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From MPR, e-commuting in Minnesota
MPR’s Ground Level has a fascinating piece on e-commuting in Minnesota. Here at the blog I advocate high speed internet infrastructure to support the very kinds of work described. I think it’s a huge growth opportunity in northern Minnesota, if not directly in the towns then right outside them. Related posts: No related posts.
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Dylan Days 2011 approaches in Hibbing
Dylan Days 2011 is coming. Readers might remember that I’m the spokesman and co-organizer of this annual music, art and literature event in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing. This year the event is May 26-29. Check out the site for information. I’ll be posting more here in coming weeks. Related posts: No related posts.
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Hibbing mayor attacked, bitten in attempted robbery
In a news brief on the front of Sunday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune, we learn that Hibbing Mayor Rick Cannata was attacked in an attempted robbery Friday night and suffered a bite near his left eye. There were three arrests, including an adult and two juveniles. The mayor’s injury required several stitches. According to the HDT…
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Clark first to announce challenge to Cravaack in MN8
Former State Sen. Tarryl Clark has announced her plans to seek the DFL nomination in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack. Clark most recently ran against Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN6). She is from St. Cloud, currently located in Minnesota’s Sixth District. Clark is a prodigious fundraiser and amiable candidate. Her…
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COLUMN: The typewriter is dead; we are not
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, May 8, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The typewriter is dead; we are notBy Aaron J. Brown Artifact. This word conjures a dusty old object in a museum. The more imaginative among us might picture Indiana Jones running from a giant boulder to acquire that…
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The week that was
Looking back it was a busy week of writing here at the blog. I reviewed trends in copper mining, shared city services and older mine workers on the Iron Range. I analyzed the proposed redistricting maps from a Range perspective. We took a look at community colleges as the future of higher education. I had…
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Brown on the Air: MOM ADVICE!
Tune in from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday to hear “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE. My commentary will be a part of the show’s rotating topic “Motherly Advice,” in honor of Mothers Day on Sunday. I contrast the various styles of advice I’ve received from the mother figures in my life. It’s adorable,…
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MN-GOP redistricting plan offers Iron Range a Trojan horse
As I’ve written before, one of the major cultural barriers we face on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is the notion that political clout and tradition will “save” the region from an unfolding economic and demographic fate. Not doom, mind you, but a region with a smaller, older population, a greater divide between relative wealth and…
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On the Range, industry built on red ore shows gray hairs
Paul Tosto at the MPR’s MinnEcon blog reported some interesting data today. Minnesota enjoys a diverse economy and, like most of the country, an aging workforce. Which sector of Minnesota’s economy has the most workers aged 55 and older? Well, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development, the answer is mining. And in…
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Newsweek explores copper boom
Newsweek‘s Niall Ferguson pens an interesting story about the booming prices of copper around the world and the increased viability of copper mines. This should rightly remind those of us on Minnesota’s Iron Range of proposed copper and other nonferrous mineral mining proposals in our area. The article does a good job of explaining the…
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Glasses guy and mustache guy have good night in Canada.
The Canada Global Post reports that Conservatives there won a “crushing victory” in yesterday’s election, which is to say that they won 40 percent. In a multiparty contest that’s sufficient to win a majority of parliament, however, and this is the first time Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s party has done that. The CBC has a…
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Community colleges poised along the future front
This April 22 HuffPost essay from John Hrabe “Harvard University or Community College? Why the Choice Isn’t As Crazy as It Sounds” has been on my desk for a couple weeks. Take a read. In essence, college has always been part of class struggle. College itself was once an important socioeconomic step for a talented…
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Canada votes!
With everything else, let’s not forget that it’s Election Day in Canada. I’m always able to summon interest in Canadian politics because: My section of Minnesota was negotiated away from the British at the last minute after the War of 1812, so I sometimes feel vaguely Canadian. I pronounce about, “aboot.” I love me some…
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Onward to America’s better nature
Osama bin Laden is dead. This morning I remember my feelings behind the editor’s desk of a small Iron Range afternoon daily putting together the front page on Sept. 11, 2001. Each minute brought more horror. Each revision to the page better reflected the long, ugly period in our history that would follow. Today, I…
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Range cities explore shared services; can they move fast enough?
It was one of those bad news/good news/additional bad news days on the front of Sunday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. There will be a few more of these in coming months. The bad news is not really news. Cuts to local government aid (LGA) at the state level will force cities on the Iron Range to…