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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…
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I’m with the band
The MDN pens an editorial in support of a startup organization trying to revitalize the Iron Range music scene. Check it out. Related posts: No related posts.
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The perils of Excelsior’s appeal
The Hibbing Daily Tribune follows up on yesterday’s news of Excelsior Energy’s disappointing day at the state Public Utilities Commission. Excelsior will appeal, of course, but the story points out that such an appeal could create as many problems as it could solve for the beleaguered economic development boondoggle. Related posts: No related posts.
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Range jobless rate shows tiny improvements, but still far worse than average
The Mesabi Daily News reports that the Iron Range jobless rate is hovering in the bad zone, though shows tiny improvement in the Hibbing and Grand Rapids areas. The unemployment rate here is still far worse that the national and state averages and as mining layoffs start being factored in it’s likely to get worse…
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Economy claiming small businesses across the Range
Two anecdotes don’t make evidence but it bears mentioning that two very recognizable downtown Hibbing businesses are closing (The Flower Basket and John Peterson’s photography studio). I’m hearing that conditions are very difficult for small businesses across the Iron Range. With no mines currently in production places like the Range should brace for what could…
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Brown on the Air: RIVERS!
My essay for the Saturday, May 30, edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE will deal with the topic of rivers. The independent public station will begin its summer fundraiser this weekend and members of the intrepid radio crew will be rafting down the Mighty Mississippi River for the cause. My piece will…