-
Tiffany Johnson Memorial Fund
Most folks have already heard the tragic story of the former Chisholm woman killed in Colorado, but I just got this notice in the mail today. Visit www.Tiffanyjohnsonmemorialfund.com for more information. The Tiffany Johnson Memorial Fund has been established as a tribute to Tiffany A. Johnson, who lost her life as the result of a…
-
Brown on the Air: Home for the Holidays
The topic for this week’s “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE is “Home for the Holidays.” Host Heidi Holtan and anyone who cares to call in will be discussing what it’s like coming home for Christmas, including traditions, stories and reflections. My weekly essay contribution is about my drive home from a college in…
-
Hail, Hail, the Iron Range
The following is my first post at www.mnblue.com, a political blog for which I began contributing this week. Have you heard the latest about CD03? Just kidding. “Psych!” as the cool kids used to say. CD03 is another planet to me. I’m aware of it, and thanks to my 1,239 metropolitan blogging friends I know…
-
Off we go into the MNBlue yonder
I’ve signed on as a contributor to MNBlue.com, a political blog based in Minneapolis. I’ll republish my posts here on MinnesotaBrown, but just know that I’m sometimes writing in a way that translates common knowledge on the Range into terms understandable to political junkies in 612 country. The little blue state picture will indicate a…
-
Union labor to build iron nugget plant
One of the big questions I hear about the many new projects coming to fruition on the Iron Range is whether our history of labor/management conflicts would survive all the change. So far, so good. Local unions to build iron nugget plantLee Bloomquist, Duluth News Tribune – 12/12/2007 A project labor agreement that guarantees the…
-
Dylan Days preview
I posted about Dylan Days earlier this morning so I figured I’d announce the preliminary plan for Dylan Days 2008. There’s more coming, including the announcement of musical acts and the specific schedule. Work is in full swing. Dylan Days is an annual event honoring Hibbing’s famous son Bob Dylan and the arts community of…
-
Letter to the Editor: The Mesaba clean coal myth
Also from today’s DNT: A great letter to the editor from one of northern Minnesota’s best known writers: ‘Clean coal’ project is too good to be true As society begins its vital and inevitable transition from fossil fuels, the Mesaba Energy Project of Excelsior Energy is a litmus rest of collective intelligence and will. Politicians…
-
Tangled up in puns
I’ve been involved with Dylan Days in Hibbing since 2001. One of the interesting things about Bob Dylan’s effect on the American psyche is how newspaper writers don’t really need a good reason to write about the things he does or says. Hence today’s DNT editorial. I am just about done hearing the phrase “Tangled…
-
Buying local in a flat world
This Minnesota 2020 think tank keeps coming up with interesting items. The Duluth News-Tribune has a story about the challenges and possible impact of the “Buy Local” movement. Read it here, or an excerpt below: Economists say buying local is a complicated idealJane BrissettDuluth News Tribune – 12/10/2007 Christmas shopping at J. Skylark, a locally…
-
Range ‘Boom’ talk continues to intesify
The Duluth News-Tribune has another story of note today, one that asks the question “Is the Iron Range ready for all the change that will come if some of these major economic development projects come to fruition?” The full story is available here. Exciting times, for sure. My only qualm is that it seems officials…
-
Duluth’s mayor-elect readies for change
Duluth will have a new mayor and city council this January. This is important to us Iron Rangers, partly because Duluth is an important part of the local economic equation but mostly because we are subjects of the Duluth media market and must sit through stories about Duluth ribbon cuttings and task forces to hear…
-
Miners’ health issues not easy to figure out
The Duluth News-Tribune and others are reporting that the state health department has begun compiling data on the Iron Range miners who died from a rare form of cancer. The findings are inconclusive, other than few of the miners involved worked in a ceiling tile factory in Cloquet. That was the story many officials and…
-
Bill, the Big O and the Big Mo
This is the make or break weekend for the Iowa caucuses. We’re going to find out how big a help or liability Barack Obama’s “celebrity factor” is in winning over voters as Obama’s high-profile supporter Oprah Winfrey stumps for him. On one hand, it’s exciting and potentially groundbreaking political theatre … on the other it…
