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Great Northern Radio Show to broadcast from Tower
On Saturday, Sept. 24, I’ll bring my Great Northern Radio Show to Fortune Bay Resort and Casino near Tower, Minnesota. It’s exciting to start another new season (our sixth!) and to announce some changes. The Great Northern will remain a music and comedy variety show featuring the same talents as before. Instead of broadcasting one live…
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The Iron Range and Donald Trump
The Star Tribune led its Sunday political coverage with this Patrick Condon story about the perceived popularity of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the vaunted DFL stronghold of the Mesabi Iron Range. Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range has voted for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party since WWII, typically by massive margins. (The DFL is Minnesota’s unique version of the Democratic…
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Automation on the industrial frontier
Labor Day on the Iron Range means more than just the last big car race up at the Hibbing Raceway, though that is without doubt a big deal. Here, Labor Day celebrates the broken bodies and fighting spirit of pioneering loggers, miners and entrepreneurs. Their sacrifices slowly built a better world and a better workforce…
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N. Minn., Canada share deep economic ties
The other day I got a note from a longtime reader saying something I wrote “sounded positively Canadian.” And while I’m a proud citizen of the U. S. of A., it’s true that my beloved homeland here in Northern Minnesota is very near (and rather influenced by) Canada. A Northern Minnesota accent sounds more like a Canadian accent than…
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MinnesotaBrown, KAXE at the State Fair
I’ve seen the numbers. Even though this is the only independent blog wholly dedicated to “Modern Life in Northern Minnesota,” nearly half of you live or work in the Twin Cities metro area. That’s fine. We’re cool. But it means we never get to have awkward exchanges at the grocery store, or silently wonder what’s…
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On ‘Clarence’ and wallets filled with gravity
My kids like to watch a show called “Clarence” on Cartoon Network. To be honest, I like it, too. This oddball kid Clarence lives in Aberdale, a suburb of a large city in the American Southwest. His mom is a hair stylist and her boyfriend Chad, Clarence’s father figure, is unemployed. All but one or…
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Bonding spat ends in election season splat
Last week, Minnesota legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton abandoned hope of a special session this year. That means that the legislature’s failure to pass a bonding bill, and Gov. Dayton’s veto of the tax bill, will stand through this November’s election. This sort of thing can happen with divided government. Gov. Dayton is a…
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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…
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‘Be Prepared’ for change
When a Boy Scout or Girl Scout heads into the woods, he or she is prepared for any number of changing conditions. Rain. Wind. Long hikes or vigorous paddling on a choppy lake. The one thing constant in life is change. And really, all you can do is what the Boy Scouts preach: Be Prepared.…
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Sandstede wins House 6A DFL primary
As we reported last night, music teacher and union leader Julie Sandstede (DFL-Hibbing) advances to the Nov. 8 general election in Minnesota House District 6A. She’ll face Republican special education teacher Rob Farnsworth of Hibbing and active write-in candidate and union equipment operator Steven Hakly of Cherry. Sandstede’s win surprised many, including me. But looking at the…
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LIVE BLOG: Primary Night on the Iron Range
Welcome to the Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 MinnesotaBrown primary election live blog. Your intrepid host Aaron Brown will provide analysis of Iron Range results throughout the evening. We’ll pay close attention to the House 6A DFL contest and St. Louis County commissioner races. 11:00: There will be more to write in coming days, but we can…
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Range DFLers hurtle toward Tuesday’s 6A primary
It’s Primary Election Eve in Minnesota. Tuesday, Aug. 9, brings the statewide primary election, in which local candidate pools will be narrowed and parties will sort out their nomination battles for state and federal offices. Today I’ll analyze the only major Iron Range legislative primary: the House 6A race to succeed State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing).…
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Only time knows ‘truth’ of Great River
With more than 1,000 lakes and many rivers, Itasca remains one of Minnesota’s most watery counties. And like the old adage goes, “whiskey is for drinking, but water is for starting wars.” The word “Itasca” comes from the inner syllables of the Latin words “Veritas” and “Caput,” meaning “Truth” and “Head” of the Mississippi River.…
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Remembering the author and storyteller Jim Northrup
Jim Northrup was devastatingly funny. That means two things. He was a naturally funny writer and speaker, a gifted storyteller. But Northrup also used his humor to heal the devastation of mind, body and spirit. Northrup died Monday after battling cancer and other health ailments for the past couple years. If you’ve heard of Northrup, you’ve…