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Join the Northern Minnesota blog revolution!
Hello friends. On Wednesday, March 26 I’ll be hosting yet another blogging seminar for the KAXE Community Journalism Project at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in Virginia, Minn. I briefly explain blogging, how it works and how to start a blog and then share information on a community project that supports new and existing…
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Aftermath of ‘the speech’
Daily Kos has a good roundup of the reviews of yesterday’s Barack Obama speech. First Read also has some good reactions. There are all overtly positive in their appraisal of the speech, but I’ll take on the task of looking at this from another point of view. The real question here is whether the American…
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Another blow to local news coverage in northern Minnesota
The Duluth News-Tribune, northern Minnesota’s largest newspaper, announced 10-15 percent job cuts in all its departments yesterday. This will mean cuts in the newsroom, further diminishing their ability to cover the paper’s large two-state readership area. Based on the recent departure of their Iron Range reporter, I infer this will mean reduced coverage of Iron…
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House bonding bill includes partial funds for key Range projects
The Minnesota House of Representatives’ proposed bonding bill includes money for the Essar Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk and to abate the flood risk at the Canisteo Pit near Bovey. I hear that the governor is sticking to his guns about the creation of the Vermilion State Park I mentioned yesterday, however, which means that…
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Session battles cast eerie light
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) lashed out harshly after the legislature overrode his veto of the transportation bill. Today, the Senate is expected to oust Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau from her dual role as Transportation Secretary by denying her long-delayed confirmation. The Senate’s bonding bill does not match the governor’s (the House’s bonding bill is expected…
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Free blog class this Wednesday night in Hibbing
This is a cool opportunity for HCC students and staff and the Iron Range community at large. Next Wednesday from 6 to about 8 p.m. I’ll be leading a free class about blogging as part of the KAXE Community Journalism Project. Essentially, if you’re interested in starting a blog this will give you some strategies…
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Bonding bill nothing to snooze over
The chatter I keep hearing from folks who attend lots of under-reported public meetings is that the $67 million bonding request to fund infrastructure for the Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk is vital to the project’s viability. In quiet rail authority and city meetings, company representatives and city officials communicating with them say that the…
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Health care tour comes to Hibbing today
State Rep. Carolyn Laine, an Iron Range native, will be in Hibbing today with other legislators to tout a bill for universal health care that she and others will be proposing this session. Those interested in the health care debate should check it out. I would go if it weren’t cross-scheduled with the dinnertime insanity…
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Mesabi Daily News story about Obama’s Range endorsements
Here’s a Mesabi Daily News story about the Iron Range Obama Committee press conference last weekend: Range group backs ObamaBy Charles RamsayCHISHOLM — An area group has stepped up with backing for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, as the Iron Range Leadership Committee voiced its support for the Illinois senator before Minnesota’s Tuesday caucus. Heading…
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Iron Range stands at modern crossroads
This is my weekly column for the Hibbing Daily Tribune published Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. Iron Range stands at modern crossroadsBy Aaron J. BrownModern life hums with information and responsibilities, sometimes real and sometimes imagined. Every day I update the blog, prepare classes, and blaze a trail through the woods while connected wirelessly to the…
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An important day for Iron Range mining projects
There’s a lot going on today that could impact many of the precious mineral mining and value-added iron mining projects currently in development on the Iron Range. First, this morning lawmakers are meeting with representatives of India-based Essar Global, the company that bought the Minnesota Steel project which aims to build a taconite mine and…
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Steel plant bonding bill update
If you don’t like reading about steel or bonding bills, sorry, today’s not your day. As expected, Range leaders came out today stating that Pawlenty’s amount proposed for the proposed Nashwauk steel mill was too low. What I didn’t realize earlier was that more than 2/3 of his proposal involves money from the 21st Century…
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Pawlenty releases 2008 bonding bill
Gov. Tim Pawlenty released his proposal for the 2008 bonding bill in the Minnesota State Legislature. (See MPR’s coverage). This is the plan he would like to see pass, though he will be working with a DFL House and Senate that will have different priorities for borrowing and spending. Two encouraging things for northern Minnesota:…
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Highway 53 expansion prospects
The Mesabi Daily News has an interesting story today about efforts to expand State Highway 53, the major north/south byway of northern Minnesota and the Iron Range. Coupled with State Highway 169, (the Range’s east/west route) these highway improvements are absolutely necessary for a safer, more efficient infrastructure in our region. Highway 53 matching funds…
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JOBZ analysis in Hibbing paper
One of the primary economic development strategies of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration has been the use of tax-free zones in rural areas, called “JOBZ.” The program gives businesses a break from property, payroll and sales taxes during a fixed period to encourage growth. It’s one of those ideas that sounds foolproof at first blush, but…