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IRRRB actions invest in schools, continue quixotic land plans
The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board gathered last Thursday for a meeting. The headline was a $3.65 million investment in education initiatives and jobs projects. Business North has a roundup of the activities, including a decided tilt toward higher education spending. I’m biased (I teach for a community college that benefits from these deals),…
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Simon enters DFL race for SOS, firming the field
Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-Hopkins) announced today he would seek the DFL nomination for Secretary of State, joining fellow Rep. Debra Hillstrom and former Rep. Jeremy Kalin. Rachel Larson Bohman opted to end her campaign, leaving these three as the current DFL field. Republicans Rep. Joyce Peppin, former Rep. Kent Kaiser, 2010 nominee Dan Severson and…
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The developing social contract of a new generation
This is my Sunday column for the Aug. 4, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The developing social contract of a new generationBy Aaron J. Brown When I graduated from high school in 1998, my classmates and I walked out of the Cherry High School gym and formed a receiving line to shake hands…
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A tale of two Marriage Equality Days
Today is the first day same-sex couples can legally marry in the state of Minnesota. For me, this is a happy day, particularly as I think of friends finally able to enjoy the legal benefits of long term committed relationships with the people they love. I spoke out against the anti-equality amendment last fall, and cheered…
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Freshman Iron Range lawmaker hit on mining claims
I’ve been writing how this summer is building toward a contention boiling point on the nonferrous mineral mining issue. We’re waiting for PolyMet to release its updated EIS after the EPA rejected its last one. Over in Wisconsin we’ve seen much more sharp-edged protesting and company overreaction to local mining debates than we have seen here…
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Looking inside the numbers of MN-8
Taking a look inside the demographics of northern Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District shows a few things, mostly that it’s older than your average MN district. Take some time to check this out. Good nerdy times. (h/t Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, Star Tribune) Related posts: No related posts.
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This controversy is getting unBEARable
This is German bear propaganda. Source During the last Great Northern Radio Show we did a sketch that John Ramos wrote about bears. Specifically it was about a bear who, realizing that there was a web cam in her den, started hosting a television program. It was a parody, of course, of the famous live…
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MN House select committee on jobs to visit Hibbing, Duluth
This looks kind of interesting. Press release from Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley): Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs to hold hearings in Duluth and Hibbing ST. PAUL, MN – The Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs will be making their first outstate stops of their interim tour where they will ask workers across the…
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RIP Steve O’Neil
St. Louis County Commissioner Steve O’Neil died today after battling a rare, aggressive form of cancer. O’Neil was known as one of northern Minnesota’s strongest advocates for the poor, the mentally ill, the homeless and the desperate. If you were the kind of person who had no connections, Steve was your connection. Prayers of peace…
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Former Iron Range rep is on Met Council
Something occured to me as I perused the list of people Gov. Mark Dayton appointed to the Metropolitan Council today. Lona Schreider of Brooklyn Park, who was reappointed, is the only person in history to serve on the IRRRB and the Met Council. She was Rep. Lona Minne (DFL-Hibbing) before she left office, remarried and…
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Iron Range board names ‘NextGen’ task force members
The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (previously Iron Range Resources, Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Agency and Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, known locally, always and forever, as the IRRRB) is trying to plan for the future of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. That’s why Commissioner Tony Sertich and agency officials have crafted the…
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Reinert decides not to run for MN Sec. of State
UPDATE: This post has been corrected and updated since its release Tuesday morning. Today, State Sen. Roger Reinert (DFL-Duluth) told me he would not run for Minnesota Secretary of State. After giving it some thought, he decided he didn’t want to go after a job that took him out of Duluth. Last month quite a…
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Northern MN artists drop politically-charged mining album
An impressive group of northern Minnesota musicians, including the dean of the Duluth music scene Charlie Parr, have lent songs to a compilation album called “The Arrowhead Story.” This album is due for a Sept. 7 release, but has a digital page up now. It’d be an interesting collection on its own and it listens…
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Mills announces GOP challenge to Nolan in MN-8
Stewart Mills (campaign photo) Stewart Mills III, Republican scion of the Mills Fleet Farm family, announced today he would challenge U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) in this northern Minnesota congressional seat. MinnPost’s Devin Henry has the story. Mills, 41, lives in the Brainerd lakes area. You can find his campaign website here. Looks like he’s…
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Psychology of failed Iron Range project’s ‘sunk cost’
The agreement by the IRRRB to extend the loan, reduce the payments and otherwise throw a life line to Excelsior Energy last week escaped with relatively little outrage. Even my own response to this topic I’ve written hundreds of posts about was rather muted. It got a local story in the Grand Rapids and Hibbing…