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State GOP continues tone deaf blundering on Range district
The state GOP has again oddly and ham-handedly interjected itself into the House 5B special election on the Iron Range. On Thursday, Republican chair Tony Sutton asked Hibbing City Clerk Pat Garrity, who has endorsed DFLer Carly Melin, to recluse himself from his duties as chief election official in the district’s largest city. “Given Hibbing…
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Packed hall, civil talk, a few sparks for 5B debate in Hibbing
Candidates for the House District 5B Special Election on Feb. 15 participated in a forum last night hosted by the Hibbing Community College Student Senate. More than 150 people showed up, including supporters of Republican Paul Jacobson, DFLer Carly Melin and IP candidate Cynthia Kafut Hagen. The Duluth News Tribune‘s John Myers wrote a good…
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Love Reads Rough: the 2011 Hibbing Winter Frolic Medallion Mystery
I’m happy to report that the 2011 Winter Frolic Medallion was located last weekend. For the second straight year the Staudahar family of Hibbing found the translucent disc which comes with a monetary prize. Congratulations! I wrote this years clues with my recurring “Sal Winter, Private Investigator,” mystery theme. Enjoy the entire story here: Love…
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House 5B forum is today
REMINDER: Tonight’s House District 5B election forum sponsored by the Hibbing Community College Student Senate will begin at 6 p.m. in the L10 lecture hall at the college (Enter through the 25th Street side). The three candidates Paul Jacobson (Republican), Cynthia Kafut Hagen (Independence Party) and Carly Melin (Democratic Farmer Labor) have all confirmed their…
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Check out the gun show in 5B
Looks like another day of the House 5B special election focused on attacks instead of issues. The state GOP sent out a nasty mailer attacking DFL nominee Carly Melin. The Duluth News Tribune reports that DFLers today compared it to the sorts of veiled references to violence seen prior to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle…
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Range college students to host key 5B forum Wednesday evening
Press release: On Wednesday, February 9 at 6 p.m., the Hibbing Community College Student Senate will host a forum for the candidates running for February’s special election to fill the seat of former state Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm). The forum will feature DFL candidate Carly Melin, Republican candidate Paul Jacobson and Independence Party candidate Cynthia…
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House 5B update: The wild unknowns of a Range special election
We now enter the eight day countdown to the Feb. 15 House 5B special election on the Iron Range to replace former Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) who resigned to become IRRRB commissioner. The election pits DFLer Carly Melin, an attorney, against Republican Paul Jacobson, a counselor at a juvenile detention center, and Independent Cynthia Kafut…
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Super Bowl Sunday: the razzle dazzle apex of our modern times
At this time people are gathering in homes and watering holes, to the degree there is a distinction between the two, for the celebration of what has become an American holiday, Super Bowl Sunday. It’s often been said that Thanksgiving is the most distinctly American holiday, aside from Fourth of July which jumped the shark…
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COLUMN: The answers found at the library
This is my column for the Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece was aired on yesterday’s edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE. It occurs to me that this column’s headline could serve as an additional clue in the yet-unsolved mystery of the missing…
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IRRRB is set; so is the drama
If you hadn’t heard, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board is now set with appointments from Gov. Mark Dayton, House Speaker Kurt Zellers and the special Senate committee led by the majority with influence from Republican Majority leader Sen. Amy Koch. A variety of policies, rules and traditions influence the selection of these members,…
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Brown on the Air: LIBRARIES!
This week on “Between You and Me,” the Saturday morning call-in and music program on 91.7 KAXE, the rotating topic turns to libraries. Host Heidi Holtan, a former librarian her own self, will lead a discussion of library stories, library meaning, and things you would find in a library. Northern Minnesota is home to many…
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Map tells the tale in 5B primary results
Here’s a map that Chris Saunders made of the precinct results in last night’s House 5B DFL primary. That top left corner is Hibbing, where Shelley Robinson won her home precinct and kept it somewhat close in some of the other precincts. That lower left corner is Floodwood and surrounds, where Mayor Jeff Kletscher posted…
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Hibbing native who lives in Cities accuses Hibbing native who lives in Hibbing of not living in Hibbing
No rest for the weary in House 5B. The Minnesota GOP today accused House 5B DFL nominee Carly Melin of residency violation, which is the same tack used against former Rep. and IRRRB commissioner Tony Sertich in 2000 when he first ran. Melin, who moved back to Hibbing last year to take a job with…
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Iron Range mining sounds on MPR
I’ve got a hot hand going over at Minnesota Public Radio. Marc Sanchez posted this real sound essay about Iron Range mining sounds Jan. 27. I did the interview in November and didn’t know I would end up (unwittingly) providing all the narration.The mining guys were too tight-lipped, apparently. I was born without that common…
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Melin wins House 5B DFL primary
Hibbing attorney Carly Melin won the House 5B Special Election DFL primary Tuesday. Late drama and a field of competent, strong candidates seemed to promise a long night and close vote. However, Melin won handily with a simple majority in a five-person race, validating her campaign strategy of direct mail and contact with likely voters.…