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Stonich takes interesting new novel on northern MN tour
Minnesota author Sarah Stonich kicks off a tour of the state’s great northern environs this Monday for her new book “Vacationland.” The tour puts her in most of the libraries of the Arrowhead Library System. May 13: Duluth, 6 p.m., main libraryMay 14: Hibbing, noon; Buhl, 3 p.m.; Aurora 6 p.m.May 15: Gilbert, 10:30 a.m.;…
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Radinovich, others show courage of conviction in marriage vote
Yesterday the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to extend marriage rights to all Minnesotans, including gay and lesbian couples, by a vote of 75-59. Four Republicans supported the measure and two Democratic-Farmer-Laborites opposed it, making this a bipartisan split. All northern Minnesota DFLers supported the bill, including several in districts that have recently opposed gay…
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WATCH: Historic MN House marriage vote slated for today
Today at noon the Minnesota House of Representatives will debate and vote on an historic measure extending the freedom to marry to all Minnesotans. Thanks to The Uptake, you can watch the proceedings here at MinnesotaBrown.com. Though it is only the first step in legalizing gay marriage in the legislature this year, the House is…
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Marge Simpson was an Iron Ranger?!!
Mind. Blown. Today’s “Eh?” column in the Duluth News Tribune discusses the obituary for the mother of Matt Groening, creator of the iconic and influential TV show “The Simpsons.” Simpsons fans learned a couple years ago that the “real Springfield” was Springfield, Oregon, near where Groening grew up. He has also revealed that Marge Simpson…
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You can haz Virginia Police Department
Before the internet they used to take all the stupid stuff that is on the internet and print it onto paper and then distribute this paper to readers using a vast network of 11-year-olds on bicycles. Hold up. They still do this. This is still a thing. Only now the papers are distributed in a…
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Trampled by Turtles (@tbtduluth), Actual Wolf (@actualwolf) at Reif Center tonight
Tonight, Christina and I will be attending the Trampled by Turtles concert at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids. The Turtles are making their 10th anniversary tour around Minnesota, hitting venues where they got their start. Grand Rapids is the hometown of bassist Tim Saxhaug. Opening for TBT is Actual Wolf, whose frontman Eric Pollard…
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Haunting Lynx showdown deserves your internet attention
A Tofte, Minnesota, couple took some video of two lynx facing off on a rural road. Seeing a lynx (a woodland feline predator) is a rare treat in itself. Seeing two of them yowl at each other, well, really you should treat yourself and spend some time with this: (h/t Duluth News Tribune) Related posts:…
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Duluth adds ‘cool train’ to milieu of arriving transportation antiquities
Milwaukee Road 261 This Saturday at about 3 p.m. the Milwaukee Road 261 stream engine will pull into Duluth with about 500 passengers and a heaping load of history. The Duluth News-Tribune reports that the train’s appearance for “National Train Day” might well be regarded by railroad enthusiasts with the same fervor as this summer’s…
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The rise and fall and (?) of regions like ours
This Willie Davis article at The Daily Yonder is must-read if you follow my coverage of the rural industrial corridor of Minnesota’s Iron Range. Davis looks to Kentucky’s coal mining country and its efforts to find economic and cultural footing amid the decline of coal mining. It begins like this: Not long ago, there was…
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Great opportunity, major test for Iron Range schools
This is my Sunday column for the May 5, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Great opportunity, major test for Iron Range schoolsBy Aaron J. Brown At a glance, there’s nothing special about the Iron Range. Old houses built for workers. Streets stained red from the ore that brought the town to life, and…
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Rethinking the water debate in northern MN
The most serious environmental issue in northern Minnesota’s nonferrous mining debate is water. (And yes, the environment is not the only part of that story). Though opinions on how projects like PolyMet or Twin Metals will affect the ground water of northern Minnesota vary at this time, you can’t ignore the fact that one of…
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Major layoff announced at International Falls paper mill
Boise Cascade is laying off 265 workers, about a third of its workforce, at its paper mill in International Falls, Minnesota. Boise will close two lines to focus on more successful products before the end of the year, according to this story at WDIO. International Falls is a paper town and this will have a…
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Unfortunate sign malfunction implies Unitarian damnation
Two weeks ago, the highway sign for the Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Unitarian Universalist Chapel on Highway 169 broke. Two weeks later, this is still what passing motorists see. Apparently MNDOT’s sign department has been infiltrated by hard-line Baptists. And the Unitarians are too nice to say anything. A divine statement? Well, I suppose we just…
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The Summer of ’16: ‘We’ve been robbed long enough’
An August 19, 1916 editorial cartoon in “Solidarity” entitled “Someone Has Got to Get Out of the Way.” By far my favorite piece of Iron Range historical art. Hey, it’s May Day! I wrote earlier about the Mesabi Range Strike of 1907. I referenced, but did not explain the larger strike that came later in…
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The Mesabi Iron Range Strike of 1907
For Twin Cities readers you may wish to catch the documentary “The Mesabi Iron Range Strike of 1907” tonight at 7:30 on KFAI. Produced by Britt Aamodt, this piece explores the seminal moment that workers organized in the mines of the Iron Range. Unsuccessful, the first great strike of the Iron Range led to the…