Conservation Officer Tales



Although the Cook County News-Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are law-abiding folks, there are a few that run afoul of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officers. Periodically, the DNR provides a report of some of the miscreants the Conservation Officers (CO) have encountered. The News-Herald shares these stories as a reminder to all […]

Cook County Law Enforcement briefs



It is the policy of the Cook County News-Herald to withhold the identities of individuals in Cook County Law Enforcement briefs. When court proceedings are complete, the Cook County News-Herald publishes a complete accounting of names and penalties in its Matters of Record. Monday, May 3 6:14 a.m., Grand Marais: Deer struck and injured on West County Road 7. 6:46 […]

Gunflint Green Up volunteers have fun rehabbing the forest



Madeline McCormick and her little brother Finn were about an hour and a half into their Gunflint Green Up workday Saturday, May 8, 2010. They were busy releasing trees along the Kekekabic Trail from the threat of being crowded out by faster-growing species around them. The snow that had fallen the night before was starting to melt. It was 10:45 […]

School budget uncertain but some teachers keep jobs



The amount of funding that Cook County Schools will receive from the State of Minnesota for the 2010-11 school year is a big unknown. The school board tried to work on its budget anyway in a special meeting Wednesday, May 5. Superintendent Beth Schwarz told the school board that the Minnesota Supreme Court had just that day ruled against Governor […]

MnDOT reps say road construction through Duluth is manageable



Two Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) representatives and one Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) representative met with county commissioners Tuesday, May 11, 2010 to let them know the types of projects that will be undertaken on state roads over the next nine years. A big project for this summer may make trips to Cook County a little harder for tourists. […]

Filing period opens for county elections



Minnesota’s primary elections will be held the second Tuesday of August (the 10th) to give more time for military and overseas absentee ballots to be returned, Auditor- Treasurer Braidy Powers told the county board on May 11. Filing dates for local elections were moved up to reflect the earlier primary date. The filing period will be May 18 through June […]

Weekly Weather



National Day of Prayer



A small group with a large mission joined thousands of others across the country, coming together to pray for our nation on Thursday, May 6. Pastor Dale McIntire (right) of Cornerstone Community Church welcomed participants to the courthouse steps to pray for local, regional, and national leaders. Pastor McIntire read the proclamation issued by President Barack Obama in which the […]

Electric and water usage down in Grand Marais



One unusual measure of both the weather and the tourism industry could be the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC’s) monthly statistics on water and electric usage. On May 5, 2010, Billing Clerk Jan Smith reported to the PUC that electric usage was down 515,000 kilowatts in April, contributing to a total drop of 887,000 kilowatts in two months. She […]

Early spring affects winter tourism statistics



Cook County lodging tax income reported so far for the first quarter of 2010 seems to reflect the lack of snow over the winter and the early spring, with the tax bringing in a county average of 2.2% less than the first quarter of 2009. That’s not such a good thing, since January through March of last year brought 17.4% […]