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UMD students declared hottest in the nation
A typical UMD student when not wearing parka. A website called DateMySchool has named the University of Minnesota at Duluth as the U.S. college with the hottest student body. Hotness, in this case, has been measured by the number of photos from that college that have been downloaded at their creepy website. I attended the…
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Duluth is a one-mermaid town
Well, there’s this. A young woman in Duluth has always wanted to be a mermaid. One $3,000 synthetic tail later, SHE IS ONE. And she’s finding a way to pay for that tail as a guest mermaid in hotel pools and special events. WDIO has video. The legend of mermaids comes from ancient sailing tradition.…
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Moose hunting done in MN until population recovers
No chance to be first on this story, but at least I get to use my Bullwinkle/”North by Northwest” photo art again. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is cancelling the 2013 moose hunt because of massive, sudden decline in the moose population. We talked about the moose crisis here before. And before that. And…
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UMD study predicts impact of mining projects
UM-Duluth’s Labovitz School of Business has a new study out today projecting the possible economic impact of new mining projects in northern Minnesota. It paints quite a picture of the region’s mining economy. This is from the press releases (emphasis mine): Duluth, Minn., Feb. 6, 2013 – A recent report outlining Minnesota’s mining industry found…
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The Saturday Evening Post is so screwed right now
Tarnations! The U.S. Postal Service is dropping Saturday home delivery in August. Now my Time Magazine won’t come until Monday, which is the same day my new e-edition of Newsweek is waiting to be downloaded on my iPad but that I usually don’t download because who has that kind of bandwidth? We have limited bandwidth!…
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The mystery and masks of the Iron Range
You think you know a place, or people, and you really don’t. History is layers upon layers of truth that is only knowable through a quasi-scientific estimation. And you know who I think represents that best? Our fellow northern Minnesotan, Bob Dylan. He theorizes in most recent interviews that the closest you get to the…
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Extracting hard truth from rocks of mining debate
A mining company with designs on taconite reserves in northern Wisconsin is back in the news. Gogebic Taconite had suspended its plans to mine in Iron County last spring because of issues related to Wisconsin’s environmental permitting process. Wisconsin, unlike Minnesota and Michigan, hasn’t had active iron mining in a long time and the regulatory…
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Richard III found under parking lot; Paul Harvey found on Super Bowl
Behold, a feast of links I don’t entirely know what to do with. The bones of Richard III, one of the shortest-lived English monarchs and the last to die on the battlefield, were found in a shallow grave below a parking lot in England. The story and photos will give you something to think about.…
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The iron ore space race
This is my Sunday column for the Feb. 3, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Below the jump you can learn more about plans to mine minerals from asteroids. The iron ore space race By Aaron J. Brown Looking down from space through the night sky you see the bright lights of our modern…
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And so wily propsectors shall battle the Fightin’ Poes
I feel compelled to say something about the Super Bowl this Sunday. It is the most American of American holidays — billions spent and made on a sport that only Americans understand or enjoy (and, more recently, Canada … but, you know). The San Francisco 49ers, a team named for gold prospectors from a city…
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Minnesota Power to convert major Range plant from coal to gas
This week, Minnesota Power announced it would convert its coal-fired Laskin Energy Plant near Hoyt Lakes to natural gas generation in coming years. The $15 million conversion will eventually join the closure of one of Laskin’s MP’s Taconite Harbor units, but company officials are hopeful there will be no layoffs. The plan allows Minnesota Power…
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Upon the fall of ‘this magnificant creation’
My friend and Great Northern Radio Show writing collaborator Matt Nelson has penned a marvelous essay about the 10 year anniversary of the Columbia space shuttle disaster. He was 13 then, and experienced the event through adolescent eyes and ideals. Having matured into a remarkable writer and journalist today, he’s put those thoughts into a…
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On encouragement, hurtling space rocks, robots, mining (natch), & geneology
What’s this? It’s a clue about my Sunday column. Here’s another. We don’t just need to mine them thar’ hills. We need to mine them thar’ asteroids, too. What could possibly go wrong? Meantime, for something completely different, catch my essay this Saturday on Between You and Me. The topic is “Encouragement.” All you have…
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Returning to the scene of my first login
Here’s me in the yearbook, editing the school newspaper. Note the references to a “dark room” and “chemicals.” Today I will return to my alma mater, Cherry High School. It occurs to me that it’s been about 12 years since I’ve even set foot in the school for my sister’s graduation. They’ve since torn down…
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Oberstar mentioned for Obama cabinet position
With the resignation of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today, former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8), the former House Transportation Chair and Iron Range political veteran, is being mentioned as a potential successor. Oberstar was mentioned four years ago as well, but passed in order to keep his chairmanship. After his 2010 re-election defeat, he finds…