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Twins win, ‘Overburden’ metro jaunt wins too
Thanks to all who attended my Twin Cities events this week for “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” We had a fine crowd at the Har-Mar Mall Barnes and Noble Thursday evening and an equally fine assortment of visitors at Common Good Books in St. Paul on Friday. Both locations now feature a limited…
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Join the KAXE media juggernaut!
If you haven’t yet, become a member of KAXE, Northern Community Radio, today. This is one of the finest independent media organizations I’ve ever seen. They stream live all over the world, continue to bolster their new media credentials and do amazing things with not a lot of money. This station has also been a…
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‘Overburden’ road show makes final Twin Cities stops Thursday and Friday
I’ll be appearing at the Har-Mar Mall Barnes and Noble in Roseville tonight for a 7 p.m. reading and signing of my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” Recently this book won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. On Friday, I’ll be doing a signing at Common Good Books in St. Paul at 1…
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How T-Paw’s call is playing up north
Not many surprises in the reactions of Range legislators to Gov. Pawlenty’s decision not to seek a third term. (Story in today’s Mesabi Daily News) The real question will be in how his unallotments affect all manner of public services across the state … all to protect the already favorable tax rates of people who…
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O-dorable
This Mesabi Daily News story features the most optimistic view of an odorant leak I’ve ever seen: MOUNTAIN IRON — While the gas-like smell was really bad in Mountain Iron, Virginia and Gilbert Tuesday morning, there was no danger for residents and businesses in the area. And it actually signaled a good thing — the…
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Huge rural district faces tough questions on June 8
A press release from St. Louis County Schools about the board’s crucial June 8 vote on a facilities plan for this struggling rural school district: ISD 2142 school board to choose plan for realigning district school locations on June 8; public to vote on the plan in the fallAfter more than a year of study…
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Pawlenty won’t seek third term, foul gas released on the Iron Range: coincidence?
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has enjoyed an antagonistic relationship with the Iron Range and, for that matter, the government he runs during his two terms. Pawlenty announced today he will not seek a third. In honor of the occasion, the Iron Range taconite mine MinnTac released a 10-mile-wide cloud of foul-smelling odorant that reached from Mt.…
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Consolidation IS cooperation
The consultant doing citizen and employee surveys for the Mountain Iron-Buhl and Virginia school districts says there is strong support for consolidation of the districts, not just cohabitation of a high school as previously discussed. (Story from today’s Mesabi Daily News). I find the idea of districts sharing a building but maintaining separate administrations and…
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Denial ain’t a river that feeds Lake Superior, or IS it?
Proponents of Duluth’s so-called “Red Plan” are about six months late on calling their school facilities plan a form of “economic stimulus” during the recession. It says something when even pro-stimulus liberals like me find editorials like today’s DNT screed just too Pollyanna-ish to bear. The headline is the first problem: “No denying school plan’s…
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NIMBY: A poem
Behold, a rhyming poem about the benefits of mining from Mesabi Misadventures. Summary: Don’t be a NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard), be a YIMBY (Yes! in My Back Yard) … or at least a MIMBY (Maybe in My Back Yard), if not a CIMBYBUC (Conditionally in My Back Yard, based upon circumstances). Anyway, it’s…
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The Astounding World of Tomorrow … Today
Here’s a Best Short Film winner from the New York Comedy Film Awards. Behold, “The Astounding World of Tomorrow.” I wouldn’t post it if it didn’t ring SO true. Hope you like nuance. (h/t TYWKIWDBI) Related posts: No related posts.
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COLUMN: ‘To see the leaves’
This was my weekly column published in the Sunday, May 31, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. To see the leavesBy Aaron J. Brown When you grow up nearsighted no one tells you that you might be nearsighted or that you may become nearsighted as you approach school age. Nearsightedness, like death, taxes and…
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Brown on the Air: Monday 6/1 Range Report
I’ll be on the KAXE Morning Show this Monday morning at around 7:20 a.m. Tune in to 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota or catch the live stream at www.kaxe.org anywhere in the world. I’ll be discussing the Iron Range economy, including the shaky status of several big jobs projects. It won’t be a happy segment…
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Hibbing editor’s final column shows what’s at stake in newspaper crisis
Mike Jennings, editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, penned his final column today as he announced the newspaper’s decision to lay him off in advance of his summer retirement plans. The paper, like all papers, is facing tremendous financial pressure amid the recession and ever-contracting share of advertising and circulation revenue. They’ll make due without…
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‘Overburden’ tour passes through Twin Cities this week
I’m inviting metro readers to take part in my upcoming book events in the Twin Cities. I’ll be doing my full “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” reading/lecture (new and improved!) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 4 at the Har-Mar Mall Barnes and Noble in Roseville. Somebody told me this is the biggest…