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Election Day notes
It’s election day! In the odd years this only excites nerds like me, but if you have an election in your area you should get out to vote. In my section of Itasca County all we had to vote on today was the District 318 school referendum. In Hibbing, where I work, residents are voting…
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RIP Bruce Kasden
My friend Paul Ryan wrote a nice column about the passing of our advisor from when we both worked on the UW-Superior Promethean college newspaper. Bruce Kasden was a good man who left us far too soon. A lot of the funniest stories aren’t ones that I’d necessarily publish, but he was one of the…
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I drank ‘shine … and more
The firearms deer season opened this weekend, a time-honored tradition on the Iron Range that I’d never participated in … until now. On Saturday I joined the festivities at my family’s hunting shack in the woods that separate the Iron Range from Canada. My grandfather, dad and uncles have spent a lot of time putting…
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Ness and Bell: Tuesday showdown
I need to hold off my predictions until closer to the election. This is my third prediction for the Duluth mayoral election tomorrow. I had said that Bell would win by 8, but that was before another of Bell’s poor choices of words and resulting public tussle — this time over the issue of a…
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Health care future hinges on community strength
Government’s main purpose is to serve the people in all ways that the private sector and market can’t. That includes highways, public works, education and, more than ever, health care. And it seems we’re closer than you’d think to being able to solve some basic service issues, especially on health care. ~An excerpt from my…
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Brown on the air, at the shack
Saturday brings my weekly essay for the “Between You and Me” program on 91.7 KAXE. This week’s topic is “five minutes.” The idea came from the stories of those evacuated from the California wild fires. Many of them were given just five minutes to collect things before they had to abandon their homes. What would…
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End times for Excelsior’s Mesaba project?
The state PUC almost killed the Mesaba Energy Project yesterday. Readers of this blog know I’ve been wailing away at this boondoggle for a long time. It’s encouraging that the commissioners are starting to realize the risks and trends involved in this “clean coal” debacle. The only thing that caused the PUC to hold off…
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Server trouble at MinnesotaBrown.com
My web host is having some kind of server problem over at http://www.minnesotabrown.com/ where I post my columns. I don’t know how long the page will be out. Over here at the blog we’re still in business, thanks to the good people at Google. I love Google. Google is wise and benevolent. If problems continue…
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The horror
A business news broadcast on MSNBC yesterday flashed this title over the ticker at the bottom of the screen: “No more cheap mac and cheese.” You know, I’ve watched price increases for gas, produce, cereal, dairy and corn products of all kinds. But nothing hit home like this. If Mac and Cheese, the world’s most…
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Game on!
Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Wednesday that state support for Essar Global’s Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk is back on after the company assured him it wouldn’t violate U.S. sanctions against Iran. The whole ordeal became a rather fast and scary lesson in international trade and politics. Fortunately, it has worked out in the favor of…
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Wind, biomass and hydro usurp coal for next decade
If you had a time machine and brought this article back in time, even as recently as 2002, I might have suspected it was a work of fiction. Minnesota Power, the biggest coal burner in the state, is predicting no new coal-fired generation for at least 15 years. Instead, the company is planning additional wind,…
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Happy Halloween!
Behold the Brown family pumpkin for 2007! (The highlight: while I was carving this pumpkin Henry stood over my shoulder shouting, “Cut it up! Cut it up!” It was like being in a knife fight.) Related posts: No related posts.
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Sup Town is on our side
And here’s why I like Superior, Wisconsin: EDITORIAL: Pawlenty favors dogma, jeopardizes developmentThe Superior Daily TelegramPublished Tuesday, October 30, 2007 It appears Republicans are courting Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to run for vice president. Why else would he jeopardize a $1.6 billion Iron Range development to defend Republican terrorism dogma? Pawlenty is threatening to oppose…
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October nears end
We’ve got a couple days, including Halloween, left in October. So the month is kind of like the Bush Administration now. Almost done, but several acts of civil disobedience will probably occur before its completely done. Here’s a round up of what’s going on in Brown country this week: Flu shot dayToday is flu shot…
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Update: After stinging report, gov seeks facts
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has officially asked the U.S. State Dept. for clarification about Essar Global’s involvement in Iranian oil. It’s a good thing he did this before he called a press conference blasting state support for Essar’s Nashwauk steelmaking project as Minnesota possibly funding terrorism. Oh, wait. D’oh! Pawlenty asks State Department for clarification on…