County approves contract with ORB Management for 1% projects
Tom Wacholz and Kim Barse—the two owners of Orb Management of Alexandria, MN—met with the county board Tuesday, February 15, 2011 to talk about what their firm could do for Cook County as it gears up for several projects to be funded by a 1% county sales and use tax. The board discussed a consulting agreement ORB had drawn up […]
EDA: advertising approved, invoices denied
Apparently tired of waiting for the county to take action on its plan to hire an independent consultant to review operations at Superior National at Lutsen golf course, the Cook County – Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) and its golf course committee have decided to proceed with advertising—and the potential hire—of a general manager for Superior National. The county […]
Council hears positive report from North House Folk School
Greg Wright, executive director of the North House Folk School, visited Grand Marais city councilors Feb. 9 to present his annual report. After all, he said, the activities are taking place on city-owned land leased by the school, so it’s only right that council knows what’s going on. And, said the director, there are a lot of things going on. […]
Slow down for night skies
I love the ride up the North Shore on Highway 61. Not always, of course. Like anyone else, I don’t enjoy the drive when the fog is so thick you can barely see the front of your vehicle. And driving at turtle speeds on slippery winter roads wears me out. But when the weather is right, the cruise up our […]
Republican support of Patriot Act is duplicitous
Politicians took an oath when sworn in to uphold the Constitution. The roving wiretap, authorized by a provision of the freedomkilling Patriot Act, is expressly forbidden by the Constitution. It is illegal search and seizure, plain and simple. The extension of three questionable provisions of the Patriot Act failed to pass the required 2/3 majority of the House last week. […]
Support from “Team Rosie” is appreciated
My aunt is Rosie Johnson. I am sure most everyone in Grand Marais knows her story so I won’t repeat it here except to say she is staying strong and recovering well from her traumatic brain injury. I have been keeping up on Rosie’s amazing progress—thanks to my uncle Bruce’s updates —on www.caringbridge.org. It was there I learned that Grand […]
Stimulate economy with increased minimum wage
While debates about how to promote jobs and economic growth while tackling the deficit have dominated the political conversation for the past year, an effective strategy for boosting the economy without increasing government spending or adding a dime to the debt has been largely ignored: raising the minimum wage. Some will argue that we cannot raise the minimum wage now […]
An economic freedom index
In response to Carl Fritsch’s question, “How can Canada have more economic freedom than the U.S.?” For over a decade, The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation have tracked economic freedom around the world with the Index of Economic Freedom. Since 2009 the United States has dropped behind Canada. Take a look at the figures: 2011 Ten Economic Freedoms […]