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Portable joy at Great Northern Radio Show in Duluth
This has been a hard week for a lot of Americans. Even if you were happy with how the election turned out it’s pretty evident the divisions in our country will endure long past balloting. Of course, slightly more people in this country are horrified with how the election turned out. So that’s how that goes. I’ve…
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Shock election to create 5-4 partisan split on IRRRB
The legislature wasn’t the only thing that changed dramatically after Tuesday’s election. The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) will introduce four new members when it reconvenes in the new year. In addition to the new faces, the board will have a 5-4 DFL majority. That means the IRRRB will include the most Republicans who…
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Nolan survives Trump wave in MN-8
Despite a 13-point victory by Donald Trump in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan narrowly held on to his seat against Republican challenger Stewart Mills. Nolan received almost 50.2 percent of the vote to Mills’ 49.6 — about half a point. Just over 2,000 votes separated the candidates in the most expensive Congressional race…
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LIVE BLOG: Election Night 2016
Tonight we watch as election results pour in across the United States and here in Northern Minnesota. I’ll be watching some key local races, with an eye toward trends. More than 20 years of covering local news and 10 years of live-blogging Northern Minnesota elections give me a perspective some might find valuable. Who am I? I’m…
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Celebrating 10 years at MinnesotaBrown
Polls just opened here amid the pine forests of Northern Minnesota and across the whole technicolor landscape of the United States of America. In this pause before the flurry of tonight’s election results, let me remark on 10 years of blogging. It was on this day in 2006, the day after the election, that I started posting original…
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Top 5 races to watch in Northern Minnesota
Election Day 2016 arrives tomorrow. As in, within 24 hours of this post. It’s really going to happen. It’s really going to be over. You’ve got a lot of places to read speculation on the presidential race, but only one place to read speculation on Northern Minnesota’s closest down-ballot races. I’d love to diagram every seat…
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Hacked and misinformed: America’s new civil war
Scholars mark history by turning points. We’ve reached another one. Everything after will be different. In my conversations with friends and family, in my experience with social media, and in my best effort to understand people with many different opinions, I have reached a troubling conclusion. Most Americans will cast their ballot on Tuesday believing things that aren’t…
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Trump, Pence plan Minnesota ‘fly-in’ rallies
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak today at 2 p.m. at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Monday, his running mate Mike Pence will speak at 9:30 a.m. at the Duluth International Airport. This Minnesota blitz represents a remarkable amount of attention for the Republican ticket to pay to a state that reliably votes Democratic in…
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In America today, who speaks for the many?
Human history traces one simple question, “Who speaks for the many?” Centuries show examples of brute leaders, disjointed committees and fragile democracies. Populist gadflies become heroes or villains. Hungry people rise to greatness, then fade into the mist. On the Mesabi Iron Range, the smart and powerful bought the land, but the workers paid the…
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Hunting for the heart of Northern MN
The firearms deer hunting season in Minnesota opens Saturday morning, kicking off a venerated November tradition in Northern Minnesota. This year’s season runs Nov. 5-20. How firmly entrenched is Minnesota’s deer hunting tradition? Behold this e-mail sent out to parents in my son’s 6th Grade class this morning: Attention Deer Hunters! If you are so fortunate to bag a deer…
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Enough! Commemorating 1916 Mesabi Range Strike
I’m not a historian. I like to say I’m a “histrotainer.” I cherry pick interesting aspects of local history and share them with new audiences. Occasionally I happen upon some original source material, but mostly I rely on the work of actual historians. When I was a young newspaper reporter at the Hibbing Daily Tribune, I…
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U.S. election trudge even longer this year
It’s a simple rule. The United States of America holds elections the first Tuesday of November of an even-numbered year. Unless, of course, the first Tuesday is the first of the month. In that case, the election will be the next Tuesday, Nov. 8. Every seven years, American elections last even longer than usual. By happenstance,…
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Dylan acknowledges Nobel, unbunching many undies
Stand down, World. Bob Dylan is fine. He seems happy to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He’s suitably grateful and probably attending the Dec. 10 ceremony in Stockholm. (Naturally, Dylan never makes a hard commitment, saying he’ll be there “if at all possible.”) Dylan is one of those guys who makes news when he talks,…
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Great Northern Radio Show in Duluth
Come celebrate the 10 year anniversary of MinnesotaBrown.com with the Duluth debut of my Great Northern Radio Show on Saturday, Nov. 12. In 2011, the Great Northern Radio Show gave me the creative outlet I needed to be able to continue mining the depths of Northern Minnesota politics and economics here at the site. I…
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Louisiana Pacific eyes Cook for siding plant
During the 2016 legislative session, the prospect of a potential Louisiana-Pacific wood siding plant in Northern Minnesota drove the agenda of the Iron Range legislative delegation. The original concept made Hoyt Lakes the preferred site. A deal in the tax bill offered tax incentives, but the tax bill never became law. So the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board…