script about a potential scenario at the 2008 Democratic Convention. Titled “Four Days in Denver,” the piece is lengthy but quite entertaining and good salve for people who miss “The West Wing.” In a way, it reminded me of a guest…
-
Former Sen. Dayton shows big heart on the Range
Kudos to former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton for stepping up to help a young woman with a rare heart condition from my former hometown of Cherry, Minnesota. Apparently this isn’t the first time Dayton has helped pay medical expenses for people in need. Dayton may not have enjoyed his time in the Senate, but he…
-
UPDATE: Minnesota moves up wind power rankings
Take a look at this post from Bluestem Prairie, citing a Rochester Bulletin story. Minnesota has moved into third place nationally for wind power generation. And that doesn’t include those lean 25 MW from Taconite Ridge on the Iron Range set to go online this year. Minnesota is windy, let’s make that work for us.…
-
The future of small town media in 1,000 words
A really interesting comment about local newspaper websites crossed the blog yesterday morning. As you may know, the ACM family of newspapers on the Iron Range now require readers to sign up for a free account to use its newspapers’ websites. A MinnesotaBrown blog reader responded to the change in this way: What the hell…
-
Over at MNBlue today…
I’m running errands this morning, but will be back with some newer material tonight. Meantime, check out my latest contributions at www.mnblue.com. They are rehashes of material I’ve posted here before about wind power on the Iron Range and the potential Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar. Sometimes the discussions take interesting turns with…
-
Oberstar awaits nameless opponent in 2008
U.S. Rep Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) is the longest serving member of Congress from Minnesota. He’s a socially conservative, economically liberal DFLer in a socially conservative, economically liberal district that is the size of a New England state and where campaign news is still most widely spread by word of mouth. He’s an Iron Ranger in…
-
Minnesota bonding bill: "Deal or No Deal?"
The Minnesota House and Senate conference committee released its bonding bill list today and there’s some good news for northern Minnesota. Among other smaller projects across the Iron Range, Itasca County would receive $28 million for infrastructure for Essar’s proposed Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk. That’s not nearly the amount required to build the pipeline,…
-
Ventura U.S. Senate speculation
Jesse Ventura is toying with the idea of running for the U.S. Senate in his native Minnesota against incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and his top challenger Al Franken. On one hand this is more plausible than the presidential campaign rumors we heard last week, but on the other I can’t help but think this…
-
Genes at the ballot box
Read how one British scientist believes that political ideology might be at least part genetic. This means that I need to start making plans with my family for what might be a long, slow descent into Libertarianism and gun hording. The only known treatment is whiskey, which yields sketchy results. Related posts: No related posts.
-
March: In like a ?, out like a ?
As I was walking through brown, crappy snow and lamenting the fact that I picked the wrong kind of jacket to wear … again! … I had a flashback to first grade at my now-defunct Forbes Elementary (My elementary school closed in 1988 and is now a bar called “The Boondocks”). We would make these…
-
Iron Range editor pens fascinating Obama speech analysis
Sen. Barack Obama’s speech on race, “A More Perfect Union,” was designed to open a national dialogue to chart a way past the racial bitterness of the past. It was also, from a practical standpoint, designed to put out the flames of controversy that had engulfed Obama’s campaign after inflammatory video of hateful comments by…
-
Weathering the economic storm, Range style
Here is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for Sunday, March 30, 2008. I archive my columns at my writing homepage if you’re interested in reading more. Weathering the economic storm, Range styleBy Aaron J. Brown, for the Hibbing Daily Tribune So we’re in a recession, or a correction, or some other kind of “…tion”…
-
Ventura for President chatter reaches cable news
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is at the center of presidential political chatter again. This morning CNN has been promoting an upcoming interview with Ventura that leans heavily on his potential candidacy. What’s still unclear to me is how Ventura would actually run for president. As an independent? On the Unity ’08 ticket? Libertarian? He’s…
-
Outcome prediction at the statehouse
I haven’t been writing much about the legislative session because the talks have been rather stagnant lately. Here are the questions to be answered next week and beyond: Will we get a bonding bill? If yes, does the governor get the exact dollar figure he demanded or does the legislature put more projects in there…
-
Coal Hacks Are Making Propaganda (CHAMP!)
There’s an ad in this week’s Scenic Range News (a weekly newspaper on the western Mesabi Range) promoting a new group, CHAMP, or Citizens Happy About the Mesaba Project. This is an obvious turn on CAMP, Citizens Against the Mesaba Project, a large well-organized citizen group that has held the line against Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba…