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Pawlenty vs. Range battle running hotter
More evidence of increasingly difficult relations between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Iron Range legislative delegation. This story is from today’s Duluth News-Tribune: ST. PAUL — House Majority Leader Tony Sertich says Gov. Tim Pawlenty erased $1.5 million in state construction projects from his district as revenge for comments he made about the Republican governor.…
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Coal gas boondoggle circling the drain
There hasn’t been much coverage about the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission meeting from this past Thursday. Two decisions regarding my least favorite Iron Range economic development project emerged from that meeting. As you may know, Excelsior Energy is proposing the Mesaba Energy Project, a coal-gas power plant for the Iron Range. The project enjoys a…
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Enjoy these fine Range blogs
I’d like to point out a couple of quasi-political blogs that people have sent me. The blogging community on the Iron Range is rather small so I am happy to spread the love, and links, when I can. These two blogs are both run by guys named Paul, but one is east Range and the…
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Snow Day Roundup
Schools are closed across Northeastern Minnesota today, including the college where I work. I get another day (two in one week!) to catch up my ungodly to-do list. One item on my to-do list is to compile the results of the Dylan Days Creative Writing contest. We should be announcing winners soon. We run five…
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Brown (not) on the Air: Join KAXE!
“Between You and Me,” the KAXE program for which I contribute weekly essays, is taking a one-week hiatus at the conclusion of the independent public station’s spring fundraising drive this Saturday. Instead of listening to my inane ramblings, I encourage you to join or renew your membership in KAXE right now. You can do it…
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Pawlenty fails to understand Iron Range, again
I’m not as harsh in my criticism of Gov. Tim Pawlenty as most other Iron Rangers and most other progressive bloggers. I’ve always considered him a likable guy and a worthy political foe. But today, the governor deserves special rebuke for his threat Thursday to veto funding for a state study to investigate the cause…
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Guessing about 2010
MN Publius, one of the state’s top progressive blogs, has a great backgrounder on potential candidates for the 2010 DFL gubernatorial nomination. Read it right now. I commented on their post over there and decided to share some of those thoughts here: Since this is just a good ol’ guessing game, I’ll make my educated…
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Thank you, sir, may I have another?
The TV weather people are being administered oxygen on the air. See, there’s a blizzard coming to northern Minnesota. All this after last weekend’s oppressive snow storm. And in April! Here’s what I’m hearing around the region. I hear it’s the storm to end all storms! I hear the snow from this blizzard are the…
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Ore chasing
For hardcore Iron Rangers or those interested in how mining plays into our culture, take a look at this guest column from today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune by retired mining engineer Thomas J. Mesich. He talks about taconite (a low grade iron ore that used to make steel) veins around the central Iron Range and how…
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The few, the proud, the ‘flame attendants’
I know the whole root of the China Olympics controversy is human rights, which is is very, very important and all, but I can’t help but chuckle at the woes of the Olympic torch as it traverses the globe. Protesters have been trying to extinguish the torch everywhere it goes. They’re expressing outrage over how…
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Denny Anderson faces health issues
Dennis Anderson is the Walter Cronkite of northern Minnesota. The Duluth News-Tribune reports today that Anderson, evening anchor of the top-rated Duluth newscast at WDIO/WIRT, is fighting prostate cancer. The prognosis is good, according to the report. Still, thoughts and prayers go out to the dean of Northland media. For those outside northern Minnesota, Anderson…
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You say biofuel, I say moonshine!
I take a lot of pride that this is the only blog in Minnesota, nay, the WORLD, that had been using “moonshine” as a tag label long before this story ran yesterday. It appears that a demolition worker uncovered several bottles of prohibition era alcohol in unmarked bottles at Sammy’s Pizza in Hibbing, under renovation…
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Pawlenty’s bonding vetoes bring mixed bag for Northern Minnesota
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced line-item vetoes on several items in the bonding bill Monday. This was a modest surprise for some in state political circles because it was believed that Pawlenty might veto the whole thing to force legislators to make the unpopular choices about which projects to cut. Instead, Pawlenty did the dirty…
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CBS/CNN deal would further blur media lines
According to a report from the New York Times, CBS is considering a partnership with CNN that would have the cable news network provide content to the network once represented by Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. If you read the story you see that these talks are very preliminary and that there’s plenty of…
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Iron Ranger wins Pulitzer Prize
OK, so he hasn’t considered himself an Iron Ranger for a long time (if he ever really did) but Bob Dylan won a special Pulitzer Prize today “for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” What better way to celebrate Dylan’s Pulitzer than by making…