-
Wisconsin also has an iron range
The Ashland Current reports that an Illinois coal mining company is looking at the feasibility of opening a taconite mine in northern Wisconsin. The Gogebic-Penokee Iron Range is a formation that runs from east of Ashland, Wis., through the western portion of Michigan’s upper peninsula. Though the politics of mining in this part of northern…
-
A new look at MinnesotaBrown
You’ll notice some changes here at MinnesotaBrown.com. With some fantastic help from my wife Christina we’ve implemented a new template and header. This is part of my long range plan to do more creative work here on the blog in addition to my established regional and state commentary. Think The Awl but with mostly one…
-
Keep Looking Up
When you live in a place like the Iron Range, you learn to cope with a lot of stuff that needs “saving.” Local businesses need saving. Mines need saving. The arts need saving. Schools need saving. Everybody’s got problems and no institution is really safe. The population is aging and the economy is stuck wearing…
-
Local Blogger to Convert Angry Screed into Spoken Word
I’ll be on the KAXE Morning Show at about 7:20 Monday morning to talk Iron Range news and politics. I wonder what we’ll talk about? Related posts: No related posts.
-
COLUMN: Even Bob the Builder has it rough
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Even Bob the Builder has it roughBy Aaron J. Brown In this dim economy, even Bob the Builder struggles. The animated Bob, found locally on public TV, builds and fixes ecologically friendly outbuildings with his sentient pieces of…
-
Brown on the Air: SUMMER WHATNOT!
And in a dramatic change in tone, we move on to this week’s delightful homespun radio program. “Between You and Me,” the Saturday morning call-in and music show on 91.7 KAXE features “summer recipes” this week. This will be a wide ranging celebration of the end of summer and the things we like about the…
-
This Iron Range blogger is done apologizing for Iron Range cronyism
Well, they went and did it. Today I’m breaking with my party and conventional political wisdom in describing a great injustice being done to the people of the Iron Range. That’s not a light word, injustice. I aim to defend its use here. The matter, of course, is an old one, something I’ve railed on…
-
Excelsior Energy to seek huge break from Iron Range Resources
This story explains my rather foul mood tonight. Excelsior Energy, a nearly 10-year-old front company staffed by lawyers and lobbyists with Range roots, is seeking a rather profound sweetheart extension on what was already a rather appalling $9.5 million in sweetheart loans from Iron Range Resources. If the terms of this proposal are upheld, the…
-
In which my shocking party affiliation is revealed
The internet is littered with link bait and spam sites, robot-generated content that mindlessly spews random (usually stolen) content. But one of these sites is good for a laugh. “Voter Factory” allows you to search a person’s name and hometown and find out if they are a Democrat or Republican. I was shocked to learn…
-
I go jobs (times 3) crazy at MinnEcon blog
I’m on the MPR MinnEcon blog again today with a vlog version of a post I wrote a little over a week ago about the true meaning of “jobs, jobs, jobs.” Check out the MinnEcon post. Related posts: No related posts.
-
"Burning Ring(s) of Fire" on the Iron Range or "Prove Your Metal"
Much has been made of the Minnesota Discovery Center (formerly Ironworld) and its efforts to find footing after the community heritage and entertainment venue reopened last May after an abrupt closure in 2009. I’ll say this, they are finding some low cost ways to connect with the Iron Range community. The Art in the Park…
-
Look! In the skies above Minnesota: The Blog Signal
As we speak I’m making plans to attend the first ever, (FREE!) Minnesota Blogger Conference in Minneapolis on Sept. 11, 2010. I usually don’t leave the wooded highlands of the Iron Range, except for court dates, speaking gigs and the procurement of rare goods and sundries. Conferences are the sort of thing I avoid, preferring…
-
COLUMN: High speed internet can create new jobs on the Iron Range
This is my column for the Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. High speed internet would create new Range jobsBy Aaron J. Brown I write this entire column, every word of it, while I am uploading a large but not unusually large piece of video to YouTube for a statewide media…
-
Dr. Oz getting Embarrass(ed) right now
I forget to mention the Embarrass Fair going on now in Embarrass, Minnesota, the lowland intersection between the Mesabi and Vermilion ranges. Right now at the Timber Hall the famous TV Dr. Oz, or at least his crew, will be at the fair filming people asking “embarrassing” medical questions. Ha ha! Embarrassed in Embarrass! The…
-
Brown on the Air: ROAD TRIP!
Tune in this Saturday morning for “Between You and Me,” the call-in and music program on 91.7 KAXE. The topic this week is “road trips.” I’ve written about road trips in the past so I decided to go a different direction this week, instead writing another character piece about road trips from the viewpoint of…