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Brown on the Air: FAMILY LANGUAGE
This Saturday’s edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE should be a lot of fun. From 10 a.m. to noon callers can share their stories of “family language,” or all the unique sayings that become part of the way members of a family talk to each other. With today’s holiday and the likelihood…
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Black Friday Overburden
The experts say that people plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season, what with the crippling economic recession that somehow has failed to kill the Snuggie. What was 2007 diamond jewelery is now 2009 sticks and rocks and stuff found down by the loading dock. Forget the iPod, who wants a unique gift…
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Bobby Dylan’s Christmas Fun Time
The newest video from Hibbing’s son Bob Dylan, “Must Be Santa Claus,” debuted last week. I finally found it on YouTube. Oh, you must watch the whole thing. It gets crazy toward the end. I was skeptical about the Dylan Christmas album, but I might be coming around after seeing this. Related posts: No related…
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COLUMN: "To sleep, perchance to write"
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. To sleep, perchance to writeBy Aaron J. Brown Dreams supposedly reflect your fears, inadequacies, hopes and desires. Lately I’ve been having writing dreams. Recently, I told everyone I know that I was stepping away from blogging to focus…
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The return of my giant head on a tiny screen
At this approximate moment I am about to “address” a session on “hyperlocal” blogging at the Netroots Nation conference in the Twin Cities. I am not there; rather I recorded this opening statement and will be participating in the panel discussion via an audio connection. If you’re interested in the challenges facing local political and…
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Brown on the Air: GIVING THANKS
The Saturday morning call in/music program “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE returns this weekend with guest host Linda Johnson. My regular contribution is an encore presentation that fits with this week’s topic of “Thanksgiving.” The piece is about the importance of two little words, “thank you,” in parenting. It’s all funny and cute…
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47 layoffs at MN Discovery Center
The press release from the Ironworld Development Corporation, regarding the situation at the Minnesota Discovery Center: Minnesota Discovery Center announces layoffs CHISHOLM – The Ironworld Development Corporation Board of Directors today announced that Minnesota Discovery Center (formerly Ironworld), a 660-acre museum, entertainment venue, research library and park in Chisholm, MN, will temporarily be closed to…
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Financial problems at the former Ironworld
Major news will be breaking today and Friday about serious financial problems at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm (formerly Ironworld). Several inside sources have relayed information to me independently, enough that this cannot be a secret. In addition to the name change, the Discovery Center has been going through an extended transition from state…
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The Whistling Bird is no more
The Whistling Bird, the Iron Range’s best (and only) Jamaican restaurant, has closed. For a decade, the “Bird” represented a pearl of uniqueness in the blue collar grit of the Iron Range. There is nothing funny about this. Nothing at all. The MDN has its story behind the pay wall. The DNT will post its…
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Iron Range education at a crossroads
As a loyal WDIO viewer I missed a couple of interesting education stories from Northland’s News Center (Channels 3, 6, 11, et al). On consolidation … and on the future of Iron Range education. Both of the stories focus on the plight of the St. Louis County school district, which is important, but a Range-wide…
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Mesabi Nugget slated to go in mid-December
In other news, Mesabi Nugget plans to begin shipping its unique iron nugget product by mid-December. This reflects another slight delay but is small enough where we might be able to consider this a likelihood. Related posts: No related posts.
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Once more, with feeling
Maybe you heard about the Mesaba Energy Project Final Environmental Impact Statement released this week. Local newspaper readers were treated to this Bill Hanna Mesabi Daily News story in the Range’s largest newspapers. The company is still pretending like it doesn’t understand why the Administrative Law Judge’s, Public Utility Commission and even this very EIS…
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Final EIS released for Iron Range boondoggle
Today, the Minnesota Department of Commerce released the long awaited final Environmental Impact Statement for the Mesaba Energy Project, a proposed (and beleaguered) Iron Range coal power plant. (WDIO has the story). The EIS is a large and nuanced document, but my cursory reading of the nuts and bolts reveal few surprises. The project’s fundamental…
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COLUMN: "Notes from November"
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. It represents the rare “notes” column on my part, in which I invoke the spirit of an elderly weekly newspaper editor to write about all sorts of things in seemingly random order. Notes from NovemberBy Aaron J. Brown…
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Brown on the Air: LAKES!
Tune in Saturday morning for 91.7 KAXE‘s call-in/music program “Between You and Me.” My weekly contribution joins the show’s topic of “lakes.” Living in a state known for 10,000 (plus) lakes, in a relatively small county that boasts more than 1,000 lakes, and living on on of those lakes — hey, let’s just say I’m…