-
I am a cooking fraud, but no one is calling me on it … yet
Sometimes in life, strange opportunities will come your way. My philosophy is to always embrace them, no matter how bizarre. This strategy is the only possible explanation for why I will appear on a cooking show this weekend and was featured in the “Taste” section of the March 27 Duluth News-Tribune. A couple weeks ago…
-
Yeah, we’ll fix the roads anyway
On Monday, the DFL-controlled Minnesota House of Representatives overrode Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill, which fixes roads and bridges around the state by raising the state gas tax five cents a gallon. They were able to win over six Republicans to aid in the override. While no one wants to pay more…
-
UPDATE (sort of) on smoking ban loophole
I see Duluth News-Tribune columnist Jim Heffernan has already written a humor column about the “theater loophole” in the Minnesota smoking ban now being used by northern Minnesota bars. Fortunately, the piece I’m working on takes a different angle. Good thing, because Heffernan is phoning his columns in from Florida and I’m within a smoke…
-
Sing it, Minnesota!
A state lawmaker is suggesting that Minnesota turn “Hail, Minnesota” into the state anthem and adopt a more contemporary state song. Any suggestions? Related posts: No related posts.
-
Hey Old Media, getting warmer …
Last summer we got a DVR service to go with our satellite TV. The digital recorder allows us to record shows, pause or rewind live TV and basically watch programs any time we want with the ability to fast-forward commercials. Someone told me before we got it that it would change how we watch television…
-
Something worth 100 new high schools just crashed and blew up
Two pilots survived the crash of a U.S. B-2 bomber in Guam yesterday. The B-2 carries a price tag in the vicinity of $1.2 billion. I bet their insurance rates are SO going up now. Place: An insurance office Time: The Future B-2 pilot: So, can I get insurance on my new plane? Insurance Agent:…
-
T-Paw vetoes roads bill
Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed the transportation bill today. The DFL-controlled House is one vote shy of an override, but two of the holdouts are DFLers so there is a chance that this bill funding improvements to Minnesota highways and bridges can be rammed through the veto wall. I expect a lot of these kinds of…
-
You know you’re in northern Minnesota when…
… you see a bumper sticker like this: “Kids who hunt, trap and fish don’t mug little old ladies” ~ Highway 169 near Grand Rapids, Feb. 14 Related posts: No related posts.
-
Change on the Range?
Though I missed the speech, the Hibbing Daily Tribune report on Hibbing Mayor Rick Wolff’s State of the City address was encouraging. Visions, challenges and initiatives Mayor says Hibbing must embrace changeBy Kelly Grinsteinner, Hibbing Daily Tribune HIBBING — With change knocking on Hibbing’s door, Mayor Rick Wolff says the community and region must be…
-
Achy Breaky news stacking
Here’s one of the “top stories” from Yahoo News this morning: “Billy Ray Cyrus apologizes for seatbelt gaffe“ Let’s go back to journalism school. Who? What? Why? Where? When? How? Who: Billy Ray Cyrus, washed up country star who sang “Achy Breaky Heart,” a song so stupid that it almost triggered the End Times (unless…
-
2008 Minnesota legislative session begins
The 2008 Minnesota legislative session opens today with what appears to be an ambitious agenda for the DFL House and Senate. Best case Minnesota gets a transportation bill and more; worst case Minnesota gets just a small bonding bill. The governor seems inclined toward a stalemate on Day 1. From the Associated Press: Minn. lawmakers…
-
Dylan Days wins grant for Iron Range Bob Dylan exhibit
One of my pet projects is Dylan Days, an annual arts event in Hibbing run by an initiative called “Dylan Arts Celebration,” which I co-chair. Kelly Grinsteinner of the Hibbing Daily Tribune reported Sunday about our recent $10,000 grant from Iron Range Resources’ Culture and Tourism program to create exhibit material for an upcoming Bob…
-
Falls wins icebox war
A triumphant victory for our people! International Falls keeps ‘icebox’ titleAssociated Press (via the Duluth News-Tribune) INTERNATIONAL FALLS — International Falls has iced its claim to be the “Icebox of the Nation.” This city on the Canadian border had been fighting the ski town of Fraser, Colo., for the legal right to the trademark. International…
-
For my ‘red’ readers
One other note: Mitt Romney carried the Republican caucuses in Minnesota. I was initially surprised until I remembered how poorly John McCain did here in 2000. I just heard from a Republican friend who attended his caucuses in Hibbing. He said he voted McCain and was confronted with an icy reception. Mike Huckabee and Romney…
-
Giant sloth demise leading to, well, ‘slow’ decline of Joshua tree
Yesterday on National Public Radio I heard an unusual story. The giant sloth is extinct, the announcer read, and scientists are now concerned about what that means for the desert and dry-land Joshua tree. These trees grew in evolutionary symbiosis with the giant sloth as the slow moving giant-clawed creatures were instrumental in the trees’…