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Fanning kicks off campaign, joining Clark, Anderson and Nolan in DFL MN-8 race
On Sunday, Daniel Fanning kicked off his DFL campaign for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He joins Tarryl Clark, Jeff Anderson and Rick Nolan in the race to challenge U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) as the first DFL nominee in MN-8 not named Jim Oberstar since 1974. Last week Fanning, an…
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NY Times highlights Range air service debate
The plight of the Range Regional Airport and the federal Essential Air Service program made the New York Times today. The Times featured an interview with Hibbing Mayor Rick Cannata and City Councilor Patty Shafer. The region’s U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) is a central player in a budget cut process that could limit flights…
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Fanning to announce MN-8 bid
Daniel Fanning, a U.S. Army Iraq war vet and former staffer for Sen. Al Franken, will announce his campaign for Minnesota’s 8th District DFL nomination on Sunday in Duluth. Fanning, who lives in Duluth, recently resigned as northern Minnesota field coordinator for Sen. Franken to focus on what has been a long exploration into running…
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MN-8 seems destined for lively DFL primary
The 2012 election in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional district could become the more significant contest in the region’s political decade. The conservative swing seen in the 2010 election of Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) could be solidified with his re-election. Or the GOP trend could be repelled with the election of a DFL challenger. Still more, this…
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Oberstar accepting retirement as 2012 battle brews
On Tuesday, MinnPost’s Doug Grow penned an interesting profile of the activities and attitudes of recently defeated former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) as his former district girds for a new political fight in 2012. It’s worth a read. Notably, he appears to be accepting retirement and vows to stay out of the 2012 race.…
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Dayton holds jobs summit on the Range
Gov. Mark Dayton held a jobs summit yesterday in Virginia, Minn. Northland’s News Center had the story: Related posts: No related posts.
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Governor, carp czar address Minnesota carp summit as carp fears mount
Last year this blog attempted to become the authoritative source for sarcastic commentary about the Asian carp infestation of the upper Midwest. I do believe we were successful for a time before the fame and power sent us crashing back to earth. It’s been exactly one year since my last carp post. The carp czar…
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The long money trail of Excelsior Energy on the Range
This is a quick update to the post earlier about the Duluth News Tribune investigation into Excelsior Energy on the Iron Range. Citizens Against the Mesaba Project (CAMP) released a response that includes this tidbit: The $1.46 million reported as spent on state lobbying does not include the $220,000 spent prior to 2005, or the…
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Duluth News Tribune details Excelsior lobbying, political contributions
Peter Passi continues his Duluth News Tribune investigation into Excelsior Energy, the start-up company that has spent 10 years and $41 million in public dollars without producing local jobs or any electricity. Today’s topic? The $1.8 million Excelsior and its officials have spent on lobbying and political contributions to state and federal officials of both…
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Gov. Dayton to hold economic summit on the Iron Range
On Tuesday, Sept. 13, Governor Mark Dayton will hold his fourth regional economic development summit on the Iron Range in Virginia at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College. The event will take place at 10 a.m. in the college theater (F-100). Dayton is holding several such events around the state before hosting a larger statewide…
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COLUMN: Ten years, worse for wear
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Ten years, worse for wearBy Aaron J. Brown Ten years ago this morning the thing on my mind as I walked to work was a photograph I’d just seen of me hosting a country music show at the…
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One should only read the Whig papers
A letter by Michael Burger ran in Wednesday evening’s edition of the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Herald-Review declaring the organization of the Modern Whig Party. Burger cited the need to reconstitute the Whigs, defunct since 1856, because of partisanship in Washington and the Independence Party being a state party instead of a national one. He reminds…
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Autumn brings change, offline and on
Yesterday delivered a beautiful Labor Day in northern Minnesota. Forecasters predict a sunny, temperate early Fall week ahead. Today I waited with our oldest son as the bus came to take him to first grade. He’s first on the route out here in the woods. I saw him pause at the first seat where he…
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Range boondoggle now poses test of character, leadership
The implications of Peter Passi’s Duluth News Tribune groundbreaking investigation into the squandering of $41 million in public money by Excelsior Energy on the Iron Range continue to unfold. The story now appears to be the biggest fiscal disaster in Iron Range economic development history, but there’s more yet to explore. Karl Bremer at Ripple…
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Amendment debate spurs excellent series, "Growing Up Gay in Northern Minnesota"
Tony Sterle at A Little Bit of Liberal has written a fascinating series entitled Growing Up Gay in Northern Minnesota (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). He’s done a nice job of writing about the issue as an advocate, but with honest journalistic consideration of both sides in the debate. Really, Tony is a great…