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Minnesota Power to step up wind power by 200 mW
I’m already breaking my no blog rule for the day. Minnesota Power announces the purchase of a transmission line and the intention to phase out of one of its coal contracts in favor of 200 megawatts of wind power from the Dakotas. From today’s MP’s press release: In a major move to accelerate its strategy…
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Paper Chase
Believe it or not, I don’t pay my bills with this blog. If I did I’d be on a slow boat to an Australian debtors prison now. I teach at a community college and finals week is coming up. From now through next week I’ll be grading a massive amount of papers, all while keeping…
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Midnight in the halls of Iron Range power
I didn’t think Excelsior Energy could go a whole legislative session without deploying its vast lobbying force for something. Recently, in the tax bill conference committee, State. Sen. Tom Bakk inserted language that extends the property tax exemptions from 2010 to 2012 for everyone’s favorite black hole of government giveaways and special favors. Excelsior is…
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Five questions about the Iron Range economic boom
Tony Barrett, an economics professor at St. Scholastica in Duluth, poses five excellent questions about the Iron Range’s prospective economic boom in today’s Duluth News-Tribune. I sense on the streets and back roads of the Iron Range that people are sitting back, perhaps a bit too comfortable in the belief that good times are about…
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Democracy on the March: Batman vs. the Penguin
In the old Adam West TV show, Batman once battled the Penguin (both in full costume) in a democratic election. Sadly, the satire is particularly appropriate for this year. My favorite is Robin’s reaction at the end of the clip. Related posts: No related posts.
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True knowledge in the north woods
This is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for Sunday, May 11, 2008. I archive my columns at my writing site. True knowledge in the north woodsBy Aaron J. Brown The other day, my almost-three-year-old son Henry and I walked down to the lake to throw sticks, a favorite pastime of Henry’s and a ritual…
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Update: Forums scheduled for hot 4A race
Here’s an update from the House District 4A race. This is the seat that popular incumbent Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji) is abandoning to pursue a Ph.D. and focus on his family. We’ve got endorsement fights on both sides of the aisle. DFLThere are still only two announced DFL candidates for endorsement: Leech Lake band member and…
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More steel and speculation in this week’s Biz North
Wayne Nelson and the writers at Business North do a fine job of covering the economic news of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This week’s edition has a couple of interesting Iron Range stories. First, this story reviews Essar Global’s North American steel ambitions, something I talked about earlier in the week. This is the company…
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Brown on the Air: Mom’s Cooking
My weekly commentary for Saturday’s “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE is entitled “High Heat” and talks about a couple kitchen stories and life lessons in honor of my grandma on this upcoming Mother’s Day. The call-in show will discuss the nostalgic topic of “Mom’s Cooking” while sharing great music and probably a recipe…
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Great news! The Range is getting shafted by lobbyists!
Maybe you heard on the TV the great, fantastic super duper news that lobbyist-run Excelsior Energy got a gabildyzillion dollars in tax credits for their boondoggle Mesaba Energy Project. Wow! That’s great! Except that the tax credits apply only if they build the plant, a prospect that requires private investment and a customer willing to…
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Rural broadband needs a little less hooey and a little more Huey
You know, it’s not necessarily cool to idolize the late Louisiana Gov. and Sen. Huey Long, who was assassinated at the peak of his power in 1935. Most people don’t know who he was and, technically speaking, he was a corrupt despot. But he took a poor state, Louisiana, and brought it from one century…
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Getting along
Minnesota Public Radio has a story today on why Republicans and Democrats can’t get along. Iron Range State Rep. Tom Rukavina is quoted near the end. His diagnosis: not enough free beer. His solution: more free beer. Makes sense to me. Related posts: No related posts.
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City Pages reports on Iron Range past, present
I’m not sure what drew them to us, but City Pages — the Twin Cities’ alt weekly — profiles a snippet of Iron Range history and provides a surprisingly detailed look at new nonferrous mineral mining technology on the East Range in this week’s web edition. The history portion in particular puts a bit of…
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A one paper state?
Mainstream media, especially newspapers, continue to struggle in the Internet Age. As I’ve said before, there remain many questions about what will happen to the mainstream media this decade and beyond. But one things seems clear: The Twin Cities will probably be a one paper town sooner than you’d think. Minnesota will have only one…
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Excelsior petitions for delay in PUC ruling on Mesaba project
Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Energy Project will not be on the docket for Thursday’s Public Utilities Commission meeting. The PUC had been expected to rule on two key aspects of the proposed coal gas plant, but Excelsior asked for and received a delay. Why? Some mumbo jumbo about an appeal to a previous administrative decision. The…