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Thoughts and prayers to Mike
My thoughts and prayers are with Mike Jennings, editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune and one of the best working newspaper journalists on the Iron Range. He has been hospitalized with a heart condition and faces a difficult recovery. Tribune publisher Wanda Moeller tells the dramatic story in today’s edition. Join me in wishing Mike…
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Show me the money … in fractions of pennies over the fullness of time
The problem with the new media is that very, very few people can make a living in it. Blogging is popular, diverse and exciting; but utterly unprofitable. I do this blog because A) I am an obsessive news geek addicted to information and politics; B) It soothes my insatiable ego; and C) I justify the…
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Overburden on Hibbing radio today
I did an interview this morning for the Hibbing radio show “The Craig and Kate Affair” which will be rebroadcast today at about 5:30 p.m. on 650 AM WNMT. After the sun sets AM frequencies carry hundreds of miles, reaching many far away places. I don’t know why they ever switched to FM. Darn kids.…
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Overburden media tour fires up
I’ve been doing interviews for my new book, “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” and you’ll start to see and hear some of these in Minnesota media. Jeff Warner is writing a story that will run in the “Tailings” section of the Sunday, Oct. 12 Hibbing Daily Tribune. “Tailings” is like the A&E section,…
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Acronyms? Environmentalists? Developers? Politicians? Run the story!
The Mesabi Daily News has not one, not two, but THREE stories about environmental laws as they relate to mining. Hot damn. Buy a copy early because the kids like to buy these up and sell them on the eBay. If you DO follow such stories, enjoy these links: Environmental group hits PolyMetCommittee members tour…
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In the basement with Bob Dylan’s English teacher
I had written several times about StoryCorps, the NPR/nonprofit initiative to record, archive and broadcast interviews conducted between regular Americans and their loved ones. The mobile studio spent weeks in Grand Rapids talking to people all over northern Minnesota. The facilitators also went out on assignment, interviewing unique characters. At the StoryCorps blog, Alex shares…
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StoryCorps reception tonight
A reminder, tonight is the community reception for the StoryCorps project in Grand Rapids at 91.7 KAXE, a really cool studio and radio organization next to the Grand Rapids Public Library on the Mississippi River. There will be appetizers, wine and probably stories. My Saturday radio essay and Sunday column both highlight the StoryCorps project…
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Newspaper industry’s problems run deep
I found a great column via DailyKos (I know, I know; it’s so not cool to link to Kos diaries, but this one isn’t partisan) that explains the state of today’s newspaper industry. What Walter Brasch describes is the EXACT problem facing small dailies across northern Minnesota and bigger regional papers like Duluth and Fargo.…
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Twin Ports daily chopped down to twice weekly
According to the Duluth News-Tribune and others, the Superior (Wis.) Daily Telegram will drop from publishing six days a week to just twice. The paper’s management insists that the Telegram will focus on online content to continue serving its readers. Let me translate that: “Hey, Little Billy. Spot had to go away, but don’t worry.…
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Columnist Heffernan cut loose by DNT
Yesterday I finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” a novel about a man and his son searching for food and shelter in a post-apocalyptic America. They survive through sheer will, try to maintain hope despite absolutely no evidence that hope exists. Roving gangs of cannibals rule the landscape. And, with no intent to cheapen McCarthy’s…
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Dylan Days literary showcase today
Today at 2:30 p.m. I’ll be emceeing the Dylan Days Literary Showcase featuring the winners of the Dylan Days Creative Writing Contest, Toby Thompson and the world premiere of the first-ever Dylan Days One Act Playwright contest winner, Demetra Kareman’s “Lessons and Carols.” The event takes place at the Hibbing Community College Theatre. Admission is…
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‘Tangled Up in Ore: Bob Dylan and the Iron Range’
Dylan Days starts today. There’s plenty going on in Hibbing these next four days, but I’d like to point out the special Bob Dylan exhibit that opens today at Ironworld in nearby Chisholm. As Dylan Days co-chair, I played a role in the early stages of this project. But the hard work and vision came…
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More Dylan Days press, including my large head on a webcam
This morning’s Dylan Days interview on the top-rated 95 KQDS morning show out of Duluth (and repeated on the Iron Range at 105.5 FM) was rescheduled for Wednesday at 8:35 a.m. I will take the Dylan Days act to 91.7 KAXE in northern Minnesota (streaming online here) and KOOL 101.7 FM in Duluth Tuesday morning…
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Taking requests: Bob Dylan Fudge Bars
Over the next few days I’ll be responding to questions or requests that I’ve been getting via e-mail. The next few days will include idle speculation on local retail developments and the Minnesota Steel project. Today I’ll clear out an old request, the posting of the recipe for the Bob Dylan Fudge Bars that I…
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Dylan Days stokes literary flames on the Iron Range
As some of you know, I am one of the organizers of Dylan Days, an annual event celebrating Hibbing’s own Bob Dylan and the arts community of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. This week we’re releasing the results of the Dylan Days Creative Writing Contest. The contest takes on even deeper meaning this year in the…