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Iron Range recovery requires connection to bigger world
Another winter day turns white in the woods of Northern Minnesota. Snow to shovel yet. Over in the sleepy mining towns, some excitement. Last night, the city of Virginia opted not to ask the group holding clothing-optional parties at the Coates Hotel to just go away. Lots of debate. 4-3 vote. “We need to bring…
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Talking Iron Range woes on MPR
This morning at 11 I’ll be on Minnesota Public Radio News with Tom Weber talking about the economic slump that has hit the Iron Range mining industry. Other guests include Tony Barrett, an economics professor at St. Scholastica in Duluth, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk of Cook. I’ve written about the downturn in the iron ore…
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Happy Thanksgiving on the Iron Range
Happy Thanksgiving! To you, reader of MinnesotaBrown.com, however you got here, I am thankful for you. This blog doesn’t make much money and it hasn’t made me famous, but it has become a authoritative source for news, commentary, and discussion about Northern Minnesota, my home and the place I love. I didn’t make a…
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Broadband issue fills rural halls, demands action in 2016
My neighbor John Kannas set up extra folding chairs in the Balsam Township Hall but even those wouldn’t be enough. Last month, John told me that Paul Bunyan Communication was preparing to apply for a grant to expand fiber optic internet lines in parts of Balsam, Lawrence and Wabana, a block of rural townships in…
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All about that bass
He didn’t go fishing often. He lived near a lake, so that wasn’t the issue. He owned a fishing pole, so that wasn’t it either. He just realized that when grandpa took the kids fishing, he could watch old movies and no one would bother him. So he didn’t go fishing often. One day, the…
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Don’t worry, they’re just dangerous parasites
Birch trees are nature’s version of that guy you know strung like a trip wire for any good excuse to start wearing shorts again. It’s not about temperature. It’s about attitude. Anyway, it actually is warm now and the birches have already donned light green, pale trunks shining in the sun. Trees of all colors and ages…
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‘Rural agenda’ without broadband is rural sham
Yesterday the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and others jumped on a troubling aspect of the House GOP budget proposal. Speaker Kurt Daudt’s caucus proposes to essentially end the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program and eliminate the state Office of Broadband Development. This, even as universal broadband is now widely embraced by Democrats and Republicans alike as…
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MinnesotaBrown’s Top Posts for 2014
Another year of posts are stacked in the virtual silo of the MinnesotaBrown.com electronic archives. The fact that few people ever read the archives when they visit a website is a sad reality of our modern information age. Much to know, little to remember. As such, today I remember the year that was, the posts you liked, the…
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Season’s Greetings from the wintery joyscape of Minnesota’s Iron Range
Merry Christmas from MinnesotaBrown.com! I’ll be spending the holidays with my family touring across the mighty Mesabi Iron Range of Northern Minnesota’s scenic winterlude. Posting might be sporadic since the kids are home from school. I’ll have my annual year-end review, though … whenever it’s good and ready. I’d like to leave you with the classic…
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400 families respond to Itasca broadband push
Itasca County, continuing its push for broadband for all residents, gave an update on its progress since the reinvigorated effort to collect survey results from interested residents unserved or underserved by current broadband providers. The press release follows: Itascans want better broadband. Over 400 Itasca County families have indicated that they want better access to…
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Connect Itasca redoubles effort to expand rural broadband
UPDATE: Hear the Morning Show interview that I did with Itasca County manager Trish Klein and Northern Community Radio’s Scott Hall Tuesday about this topic. Itasca County’s efforts to bring broadband access to every resident continue despite an early setback. The initial goal is to gather survey responses from underserved residents. Early confusion made it difficult for many…
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Feature film ‘Strange Nature’ to be filmed in rural Itasca Co.
As many of you know, I live in the forests of rural Itasca County, Minnesota. It appears that the quiet summer splendor of my deep woods neighborhood will be disturbed, if only temporarily, by the filming of an original feature-length horror movie based on the true story of mutant frogs. “Strange Nature” by filmmaker Jim Ojala will…
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My place in the woods
I’ve talked to city people who have a hard time falling asleep without the ambient noise of traffic or the hum of industry. And I know country people who say the same thing about the sounds of nature or wind through the trees. It’s a misconception that the woods are quieter than the city. True,…
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Will Minnesota finally invest in rural internet?
This week, State Sen. Matt Schmit (DFL-Red Wing) will introduce a bill investing $100 million in state dollars into rural internet infrastructure in Minnesota. The Star Tribune published a story by Jenna Ross about the broadband expansion bill and the poor conditions facing internet workers in rural Minnesota. I am one of the rural internet…
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Happy Thanksgiving from MinnesotaBrown
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