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‘Prairie Silence’ rings true across flatlands, woods or city
This is my Sunday column for the Feb. 24, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I previewed this column with some additional thoughts last Monday. ‘Prairie Silence’ rings true across flatlands, woods or cityBy Aaron J. Brown Having grown up shadowed by the trees and modified hills of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, I admit…
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Duluth mayor gives big speech from nasty snowbank
Peppy longshoreman Duluth, Minn., Mayor Don Ness is trying something new this year, delivering his annual state of the city address by cable access video instead of in a glitzy ceremony. Doing it this way will cost less and allow more people to see the speech, Ness argues. The speech, which was recorded this week,…
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Skol Uncouth Norsemen!
From “What if All the NFL Logos Were British” at Dave’s Art Locker by Dave Rappoccio. The Minnesota Vikings did draw the overseas game in London for next season. Perhaps a sniff of the Thames will remind them of the real vikings’ Scandinavian win streak. Related posts: No related posts.
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Breaking the mold of northern Minnesota media
This morning Northern Community Radio begins its winter/spring fundraiser. As many of you know, KAXE, KBXE, and Northern Community Internet comprise a truly unique independent public media network, one that has supported me and my writing for many years. I don’t ask for donations here at my blog, but if you are a loyal reader…
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Even great state of Mesabi can’t save Electoral College
You know how I love maps, so the recent hubbub over a map project by artist Neil Freeman caught my eye. Rather than try to figure out how to reform the bizarre, arguably archaic Electoral College method of electing the President of the United States, why don’t we just re-align our state borders to reflect…
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Minnesota DFLers push Oberstar for SecTrans
Minnesota’s Democratic Congressional delegation, including five representatives and both senators, sent a letter to President Obama earlier this month, urging him to appoint former Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) as transportation secretary. Oberstar was a leading transportation expert in the Congress and former chair of the House Transportation Committee before his loss to Republican Chip Cravaack…
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A very mining-y baby announcement
On Tuesday, WDIO-Duluth anchor and Iron Range reporter Renee Passal made a very clever announcement that she’ll be having a baby in August. She framed it in the tone and language of a “This Week in Mining” news segment. For those of us who grew up watching “the channel” (WDIO’s twin WIRT Channel 13 in…
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Here comes the Bakk-mobile
If you learn politics on the Iron Range you grow to love verbal duels between Falstaff-like figures. That’s why I enjoyed this quote from State. Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston): “If you want to get on the Bakk-mobile, go ahead. I’m not getting on the Bakk-mobile.” That’s from Urmila Ramakrishnan’s story about an internal dispute among…
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DEED commish talks Dayton budget tonight in Grand Rapids, MN
Tonight, Minnesota DEED commissioner Katie Clark Sieben will hold a forum to discuss Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget in an event sponsored by TakeAction Minnesota. Those interested in that process may wish to to check it out. Various forms of the budget are beginning to shape up at the legislature and that process will play out…
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Range student tells MPR about life with Asperger’s
I’m very, very, very proud of my kid sister (a sophomore at Hibbing High School) Tori Brown who has today’s commentary at Minnesota Public Radio. She writes about the practical realities of having Asperger’s Syndrome as a high school student. She wrote this after talking to us about our son, who also has a form…
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The quiet weight of Prairie Silence
How many truths are unspoken in a place like the Iron Range, or really any part of Minnesota? Perhaps as many as remain unsaid on the North Dakota flat lands of Melanie Hoffert’s new memoir “Prairie Silence: A Memoir.” Hoffert’s debut book is an excellent read, one that absorbed my long weekend. I’ll explore it…
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‘Lincoln’: An ode to gradual change
This is my Sunday column for the Feb. 17, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired Saturday on KAXE‘s Between You and Me. The Academy Awards ceremony is tonight. ‘Lincoln”: An ode to gradual changeBy Aaron J. Brown Early in “Team of Rivals,” Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book about President…
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Snowmobiles, art and poetry, a true Range blend
Looking for something to do on the Iron Range this weekend? Here are an assortment of options, all of which roughly coincide with e-mails that have lingered in my inbox until this present and pressing moment. How about a snowmobile race? We’ve got solid snow pack all over the Range and if cross country skiing…
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Gadzo talks Iron Range potica on Twin Cities TV
Jason Davis’s popular KSTP “On the Road” segment heads to the Iron Range to talk to Jan Gadzo (pronounced Yahn Gahdso) about potica. Jan Gadzo is an amazing person with an amazing story. I kept lots of notes from talking with him about his experiences fleeing the former Czechoslovakia. Here’s a guy who knows what…
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Hobo Nephews, Mary Bue headline Bagley ‘Great Northern’
I’m writing now for the Saturday, March 9 edition of the Great Northern Radio Show on Northern Community Radio, broadcasting live at the Bagley High School auditorium in beautiful Bagley, Minnesota. Reserve your free tickets now! We just found out we’re up against a big men’s hockey game between the University of Minnesota Gophers and…