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Around the world in 108 MHz
Despite many proclamations of its impending demise, radio lives on. In part, the medium survives because it has integrated with the internet. When I broadcast my Great Northern Radio Show last month, I heard from listeners in Alaska, Italy, Spain and beyond. And yet I still think of the casual listener driving across Northern Minnesota,…
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Therapist with Hibbing roots highlighted for suicide prevention efforts
For the fourth straight year, human life expectancy in the United States declined. This has relatively little to do with longevity. After all, more people are living longer. But rather it has everything to do with how many people we lose to depression and addiction each year. The Huffington Post published a long form essay…
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Event seeks Range voices on sustainable future
There aren’t many blogs about the Iron Range. You’re reading one of them. That means that if you google “Mesabi Iron Range” you find me. With this cool but largely unprofitable fact comes great responsibility. For instance, people e-mail me and want to know why the Iron Range is the way it is, how it…
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Holiday spirit can be overinflated
It’s time for the holidays. Christmas, yes, and all that comes with it. It’s not really a holiday anymore so much as an economic and cultural event. Like the Roaring 20s, but for our credit card bill. Or like the Great Depression, but in reference to our actual depression. It’s not like the good old…
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The story behind tariffs, steel and the Iron Range
Eight months ago, President Trump’s administration slapped significant tariffs on several classes of foreign products, including steel. These tariffs have been at the center of speculation over America’s economy, global trade and politics ever since. The conventional wisdom here on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is that the tariffs have been good for us. Sure, they…
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Mining gold near Togo? The rush is … on hold
So I binge watched “Deadwood” recently. I know, I know. No one wants to hear what I’m watching on TV. We’re all busy watching one of 9,000 shows on 50 different platforms, having independent experiences that confine us all to our own small community of strangers. Or we’re not watching TV at all because we’re…
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What next for Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation?
Minnesota Gov.-elect Tim Walz launched his official administrative transition team this week. Walz and retiring Gov. Mark Dayton both hail from the Democratic Farmer Labor Party, so we can expect some continuity in policy and certain key staff positions. Nevertheless, many new people will hold high level state posts when Walz takes office in 2019.…
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Iron Range districts eye shared school, new model
Student desks form even rows on hardwood floors. A chalkboard at the front of the room frames the teacher’s heavy, spacious desk. Heavy vinyl maps roll down from the ceiling. Most of us recognize this picture as school. In fact, this scene so imprints our minds that decades later we still dream about it. It’s…
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Jim and Silent Bob pitch whiskey on Tonight Show
Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, marks the changes in his sprawling career with bemused resignation. Nevertheless, some folks still wonder what the boy they knew as Robert Zimmerman is up to. Earlier this year Dylan announced his new whiskey label, dubbed Heaven’s Door. And while his “never-ending” concern tour keeps rolling, Dylan has adopted the…
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Your turn Player Two
Right about now parents across Christendom receive handwritten notes from their children explaining what they’d like for Christmas. Ostensibly these lists are for Santa Claus, but everybody knows Santa has helpers. Most of them are clerks at a store within driving distance. I’m kidding, of course. Santa’s real helpers are faceless Amazon drones that document…
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Domino’s picks Duluth for pothole marketing scheme
Tonight, the Duluth City Council is poised to accept $5,000 from Domino’s Pizza to repair some of the city’s legendary potholes. You might have seen Domino’s “Paving for Pizza” nationwide television ad campaign that ran over the last several months. The premise is that potholes cause pizzas in the backseat of cars to go flying…
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Architecture that holds up
Last night I hosted my radio show at the newly restored Hibbing High School auditorium. Workers spent months renovating this town’s “castle in the woods. Now it looks as resplendent as when it first opened nearly a century ago. I can assure you that words did the scene no justice. Some high school auditoriums are…
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Celebrate with the Great Northern Radio Show
It’s been a wild fall here at MinnesotaBrown. An unexpected research trip to San Francisco. Election coverage that culminated with a live appearance on National Public Radio. And now I’m getting ready for Saturday’s Great Northern Radio Show at the historic Hibbing High School auditorium. It’s been a banner year for this mid-level regional writer.…
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Fire destroys Cook store, but not community spirit
Last Sunday, my family struck deer camp a week early. I got sent home with a large amount of cheese curds, which is never a bad deal. My uncles always pick up the cheese from Zup’s in Cook. Monday night, a large fire destroyed the Zup’s Food Market, Cook’s only grocery store and heart of…
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Northern Minnesota’s new political ethos
Rifle hunting season is almost over. That’s the sure sign of winter in Northern Minnesota. Though just a week ago, the hotly contested election of 2018 safely recedes into the past. The first weekend at deer camp was awash with political theorizing. But we spent last weekend arguing the merits and mechanics of mounting a…