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The coming internet crisis and why the Range can lead the way
Jason Baker of the Star Tribune has a must read piece for anyone who uses the Internet (and if you’re reading this, that means you). When I talk about building a fast, reliable public/private high speed internet network on the Iron Range this is what I mean and this is why it matters so very…
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Rural Minnesota’s problems go far beyond taxes
Charlie Quimby from Growth and Justice wrote an interesting analysis on the problems facing Warroad, Minn., in far northwestern Minnesota as the town’s big employer, Marvin Windows, expands to North Dakota instead of in its hometown. Though not identical to the problems the Iron Range and other rural towns face in coming years, there are…
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The parasite debate
This is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for Sunday, June 15, 2008. I went a little crazy this week. This is the result of living in the deep woods of northern Minnesota and watching too much political news on cable. The parasite debateBy Aaron J. Brown Good evening and welcome to Nature’s Hall at…
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Franken/Coleman a dead heat
Old news, perhaps, but yesterday Rasmussen released numbers on the Minnesota Senate race. Norm Coleman leads Al Franken 48-45, within the margin of error and largely unchanged from the previous poll. But check out these demographic breakouts: Moderates:Coleman – 32%Franken – 56% Age 18-29:Coleman – 35%Franken – 65% This year may well be decided by…
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Old vs. New
Though it will frustrate the heck out of Obama supporters, Peggy Noonan makes an interesting case in her latest Wall Street Journal column about the dynamic of this year’s presidential election. I don’t agree with her whole premise, but I think she’s really close to how many outside of Obama’s most enthusiastic demographics (the young…
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A decade later…
Today is my 10-year high school reunion. Yeah, baby! Cherry High School Class of 1998! As class president, I got stuck with organizing the reunion. My main job was to pick the meats for the three-meat buffet. Here’s what I went with: baron of beef roasted turkey lasagna I hope people like it. I’m really…
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To honor Tim Russert: get tough, ask questions, be nice
I don’t have much more to add, except that American journalism lost its strongest questioner, best pundit and one of its nicest guys today at a time when the country needed him the most. It’s up to the rest of us to carry on Tim Russert’s work of holding politicians accountable and asking tough questions…
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Iron Range Renaissance? Or Recovery?
Officials of all stripes engaged in back patting and speech-making on the Iron Range this week for the dedication of Mesabi Nugget, a new facility that makes iron nuggets from low grade iron ore near Hoyt Lakes. They also toured Minnesota Power’s new Taconite Ridge wind energy project by Virginia. This year we’re producing innovative…
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Range coal gas boondoggle tripped up at PUC
Excelsior Energy’s boondoggle Mesaba Energy Project, a massively expensive coal-gas power plant that relies on government favors and grants to survive, was dealt a minor blow this week. The state PUC declined to reconsider a past decision that would have granted the project more time to coalesce. It also corrected language in the proposal to…
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A busy week …
Quietly, it’s been a very busy week on the Iron Range. There were developments in Mesabi Nugget, Minnesota Steel, Polymet, Taconite Ridge, iron magnetization, flood mitigation for the Canisteo mine pit, my favorite boondoggle (Mesaba Energy Project) and more. I can’t keep up with it all. I hope to have several posts up later today…
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Brown on the Air: Low cost summer fun
Gas prices got you down? My weekly essay on KAXE’s “Between You and Me” this Saturday features low cost summer fun. What can we do for cheap this summer? I also talk about the art of gas siphoning, so tune in. The show airs Saturday, June 14, between 10 a.m. and noon on 91.7 FM…
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Tom Bakk: the MinnesotaBrown interview
Iron Range State Sen. Tom Bakk, chair of the powerful Senate Tax Committee, is exploring a run for governor in 2010. He’s been making the rounds to newspapers and blogs telling people his decision-making strategy. Paul Demko did an interview with Bakk earlier in the week for the Minnesota Independent. His political team approached me…
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Go Tigers!
Indulge some nostalgia here. My alma mater, Cherry High School, is making its first appearance at the state baseball tournament since 1997 when I was still a student there. Cherry is a tiny township tucked away along the Mesabi Iron Range, known mostly as the place where all the Finns went after being blacklisted from…
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Gubernatorial showdown on the Range
While I’m (slowly) working on a post about my interview with Tom Bakk, here’s a story from Monday’s Mesabi Daily News about the prospects for a rural governor, specifically an Iron Range governor, in the 2010 election cycle. What’s interesting is how the two potential Range candidates, State Rep. Tom Rukavina and State Sen. Tom…
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Range connections in AK-SEN race
Minn Post has a story about the Iron Range family ties of Mark Begich, Mayor of Anchorage and Democratic challenger to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Begich’s father, U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, was born and raised on the Iron Range and his uncle, Joe, is a fixture in Range politics. I am ashamed that I didn’t…