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Better off Red
The Mesaba Co-op Park near Cherry holds its 80th annual Midsummer Festival starting tonight and running through this weekend. Related posts: No related posts.
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Brown on the Air: SWIMMING
My weekly essay on KAXE’s Saturday morning call-in and music show “Between You and Me” will deal with the program’s rotating topic of “swimming.” Tune in between 10 a.m. and noon for one of northern Minnesota’s most interesting cultural phenomena. My piece, which usually airs between 10:15 and 10:45, will focus on my inability to…
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MinnPost covers Iron Range theater rally
Catherine Conlan of MinnPost offers this piece exploring the downsizing of the Hibbing Community College theater program. The story is a fair analysis of the factors at play here. This is the winnowing of Minnesota culture, especially greater Minnesota culture, caused by the state budget situation. I work at HCC (to repeat, my blog is…
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The trouble with criminals
Lots of madcap antics on the East Range in today’s Mesabi Daily News. A police car drove through the newspaper’s lawn in pursuit of a suspect. Meantime, in Aurora, a reckless driver crashed his truck (on purpose) into a gas pump at the Lucky Seven. These things always happen in threes. I wonder what’s next.…
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State broadband task force meeting in Grand Rapids today
Minnesota’s Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force is meeting in Grand Rapids today for a public forum about rural high speed internet. Stop by the Sawmill from 3-5 to share your thoughts. And, for the record, “Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force” is the coolest committee name I’ve seen in awhile. Related posts: No related…
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Brown on the Air (Live!): NEW MEDIA
This (Thursday) morning I’ll be appearing on a special panel discussion on the 91.7 KAXE Morning Show to discuss new media, journalism and bias in 21st century reporting. I’ll be representing bias. Ha Ha! Just kidding! (sort of) Seriously though, northern Minnesota business reporter (and former newspaper editor colleague of mine) Beth Bily will be…
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Quaint election of bygone days to be decided
Word is that Thursday is going to be “Official Minnesota Supreme Court Decision Day” for our state’s long enduring U.S. Senate recount battle. I have an inside source who tells me the winner of our Senate seat will be … Amelia Earhart. NOOOOOOO! OK, I still haven’t decided if that’s funny, but Politics and Minnesota…
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Unallotment: a product of a less friendly Minnesota that wants to be average
Unallotment has come. Yesterday, in a fiery press conference Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his unilateral solution to the budget debate he was unwilling to negotiate during the legislative session. Yay, executive power! Good luck in ’12, bub. But the outcome is devastating and the governor and his allies are unwilling to admit the role they’ve…
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New GOP chair is from Iron Range
It bears mentioning that Tony Sutton, the new Minnesota Republican Party chair, is originally from Hibbing, right in the heart of the Iron Range DFL bastion. The Hibbing Daily Tribune reminded me of this today. I’m embarrassed I didn’t recall that detail on my own. Though the Iron Range reliably produces 2-1 DFL majorities, it’s…
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Marty and Gaertner interviews on the way
In the next week I’ll be featuring more interviews with DFL Minnesota gubernatorial candidates. Today I’ll be talking to State Sen. John Marty. That interview synopsis and analysis will be posted in a few days. In the next week or so I hope to be in touch with Susan Gaertner. I’ve done four interviews already…
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Mine pit waters still rising on western Range
This is a great update and background piece on the rising waters of the Canisteo Mine Pit near the Iron Range town of Bovey. These waters have been rising since they stopped mining there in 1985 causing an increasingly unsafe and obviously wetter situation there. This story comes from Margaret A. Happoja and the Northern…
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Changes coming to West Range school districts
Two unrelated sources tell me some significant staff movements are occurring in Greenway Schools that will expedite the shared administration plan with Nashwauk-Keewatin Schools. Apparently, Greenway’s superintendent and high school principal are leaving to take jobs in the nearby Grand Rapids School District. The N-K Board meets tonight and could make some important decisions that…
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Confessions, continued
My “confession” essay for last week’s “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE has been shared on the independent public station’s website. If you missed the show, you can find out just why I can’t go back to Burnsville, Minnesota. I’ll be up with a new essay for this upcoming Saturday morning’s “Between You and…
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MinnPost hosts Twitter contest in honor of new Ironworld name
The online news site MinnPost is hosting a Twitter contest for alternative new names for the Minnesota Discovery Center (until last week, Ironworld). Tweet for honor. Tweet for prizes. Tweet to balance what I expect will be a healthy contingent of people making socialism jokes. Related posts: No related posts.
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Exit, stage I-35
The Hibbing Daily Tribune published a final profile of my friend Mike Ricci today. Ricci is leaving the helm of the Hibbing Community College Theater program for North Hennepin Community College. HCC plans to continue doing theater in some form, but a group of students and community members are deeply disappointed that the full time…