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Range paper hits lawmakers’ term extension bill
The Mesabi Daily News echoes some of the same concerns I did about Sens. Tomassoni and Bakk’s proposal to extend Minnesota lawmakers’ terms from four to six years for senators and two to four years for representatives. Read the MDN‘s Sunday editorial. I have no idea why a bill like this would get a hearing…
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Wii won’t let me go
This is my weekly column that was published in the Sunday, March 1, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece was used as an essay broadcast on 91.7 KAXE‘s “Between You and Me” program this past December. Wii won’t let me goBy Aaron J. Brown There’s a machine in my…
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‘Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy’
I got a great laugh (and some valuable perspective) from this Conan O’Brien interview of comedian Louis CK about the state of our economy and the times in which we live. Enjoy! h/t Andrew Sullivan Related posts: No related posts.
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Brown on the Air: BOOKS AND STARDUST
This week my essay for KAXE’s Saturday morning call-in and music program “Between You and Me” will explore my thoughts on a book I read recently. The show’s topic is “winter reading list” and callers will be sharing their favorite reads as cabin fever drives us all mad. I’ll be sharing a shorter, snappier, retooled…
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‘Overburden’ just one small part of ‘Range of Arts’: Don’t miss it!
Next Tuesday, March 3, I’ll be giving a reading for my new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” at the Lyric Center for the Arts “First Stage” in Virginia, Minn. The program begins at 6 p.m. and will include a discussion and book signing afterward. Organizers are suggesting a $5 donation to get…
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Could be worse …
Here are a couple items from Lee Bloomquist’s Range Views blog at Iron Range Resources: The water tower at the new Mesabi Nugget plant near Hoyt Lakes is now up. This week, Magnetation, Inc., shipped its first load of iron concentrate repurposed from old timey mining waste near Keewatin. Related posts: No related posts.
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A-OK by fourth quarter?
Beth Bily filed this story for Business North that details the current state of the mining industry on the Iron Range. This gives a good snapshot of all the mines and companies involved. There are a few other interesting tidbits that haven’t been reported in Minnesota media much. For instance, production and layoffs are running…
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GUEST POST: $12 million that could have helped, didn’t
A while back I offered readers of this blog the opportunity to write guest posts. A few have written me saying they’re thinking about it, but I finally got one for real this week. Bob Tammen is a retired miner from Soudan who has been a vocal critic of nonferrous mining projects on the East…
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‘It’s being taken away’
Anna Kurth and Jeff Warner at the Hibbing Daily Tribune did a nice perspective piece about what recently laid off miners on the Iron Range are thinking about and going through. The miners face challenges and worries, but it’s the other people down the employment food chain who face the prospect of genuine poverty should…
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School start debate spurs controversy
My friend State Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) is leading a fight to stop the start of the school year before Labor Day. (Story from Mesabi Daily News via legislative correspondent Jon Collins). The move to a pre-Labor Day school start would reduce tourism traffic in economically depressed areas that depend on those extra days…
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That other Range writer is OK, I guess
Writers are a jealous lot, myself included. For some time the Duluth News Tribune has been running the columns of Gilbert writer Joseph Legueri under the banner “The Iron Range View.” And my reaction, petty and shallow though it may be, was always “What? Excuse me? I’m sorry, don’t they know that I do the…
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The whip cracks: More Iron Range mine shutdowns announced
WDIO and the Mesabi Daily News are reporting that two Cleveland Cliffs Iron Range mining operations, Hibbing Taconite and Northshore Mining, will see additional layoffs and shutdowns in 2009. Northshore will be shutdown in April. HibTac will idle a line in March and then see a 15-week summer shutdown from May to September. Cliffs also…
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‘Overburden’ viewed from the ‘burbs
My former colleague and editor Paul Wahl, now the Eden Prairie editor in the Sun family of Twin Cities suburban newspapers, has written a kind review of my new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” for his “Wahl Street Journal” blog. Thanks, Paul! For those scoring at home, Paul was the one whose…
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Oh, just release the budget forecast so these guys can stop writing bills
Iron Range State Sens. Tom Bakk and David Tomassoni have authored legislation that would extend state senate terms from four years to six and state house terms from two years to four. The amendment, if passed into law, would go to Minnesota voters for approval. The move would save public money and reduce the amount…
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They took’ar jabs!
I’ll say this, if it it weren’t for fear and anger about immigrants the local papers would have hardly anything to run as guest commentaries and letters to the editor. Hooray, xenophobia! Your angry ranting might save newspapers! “Celebrate our melting pot, but don’t make it a jackpot” (Duluth News Tribune) I agree. The world…