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Gov. Dayton to hold Iron Range town hall Tuesday night
Gov. Mark Dayton will hold a town hall meeting to discuss his budget proposal at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the commons at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in Virginia, MN. This will probably be the best environment for people here in northern Minnesota to express their views or questions on the budget to the…
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Want a job in northern Minnesota? Try Northland Job Fair
This Wednesday, April 17, the Northland Job Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the DECC Paulucci Hall in Duluth, Minnesota. Fifty of the largest employers in northern Minnesota will be on hand to take applications and meet job seekers. The Minnesota Workforce Center will be there to assist with resumes…
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Weather coping with maps and travel guides
It’s snowing. As I sit here this evening we are being told up to nine inches of wet, heavy April snow for the Iron Range by Monday morning. I am depressed. I am not alone. In a move she probably regrets, my wife Christina — knowing my enthisiasm for maps — sent me this Hey…
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Too ‘Minnesota Nice’ to Brag
This is my Sunday column for the April 14, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired on yesterday’s episode of “Between You and Me” on Northern Community Radio. Too Minnesota Nice to BragBy Aaron J. Brown You never know what you’ll see when a “list post” circulates on the…
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Study: Iron Range mining, mesothelioma linked
Today, officials shared the long-awaited University of Minnesota study analyzing why the rare cancer mesothelioma is so prevalent among miners who worked on the Mesabi Iron Range. The result? Researchers see a link between working in the mines and the disease, but that dust from taconite mining is only one of several factors contributing to…
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Radio for the People
Lakeland Public Television closed their season of their arts and culture program “Common Grounds” with a profile of Northern Community Radio and my Great Northern Radio Show. This is a wonderful representation of the station for which I am so proud to write and produce material. You can watch the whole episode right here: Related…
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Take off that shirt, deer
This is a shirt with a deer on it. The actual incident involves a deer with a shirt on it. Five Wisconsin men are in trouble for putting a t-shirt on a deer. The DNR found out about this two ways: 1) the deer has been seen around the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, area wearing a…
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Bragging about Minnesota’s passive-aggressive non-bragging
This Saturday on KAXE‘s “Between You and Me” the topic is “Brag About Minnesota.” The inspiration was this Andrew Gauthier Buzzfeed piece, “38 Things Minnesotans are Too Nice to Brag About.” My essay for the radio has also been adapted into my Sunday column for the Hibbing Daily Tribune, but you might enjoy the audio…
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PolyMet announces $60 million in private funds
People want to know where nonferrous mining projects stand in northern Minnesota. It’s awfully hard to say, most days, as the local debate tends to float in a nebulous cloud of philosophical disagreement. While the ongoing permit process is important, I’ve long maintained that issue will resolve itself only to the degree these companies are…
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Results of major miners’ health study due Friday
On Friday, University of Minnesota researchers will reveal results of a highly-anticipated study on mesothelioma rates related to workers in Iron Range mines. Mesothelioma is a rare lung cancer often tied to asbestos found in industrial settings. Rates of the disease are 300 percent higher than normal among residents of the Iron Range. The big…
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Northern projects fare well in Gov. Dayton’s bonding bill
Gov. Mark Dayton revealed his suggestion for a $750 million bonding bill yesterday, including money for several northern Minnesota projects. A larger bonding bill is expected next year where many additional projects will be considered, along with those from this year that fail to make the cut. Local media lamented the lack of inclusion for…
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Nolan backs PolyMet project during recent tour
Last week, U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) toured his northern Minnesota district, making a few headlines along the way. Ron Bruchu of Business North reports on Nolan’s remarks to a Duluth Chamber event. Notable among Nolan’s remarks was an endorsement of PolyMet’s plan to mine copper and other minerals in northeastern Minnesota. Nolan said he’s…
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Boldly into the future for MinnesotaBrown.com
In the last year I’ve tried moving away from the day-to-day battles of politics to a wider view of life in northern Minnesota and my creative interests. We still do politics and news here; just done in a way that stands out from other blogs. This summer I am going to redesign the blog. It’s…
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Taft for our times
This is my Sunday column for the April 7, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. “Taft 2012: A Novel” by Jason Heller was clearly packaged to fuel the zeitgeist of last year’s election, spoofing targets from the media, to the tea party, modern politics and obesity in general. I read the book just recently,…
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Hear the Great Northern Radio Show Bagley podcast!
If you’ve been waiting for the podcast of our March 9, 2013 edition of the Great Northern Radio Show, recorded from our live broadcast at the Bagley High School auditorium, well, today is a big day for you. You can now hear the full, remastered version of that show. This show went through some early…