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Campaign seeks to name Duluth street after Telly Savalas
Who loves ya’ baby? Did you know that Telly Savalas, best known as Kojak on 1970s and ’80s TV, once lived in Duluth, Minnesota? It’s totally true. And now a Facebook effort to get Duluth to name a street after the lollipop-loving character actor is underway. When I was a small child I was left…
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Finnish baby boxes for everybody
My cousin Adam sent me this interesting story about why every newborn Finnish baby spends time in a cardboard box. In fact, this special box that almost ever Finnish mother gets is a universal experience for all classes, a cultural touchstone for several generations. From the Helena Lee story at the BBC: It’s a tradition…
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Mt. Iron to get Wal-Mart Super Center
The Iron Range city of Mountain Iron is getting a Super Wal-Mart, according to the Mesabi Daily News. I’d argue this has more effect on the local economy that the re-routing of Highway 53. The first Super Wal-Mart on the Iron Range was in Hibbing. It was a huge success for Wal-Mart, posting big numbers during…
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Candidates break loose on Minnesota Secretary of State race
Earlier I reported that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (DFL) would not seek re-election in 2014. I speculated that because this is one of the few open statewide races and one that doesn’t cost a ton of campaign cash, we could see a lot of candidates. Well, that was true: DFL: First out the…
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Ritchie won’t run for 3rd term as MN SOS
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced today he will not seek a third term. The DFLer was first elected in 2006, defeating conservative firebrand Mary Kiffmeyer, and oversaw the closely-watched U.S. Senate recount of 2008 and governor recount of 2010, shortly after his own re-election. Last year he was an outspoken opponent of the…
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Bob Dylan to play Duluth this summer
News just broke that Bob Dylan will return to his birthplace of Duluth to play at Bayfront Festival Park on July 9. WDIO reports: An announcement has confirmed that Bob Dylan & His Band will come to Duluth and play at Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park on Tuesday, July 9. The concert begins at 5:30 p.m.…
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Duluth’s Bob Dylan sculpture project launches Kickstarter
A small scale rendering of the sculpture image. Today sculptor Tom Page and his organization launched the Kickstarter page to raise funds to put a Bob Dylan-themed sculpture. The art would be placed in downtown Duluth, the city where Dylan was born, just down the road from Hibbing, the city where he grew up. I…
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Iron Range soldier is ‘The Bomb Whisperer’
Another interesting read this morning, the Los Angeles Times profiled an Army soldier from Eveleth, Minnesota, known among his fellow troops in Afghanistan as “The Bomb Whisperer.” KHOGIANO, Afghanistan — Spc. Kyle Klobuchar spends his days listening intently to the beeps, hums and warbles of a hand-held explosives detector known as a Minehound. He likes…
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Testosterone problems in western North Dakota
This commentary in Sunday’s Star Tribune shows the social strife facing women in western North Dakota as the region teems with male workers in the booming oil industry. Reading this reminds me of the stories surrounding northern Minnesota’s Iron Range in the early 1900s as male immigrants poured into this region, most of them single…
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Minnesota’s true past becomes clearer in ‘Land of the Dakota’
This is my Sunday column for the June 2, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Congratulations to Gwen Westerman and Bruce White for winning the Minnesota Book Award for “Mni Sota Makoce.” Minnesota’s true past becomes clearer in ‘Land of the Dakota’By Aaron J. Brown “Human beings have recorded their relationships with places in…
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Duluth to remove iconic downtown bricks
Workers install bricks on Superior Street on Oct. 6, 1985. From the Duluth News Tribune “News Attic.” When I was a tiny little kid I remember seeing all the hubbub on the news about Duluth putting in bricks along a key downtown chunk of Superior Street. As an Iron Range tyke who only knew Duluth…
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B’nai Abraham shares Range Jewish history with stories, music
B’nai Abraham Cultural Center, Virginia, Minnesota When the Iron Range received a surge of immigrants in the early 20th Century it become one of the most diverse places in the country, a fact that often seems foreign on the Iron Range of today. Among its many groups was a vibrant Jewish community, and though that…
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The last day of school
Ned Horton, Creative Commons license The last day of school is that giddy feeling in your gut, warmed over by sunlight felt even through the clouds where your head goes until you see mom or dad and you realize that this is still the world, a sad fact that is not so sad when you…
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MN seasonal, tourism industry gets tax extension for bad weather
The strange late spring in Minnesota prompted action by the state legislature and governor before last week’s close of the session. Seasonal and tourism-based businesses will receive a property tax extension for the lost business due to the weather. The state revenue department released the following: Due date for property tax payments extended for resorts…
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Skeeters!
The mosquitoes hatched last night. They’re late this year, but appear to be healthy. Saw them drive a deer out of the woods this morning. This could be a rough year. Related posts: No related posts.