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Me: the MNBlue interview
“The Big E” over at MNBlue, a Minnesota progressive blog where I am an occasional contributor, interviewed me for my new book, “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range,” which is out now. I’ll be taking questions in the comments on his post. My first event will be Thursday, Oct. 16, from 5-7 p.m. at…
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Range college students mobilized in two events; Barkley makes surprise appearance
The Hibbing Daily Tribune ran a story this morning about Monday’s HCC Democracy Fair that I organized at the college where I work. We registered 54 voters, which was nice, and the local State House candidates got a lot of traffic. The most notable news was that Dean Barkley, the Independence Party candidate who has…
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Jobs, baby, jobs
I’ll say this for the Clintons. They know how to do a catchphrase (from HuffingtonPost). PHILADELPHIA — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a Democratic rejoinder to the Republican chant of “drill, baby, drill.” Said the one-time presidential candidate: “Jobs, baby, jobs.” Campaigning for her once bitter rival Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, the New York senator…
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Logging and sprawl
Let me give a shout out to MinnPost for the steady diet of Minnesota news, views and politics it provides for people like me. MinnPost is a nonprofit nonpartisan internet newspaper and is one model for how the media can adjust to changing conditions in the media business. Today I point your attention to two…
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Sad news for many up north
I’ll join with the chorus of other blogs offering condolences to the Lourey family after the loss of Gene Lourey, husband of former State Sen. and progressive leader Becky Lourey over the weekend. I know members of the family and also know how hard these last years have been for them. Our thoughts are with…
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My first op/ed
I’ve written a lot of things. Columns. Editorials. Newspaper stories about a guy running for president out of a van that he shares with his foreign-born wife and two small children. But I have never written an “op/ed,” a special kind of editorial/column hybrid named for its traditional positioning on the “opposite” page from the…
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Register to vote today at Range community colleges
I am one of the organizers of a nonpartisan Democracy Fair at Hibbing Community College today. (Yes, I’m partisan, but the event isn’t). From 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., students (and anyone) can pre-register to vote in Minnesota in the HCC Commons. Candidates for House District 5B, including Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) and his GOP…
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KAXE seeks opinions about future programming
I am a regular contributor to KAXE, an independent public radio station covering the vast and unique regions of Northern Minnesota, including Grand Rapids, Bemidji, Brainerd and the Iron Range. This station is asking for feedback about its programming. You should offer your thoughts, as these surveys are influential in the staff’s decisions about future…
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On the cover of ‘Tailings’
The first newspaper profile of my new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” was featured today on the cover of the “Tailings” (A&E) section of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Jeff Warner interviewed me last week and wrote this kind story that you should read right now. Now that I’ve done two long format…
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Big picture ignored in nursing home issue
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Oct. 12 Hibbing Daily Tribune. I archive my columns at my writing site. Big picture ignored in nursing home issueBy Aaron J. Brown Like many of you, I learned about the impending closure of Hibbing’s Golden Crest nursing home on the front page of the Hibbing Daily…
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Gettin’ J-schooled
This post is for all the journalists, ex-journalists or would-be journalists out there, and also the bloggers who are journalists too, even if they are drunk most of the time. (The golden age of journalism was lubricated with copious amounts of scotch). And also people who read. There, that covers everyone. This is an interesting…
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I am suspending my inability to dance and sing
The following post was inspired by true events (“Coleman says he’s going 100 percent positive” ~The Hill). As most of you know, for the past 28 years I have been terrible at many things, most notably dancing and singing. My inability to dance and sing is well established. It continues to feed into the media…
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Overburden on Hibbing radio today
I did an interview this morning for the Hibbing radio show “The Craig and Kate Affair” which will be rebroadcast today at about 5:30 p.m. on 650 AM WNMT. After the sun sets AM frequencies carry hundreds of miles, reaching many far away places. I don’t know why they ever switched to FM. Darn kids.…
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Brown on the Air: BAND
My weekly essay for the Saturday, Oct. 11 edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE will join host Heidi Holtan in exploring the topic of “band,” specifically high school band and the unique cultural touchstone it represents. Yeah, I was in the band. Trumpet. Yeah, I got some stories. I seen some things.…
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The fish goes ‘crunch’
I’ve been a bad political blogger lately. Norm Coleman is all caught up in a free suit controversy and Iron Range State Rep. Tony Sertich’s Republican opponent is doing region-wide negative TV ads wearing a white turtleneck and an orange hunting vest. There is so much to talk about and so little time with all…