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Radinovich holds narrow lead in NY Times poll
Joe Radinovich holds an extremely narrow lead over Pete Stauber in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll of Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. Radinovich led 44 percent to Stauber’s 43 percent in the four-day poll that ended yesterday. Thirteen percent remain undecided in the survey, which did not name independent candidate Ray “Skip” Sandman. The…
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U.S. Steel balancing act offers economic warning
As the United Steelworkers union and U.S. Steel inch toward a strike, many on Minnesota’s Iron Range wonder why. The economy is good. Steel is selling for a high price. So, why is U.S. Steel playing hardball with its workers? The answer exposes some concerning facts not just in the steel industry, but across corporate…
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New York Times tracks Minnesota’s 8th District
Brace yourself, Minnesota political junkies. You’re about to have your mind blown. The New York Times hired Siena College to conduct polls in competitive House races across America. One of them is Northern Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. They’ll be uploading polling results from the district as they come in, updating the results each day. That…
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Hibbing grad warns of economic crisis below ground
During the oil boom ten years ago I knew a number of guys who would pack a bag and drive from Northern Minnesota to western North Dakota to work weeks at a time in the Bakken oil fields. Classmates. Friends of friends. Parents from my kids’ school. During the Great Recession of 2008 this was…
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Will Minnesota’s 8th District swing or rust shut?
With Labor Day behind us, a nine-week political sprint awaits the next Congressperson from Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. This North Central Minnesota seat promises to be among the nation’s most expensive and closely-watched swing races for control of Congress. Several factors will influence whether our next Member of Congress is Republican Pete Stauber, Democrat Joe…
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Authorities recover Dorothy’s stolen ruby slippers
In 2005, someone stole a pair of ruby slippers worn in the 1939 classic film “The Wizard of Oz” from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. For the next thirteen years, Dorothy’s missing slippers became the subject of an exhaustive search that even included several dives into a nearby mine pit. Today, the…
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The merits of fairness in America
You’ll hear a lot about the American Dream in coming months. You’ll hear that the dream is dying, that it’s alive and well, that the dream faces peril, or even that it’s forgotten entirely. But do we even know what the American Dream is? In this, we may invoke the most American of products: Coca-Cola.…
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Northeastern Minnesota celebrates its Labor roots
Maybe it’s just because I’m practically drowning in Iron Range history research these days, but Labor Day seems a significant holiday to mark this year. After all, we see workers standing for fair pay across the Mesabi Iron Range this week. Lately I’ve been writing a lot about the transition of the region’s economy, on…
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United Steelworkers to rally Thursday over contract talks
On Thursday, Aug. 30, members and supporters of the United Steelworkers will hold rallies and demonstrations across the Mesabi Iron Range. They seek to bring attention to the union’s ongoing impasse with major steelmakers over a new labor contract. This story highlights a critical moment in the economic recovery that reached the Iron Range in 2016,…
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New eyes for an Iron Range future
I think one of the best ways to begin strengthening a community is to see the place from a visitor’s point of view. Here on the Iron Range, a place with a cultural tradition of multi-generation families and insular social groups, that’s even more important … and hard to do. As a native Ranger, I…
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Greater Minnesota Governor’s Forum cancelled
The Greater Minnesota Governor’s Forum scheduled for tomorrow night at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids has been cancelled. The campaigns of Republican nominee Jeff Johnson and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nominee Tim Walz both withdrew unexpectedly over the weekend. Organized by Northern Community Radio and Lakeland Public Television, the forum aimed to focus exclusively on Greater…
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Canadian vacation imports memories
This year my family and I decided to go North for our annual summer trip. We would travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba, a cosmopolitan city set in the middle of endless miles of prairie (“endless point six” once you convert to metric). Why? Quite simply, we drew a circle around our home in Northern Minnesota to…
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Post-primary analysis shows how Radinovich won MN-8
This week DFL voters nominated Joe Radinovich to face Republican Pete Stauber and independent Skip Sandman in the Nov. 6 general election. Though I covered the basics in my Tuesday night live blog, I’ve got a few more thoughts on the Aug. 14 primary election before we swing into general election mode (and perhaps take…
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LIVE BLOG: Following #MN08 and more on primary night 2018
This live blog is by Aaron Brown of MinnesotaBrown.com, an author, columnist, radio producer and college instructor from Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. We’ll be following returns from the 2018 Minnesota Primary with special attention on the 8th Congressional District. Got tips? Contact Aaron here or leave a comment. Refresh often for the newest material. More news…
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What to watch in today’s MN-8 primary
The polls just opened in Minnesota’s 2018 primary election. If you haven’t yet, get out and vote. Plenty of federal, state and local races are on the ballot no matter your party preference. The DFL and GOP races for governor will be closely watched. Insiders tell me Tim Walz, Erin Murphy, and Lori Swanson seem…