The 2010 Cook County D.A.R.E. graduation was held on Friday, May 21 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. Chief Deputy Leif Lunde congratulated the students for completing the DARE curriculum and announced some exciting news about the DARE poster contest. Entry in the poster contest is voluntary, but all 52 of this year’s DARE students entered. Lunde was happy […]
Emma Smith is finalist in PBS Writers Contest
WDSE PBS-8 saw a record number of entries in its 2010 writing contest. Thisyear 5,112 children from 40 area schools submitted entries in the PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest. In mid- April the finalists were announced. Among them was Sawtooth thirdgrader Emma Smith with her story Greg and the Race! Emma was one of the many students in Lorelei Livingston’s […]
Free books for kids stress positive traits
Local six-year-olds have recently received a beautifully bound gift book about positive character-building traits entitled My Favorite Book. The illustrated book is full-color and organized into multiple stories concerned with teaching positive citizenship values to youngsters. The core traits covered include the importance of family, taking personal responsibility, kindness and compassion, cooperation, honesty, gratitude, self-respect, and respect of others. The […]
Small wind rebates for homeowners now available
Rebates of up to $10,000 are now available from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security (OES) for Minnesota homeowners who install qualifying small wind turbine systems. Reservations are available on a firstcome, first-served basis. The Minnesota Small Wind Turbine Rebate for Residences provides financial support for the installation of small wind turbine systems completed after July 1, […]
Cross River Heritage Center hosts June 4 opening party
Visit the Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder for an opening party June 4 at 6:30 p.m. The Schroeder Area Historical Society is celebrating the opening of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police art exhibit and local photography of Kathy Gray-Anderson and woodworking of Ron Krueger. The new publication Schroeder Area History..as shared by those who lived it will also be […]
Walk-It 5K Challenge from Weight Watchers
All past, present, and future Weight Watchers, life members, friends, and supporters are invited to join the local “Weight Watchers Walk-It 5K Challenge” on Wednesday evening, June 2. The 5K walk will start following the weekly meeting. The usual weigh-in is at 4:30 p.m. and the meeting begins at 5:00 p.m. Anyone who is not a current member is invited […]
Guest lecture series at Higher Ed focuses on engineering challenges
Cook County Higher Education’s next Guest Lecture series is Engineering as a Profession: Current Status, Future Needs and Challenges on June 8, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm, with refreshments. Hyla Napadensky will present the topic and lead the discussion, which will emphasize how the current shortage of engineers may present economic and security risks for our nation. At American universities […]
Respected band teacher inspires kids
After attending the Cook County Schools band concert on May 19, I just had to make a public statement of gratitude to a wonderful teacher. Bill Tormondsen has been teaching kids for decades. In contrast to the often heard “kids these days” rant, he told the audience that kids had not changed in all his years of teaching. He said, […]
No lights, just repainted trafficlanes
I enjoyed Rhonda Silence’s Unorganized Territory last week about streetlights at various intersections. I was the one who started the discussion. I talked to the county highway department about the intersection at County Road 7 and Highway 61. Coming from the west at night, with no moon or when it is foggy, you have a hard time seeing where to […]
Elect a governor who wants to be governor
Like most of you I’ve spent the last few weeks enjoying the early spring, getting our garden in and finally catching fish on the opener. But while I was at home this year, our Minnesota Legislature was down in Saint Paul fighting for us. Thecharge was led by Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Margaret’s opponent was a governor who long ago […]