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GOP backs off federal land sale for now
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) withdrew his bill that would have allowed the government to sell federal lands for mining and other commercial use. Some had feared that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness might find its way on the list of lands that could be mined in the future. The U.S. edition of the Guardian reported…
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From pipelines to mines, Trumpism on the march
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order clearing the way for the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects. Both projects were stalled under President Obama out of environmental concerns. Citing the jobs the projects would create and promising American-made steel in the construction process, Trump waved his order in front of…
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A cautionary tale from Duluth’s Russian sister city
U.S./Russia relations continue to make headlines during President-elect Trump’s transition. Setting aside reports of Russian interference in American politics, there is the fact that Russia has sought to reassert itself as a counterbalance to American power on the world stage. The Russian intrigue is guaranteed to continue into Trump’s presidency. Trump announced last week that his first foreign trip will…
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Rick Nolan considering run for MN Governor
J. Patrick Coolican of the Star Tribune reports that U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan is considering running for governor in 2018. Nolan, a Democrat, represents the Eighth District of Northeastern Minnesota. Nolan pulled off a remarkable victory in his 2016 re-election bid. He defeated his Republican challenger even though this toss-up district swinging decisively toward Donald Trump in the presidential race. Nolan…
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MinnesotaBrown’s Top Posts of 2016
Goodbye, 2016. Hello, 2017. As we mark this turn of the calendar page, let’s look back at the year that was at MinnesotaBrown.com. This year I celebrated 10 years of blogging at MinnesotaBrown.com. Fifteen years of writing a column in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Twenty years of work in Iron Range media, dating back to…
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Speaking the hope of tomorrow’s Northern Minnesota
A few weekends ago I found myself in the rural environs of Northome, Minnesota. Two of my sons had a LEGO robotics meet there, an insanely long Saturday of watching LEGO robots intermittently pick things up and put them down again. The occasion left lots of time to wander the halls of Northome School. Northome is a logging town located in…
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Feds deny Twin Metals mineral leases near BWCA
Today, the U.S. government informed Twin Metals, a proposed nonferrous mining project near Ely, that the Forest Service would oppose mineral leases in lands near the federally protected Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. As a result, the Department of Land Management indicated it would not renew the leases, which had expired in 2012. The news…
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Duluth TV reporter lutefisk hazing continues
Used to be, no one had refrigerators. From this simple truth emerged many methods of preparing and storing food across the cultures of the world. In the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden, that included soaking white fish in lye until it formed a gel. Then, months later, you could “reconstitute” the floppy former fish…
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The nation’s rural reckoning of 2016
When the founders crafted our Constitution more than two centuries ago, they enshrined the rural agrarian roots of the United States. Country gentlemen trusted city folk about as much then as they do now, and for largely the same reason: power. For who would rule this nation? The farmers and loggers of the country, or…
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Iron Range uncertainty endures even as iron ore surges
Last night, history professor Jeff Manuel and I spoke to a patient, nice-sized crowd at the Grand Rapids Public Library about the past, present and future of the taconite industry on the Mesabi Iron Range. Our conclusion was as follows: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ OK, perhaps that’s a little glib. Point is, you look at the short term you…
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‘Makers’ in the STEM spotlight on the Iron Range
The Range Engineering Council will host its annual Iron Range STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Showcase this Friday, Oct. 7, at the Hibbing Memorial Building. Among the exhibitors will be Iron Range Makerspace, the new company seeking to create space for creative people to build and design things using sophisticated technology that few garage tinkers…
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Nolan, Mills clash in MN-8’s only 2016 debate
Today, U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) debated Republican challenger Stewart Mills in a Duluth News Tribune/Duluth Chamber of Commerce forum. You can see the debate at my previous post. This was a good debate. In about one hour, significant and substantive policy differences found their way into the discussion. Neither candidate necessarily “won,” but both…
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Politics of power: PUC OKs industrial rate cut
This week, in a 3-2 split decision, the Minnesota Public Utilities approved a five percent rate cut for large industrial power customers, a deal targeted to help taconite mines in Northern Minnesota. Last February, the PUC rejected Minnesota Power’s proposed rate deal, saying the utility had not adequately proven it needed to raise rates on residents while…
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Dig a mile in another man’s skid steer
As khaki-wearing bloggers go, I interact with a unusually high number of people who operate heavy equipment. These people move dirt for fun and profit using machines that suck diesel fuel the way a dry horse drinks water. I owe part of this to family ties. My Grandpa Brown, now an octogenarian, uses his skid…
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For most, a mind is a terrible thing to change
Lately, logging onto Facebook has been a little like making a daily visit to the hospital to watch someone’s condition deteriorate. No, I’m not talking about cat videos. Even the insipid game requests hearken to a more bygone era of wasting time on the internet. No, I’m talking about the art of politics as performed by…