County commissioners have been inundated with opinions about the proposed new community center to be built with Cook County’s 1 percent sales and use tax. Recent community meetings led to concerns about whether the county can afford to maintain the new facility when its school and hospital are facing serious budget challenges. A small crowd gathered in the county commissioners’ […]
Library preparing for temporary move and construction
ORB Management placed its construction trailer and a large sign about the library renovation on the Grand Marais Public Library lawn this week, so the town is buzzing. “We are charging ahead with moving plans,” said Library Director Linda Chappell. The School District 166 school board has said the library can temporarily move into the district office and Jane Mianowski […]
Help coming for Pike Lake Road – as soon as possible
Property owners along County Road 45 – the Pike Lake Road – are wondering why the road is so bad and why the Cook County Highway Department isn’t fixing it. At the Tuesday, May 24, 2011 county board meeting, Highway Maintenance Director Russell Klegstad said he has been getting calls from people who leave angry voice mail messages about the […]
School board wrestles with cuts
As the ISD 166 school board wrestles with declining enrollment and uncertain funding, district employees are advocating to keep their fellow teachers employed. At risk at the May 17, 2011 school board meeting was a portion of Spanish teacher Kristin Carlsgaard’s job. Carlsgaard appealed to the board to not take the fourth year of Spanish away from the high school […]
Don’t sell, just ask for donations
I think people should donate money directly to the local school band instead of buying bulbs etc. from what I call a “scam company.” These band members work so hard selling these items and a great percentage of the money goes to the company that offers the items. My bulbs were tiny like marbles. One year I had frozen oranges, […]
Night skies no longer pristine
Being the insomniac that I am, sometimes my dog Oscar and I go outside late at night. A lot of people come here to live in a pristine environment. Leave the city, move to the country. I love all of the big spruce and red pine trees on our property, but the backdrop at night is: Although it’s supposed to […]
Compassion of Grand Marais citizens appreciated
To the citizens of Grand Marais: I am Joshua Jorgenson’s aunt and godmother. I have visited Grand Marais many times to visit Josh and his family, and have always been appreciative of the natural beauty of this town. When my brother Gary and his family moved to Grand Marais, I was worried about how they would adjust. Gary has five […]
Community Center steering committee out of touch
Here is my letter to my county commissioner, Jim Johnson. Please contact your county commissioner with your thoughts on the project either way. Jim, I am one of those people who find the scale and scope of this project stupid on top of stupid. There are so many concerns and so many details the majority of the community is not […]
No businessman would make the Community Center investment
The county commissioners are poised to impose upon us, at taxpayers’ expense, an $11,000,000 “community center.” Some of the facilities to be provided will duplicate and/or compete with existing private businesses and accommodations. Its construction will destroy recently built tennis courts, skateboard park and playground. There is a community center in Grand Portage that is lightly utilized and not self-sufficient. […]