Biggest Loser favorite comes to Surfside to launch Fitness North



Fans of the Biggest Loser reality TV show on NBC know O’Neal Hampton and his daughter, SunShine. The fatherdaughter duo not only lost a total of 290 pounds during their time as Biggest Loser contestants, they won the hearts of the viewing audience. O’Neal was voted the Biggest Loser season nine fan favorite. The Richfield, MN team now travels the […]

A Porch Sofa Almanac:

A book about life in Minnesota

In his book A Porch Sofa Almanac, Peter Smith captures life in Minnesota in 60 fun essays that run about 325 words each. Each essay is a story unto itself and thus the book can be read in short snippets, or can be digested whole in about two hours. Topics run the gamut from golfing to ice fishing, changes in […]

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Luncheon to feature KaBOOM!

X-ceptional Marketing and Y You Should Care

Lisa Dinzeo Hiebert from the Better Business Bureau will present KaBOOM! X-ceptional Marketing and Y You Should Care at the Cook County Business Network Luncheon in Grand Marais on Wednesday, Oct. 27. The Cook County Business Network luncheon (formerly the Women’s Business Networking Luncheon) is sponsored by Cook County Higher Education and the Women’s Business Network at Northeast Entrepreneur Fund. […]

Branding your business workshop



If you ask many business owners what is their brand, they will say “our name, our logo.” While it’s a good idea to brand your company name and logo, you need to have clear messages of who your company is and what you promise to deliver to your customers. In this half-day interactive workshop instructor Nicole Wilde will identify opportunities […]

Ice skating begins Oct. 23



TheCook County Community Center will begin open indoor ice skating on Saturday, Oct. 23 from 1 to 7 p.m. There will be some new ice skates available for rental this year as well. Cost to skate is $2 per time up to $10 for a family. Skate rentals will be $1 per time. Indoor ice skating schedules will be available […]

This is not St. Louis Park



About 25 years ago, my wife and I bought a home 30 minutes west of the Twin Cities. It was nestled between dairy farms and at the end of a gravel road. Thelonger drive to work seemed worth it. Over the next five years, several more “city people” built on our dusty country road. Much to the irritation of the […]

Missed vote on referendum equals a no vote



In just a few short weeks, we will have the opportunity to support our school district, ISD166, by voting YES for the school levy. Over the past several years, there have been statewide reductions in the school portion of our property taxes. This tactic may look good to some constituents when candidates run for statewide political offices, but it has […]

Agendas for city not hidden



Theagenda of Mark Sandbo for mayor and Bob Spry for councilman is not hidden. In fact, their accomplishments and savings to the taxpayers are on record for all to see. During their four years in office the mayor (Mark) and council (Bob and others) were able to increase the tax base from $86 million to $126 million and decrease the […]

Watch for hidden agendas



I bought the October 16th issue of the Cook County News-Herald to read more about the Grand Marais mayoral candidates. What’s of interest is the information couched between the lines or simply omitted altogether. For instance, while listing all of his past accomplishments, Mark Sandbo neglected to mention that during his last tenure as mayor, he gave the go-ahead to […]