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Finn-Glish Fun!
Get your Bobby Aro fix for the day. Highway 7 Forever! Related posts: No related posts.
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‘Overburden’ tour heads to Superior on Friday!
This Friday, April 17, the “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” tour returns to the road. I’ll be giving a lecture and reading from the book during a special appearance at the Manion Theater in the Holden Fine Arts Building on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Superior. Superior is across the…
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Range ‘Go Run’ program revs up for another round
Below is a press release for the Rural Go Run program, which gives Iron Range area women the training and tools they’d need to run for political office. Though my gender renders me ineligible for this program, I heartily endorse any effort to increase the number of people involved in political leadership on the Iron…
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Brown on the Air: steel and schools
There were some technical difficulties that cut out part of my interview with Scott Hall on today’s KAXE morning show. The whole interview is posted here. I talk briefly about Essar Steel and at length about my suggestion for an Iron Range Congress. Our working plan is to try to do this style of conversation…
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I like my recessions like I cook my steak: Red
Just another recession in Northern Minnesota. Pawnshops are booming and the Communist Party is recruiting on the Iron Range. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going with the outfit that offers top dollar for my old Spin Doctors CD. What can you do for me, comrades? Related posts: No related posts.
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The cheese connection
This Green Bay Press Gazette story by Nathan Phelps connects the economic dots from a laid off miner on Minnesota’s Iron Range to a struggling small business owner in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. It’s a good demonstration of the integration of economies, especially here in the Great Lakes states. Related posts: No related posts.
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First Iron Range Earth Fest is this week.
There’s a lot going on this upcoming week. One item I’ve been meaning to share is the first annual Iron Range Earth Fest, an April 17-18 exhibition of all manner of sustainable living practices for northern Minnesota. Local farmers and small businesses, among others, are participating in the event which will be held at the…
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Lawmaker: Essar plans are consistent
The Hibbing Daily Tribune talked to Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) who explains that Essar’s description of their timeline and business plan is consistent with what they told him last year when they bought the previously named Minnesota Steel project. Essentially, Essar is trying to create vertical integration in their North American operations, mining and…
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Monday Morning Radio Rouser
For you morning commuters, I’ll be on 91. 7 FM KAXE at 7:20 a.m. talking Range news and politics. It could be a regular segment if this works out. Listen at 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota or streaming live at www.kaxe.org where they also keep the archives (you know … for when you get to…
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That bunny looks funny
Over at the DailyKos, DarkSyde explains the evolution of rabbits now considered relevant to the secular celebration of Easter. Depending on your point of view, this critter either evolved into the Easter Bunny or was smote from the Earth by a vengeful God less than 5,000 years ago. Either way, Happy Easter! Related posts: No…
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Big Easter, Inc.
This is my weekly column for the Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, posted on the day of publication in honor of the holiday. Happy Easter, everyone! Big Easter, Inc.By Aaron J. Brown Easter Sunday dawns today, bringing all manner of religious, seasonal and sugar-related significance. For Christians, Easter remains…
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Essar CEO: Company is committed to Range project
On Friday, Essar Steel again reiterated plans to continue with its planned integrated mine and steel facility in Nashwauk in this Mike Jennings story for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Essar’s North American CEO Madhu Vuppuluri says that the dirt work will continue on site this year, despite the financing delay that is holding up plant…
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The Iron Range: Join, or Die
This cartoon is obviously adapted from Benjamin Franklin’s famous cartoon before the Revolutionary War. It fits the situation many Range towns, school districts, counties and other institutions face today. Amid LGA cuts and uncertain education financing, only Iron Rangers working together to pool resources and present a united front to state and federal government will…
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Brown on the Air: HAIR!
Tune in to KAXE’s Saturday morning call-in and music show “Between You and Me” for a program that celebrates the voices and culture of northern Minnesota. The show is dedicated to a new topic each week. I always write and interpret an essay for each week’s show that fits that topic. This week, the topic…
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Ritchie speaks about fair elections in Grand Rapids
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie spoke to the annual Itasca Community College Civil Liberties Conference on Wednesday, April 8, about the importance of free and fair elections. Several area residents and college students attended the day long conference which explored freedom, social, privacy, and justice issues. Ritchie’s appearance came just a day after a…