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COLUMN: Detroit state of mind
This is my Sunday column for the Oct. 16, 2011 Hibbing Daily Tribune. I wrote it before the Tigers lost to the Texas Rangers yesterday, but what can you do? Detroit state of mindBy Aaron J. Brown With the dismal conclusion to the Minnesota Twins baseball season, coupled with the dismal beginning of the Minnesota…
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Go west, young miner!
Today’s Duluth News Tribune explains a proposed new taconite plant between Coleraine and Grand Rapids. That’s right, I said Grand Rapids, the historic non-mining western edge of the Iron Range. Magnetation, a scram mining operation that’s worked along the western Mesabi iron formation, mostly near Keewatin and now Taconite, Minn., is looking ahead to its…
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Grandpa Taconite turns 56 today
Today marks the 56th anniversary of commercial production of taconite pellets on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. The first pellets rolled off the line at the Reserve Mining plant at Silver Bay, generated from ore mined inland near Babbitt on the northeastern Mesabi Iron Range. Today this plant still operates as Cliffs Natural Resources’ Northshore Mining.…
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COLUMN: Ten years, worse for wear
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Ten years, worse for wearBy Aaron J. Brown Ten years ago this morning the thing on my mind as I walked to work was a photograph I’d just seen of me hosting a country music show at the…
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COLUMN: The things that make us human
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 31, 2011 Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired Saturday on 91.7 KAXE‘s “Between You and Me.” The things that make us humanBy Aaron J. Brown We know that fire needs fuel, oxygen and heat to burn. A swap meet, combining elements from rummage…
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COLUMN: Bad ‘economojo’ plagues Range, and beyond
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 17, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Bad ‘economojo’ plagues Range, and beyondBy Aaron J. Brown These are unsettling economic times for American small towns, particularly the mining towns and surrounding region here on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. It’s not that the Range economy is…
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Fostering a culture of success in ALL Minnesota schools
As many of you know I’m a community college educator who holds the belief that robust, world-class public education is the fundamental responsibility of any modern, civilized society. People have different views of how we should do this. Some have more trust in private education vouchers than I have. Some believe in reform. Some belief…
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MN-8: Jeff Anderson runs with Range roots, Duluth experience
Today my series on Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District continues with the first of several posts about the DFLers running to unseat Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8). Today I’ll post two items about the candidates who’ve announced, Jeff Anderson and Tarryl Clark. We begin in alphabetical order with Anderson. A Duluth city councilor, radio station ad manager,…
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COLUMN: Range towns should look inward for future possibilities
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, June 26, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Range towns should look inward for future possibilitiesBy Aaron J. Brown I’ve learned that a sound, compact wooden railroad design will yield many fun adventures for my boys. A poor design will collapse easily, requiring numerous repairs and…
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A big day of mining news on the Range?
There will be some news rumblings on the Iron Range today. The IRRRB meeting at 9 this morning isn’t expected to generate many sparks. Nevertheless, like a pistol in a Chekhov play, you shouldn’t be surprised if it goes off at some point. The meeting I’ll be waiting to hear about will be the gathering…
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Range 911 calls now headed for Duluth
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department has announced that emergency calls from the northern half of the massive northern Minnesota county will now be handled in Duluth. The “Midway” call center, as it is known, will be closed. One dispatcher I’ve talked to, understandably upset about an additional 2-3 hours of drive time, also fears…
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Gov. Dayton catches fish, universe reaches equilibrium
I think this provides the necessary thematic close to the Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener, or at least my posts on the topic. (Photo: Governor Dayton with Grand Rapids fisherman and host Scott Glorvigen after catching a northern pike. The fish was released).
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MN-GOP redistricting plan offers Iron Range a Trojan horse
As I’ve written before, one of the major cultural barriers we face on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is the notion that political clout and tradition will “save” the region from an unfolding economic and demographic fate. Not doom, mind you, but a region with a smaller, older population, a greater divide between relative wealth and…
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No time for politics, a glimpse ahead to my summer of letters
As fires burn across this world, we endure. I have been posting a little less frequently than I’d like but about as often as I can afford right now. Life is busy and as many of you know I have young children and a real job (which is not this). I took some time off…
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COLUMN: Old school without even trying
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, April 17, 2011 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Old school without even tryingBy Aaron J. Brown It happened, like many things, in Target. A good marketer can tell you that there’s an innate difference in the aesthetics between major retailers like Target and Wal-Mart. These cathedrals…