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PolyMet EIS delayed until November
PolyMet’s Environmental Impact Statement won’t be released to the public until November, according to the Minnesota DNR. State and federal agencies reportedly have concluded their review of the mining company’s proposed plan to extract nonferrous minerals from northern Minnesota, but other agencies have input that needs to be included. This represents another delay, albeit a…
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Hot mess go time
Minnesota is not a place where the weather matches the arbitrary progression of the Roman Calendar. That’s why I am about to teach my first day of classes for the Fall Semester on a day where the heat index exceeds an average human’s IQ. Yesterday was the same. I mowed the lawn, which might not…
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Summer ends with turtle-racing flourish
Summer lives, of course. It’s still kind of nice outside. The leaves are still kind of green. The calendar places the start of fall in September, but we all know that’s junk. Tomorrow I’ll pilot the car early in the morning to teach a college class for something called “Fall Semester” and how can you argue…
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MinnesotaBrown on the move
Flickr Creative Commons license, RBerteig It’s been quiet on the blog the last couple days for two reasons. One, the semester is about to start and I’m prepping classes for Monday. Two, perhaps more relevant to you, we are gearing up for a big change here at the blog this weekend. On Saturday, I’ll be…
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Hibbing special education teacher jumps into MN governor race
Another northern Minnesota Republican has jumped into a statewide race. After yesterday’s announcement that St. Louis Co. Commissioner Chris Dahlberg was jumping into the U.S. Senate race, today Hibbing special education teacher Rob Farnsworth announced his bid for governor on the GOP ticket. Farnsworth joins several Republican candidates seeking to challenge Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN),…
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Rethinking laws of attraction on the Iron Range
Friend of the blog Aaron Klemz has a commentary recently on the site “Be Pollen” combining the theories of Richard Florida’s Creative Class and the nonferrous mining debate in northern Minnesota. Klemz, who is spokesperson for the Friends of the Boundary Waters organization, pens the following as the thrust of his piece, “A Creative Class,…
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Dahlberg to seek GOP nod for Senate
St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg of Duluth made a surprise announcement yesterday, throwing his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. He becomes the fourth Republican to announce a challenge to U.S. Sen Al Franken (D-MN) after State Rep. Jim Abler, State Sen. Julianne Ortman and businessman Mike McFadden. Dahlberg…
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This is a photograph of local police chasing a bear
Shannon Leigh Sweeney Shannon Leigh Sweeney took this photo of an area law enforcement official chasing a black bear cub on Willow Lane in Grand Rapids, Minnesota this morning. She posted it to the Grand Rapids Herald-Review Facebook page. I’m sure there are more details and we’ll share them in time, but let’s just enjoy…
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Cornish pasty finds buttery love at French food expo
The Daily Mail in the UK reports that the Cornish pasty, the butter-crusted meat pie that followed its people to Great Lakes region of the United States, was the big hit at a French food festival. The West Country staple was the surprise star of the renowned event in the city of Lorient in Brittany,…
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Strike looms for St. Louis County in northern MN
Burgeoning labor troubles in the state’s largest geographic county are coming to light. The St. Louis County unit of AFSCME has authorized a strike as contract negotiations appear stalled after a meeting with a state mediator on Friday. There is a 10-day “cooling off” period before a strike would begin. The hope is that negotiations…
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Nisswa turtle racing tradition goes back half a century
Last week my family and I took a little mini-vacation to the Brainerd Lakes area. We did all the typical things, the water park, mini golf, etc., but we also tried to take in some of the local culture. Everyone said we needed to check out the turtle races in Nisswa, and we weren’t disappointed.…
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Metrodome roof enjoys second life as many, many bags
The “Domer” bags, Duluth Pack Minnesotans of my GenX/Y vintage have distinct memories of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, an historical oddity in sports stadiums. It is, essentially, an inflatable stadium. It’s loud. The roof is the exact same color as a baseball. The Twins would move out to Target Field in 2010. It was…
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Prettner-Solon may not run for Lt. Gov. again, so let’s speculate
Minnesota’s DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is running for re-election next year, and four Republicans are running to challenge him. But this MinnPost story shows that Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner-Solon, a former state senator from Duluth, doesn’t seem very interested in running for her job again. A combination of proximity to retirement age and what seems…
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Alas, my shirt is also on vacation
Alas, my shirt is also on vacation By Aaron J. Brown Every human on earth traces his or her origins to people who once conducted their affairs entirely shirtless. These people may have walked the plains of Africa, the rocky crags of Europe, the wilds of North America or the Asian Steppe. Wherever they roamed,…
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UPDATE 3: Ammonium nitrate tanker rolls over by Hibbing Taconite
A tanker truck carrying ammonium nitrate rolled over on Highway 5 near the entrance to Hibbing Taconite, according to reports. Officials say the tank did not leak and there are no evacuations planned. UPDATE: Check that, Northland’s Newscenter is reporting a half mile evacuation zone while the wreck is inspected. UPDATE: (from Wikipedia): The chemical…