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Getting to the bottom of the yoga ‘pants’emonium
This is my Sunday column for the March 31, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Getting to the bottom of the yoga ‘pants’emoniumBy Aaron J. Brown Allow me to state my qualifications to talk about yoga pants. I’ve done yoga a couple times on my Nintendo Wii. I really enjoy how yoga pants look…
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News of the Twins, riding by shadow and twilight
The Minnesota Twins open their 2013 season on Monday. This season’s opener is decidedly less optimistic than last year’s, which was the first season in quite a long time that there was no perceptible optimism whatsoever from anyone except people earning paychecks from the Minnesota Twins. And last year went terribly. So we’ve got this…
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First saltie slated to arrive in Duluth Friday
The saltie Federal Hunter arrives in Duluth Friday. With temperatures rising — and I mean ever so slightly — we are starting to feel like it really might be spring in northern Minnesota. The best indicators are found in unusual places. The chicks have arrived at area L & M Supply stores (Every year the…
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Charting a future for the Midwest beyond its past
“Does the Midwest matter?” That’s the question posed in an essay by Frank Bures in MinnPost today. Bures remembered his youth in Winona, Minnesota, this way: Growing up, I remember feeling like greatness was something that belonged far away, and that if I wanted to do anything worthwhile, my only choice was to leave. That…
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On sulfur and service on the Iron Range
I found this MPR story by Dan Kraker to be a very helpful scientific explanation of the minerals involved in new nonferrous mining proposals in northern Minnesota. Refreshingly informative. “Sulfur is the great collector of metals in nature,” [UM-Duluth geologist Jim Miller] said. “If it wasn’t for sulfur, there would be no economic quantities of…
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Iron Range has 53 problems, mostly a highway
Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) jumped into the debate over the new route for Highway 53, strongly opposing the western route proposal that resurfaced late last week. The Mesabi Daily News reports that Nolan called the proposal a “nonstarter.” The public meeting described in the story sounded like a good representation of the local opinion I’ve…
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Skypocracy rules in northern Minnesota city
A state ruling indicates that Cohesset city councilor Dennis Blankensop did not violate the open meeting law when he attended a Jan. 8 council meeting via the internet video service Skype. The Grand Rapids Herald-Review has the story. The Minnesota Newspaper Association continues to argue that a city councilor attending a meeting from another state…
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West route for new Highway 53 now back on table
Officials are returning to the drawing board on the required relocation of Highway 53 between Eveleth and Virginia, including a controversial plan to locate the highway west of Eveleth. The Mesabi Daily News reports that costs and the immense value of the ore seem to be driving the project toward a dramatic re-imagination from how…
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March madness? Already there
This is my Sunday column for the March 24, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. March madness? Already thereBy Aaron J. Brown St. Urho’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day have passed us by, two stripes – one purple and one green – on a slushy brown highway winding into the dark and foggy moor…
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Magnetation expansion could impact recreation
Magnetation continues its expansion on the western Mesabi, upping production of its iron concentrate to serve what will be its first taconite processing plant in Indiana. It’s also exploring the possibility of opening new iron mining near Coleraine which would be more involved than the company’s current scram mining (essentially reprocessing mine dumps with new…
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Johnson tapes show history’s many possibilities
As a student of history, it’s hard not to marvel at stories like this (“The Lyndon Johnson Tapes: Richard Nixon’s ‘treason’“). It was President Lyndon Johnson who installed the famous policy of recording everything that happened in the Oval Office. His idea was that the tapes would provide the historical record to correct the speculations…
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See this stunning collection of Iron Range images
The old Dupont power house, just before it was demolished thistime last year, shot by Minneapolis photographer Vance Gellart. I’ve paged through just some of the many photos shot by Minneapolis photographer Vance Gellart from his travels across the Iron Range trying to capture the unique colors, gritty ambiance and stunning contrasts found in this…
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A little bit of Earth sails beyond our known world
Bob Collins at MPR’s NewsCut reminds us that Voyager 1 has left the solar system. This little unmanned spacecraft documented so much of what we know about a tiny corner of the universe we ourselves cannot travel in a lifetime, even if we got off our duffs and tried. I knew that Voyager 1 had…
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Spring (shipping season) arrives in Port of Duluth
The Mesabi Miner loads coal for shipment to Marquette, Mich. It will return to pick up iron ore this weekend. Spring in northern Minnesota has officially begun, despite the bitter cold, blowing snow and ice-snared harbor. Today the ship Mesabi Miner departs from the Port of Duluth and Superior by way of a channel carved…
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Three great music acts perform tonight in Hibbing
Rachael Kilgour There’s a pretty cool-sounding concert slated for tonight at Hibbing Community College. I wasn’t aware it was Women’s History Month, but if that inspires people to put three of the best northern Minnesota singer-songwriter’s on one showbill I’m all for it. HCC Music Series presents, Women’s History Month Showcase featuring singer/songwriters Rachael Kilgour,…