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Super Tuesday eve
Across the country, people will go to primaries and caucuses tomorrow to make a statement. We will probably know the name of the next Republican nominee for President tomorrow night and we’ll know a lot more about the state of the Democratic race. Regular readers know I’m pretty fond of Barack Obama and, to a…
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Obama tied for national lead; in strangely related story Hawaiian Congressman to visit Range
As the weekend comes to a close, I am about to start drinking beer and/or watching the Super Bowl while temporarily purging my mind of politics. But before then, some notes. According to PoliticalWire, Gallup has Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a statistical tie in a national poll. State polls show a tight race…
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Iron Range stands at modern crossroads
This is my weekly column for the Hibbing Daily Tribune published Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. Iron Range stands at modern crossroadsBy Aaron J. BrownModern life hums with information and responsibilities, sometimes real and sometimes imagined. Every day I update the blog, prepare classes, and blaze a trail through the woods while connected wirelessly to the…
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Iron Range Obama press conference called
The latest on the Obama/Iron Range front. I’ll be in Duluth for a prior commitment but anyone interested should check this out. Barack Obama’s Iron Range Leadership Committee Roll OutPress ConferenceSaturday, February 2NOONIronworld in ChisholmThe Rudy Perpich Room Featuring: Co-ChairsRep. Tony SertichRep. Tom Anzelc Related posts: No related posts.
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U.S. Steel is officially rolling in its 5.0, with its ragtop down so its hair can blow
It’s official. U.S. Steel will invest $300 million into Keewatin Taconite, increasing taconite pellet production by more than 3.5 million. The whole project will take three years to fully implement. This also makes U.S. the big daddy steel company on the Iron Range as they now own the top two taconite operations here. PRESS RELEASEOberstar…
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Endorsements breaking for Obama
I just got word that two prominent Edwards supporters are joining the Barack Obama camp on the Iron Range. Minnesota House Majority Leader Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) and U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (also DFL-Chisholm) will endorse Obama today. Who else is on board? I only know of Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam) who endorsed Obama last…
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Brown on the Air: Mystery Theatre
Tune in for this week’s “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE to hear my 4-minute radio mystery “The DeRanger Code.” This week’s show explores the topic of mystery novels, so I wrote a parody of Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” set on the Mesabi Iron Range. Heavy-duty production work was involved and the I…
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Franken vs. Coleman comes to the Range
This e-mail I got from the Franken for Senate campaign shows an interesting window into how both Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman plan to operate on the Iron Range. Norm will try to tell us that if we vote for him he’ll open a box of butterflies and each butterfly will glow with a…
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Tomorrow’s news today
Business North is reporting the item about Friday’s U.S. Steel announcement in Keewatin. Here’s what they say: It’s the worst-kept secret on the Iron Range: All indications point to a major expansion pending at Keewatin Taconite. Owner U.S. Steel wasn’t commenting publicly, but told Range legislators to expect a Feb. 1 announcement that is “positive.”…
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Where do the Edwards folks go?
The Duluth News-Tribune has an interesting Associated Press story about John Edwards supporters in Minnesota. Interesting to me is that House Majority Leader and Iron Range State Rep. Tony Sertich is holding off on picking between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I think his endorsement will carry a lot of weight on the Range, especially…
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When the metal ones come for you
It was brought to my attention, correctly, that I’ve been sneaking far too many Obama posts into the mix here at MinnesotaBrown.com. It’s time to talk about something else. How about this? Death from above! The Register and other publications are writing about a U.S. spy satellite’s slow drop out of orbit. It now seems…
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Edwards to drop out, Range votes up for grabs
An update: The AP reports that John Edwards will drop his presidential bid today. The mad scramble is on to win over his supporters. Here on the Iron Range, many prominent Democrats who were supporting Edwards now hold a lot of influence over the Obama/Clinton race in Minnesota. I think this might turn Feb. 5…
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Pipeline? You wish.
So yesterday Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Energy Project got into another news cycle with their environmental hearing regarding the pipeline for their proposed coal gas plant near Taconite. This was a hearing about just the pipeline, which is step 18 of a 50-step process that will never get past the first step of getting the money…
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It’s the wind that’ll get ya’
You know what blogs often lack? A sense of place. Well, here goes. In northern Minnesota today it is FREAKING COLD and FREAKING WINDY. All the schools cancelled except the community college where I work. Most of my students are staying home so I will have to repeat everything I say today over the next…
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The wild ride continues
We are one week out of Super Tuesday and I’m betting it will seem like a month. John Edwards is planning some kind of special poverty speech today that might be part of an exit strategy for him. Barack Obama is courting his endorsement, which would make life very interesting in the 22 states voting…