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Duluth paper runs damning report on Range energy boondoggle
Peter Passi has an important Sunday story in the Duluth News Tribune on Excelsior Energy’s controversial Mesaba Energy Project, the Iron Range clean-coal proposal that has yet to materialize, despite its $40-some million in public dollars. I urge you to read Passi’s story. It is a wholly effective explanation of the project’s origins and political…
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COLUMN: I was a sacrifice-only, middle relief bullpen right fielder
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired in an episode of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE earlier this month. I was a sacrifice-only, middle relief bullpen right fielderBy Aaron J. Brown As the Major League Baseball season…
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A final word on Range political history and voting patterns
The history keeps coming! My Silent Cal post from two weeks ago and my update about historical Range voting patterns last week have elicited an important clarification from the Iron Range’s most prominent and respected working historian, Pam Brunfelt. Actually, it is not accurate to state that voters had to request a ballot for the…
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Brown on the Air: RADIO POTLUCK!
I’ll be on 91.7 KAXE – Northern Community Radio’s “Between You and Me” Saturday morning at 10 a.m. This is the call-in and music program highlighting the voices, stories and condition of the people of northern Minnesota. Contributors like me were asked to “bring something to the potluck” in honor of Saturday evening’s Green Cheese…
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Big Range ore shipments signal big opportunity for diversification
A banner year for Iron Range ore shipments on Lake Superior. Not so for the IRRRB, where the lingering woes of 2009 are dragging down the agency’s three-year taconite tax formula. The 2011 boom of mining activity on the Iron Range should be taken for what it is: another, perhaps final chance to retool our…
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Wide variety of free live music lined up for the Range
The “Art in the Park” free Thursday night music show at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm continues. Several fun acts seem lined up for the next few weeks. Thursday, August 18, Minnesota Discovery Center welcomes Fathers and Sons, performing “bluesy acoustic” music on the MDC amphitheater stage at 7 p.m. followed by Mark Henderson…
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Georgia chopsticks factory conjures failed Range experiment
I recently learned about this Georgia factory making chopsticks and exporting them to China. This NPR story points out the contrast of the phenomenon, an American company sending chopsticks to China while we fail to produce so many of our own goods, including electronic devices we ourselves invented. Folks from the Iron Range might remember…
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Pedaling on the bones of old industry
Do you like post-industrial imagery? Do you like bike tricks? You will like this. There’s a whole symbolic commentary thing I could do here, but that would cut into the time you have to watch the aforementioned bike tricks. Though this appears to be filmed in Scotland, that red color that pops off the ground…
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Another thought on early GOP politics in Range history
Folks seemed to like my Aug. 2 post “Silent Cal at the Hull Rust Mine” detailing the visit of President Calvin Coolidge to the Iron Range on that same date in 1928. I gave a brief overview of the Republican politics in the early 20th century on the Range. David Bednarczuk wrote me with this…
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A generous endorsement from Alaska’s Big Fat Babies
Sitka, Alaska-based punk rock band The Big Fat Babies has generously listed my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” as their notable reading selection this week on their rather entertaining website. It probably helped my case that one of their members and legal counsel Andrew C. Miller is a friend and the former…
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In these lost places we find the holes in our economy
The recent news that the United States Postal Service would be closing scads of post offices around the country, mostly in rural, small towns, has opened a lot of eyes about the true existential danger facing rural America. I’ve just read a couple of great Minnesota entries in the discussion, an Aug. 12, 2011 article…
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COLUMN: Enjoy a delicious ‘Somewhat Pleased Meal’
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Enjoy a delicious ‘Somewhat Pleased Meal’By Aaron J. Brown After last week’s diatribe about body mass problems it shouldn’t surprise you that my family goes to McDonald’s sometimes. The fast food giant has been in the news recently…
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Brown on the Air: ROAD TRIPS!
91.7 KAXE‘s “Between You and Me” this Saturday morning explores the topic of road trips. I’ll be joining the discussion with a personal story about how road trips have both augmented and derailed my love life. Good times. “Between You and Me, a call-in and music program, highlights the voices of northern Minnesota and runs…
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I suppose I am ready for some football
Speaking of new ventures, I’m thinking of starting my own fantasy football league this year. It’s hard to say why I enjoy fantasy football. I think it’s because it’s one of the few traditional male activities that I enjoy and can use to relate with men who are married to women I work with. What…
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Pride before the fall (I mean autumn … I hope)
I’m taking some needed family time the next few days but have a couple big announcements before I do. First, I’ve learned that I’ll be speaking at the TEDx 1,000 Lakes Conference in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, at the Reif Center on Monday, Sept. 19. I’ll be taking many of the ideas you read here at…