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Fanning withdraws from MN-8 race
Daniel Fanning, the Iraq war vet and Duluth political organizer, announced Wednesday in a letter to supporters he would withdraw from the race for Congress in Minnesota’s Eighth District. Citing a lack of funds and insufficient support from likely delegates in the DFL endorsement process, Fanning said he will focus on helping the DFL win…
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DM&IR is no more
Though it’s been in the works for some time, today it’s official. The Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railway is no more. Parent company Canadian National has merged it with two other regional railroads to streamline its operations, which carry a robust array of commodities including Iron Range taconite bound for eastern steel mills. I…
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Cool new nicknames for Iron Range cities
Suggested nicknames for the major cities of northern Minnesota’s Mesabi and Vermillion iron ranges, listed without commentary (west to east): Grand Rapids: G-RapColeraine: Raine MakerBovey: V-BoTaconite: Tac AttackMarble: MarbsCalumet: The MetNashwauk: Wauker Texas RangerKeewatin: Kee WestHibbing: HistocityChisholm: Chisel TownBuhl: Water CityMountain Iron: MyronVirginia: 53169Eveleth: Eva-lastGilbert: BroadwayBiwabik: Pen CityAurora: Sky LightHoyt Lakes: Hoy HoyBabbitt: BabsEmbarrass: FrozoneTower:…
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COLUMN: Time to delve into ’12
This is my Sunday column for the Jan. 1, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. My annual predictions column is one of my favorite traditions. Enjoy and Happy New Year! Time to delve into ‘12By Aaron J. Brown The pathway was clogged with skunks. I hate skunks. Warm winters bring out the skunks. So…
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Privacy Policy for MinnesotaBrown.com
If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at http://www.minnesotabrown.com/2006/08/contact-minnesotabrown.html.At MinnesotaBrown.com we consider the privacy of our visitors to be extremely important. This privacy policy document describes in detail the types of personal information is collected and recorded by MinnesotaBrown and…
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Top MinnesotaBrown posts for 2011
As 2011 comes to a close I present this blog’s top posts for the year. After that I’ll share some of my personal favorites. I’m always fascinated at how different those two lists end up being. In fact, the top traffic list reads like some kind of comedy of errors in my ill-fated attempt to…
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Great Northern Radio Show to play four great northern cities in 2012
While many readers come here for political news, I hope you consider checking out my preferred 2012 endeavor: the first full season of my Great Northern Radio Show originating on 91.7 KAXE. We’ll be broadcasting live stage shows from Bemidji, Brainerd, Eveleth and Bigfork. The Great Northern Radio Show is a live music, comedy and…
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2012 brings new energy to MN-8 donnybrook
Later this week I’ll be sharing my top posts for 2011, including my favorites and the ones that were most popular. Traffic would indicate that many of you still come here for political analysis of the Iron Range and Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. Last summer I wrote a series on the topic, which largely holds…
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COLUMN: The Night Before Christmas, 2.0
This is my Sunday column for the Christmas edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I’m posting early to catch the spirit of the source material. I performed a version of this piece on KAXE’s “Between You and Me” this morning. Merry Christmas, readers! I’ll be off for a few days. The Night Before Christmas, 2.0By…
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Christmas on the Air!
Saturday morning brings a special Christmas Eve morning episode of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE. The call-in and music show will take calls, requests and stories about your favorite (or least favorite) Christmas music. Guest host Grant Frashier helms the program, which features the people of northern Minnesota, including a few regular essayists…
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Filling the holes, finding lost dreams on the Range
A friend of this blog Elanne Palcich recently wrote a commentary for the Iron Range Hometown Focus newspaper about the mining heritage of the Range and what it has meant. While Elanne can be counted as a strong opponent to many of the mining projects we hear about around the Iron Range, I do believe…
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Hoping for a carp-mass miracle
Officials detailed Minnesota’s plans to prevent the northward spread of Asian carp in the state’s rivers and lakes at a meeting this week. Meantime, the Asian carp held a meeting somewhere near Davenport. They weren’t wearing any clothes and by the end of it all the females were pregnant with 10,000 babies. Or was that…
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Tepid St. Louis County mining resolution reflects need for new perspective
Another St. Louis County board meeting has led to a new blip in the debate over nonferrous mineral mining in northeastern Minnesota. The county board voted 4-3 Tuesday to back a rather tame nonferrous mineral mining resolution, according to a story in today’s Duluth News Tribune. Five hours of testimony and deliberation produced the following…
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Wind, pumps and pits: a fantasy to become real?
WDIO reports the latest idea proposed in a study from a group at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. It goes like this: Wind turbines, pumps, mine pits, kinetic energy and market speculation based on the premise that electricity is worth different amounts of money at different times of day. Why the hell not? Charlie Chaplin movies…
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This blasted husk of a building is our coliseum
Last Sunday, my old neighbor and Hibbing Daily Tribune staff “curmudgeon” (that is his actual byline) penned a wonderful but disturbing column. He reported that the ruins of the old Dupont power house by Carey Lake in Hibbing might have to be demolished, presumably for safety reasons. Lynch also shared a wonderful collection of archived…