Tune in this Saturday morning to hear my meager contribution to a great northern Minnesota radio show "Between You and Me" on 91.7 KAXE. The show tackles a new topic each week and this Saturday host Heidi Holtan is looking for thoughts on the fleeting nature of summer. That's "fleeting," not "sleeting," even though it's felt more like sleeting lately. My piece, which usually airs in the first half hour, will explore the importance and fragility of summer in northern Minnesota. I compare the arc of summer to "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen. It's gold, I tell you. Gold.

You can listen between 10 a.m. and noon on 91.7 FM or streaming online all over the world at www.kaxe.org.

Hello readers. Some changes, most likely temporary, will be coming to this blog over the coming months. You'll still be able to read my weekly columns for the Hibbing Daily Tribune, news about my book and radio work, and items of interest about the Iron Range, but the posting frequency will be reduced. My political commentary will be largely moved over to Twitter, where you can follow me @minnesotabrown. The only exceptions to this will be when I complete my series of interview posts about candidates running for governor.

I have been talking about finishing my first novel since Red Step Press published my first creative nonfiction book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range" in late 2008. Since then "Overburden" won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award and has received excellent notices. There is no better time to complete and sell my novel. This blog is a huge time commitment and also draws all important creative energy to make news of Iron Range mining, media and backroom politics more readable. That energy, for a few months, will be dedicated to the novel. I hope to write a story that explores the greatness, the weakness, and humor of living in a place like the Iron Range.

You can still visit this site to read my weekly columns and promos for my radio work on KAXE. If major news happens I might say a thing or two. Consider subscribing to the blog to be among the first to know when I post something, and when I return to the daily fray -- most likely in time for next year's political battles.

Record setting cold is expected this summer for Duluth and International Falls. It's kind of adding to the ambiance for a summer where almost one in five Iron Rangers is unemployed. All we need now is a serial killer and some kind of enormous chemical spill. Then we'd be a latter day Dickens novel.

This Lapham's Quarterly graphic clarifies the nine circles of Hell as depicted in Dante's Inferno. ("Abandon All Hope, You Who Enter Here," etc.). Do you fear Hell? Do you want someone else to go there? Well, name your sin (your dominant sin, that is) as you'll know which circle of hell you'll go to and what Beelzebub plans to do with you. Being a corrupt politician gets you all the way in to the eighth circle, to immersed in boiling pitch. Being "sullen" apparently is enough to get you to the fifth circle, sunk to the bottom of the River Styx.
It strikes me that Hell has some zoning issues. There's some pretty heavy thugs up there in the seventh circle but down in the ninth (the Pit of Hell) you've got Brutus, Cassius and Judas Iscariot being chewed endlessly in Lucifer's jaws. Then, RIGHT NEXT to that, you've got "Betrayers of Guests."

"What'd you do?"

"I stole money from some guy's wallet when I was a hotel maid."

"What's that sound?"

"Judas crunching."

(h/t TYWKIWDBI)

It's a linky kind of day I guess. The Minnesota Independent has a profile of Iron Range lawmaker Tom Rukavina as he considers a full blown run for governor next year.

Forum Communication's Capitol Chatter has a compelling profile on Jim Oberstar's big week. His major transportation initiatives are ripening and, amid all else going on, he will be making a push for his vision of a 21st century transportation system.

I am trying to avoid wading into the morass of national political arguments. I don't have the time to have cable news yelling wars with every Johnny-Come-Bloggy on the internet. But I will highlight a fine piece by David Mindeman for MinnPost about the lessons that can be learned about race in America from the recent Gates/Crowley/Obama story.

Everyone involved was right. Everyone involved was wrong. Can our country handle that? Americans don't do nuance very well, I have found. Serious discussions are considered liberal plots. Values are a right wing conspiracy. And race is not political, it's personal.

The first Hell's Angels riders have begun arriving in the Carlton area for this upcoming weekend's gathering of the famed motorcycle club. The comments in this Cloquet Pine Knot/DNT story pretty much sum up the divide in the community over how to handle the situation. I predict that nothing happens except for a lot of putt-putting on those big ol' motorscooters.

The St. Louis County Fair opens this Wednesday and runs through Sunday. The Itasca County Fair comes two weeks later. These events mark the waning days of summer for most red-blooded Iron Rangers. The blue bloods get a few more weeks until the houseboats come off Vermilion. The green bloods are still hospitalized. Don't even get me started on the purple bloods.

UPDATE: Correction, Itasca County Fair is Aug. 19-23.

Politics in Minnesota has an interesting list of the third party donations to legislative candidates in swing districts for last year's election. There aren't many surprises, but the amount of money is interesting and a little disturbing when you consider the spending limits that most candidates agree to abide by for public financing.

The argument on public financing for campaigns generally comes down to whether or not financial contributions constitute First Amendment protected speech. The way that campaign donations work, however, is not to get candidates to speak so much as to get legislators to shut the hell up when moments for reconciliation, reform and compromise arise.

UPDATE: It seems foolish, but I neglected to mention in this post that one of the victims of the budget cuts this year was the Political Contribution Refund program (PCR). This was the program that allowed Minnesotans to get refunds for small donations to state candidates of their choice. It allowed campaigns to build a larger pool of small donors instead of relying on those who can afford larger donations or the very third party donations mentioned in the above link. No the world won't end, but this will change the way campaigns are funded and not for the better.

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 26 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. It expands on some of the topics I was talking about last week. I expect this will be more like the beginning of the debate than the end.

The gap holding back our kids, our economy
By Aaron J. Brown

As the cloud of continued budget cuts and declining enrollment settles over school districts across northern Minnesota, many stakeholders are scrambling to determine which end is up. School boards watch as revenue declines and costs increase. Administrators are left to tell educators to do more with less. Educators, if they keep their jobs through all this, see more students and paperwork fill their classrooms. The students take the damage, only they won’t know that until 20 years from now when they compete in a harsh global economy against hundreds of millions of better prepared people.

If you ever wonder how regional economies disintegrate and people become embittered, that’s the recipe.

A few weeks ago I discussed the vast challenges Iron Range school districts face from a facilities and administrative standpoint. Since then there have been some encouraging developments. Nashwauk-Keewatin and Greenway are sharing more administrative services to cut costs. Virginia and Mountain Iron-Buhl districts are exploring serious collaboration efforts that may even include other nearby districts. These are necessary first steps, even if they cause some fear among justifiably proud alumni. However, more work is needed by all Range districts. The future is coming, one way or the other.

But consolidation and cost savings are just plain cruel if they don’t increase learning and student college preparedness. Recently we’ve been seeing the standardized test results for our local school districts pour in from the state education department. How are our schools doing? Pretty good, it seems. But based on what? Minnesota’s standards are generally strong compared to other states. But a recent Hoover Institute study shows that states have an almost arbitrary variation concerning standards. These numbers exist in a vacuum, failing to account for the economic needs for some proficiencies and the increasing competition from other nations with even higher educational standards.

And then there is this. How reliable are data from small sample sizes? What about the natural variations in groups from one year to the next that any teacher can tell you about? Indeed, the only true test of a K-12 education is whether the students are prepared for college or the workforce. Entrance exams from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system would suggest that Minnesota schools across the spectrum are falling short. Our economic woes demonstrate that entering the workforce out of high school is highly problematic.

A colleague recently expressed to me the concerns she had about the gap in reading proficiency between poorer students and the overall average. Reading is the fundamental building block of an education and our economy. Whether you love or hate the internet as the cornerstone of tomorrow’s economy, reading remains the comment element of human communication and comprehension.

A recent report by KOOTASCA Community Action, an organization working with poverty issues in Itasca and Koochiching counties, shows what this means. For instance, in Nashwauk-Keewatin 3rd graders performed above average in 2007-2008 reading tests regardless of free or reduced school lunch eligibility (a key socioeconomic indicator). But by 8th grade not only was the overall average below the state average, but the achievement gap between lunch eligible students and the student body was a pronounced 22 percent. I don’t mean to pick on N-K. The same is true of most Itasca County schools, according to the report, perhaps most so in Grand Rapids – the county’s largest district.

Here in Hibbing, a modest but notable socioeconomic achievement gap of about 9 percent exists among all students in reading for the same year. In Chisholm, it’s about 11 percent. Over in Eveleth, the East Range Tech and Science charter school has managed to avoid the gap entirely, though it struggles with efforts to catch up to the state average.

So, boo-hoo, right? Poor kids should read better. It might be tempting for some to say that, but the real issue here is that socioeconomic gaps coupled with the vast weight of federal mandates on both overall results and special education creates a two-tiered system that is financially unsustainable. Just ask your local school board. Or even better, local taxpayers. There is blame to be shared, the state high on the list, but the problems are all laid out in front of us.

The best schools are those with the smallest socioeconomic gap in educational outcomes. That’s demonstrated in some of Minnesota’s highest performing schools today and exemplified by the history of the Iron Range. Even if the numbers are cooked (and they can be) closing the achievement gaps represents a universal good. For decades, dating from the organization of early 20th century immigrants into communities until the first collapse of the taconite industry in the 1980s, it could honestly be said that any student had an equal chance at success in an Iron Range school. Your family’s name, profession or ethnicity had less to do with the results. The Range’s economic recovery is dependent on a return to that status.

As the Iron Range trundles into uncertain times let us remember the most important lesson learned by our ancestors. No matter who lives here, we’re in this together. Let us act together on math, science, reading and all the other things that can give a poor Iron Range kid a chance in this big world.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at his blog MinnesotaBrown.com. His book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is out now.

The Telegraph of London ran a great story about Bob Dylan's 50th Hibbing High School class reunion held last weekend. They actually had a reporter at the reunion in the hopes that he might show up. This is worth a read if only because it properly shows the changes in Hibbing's attitude about Dylan over the years.

(hat tip to my Manchester connection David Leaver)

Mesabi Misadventures hits another home run with a post about what it's like to be a woman working at a mine today, decades after the sexual harassment made famous in the book "Class Action" and the movie "North Country." This is a great read. She doesn't write often but she writes with great depth. You should subscribe to her feed. Until a working majority of Iron Range internet users figure out what that means I'll just keep linking to her posts.

Joe Bodell at Minnesota Progressive Project has an interview with legendary Iron Range lawmaker Tom Rukavina after he filed paperwork to run for Governor. It occurs to me that my inevitable interview with Tom should be a great deal of fun.

Grace Kelly at the Minnesota Progressive Project joins me in tearing the lid off the fantastical magic factory that is the proposed Mesaba Energy Project on the Iron Range. This project is not a power plant, it's an expensive metaphor for everything that's wrong with economic development on the Iron Range. Read the post. You can search my blog for three years of writing about the topic, though doing so is a task fraught with peril and despair.

Tune in Saturday morning from 10 to noon for 91.7 KAXE's weekly call-in and talk program "Between You and Me." I am a regular contributor and my essay this week will explore the show's rotating topic of "antiques." For instance, which of Minnesota's three iron ranges today qualifies as one of the state's most active "antiques ranges?" Good question! I made up an answer and will share it Saturday morning.

"Between You and Me" airs from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday on 91.7 FM or streaming online all over the world at www.kaxe.org. My essay often (but not always) airs during the show's first half hour, depending on calls. Either way, tune in and listen to a unique radio program that represents the best of northern Minnesota voices, music and culture.

Longtime Iron Range state representative and colorful orator Tom Rukavina has filed state finance board paperwork to run for governor, according to Minnesota Progressive Project.

UPDATE: The Mesabi Daily News has the exclusive first interview, albeit brief.

I realize that I have written three consecutive "bad times" posts about the Iron Range economy. Contractually I am now obligated to show you this:

MinnPost's Catherine Conlan reports on northern Minnesota libraries as they serve as a refuge during the economic storm, all while struggling with budget cuts of their own.

Even the sunshine crew at the Duluth News Tribune editorial board can't spin their way out of this week's economic malaise storyline:

So the glimmer of hope?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday, during testimony he provides semi-annually to the House Financial Services Committee, that the economy is showing “tentative signs of stabilization.” Of course, he also said: “The pace of decline appears to have slowed significantly.”

Meaning the economy still is on the decline.

And the hope for rapid recovery still is just a glimmer.

So you're saying there's a chance.

Charles Ramsay of the Mesabi Daily News reports that 2009 is on track to be the worst year on record for Iron Range taconite production. Keewatin Taconite and Hibbing Taconite are likely down for the rest of the year with limited production expected from the other four: MinnTac, Minorca, United Taconite and Northshore. Read more for a good rundown of the numbers involved.

This Time. com graphic has been traveling around the web today. No doubt not all agree with Stewart's politics, but he shows tenacity in asking actual questions and using evidence to demonstrate hypocrisy (on both sides). Network news is pretty mopey. What'd that crazy lady say about dead fish? Anyway...
(h/t Daily Dish)

Grace Kelly at MN Progressive Project continues her interview series with State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook), gubernatorial candidate and Iron Range legislator. Today's topic is unallotment and the crushing budget deficit facing the next person foolish enough to take the oath of office for governor.

If you like grim statistics, today's Duluth News Tribune has a story that further explores Northern Minnesota's unemployment and low iron ore shipping numbers discussed yesterday.

On the bright side, TWINS WIN.

As I said yesterday I'm exploring educational outcomes this week. We all want better schools, but what does that mean and how do we get there? We read a lot about the results of standardized tests. Indeed, we can read the numbers in the paper like they were a batting average or election result. But what do those numbers really mean? Well, one thing to wrap your head around is the fact that states vary widely in how they assess learning, and as this Hoover Institute study shows some states don't aim very high when they determine proficiency. So what numbers should we be looking at? I've got some ideas. Stay tuned.

Paul Tosto at MinnEcon, from Minnesota Public Radio, has an excellent post about today's staggering news of Hibbing's 18.7 percent unemployment rate, now the highest among Minnesota cities. Virginia, Minn., another Iron Range town, is close behind at 17 percent. These numbers have shot up over the past few months with the massive downturn in the local mining economy.

It cannot be understated how dramatic the tide has turned in the Iron Range economy over the past year and how completely and continually unprepared we seem to be every time the golden cow of mining hits the skids. Sorry for the mixed metaphor.

Anyway, this confirms what many have suspected. The Iron Range economy, along with Minnesota as a whole, is sinking down close to the low levels seen during the early 1980s. There is a way out, of course. Let's just hope that lessons have been learned on this latest roller coaster ride.

NPR's John Ridley asks the question I bellow at the TV after every showing of the NBC drama "Kings": Why isn't America watching this show?

"Kings" is a modern day retelling of the Biblical story of David. It combines the political intrigue that fans of the West Wing would like, the philosophical questions that "Lost" fans might like, and the Christian-based moral compass that fans of the "Left Behind" series should respond to. That all means nothing because it's just been me and a few other people watching. "Kings" is a fully unique program that combines genres in an original way. The episodes are entertaining and thought-provoking. The acting is extraordinary. I'm not what you would consider a "frequent attendee of church" so, believe me, this is not some overly preachy thing here.

There's only one show left (NBC Saturday at 7 p.m. -- the death slot) before the show is in all likelihood cancelled. Check it out. Better yet, as Ridley recommends, Hulu that thing and watch "Kings" from the beginning.

Conservatives, let's get together on this! Wouldn't it be nice to be on the same side for once?

This week I'll be exploring education issues for Sunday's column in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I may sneak a couple of preview posts onto this blog. Why is it that the only time people get good and mad about schools is when it comes to taxes or pride in the sports teams? What about reading? I'll be making the argument that the economic gap in standardized reading scores is slowly bleeding our region and country in a worldwide battle for economic survival. Get mad, people.

My friend and fellow UWS Yellowjacket Paul Ryan has written a fine column for the Reader Weekly about the upcoming visit of the Hell's Angels to the Duluth area. He provides some important tips for locals should they encounter members of the aging motorcycle gang.

I, for one, plan to remain far away from Duluth that weekend. That is actually my default strategy for most problems.

No disrespect.

Boy howdy, it's a hot day for Duluth news. The man with a history of stealing large rubber exercise balls and slashing them as part of an elaborate sexual fetish has turned himself in.

What can I add that would read more smoothly than the facts? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing.

Duluth now has its fifth city administrator in two years. I wish I could offer something profound about this situation but all I can offer is the predictable snark. Personally, I was conflicted about making a 1980s New York Yankees joke or something involving the state of the local media.

Meh.

Mayor Don Ness has enough problems. Not least of which is his apparent fear of being fed through a wood chipper over his administration's propensity for turnover. Naturally, he wasn't serious. Not quite, anyway. But I have to remark on one thing. By invoking the wood chipper, this quintessential Minnesota town's top official is running toward, not away from, the movie "Fargo." Oh, ya. That's the kind of thing that goes viral, don' cha' know.

Search engines, unite!

Minnesota, Fargo, Coen Brothers, movie, wood chipper, farce, GO!

The Mesabi Daily News is reporting a 52 percent drop in steel shipments in May, more or less commensurate with declines in the automobile and manufacturing sectors. The Iron Range's taconite industry is a lagging indicator in this economic equation. Followed, of course, by unemployment ... the granddad lagging indicator.

I think this qualifies as another quirky example of something that seems to happen only on the Iron Range. The former employees of the Red Owl grocery store in Virginia held a reunion Sunday 20 years to the day after the store closed in 1989 (Mesabi Daily News).

I remember when the store closed because it was a big deal to my family when I was a kid. The 1980s was a time of watching the Iron Range population contract and for my generation to watch people leave and the economy sputter around without purpose. I talk about this in my humorous creative nonfiction book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range," which is out now and won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. And yet, despite the obvious hardships, people still value the traditions, culture and eccentricities of the Range. I would include a defunct grocery store reunion in that latter category.

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 19, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece was part of last week's edition of "Between You and Me" on KAXE.

Watch for the turtles
By Aaron J. Brown

Each year turtles crawl from an ancient landscape into our modern world. Lately we’ve been seeing more of them dead on the roadside, casualties of a war between nature and progress that rages on even though the outcome has already been decided. Turtles are reptiles but seem more like dinosaurs, or even more like creatures from another planet. Turtles have a reputation for being slow, that’s what I learned on Sesame Street anyway, but their slowness is relative, fixed to our current interpretation of sending an e-mail from Bovey, Minnesota, to Beijing in a millisecond.

Turtles are just what they are.

As a little kid I was aware of turtles, the way one might be aware of zebras, elephants or whales in northern Minnesota. Turtles have shells. Turtles are vaguely green. But I wasn’t ready for life with turtles until I encountered one for myself.

When I was a kid I lived in a trailer house on our family’s salvage yard in Zim, a location known mostly for its endless peat bog and rail lines. Indeed, the bog remains its economic driver. You know, for owl watching and such. Anyway, one day I was playing outside with my sisters and ran around the corner of the trailer house to encounter A LARGE CREATURE. It hissed at me the moment I saw it, thus relegating it to the category of things in my head that are scary and hiss at me even though I am innocent, or believe myself to be. There are few other things in this category. Most of the others are lawyers. This creature was a snapping turtle. Seeing this turtle was like seeing a space alien. Before this day my world did not include this hulking, armored, sharp beaked beast, and from then on it always would.

This large turtle had wandered onto the junkyard where we lived. Perhaps it was seeking a mate, perhaps food, perhaps it just wanted to start some trouble. Those are all plausible reasons for Iron Range people to head into town. In any event the turtle instead encountered a group of children and a rather undignified toss into the ditch along County Highway 7 at the hands of my dad. I still remember dad wrangling the turtle into a wheelbarrow, lifting it like Atlas’ stone and hurling this large scaled monstrosity into the ditch. We watched it for a time, in the ditch, swimming sleek like a torpedo – so unlike the awkward critter loitering near our septic mound.

I saw another turtle at this time in my life. My first friend in kindergarten was a little blond kid just down the highway from us. On my first overnight stay with my pal my parents dropped me off at my friend’s trailer house. As I listened to the engine of my family car grow distant I recognized a dead snapping turtle in the driveway of my friend’s house. His stepfather, a large, shirtless, overall-festooned man named Homer emerged from the structure to inform me that the turtle had approached too close to the house and he had blasted its shell with a shotgun and left its dead, rotting carcass in the driveway as “a lesson to the others.”

I wish I could say that I was disgusted, but I was more relieved. Snapping turtles to a small child are very scary. This dead turtle was no threat. Not to me. Not to anyone.

Later that night Homer would blast off the caps to my cap gun with a knife he kept with him. The family’s bathroom had no door. My friend’s mom would ultimately steal my spare clothes and dress my friend in them for subsequent school days. My friend would soon lose a brother to a household accident and later disappear from my life.

So the question I am left with is what was so bad about that turtle? What did that turtle do to deserve its fate?

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at MinnesotaBrown.com. His book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is out now.

Former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) was on the Iron Range recently touting his gubernatorial campaign to the Mesabi Daily News. Guns and mining, good. House Majority Leader Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) has some thoughts on that. Jobs, education, and health care, also good.

While there remains economic questions about Essar Steel's ability to deliver on a full iron mine and steel mill on Minnesota's Iron Range, there is a glimmer of possibility that the massive public investment in the project won't be for naught. Magnetation, Inc., the relatively low-budget iron ore scavenging operation that is extracting ore from the mine dumps of the West Range from the old days has expressed interest in using the Essar rail lines. This from Sunday's Grand Rapids Herald-Review.

It must be stressed, however, that Magnetation is fundamentally a salvage operation, compared with the mining employment that is being lost. Mining is vital to the Iron Range economy. A non-mining economic sector is vital to our future.

And so ends an era. RIP Walter Cronkite, the voice of America.

After all my Oscar Mayer Wienermobile talk last week, we learn the Wienermobile has crashed into a Wisconsin house. The missus tells me the Twitter talk is hilarious.

My friend Paul Ryan, a fellow UWS alum, interviewed me for the Oeuvre Magazine, a new online arts publication for the Northland. It's on Page 46 and is one of those edgy, urban alternative kind of interviews (intended to be funny). The topics range from include favorite ores, The Gilmore Girls Gossip Girl, drinking, terrorism, cell phones and Hitler (and more!)

This is the rundown on yesterday's appeal from an environmental group regarding Essar Steel's proposed Nashwauk mine/steel mill.

The Hibbing Daily Tribune reports today on the passing of Hibbing community activist Bob Kitchen. I knew Bob when I was editor of the paper and everyone active in the Hibbing community has probably crossed paths with him at some point. He's been involved with decades worth of public works, beautification projects, economic development, history and culture. Naturally, I offer condolences to his family and friends and suggest that his important contributions to Hibbing have been invaluable.

Every town should have someone like Bob Kitchen and many do, but who will take their place when they're gone? As you read in the story, Bob often signed his letters with the closing "the clock is still ticking." I like that. The clock is ticking for the Iron Range. Time is limited. Time is precious. Bob may be irreplaceable but his work can continue. The question is when will the next generation, or the one after it, step up in the small towns here on the Iron Range or everyone else? That, in a nutshell, is at the heart of our economic and cultural problems.

Tune in to "Between You and Me" on 91.7 KAXE this Saturday morning for music, programming and a discussion about your favorite concerts. What show have you attended that really stands out in your mind? My regular essay usually airs in the first half hour depending on the number of calls. Afterward, in the afternoon and evening, the Mississippi River Festival fires up in Grand Rapids at the Rotary Amphitheater next to the KAXE studios.

"Between You and Me" is a call-in and music show that features the voices of northern Minnesota. It airs from 10 a.m. to noon on 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota or streaming online all over the world at www.kaxe.org. It's a unique show with an unpredictable arc, check it out!

As one of those crazy kids with the internets and the blogs I was very proud that Minnesota's new senator Al Franken chose to spend his first moment in the white hot spotlights of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings to discuss net neutrality.

The expansion of availability and education of how to use high speed internet is crucial to Minnesota's economy. I continue to argue that it is the only non-obvious solution to the economic woes of rural and northern Minnesota. Net neutrality -- the concept that the internet should remain essentially in the public domain, not controlled by large private companies -- is central to these ideas. I get the feeling that Sen. Franken is sincere in his pursuit of a technology-friendly solution to our economic problems. That's no small thing because net neutrality benefits small time conservative bloggers as much as it does small time liberal ones like me. It's probably the most important issue of constitutional law we face in the 21st century. Hey Al, good question!

So much human drama in one drama preview. Read through this Christa Lawler Duluth News Tribune story about the Duluth Playhouse production of "Beauty and the Beast." There are two Belles! Why? Why not? I'd entertain your theories in the comments.

A St. Paul based group was hoping to derail the permits for the proposed Essar Steel project near Nashwauk in appeals court this morning. (St. Paul Legal Ledger) I'll post an update when I know more. I wouldn't bet money that they succeeded.

I guess I won't make any jokes the next time lightning hits the Mesabi Daily News printing plant.

But in this unfortunate weather-related event there was a silver lining for those of us who passionately believe in the future of newspapers, particularly local community newspapers.

To those who have taken ridiculous pot shots speaking of the death of newspapers -- especially those bloggers and television people who often rely on newspapers for their stories, commentaries or story ideas -- you should have been at the MDN office Wednesday.

The calls put an exclamation mark on the importance of newspapers ... the importance of the MDN. Wednesday was not the same for our subscribers because they did not have their morning Mesabi Daily News. They wanted to pick up and hold and read and enjoy their daily newspaper.

Newspapers dying? No way!

It is true that people who don't use the internet will seek out newspapers with great fervor. Because of our older demographics, the Iron Range has plenty of such readers. For now. Furthermore, news organizations monitoring the activities of large and small communities, whether its the Mesabi Daily News, Hibbing Daily Tribune or others, are vitally important. The whole problem here is that the youngest generation of new readers is using the internet to read newspapers, for free. That's a losing business model. Am I wrong? I'd like to think so because I love paper and ink newspapers, too. However, I received e-mails and comments from several newspaper readers who found out from lil' ol' me why they didn't get their paper yesterday. That's not good.

As the Hibbing Daily Tribune, Mesabi Daily News and Superior Publishing group recover from their lightning strike, Business North's Wayne Nelson explores the enormous challenges facing northern Minnesota newspapers. Worth a read.

UPDATE: Byline on story has been corrected.

Et tu, Yahweh?

Several Iron Range newspapers, including the Mesabi Daily News and Hibbing Daily Tribune (where I write my column), were knocked off press this morning when lightning struck their central printing plant in Hibbing. Today is also the publication day for the twice weekly Grand Rapids Herald-Review. According to separate releases, the MDN will be delivered tomorrow while the HDT will be delivered this afternoon. Superior Publishing, a division of American Consolidated Media, also owns the Ashland (Wis.) Daily Press, where all the local papers were published today.

If locusts take out tomorrow's editions I'll declare this a biblical situation.

WDIO is reporting that the Itasca County Board has approved a $2 million, 4,000-acre land sale to Essar Steel for its proposed mine and steel-making facility in Nashwauk.

UPDATE: Business North has more.

On Monday I enjoyed a fantastic event at the Brainerd Public Library for my book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." About 40 people showed up to hear my talk on the Iron Range, northern Minnesota culture and life as an (increasingly less) young professional in an old place.

The Brainerd Library has done a great job of building community support for its library lecture series. This was the final event of my scheduled "first year" release tour for "Overburden" and it couldn't have gone out on a higher note.

Meantime, this was my first book event near one of Minnesota's "Big Three" iron ranges, the Cuyuna Range. Nearby Crosby and Ironton represent the epicenter of the Cuyuna Range where my family spent some time working the mines in the 1950s and '60s before relocating back here on the Mesabi. The main highway bypasses Crosby and Ironton now but I made sure to head back the "other way" to drive through those towns on the way home. My first reaction as I drove up through downtown Ironton and especially Crosby was, "OMG, is that Nashwauk? Or Coleraine? Or Mt. Iron?" It's amazing how there is some unnatural quality that identifies an Iron Range town, even if that town isn't on the Mesabi. It might be the specific age of the buildings (almost exactly a century, covered in red ore dust). Maybe it's the vaguely ethnic names still on some of the buildings. I don't know. About the only different thing about Crosby vs. a Mesabi Range town is the abnormal number of antique stores, an attribute probably owed to its proximity to the tourist center of Brainerd.

My dad lived in the Crosby area for a time as a very young child and speaks of Serpent Lake, where my great-grandfather lived when he was a mining engineer in the area. I never knew how close Serpent Lake was to the city of Crosby, how it butted right up against the town. It was great to see some of the places and names associated with my family on this trip. I hope to come through again in the future and spend more time at the historical sights. I fear this may involve a solo trip. (Some men sneak away from their wives for dalliances, I sneak away to read highway markers).

The "Overburden" release tour is over, but I remain available to talk about the the book, the Iron Range, new media, journalism, communication topics and northern Minnesota culture at events of most kinds. Contact me for information. Meantime, you can always pick up your copy of the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble online or stores, or at local stores like Howard Street Booksellers in Hibbing, Village Bookstore in Grand Rapids, Woodward's in Virginia, Lisa's Upstairs Bookstore in Ely and tourist sites throughout the Iron Range.

Here's an oh-so-quick reminder of the day's activities. I'll be doing an interview on Iron Range/political issues at 7:20 this morning on 91.7 KAXE. They post archives if you miss it. And then at noon I'll be at the Brainerd Public Library for a brown bag lunch discussion of my book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range."

My semi-regular series of interviews with DFL gubernatorial candidates continues today with Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner. My previous posts have included Tom Bakk, Paul Thissen, Mark Dayton, Matt Entenza and John Marty. I've now interviewed a little over half of the probable pool of candidates for the 2010 DFL gubernatorial nomination.

I met with Gaertner at the Itasca County DFL headquarters in Grand Rapids during her visit to the area on Thursday, July 9. Itasca is one of the few counties in the state that maintains a year-round headquarters for party events, social clubs and youth meetings (Disclosure: I'm on the Itasca DFL Board of Directors). Gaertner is the sixth candidate I've talked to but has the distinction of being the first DFLer to enter the race, with her exploratory bid beginning well before the conclusion of last year's election.

The interview

As stated, Susan Gaertner is the Ramsey County Attorney. Ramsey is a diverse county, most notably including St. Paul and many Twin Cities suburbs. And if you've never heard of her yet, Gaertner doesn't think that's a bad thing.

"My candidacy is an opportunity for the state to have a fresh start," said Gaertner.

Her status as the top prosecutor for one of the state's largest counties makes her more qualified to be governor than most legislators, she said. Her jurisdiction includes 500,000 residents. She manages a budget of about $35 million a year, 320 employees and collects and distributes $62 million a year in child support payments for families in her area.

"I have insight and experience in administering government programs, but also can keep in mind what it's all about.

She points to her East St. Paul upbringing, a stable middle class family life in a blue collar neighborhood. Her father was a social worker, her mother received a college education when few women had the opportunity.

"Most dads in our neighborhood worked at Whirlpool or the breweries," she said. "These were good jobs. You could pay for health insurance, maybe even have a little cabin up north. There was stability in people's lives. ... (My family's perspective) gave me a strong sense of public service to assist the neediest members of the public. The government needs to be there for those less fortunate than our family was."

Middle class neighborhoods like the one Gaertner grew up in have been strained by the economy and rising costs of health care. She said her best argument for her campaign is her ability to do the job.

"I'm an executive, a strong leader, and I'm in the best position to start on day one," said Gaertner. "It will take a lot of tough decisions to get out of the hole we're in and I'm ready to start making them."

Gaertner's argument that her background is what qualifies her for the office is based on the unique nature of county government in a major metro area.

"County government is in the middle," said Gaertner. "The state legislature is somewhat removed from the effects of its legislation. I have to make $1 million in cuts for 2010. I have to decide which child protection cases go forward and which ones don't, which cases might be prosecuted. These are decisions with direct consequences. That's an important perspective to bring to government office.

"As an executive," she continued. "You're by yourself. No one's calling an assistant county attorney when they're mad, they call me. I'm on the letterhead and that means I'm used to being accountable."

Gaertner is hoping to make the same leap that former Hennipen County Attorney Amy Klobuchar made: metro county prosecutor to statewide office holder. Followers of Minnesota politics remember that Sen. Klobuchar cruised to victory in 2006 in what some saw as a surprisingly large landslide. The significance of that victory is not lost on Gaertner.

"Part of Amy's success, besides her being a good candidate, is that people trust prosecutors," said Gaertner. "They operate in an environment in which nothing less than the highest ethical standards are observed. I think that's what people would like to see in highly placed elected officials."

Gaertner, like many candidates, plans to honor the endorsement of the 2010 DFL convention delegates. That puts her in the position of cobbling together a coalition of delegates in a divided field to get her to the 60 percent required for endorsement. The eventual endorsee may also face a divided and potentially contentious primary election.

"I've been traveling and picking up support along the way," said Gaertner. "People who want to win will see my appeal in the primary and general election to independents and moderate Republicans. I don't think the people who go through the process (of becoming a delegate) will be swayed (by big names or money)."

On policy, Gaertner described differences between her policy platform and those of her DFL opponents as being "shades of green." Boilerplate issues like economic stability, health care reform and education funding will be on her table.

"One thing I don't do is go from area to area pandering to pet projects," said Gaertner. "I want an economic strategy for the whole state."

For her, that means "a couple of big things that might not have immediate results" but that would have huge results in the long term health of the state.

"First, education," said Gaertner. "Countless studies show that when you invest well in education you get economic outcomes. We need to make strategic investments that prepare our students to compete in a global economy.

"Second," she continued, "We need to restore structural balance to our budget. We need to meet people's needs to the extent that doesn't slow our economy.

"We need to disengage health care from employment," she further added. "Small businesses want to provide health care but can't afford to. We need to take the burden off of businesses and share it as a community."

Capitalizing on green technology for job creation and tourism expansion also make Gaertner's list.

Gaertner said her approach to managing the Iron Range's unique tax structure and the Iron Range Resources agency is largely the same as her standards for her county office.

"It could benefit from enhanced accountability and transparency," she said. "I'm not talking about picking on (IRR) -- there are other agencies that could use this too. But my goals is to create a sense in state government that we are accountable to the whole state and are invested in everyone's success."

But if Susan Gaertner wants you to know one thing about her candidacy it's that she believes herself ready to deliver the needed leadership for the next four perilous years of state budget management.

"It's hard to predict what the 2011 budget situation will be," said Gaertner. "We have an idea but no exact idea, to some extent it might be irresponsible to predict. I have the experience to make the tough decisions. In Ramsey County the culture is to be tight with a buck and focus on accountability and outcomes. It's about value. People will pay taxes if there's a value in how the money is spent. This is the culture I grew up in. This is how I do business. This is what you can expect from me."

My analysis

If candidates were selected in a political vacuum Gaertner might well be a front runner. Unfortunately for her no one has figured out how to get the politics out of politics. As such Gaertner finds herself mentioned in the middle of the pack most of the time because of her relative lack of name recognition. She deserves consideration.

Of all of the candidates I've talked to Gaertner exceeded my expectations the most, and that bar keeps getting higher as the number of these interviews increase. In fact, I'll be honest. I hit the wall at some point during this interview. No disrespect to all of the candidates I've talked to, but there's a repetitive nature to these kinds of posts. Green energy is good. Pawlenty's unallotments are bad. Jobs and health care, yada-yada-yada. Gaertner is talking about these things, too, but her focus in this campaign seems to be to explain why she has the temperament and management style to be an effective governor, rather than try to outgun people on the issues. Increasingly, as the field becomes muddier and muddier, Gaertner's approach might take root. (Though, to be fair, all of the candidates I've talked to have mixed in less direct variations on this theme, too).

My favorite moment came when I asked if there was any particular policy position that would separate her from "your average DFL candidate for governor."

Her response: (long pause) "Good question." (long pause). "No. There are minor differences, largely differences of emphasis. My campaign is about communicating about who I am and why I can and should win. My campaign is about leadership."

It was at this time that I saw Susan Gaertner the candidate who deserved more than passing consideration. It was almost dinner time and she was facing a three hour haul back to White Bear Lake from Grand Rapids. She wasn't there to try to out health care or out job create anyone, just to offer her experience and perspective as a potential top state officer. While the governor is constitutionally bound to a relationship with the legislature, there is no hard and fast evidence that legislators make the best governors.

Gaertner was brutally frank about using her status as a potential Ramsey County bookend to the success of Amy Klobuchar. The role of a tough, woman prosecutor in a winning political formula might be true, and she was all business in explaining it as such.

I've heard in some circles that some delegates might be angry over Gaertner's role in prosecuting protesters during last summer's GOP convention in St. Paul. I have to admit I didn't ask her about it, partly because I forgot but mostly because the issue just doesn't carry any significance outside metro protest circles. It doesn't mean anything on the Iron Range. I can't imagine any evidence that she used her power in an unusual or inappropriate way emerging for 2010. Most likely the issue will be forgotten.

Gaertner wanted to demonstrate two things in her talk with me: She's a leader and represents a fresh alternative to the other candidates. In that, she succeeded. The road to victory for her, however, is long and difficult.

Summary:
Susan Gaertner is a sharp, refreshing candidate who could struggle to break out of the pack because of her lack of name recognition and local government background. If she succeeds in visiting every corner of the state before precinct caucuses and impresses future delegates, she could catch fire and become an extremely tough nominee for the GOP to beat. However, the curse of gender and identity politics means that if House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher runs, much of the oxygen could be sucked out of Gaertner's campaign. Regardless, Gaertner deserves the attention of future delegates.

UPDATE: Post changed to correct East St. Paul from West St. Paul. This would be like mixing up Grand Rapids and Eveleth ... an unforgivable mistake on my part.
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Check out my recent book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range," winner of the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. It's a humorous, heartfelt look at life as an under-30 in an industrial rural place. It's also the endeavor that justifies my very long (and totally free) posts about governor candidates.

This Brainerd Dispatch story explains my upcoming Monday noon visit to Paul Bunyan town for the public library's brown bag lunch series. It's pretty standard, but my favorite part is this:

Aaron Brown, 29, of the Iron Range

I've gone the full Tom Joad. I don't have an address. Wherever people are hungry I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beating up a guy I'll be there.

At noon Monday, I'll be in Brainerd.

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, July 12, 2009 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. For frequent readers of this blog, fear not, this is the last time you should have to read about the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile here for some time.

The Wienermobile rides full circle
By Aaron J. Brown

You may have heard that the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was in northern Minnesota recently. Specifically it arrived in Grand Rapids a week ago, opening all sorts of jokes about wieners and the parts of the Iron Range west of here. I shall not partake. The main idea is that the symbol of America’s love affair with vague meat products (or at least we are told it is meat) was here. Or at least near here. Near enough to drive.

My wife and I brought the kids. I wish I could say this was just some novelty event for the children, but for me it was more than that.

It all began in the 1988. I was a second grader at the old Forbes Elementary south of Mt. Iron, loosely Southeast of Hibbing, the last year the school was open. I entered the Weekly Reader National Invention Contest. For those not familiar, Weekly Reader is a kids’ news publication tailored to social studies and English curriculum in schools across the country. With each advancing year kids get more news with bigger words until eventually the kids read newspapers online, strangling the news industry with their lack of paid print subscriptions. It’s the circle of life, Simba. The circle of life.

Anyway, it’s important to note that in 1988 seatbelt safety was not what it is today. Here on the Iron Range, car safety – including seat belts, child car seats, and functional catalytic converters – was a thing of fancy, something for the city folk. This was certainly true of my family living on our family-owned Iron Range junkyard. Sometimes I would ride to functions in the “way back” of our station wagon sitting on a bean bag. I suppose the bean bag would have helped in a crash, at least more so than a giant stone or sack of nails. But in terms of what the old gray-haired vaguely famous guy on TV would say in 1988, the situation was unsafe. Buckle up, we should have.

My invention was a seatbelt cover that would encourage kids to buckle up. On one side would be an image like a dog or duck. On the other would be a doghouse or pond, respectively. The kids would have no choice but to put the dog to the doghouse, the duck to the pond. We were kids. We always responded to the satisfaction of pleasing our elders. Or at least I did. And anyway, I won. I got called to the principal’s office, no small thing for an upstanding nerd, for a phone call from a kindly gentleman informing me of my prize. My family and I would travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with our senators and congressman, to tour the capital city, and to receive numerous accolades from the American inventors’ community.

That was all nice. What really got my attention was the proposition that we then head to New York, to appear on “Late Night with David Letterman” as a “kid inventor” but then, for the real prize, appear in a New York parade riding in the Wienermobile. Me, a working class kid from the Iron Range, would blah blah blah blah RIDE IN THE WIENERMOBILE!

Unfortunately, there was a Writers Guild strike in 1988 that cancelled that particular episode of the Letterman show, thus cancelling my appearance in the Wienermobile. I did go to Washington, D.C., in a trip that I later learned would change my life, to see the capitol dome, to stand in the House chambers, to see a world beyond my own, a trip that would set my sites higher than the junkyard. I’m really grateful for that, but my 1988 kid self still laments the loss of that Wienermobile ride.

Until last week. I took my family to see the Wienermobile in the parking lot of a grocery store in Grand Rapids. It was great. Maybe you didn’t know this, but the workmanship on the Wienermobile is really spectacular. It is truly a sleek, shiny hot dog on wheels capable of highway speeds.

However, I share the complaint of my four-year-old son Henry. Why didn’t they let us ride in that Wienermobile? That would have been awesome.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at his blog MinnesotaBrown.com. His book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is out now.

Tune in to hear my semi-regular Range news and views segment on the Monday KAXE Morning Show. The segment is scheduled for 7:20 a.m. on 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota and streaming online all over the world at www.kaxe.org.

Subjects will range from local mining woes, to Excelsior Energy's recent Hail Mary pass into the abyss, to my interview with Susan Gaertner (to be posted Monday) to my Monday trip to Brainerd for my book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." The interview should be a barn burner. Or at least a shed burner.

That's 7:20 a.m. Monday on 91.7 FM KAXE.

Grace Kelly at the Minnesota Progressive Project features a video of State Sen. Tom Bakk explaining and analyzing Iron Range history in the context of modern politics. Bakk is actually pretty good at this stuff when you can keep him on point. Check it out.

This Grand Rapids Herald-Review story relays data that has been in several newspaper stories this week. Census data is showing something that most northern Minnesotan have observed for themselves. People are moving from the towns to the country. This is changing the culture of the region a little more each year: more of a focus on individuals and families, less of a focus on community institutions and culture. We've noticed this in our lives since we moved to the country. The effects will be significant over time.

An impasse in negotiations between the state of Minnesota and U.S. Steel is dashing hopes of a new state park on Lake Vermilion. (MDN)

West Duluth's Spirit Valley Days events are moved up two weeks to avoid conflict with a scheduled congregation of the Hells Angels. Apparently the police thought that combining street dance patrons and Hell's Angels was a little too much like red ants/black ants.

We're entering the long hot summer of my semi-regular Minnesota tour for my book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." At noon this Monday, July 13, my last (for now) scheduled book event will take place at the Brainerd Public Library (416 S. 5th St.). I'll be participating in their "brown bag" lunch series to discuss the book, the Iron Range, and my usual topics. I keep it light and fun and the discussions are always great. I get the feeling you're supposed to bring a lunch if you want one.

This trip is also significant because it is my first book event held near the Cuyuna iron range. What we know as "The Iron Range" here in northern Minnesota is actually a series of iron formations. The largest, most famous and (well, usually) still active range is the Mesabi. The Vermilion was the first range to be explored and mined up by Ely. The Cuyuna is kind of the odd stepchild iron range, partly because its culture has been shaped differently because of its central Minnesota location and because there hasn't been any mining there in decades. But the Cuyuna deserves a lot of credit and attention as many important labor battles and historical events took place there in the development of the larger Iron Range region. My family spent some key years mining there as well, so it will be a treat to return to my roots.

"Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range" is a heartfelt, humorous collection of essays about life as an under-30 in an older, industrial place. It recently won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award and has been well-received both by those who know the Range and those knew nothing about it. You can read reviews and more at my book news page.

Oh, I'm betting there are political operatives out there receiving Google alerts on terms like Minnesota, politics, governor, 2010, DFL, convention, Tom Bakk, Chris Coleman, Mark Dayton, Matt Entenza, Susan Gaertner, Steve Kelley, Margaret Kelliher, John Marty, Tom Rukavina, R.T. Rybak or Paul Thissen. (I would have also included GOPers but I don't have them memorized in alphabetical order). This book will explain the politics and personality of the Iron Range for you and all of your field workers during the crucial caucus and primary season. They should all have their own copy, though, as should your candidate. It also makes a great thank you gift for your high roller donors. I'm also willing to say that, with some engineering and a can-do attitude, your campaign bus could be rigged to run on clean-burning copies of "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range."

My weekly radio essay for Saturday morning's edition of "Between You and Me" on 91.7 KAXE deals with turtles. Why turtles? Well, each week the program explores a new aspect of life in northern Minnesota (with great music, too!) and this week we are delving into the woes of the many local turtles crossing highways and sometimes not quite crossing all the way. Should we create an "Adopt a Turtle" program? What should you do when you see turtles on the highway? Are turtles, in fact, delicious? There are many schools of thought. My essay deals with a large, childhood turtle and, like always, I poke a stick at the meaning of life. That's how I roll.

Tune in between 10 a.m. and noon Saturday on 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota or streaming online all over the world at www.kaxe.org.

MinnPost has been doing a series about the state of the Minnesota economy. Their third part ran today and includes a compelling comparison between the various regions and economic sectors of the state. The following excerpt may seem obvious, but sums up our problems here:

May's job statistics tell mining's story.

Unemployment in Duluth was 7.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted), just a hair lower than the statewide count. Head up to the Iron Range, though, and you find Hibbing with 14.6 percent; Virginia, 14.9 percent.

When the global recession set off a nosedive in steel orders, jobs plummeted on the Range. Duluth is faring better because it has diversified its economy since the last severe down cycle in the 1980s, said Drew Digby, regional analyst for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Taconite mining companies have dramatically improved productivity since the 1980s and expanded their markets too. What they haven't been able to do is shield their operations from sharp economic swings.

The Duluth News Tribune is slapping down late hour protests against Enbridge Energy's proposed pipeline from Canada to Superior, Wis. The theme: Where were these protesters when there were public hearings?

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Listen, I don't have a dog in this fight. People want a pipeline? Fine. Oil. Tar sands. I care, but not enough to read up on this stuff yet. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Whatever. I've already had this conversation, like, eight times.

But here's my question. What is it about being on a newspaper editorial board that makes people want to write stuff like this? Oh man, some people are waiving crude, homemade signs and talking smack about the pipeline. Oh man, we have to get with the pipeline. The pipeline is in trouble. Quick, open a new document and start typing. Really, is this what they get out of bed to do each day?

Thursday I'll be interviewing DFL gubernatorial candidate Susan Gaertner after the meeting of the Itasca County DFL Social Club in Grand Rapids. Gaertner will be meeting with local DFLers starting at noon at the Itasca Co. DFL headquarters on Highway 169. You don't have to be a member to attend.

This MinnPost article shows how broadband usage by the American population continues to grow even as the economy shrinks. My back-of-the-envelope math, however, shows that the demographics of the Iron Range still put us in risk of falling behind the rest of the country (and certainly the industrialized world) in both usage and understanding of the internet. The dissemination and usage of high-speed internet as an economic tool for the Iron Range is probably the one great opportunity of our generation to change the story that has already been written for us.

Old.

Dying.

Ignorant.

Hell, no. I reject that and you should too. We have the resources. We have the intelligence. Fight for the future.