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Hey you, Dow Jones guy
I just watched President Bush’s year-end press conference. I noticed that, with the exception of reporters who have specifically pissed him off in the past (David Gregory), he refers to the reporters by their organization’s assigned seat. “OK, first up, Associated Press guy.” My favorite was this exchange. BUSH: Dow Jones guy. How’s the market?…
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The truth about presidential politics
I am going to tell the truth. There is nothing I can offer here that will bring an sort of understanding to the 2008 presidential nomination races in either party. It’s all up to 80,000 people in Iowa and another 100,000 in New Hampshire. Who’s a flyover state now, Big City? In honor of the…
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How to win the Iron Range
This is the second long post in a series about the political climate on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. I cross post these kinds of things with www.mnblue.com and my own www.minnesotabrown.blogspot.com. Last week I talked about how Range politics centers on personal relationships. The region blends social conservatism with economic liberalism to create a unique…
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Miners’ health study carries hefty price tag
Yesterday, lawmakers learned that it will cost $5.5 million to do a study about the effects of the taconite mining process on miners’ health. For years, anecdotal evidence and incomplete reports have suggested a link between working in the mining industry and a rare form of cancer. The question now becomes, do people in power…
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Big Brother is Watching Buhl
Ah, Buhl. When will we ever learn to understand your ways? This is an AP synopsis of a story from the Mesabi Daily News: Iron Range town mulls surveillance cameras placed around townThe Associated Press – Sunday, December 16, 2007 BUHL, Minn. — Law enforcement officials in the Iron Range town of Buhl want to…
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Trade talk could be applied elsewhere
The whole debate got me thinking: What if we could trade away people in politics or the media for prospects? It could solve some problems. Therefore I have decided to propose several non-sports trades for our state and region. The first big trade I suggest is to send Minnesota’s Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty to North…
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The Range: Where "poli sci" is some kind of ethnic dish and potica is political
This is the first part of a series of cross-posts about Iron Range political culture for MNBlue.com and the MinnesotaBrown blog. The first thing you have to know about the Iron Range is that you need to cast aside the conventional wisdom on “rural vs. urban” political trends. The Range is often considered to be…
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Tiffany Johnson Memorial Fund
Most folks have already heard the tragic story of the former Chisholm woman killed in Colorado, but I just got this notice in the mail today. Visit www.Tiffanyjohnsonmemorialfund.com for more information. The Tiffany Johnson Memorial Fund has been established as a tribute to Tiffany A. Johnson, who lost her life as the result of a…
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Hail, Hail, the Iron Range
The following is my first post at www.mnblue.com, a political blog for which I began contributing this week. Have you heard the latest about CD03? Just kidding. “Psych!” as the cool kids used to say. CD03 is another planet to me. I’m aware of it, and thanks to my 1,239 metropolitan blogging friends I know…
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Off we go into the MNBlue yonder
I’ve signed on as a contributor to MNBlue.com, a political blog based in Minneapolis. I’ll republish my posts here on MinnesotaBrown, but just know that I’m sometimes writing in a way that translates common knowledge on the Range into terms understandable to political junkies in 612 country. The little blue state picture will indicate a…
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Union labor to build iron nugget plant
One of the big questions I hear about the many new projects coming to fruition on the Iron Range is whether our history of labor/management conflicts would survive all the change. So far, so good. Local unions to build iron nugget plantLee Bloomquist, Duluth News Tribune – 12/12/2007 A project labor agreement that guarantees the…
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The Kentucky / Iron Range comparison
As some of you know, I am one of several people who claim the title “Former Editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.” (There are more of us than there are licensed pilots in many large western states). It’s a tough job but an important one. The Tribune just hired a new editor after publisher Wanda…
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Range ‘Boom’ talk continues to intesify
The Duluth News-Tribune has another story of note today, one that asks the question “Is the Iron Range ready for all the change that will come if some of these major economic development projects come to fruition?” The full story is available here. Exciting times, for sure. My only qualm is that it seems officials…
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Duluth’s mayor-elect readies for change
Duluth will have a new mayor and city council this January. This is important to us Iron Rangers, partly because Duluth is an important part of the local economic equation but mostly because we are subjects of the Duluth media market and must sit through stories about Duluth ribbon cuttings and task forces to hear…
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Bill, the Big O and the Big Mo
This is the make or break weekend for the Iowa caucuses. We’re going to find out how big a help or liability Barack Obama’s “celebrity factor” is in winning over voters as Obama’s high-profile supporter Oprah Winfrey stumps for him. On one hand, it’s exciting and potentially groundbreaking political theatre … on the other it…