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Oh, and one more thing while I’m getting warmed up
If I can add anything else to my earlier post about Excelsior Energy’s changes to the Mesaba Energy Project it is to remind everyone in Minnesota politics that this project DOES NOT represent a universally agreed-upon solution to economic development or energy policy for the Iron Range or anywhere else. Take heed, our new U.S.…
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Major (and baffling) changes coming to Mesaba Energy Project?
Business North‘s Beth Bily is reporting that Excelsior Energy, an eight-year-old start up company, received some rather hushed assistance in the waning hours of this year’s legislative session from gubernatorial candidate Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook). It now appears the company is exploring the option of building a 100 mW natural gas peaking plant on the…
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No Boom
What a difference a point of view makes. This story from today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune explores the exact same data as a similar story from last week’s Mesabi Daily News that I wrote about. Iron Range population is holding, with a very slight loss of people. However the headline here, “No Boom,” reminds us that…
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NY Times: Franken & MN’s ‘Odd Politics’
The New York Times has a fun, fascinating look at the “odd politics” of Minnesota after last week’s conclusion of the U.S. Senate Recount Legal Proceeding/Election, Inc. Good Iron Rangers won’t like the characterization of late former Gov. Rudy Perpich, but it is true that Perpich, Ventura, Bachmann, Ellison, Franken, Wellstone, McCarthy, Humphrey, Mondale and…
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Franken enjoying warm reception on Iron Range
Northland NewsCenter covered the first of several Iron Range parade appearances by Sen.-elect Al Franken in Aurora last night. It looks like the DFL-friendly environs of the Iron Range were glad to see him. But you have to see the video because it shows all sides of the contentious political recount battle to be crazy.…
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The MinnesotaBrown Palin files
On a night when Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin executed her holiday weekend news dump of her impending resignation, I share my previous posts. These were all pre-election, but share some unique, sometimes first-hand observations. See Russia, sure, but true Alaskans throw their garbage at Russia, tooIt’s good to have Alaska friendsNorth to Alaska, going north,…
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Franken to take part in legendary Range Fourth parades
Sen.-elect Al Franken will be joining Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Jim Oberstar in the Iron Range’s famous Fourth of July parades. Everyone in Range politics got their start at these parades. They have a reputation for controlled chaos. Their reputation for good times is why we’ve got both senators here so soon after last…
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One take on Rukavina’s governor ambitions
My urban progressive friend Grace Kelly penned a post for the Minnesota Progressive Project that is bullish on legendary Iron Range State Rep. Tom Rukavina’s chances if he runs for governor. This post is worth a read, but you should especially check the video of Rukavina’s speech at the recent DFL State Central Committee meeting…
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The senator with something to prove
Everyone is retreating to their familiar political environs this evening on today’s announcement of the Minnesota Supreme Court decision declaring Al Franken our next U.S. Senator. Very happy! Very angry! Very indifferent! (Though, to be fair, indifferent people seldom use exclamation points). I’m a progressive-minded writer type so I like Al and voted for him.…
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To clarify about Entenza and the endorsement
I need to clarify something about how I’ve been reporting the status of the race for the DFL gubernatorial endorsement. I have been reminded that candidate Matt Entenza would honor the endorsement if everyone else does. Former Sen. Mark Dayton has announced that he will bypass the endorsement and enter directly into the primary, thus…
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John Marty: The MinnesotaBrown interview
Today I continue my semi-regular series of posts featuring candidates for Minnesota Governor with a look at State Sen. John Marty. This is the first post written after Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he wouldn’t seek re-election and, if anything, the field on both sides is even more chaotic than before. Starting about a year ago…
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Dismal state of affairs for Iron Range schools
Read this lede from yesterday’s statewide AP story about education funding (Story link from WCCO). I read this in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — There’s no band anymore at Nashwauk-Keewatin Schools. Art and music are history, too. Almost a quarter of the teachers were laid off to fix a deficit. This…
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Marty interview coming Tuesday
I’ll be posting my interview and campaign analysis for DFL gubernatorial candidate John Marty at noon on Tuesday. I interviewed Sen. Marty last Wednesday but my crazy life has slowed the writing of the story. And then it dawned on me that I wasn’t being paid for any of this. Anyway, my conversation with Marty…
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MinnPost covers Iron Range theater rally
Catherine Conlan of MinnPost offers this piece exploring the downsizing of the Hibbing Community College theater program. The story is a fair analysis of the factors at play here. This is the winnowing of Minnesota culture, especially greater Minnesota culture, caused by the state budget situation. I work at HCC (to repeat, my blog is…
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Quaint election of bygone days to be decided
Word is that Thursday is going to be “Official Minnesota Supreme Court Decision Day” for our state’s long enduring U.S. Senate recount battle. I have an inside source who tells me the winner of our Senate seat will be … Amelia Earhart. NOOOOOOO! OK, I still haven’t decided if that’s funny, but Politics and Minnesota…