County commissioners choosing less expensive desk lamps
County commissioners will be getting new desk lamps, but they will not cost $3,278.81 as originally anticipated. Nine lamps costing between $35 and $125 each will be purchased, and Commissioner Jim Johnson will be paying for his own. Some time ago, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja requested that the county replace the compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) recessed into the ceiling above the […]
City council authorizes attorney to enter pool fracas
Grand Marais City Council authorized its attorney on Aug. 31, 2011 to begin talks with Burbach Aquatics in an effort to resolve an ongoing legal dispute that precludes the city from taking part in a proposed multi-million-dollar community center project. Council’s vote follows similar action taken by the Cook County Board of Commissioners a week earlier during a joint meeting […]
Freshwater jellyfish discovered in Lake Saganaga
On Sunday, September 4, Marco Manzo III was out for an early morning swim. Manzo, of Sagonto Resort, swims in Lake Saganaga often, so he was surprised, even perplexed, to see six jellyfish, two of which he caught. Now Manzo has seen frogs and fish and minnows and tadpoles and otters and moose and ducks and loons swimming, even the […]
Hedstrom named president of Forest Resource Coalition
About one year ago Howard Hedstrom and James Bibler were talking about the sad state of the timber industry. The picture was grim. Nationwide, sawmills were closing. Loggers were out of work, and federal forests were seemingly managed more for fire than cutting. “I told James that if I were 10 years younger I would start a political organization and […]
See you on the ground
As I write this week’s Unorganized Territory, I can’t help thinking about the landmark anniversary our nation is facing. The publication of this issue of the Cook County News- Herald is September 10. Just one day before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The significance of the day will never be lost, but this year the heartbreak of that fated day […]
Empty promises from politicians
This presidential election is beginning like all the others regardless of our party choice. The candidates spurt the same ol’ fist-shakin’ jargon, the same boilerplate speeches this country has heard over and over again. The most popular rhetoric today is about getting America back to work…ya think? Is it too much to ask that politicians mean what they say? Their […]
Community needs broadband
I would like to respond to Tod Sylvester and Bob LaMettry’s letters in your Saturday, August 6 issue about fiber optic/broadband. If Cook County, and Grand Marais in particular, are to survive, fast accessible broadband is a necessity. I accept that people who choose to live in isolated communities often resent “townies” and tourists, but the lack of economic opportunity […]
God provides?
Responding to Gerry Cheney’s letter of Sept 3, hucksters claim results without evidence. So why be so quick to claim that “30 people got free from some addiction” without the experience of abstinence over some period of time? I suggested a year as a goal to verify success of this religious intervention. Your letter with admission of struggle and failure […]