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Grand Marais woman prepares for project in Haiti



Judy Siegle of Grand Marais will be packing a bag and heading to Haiti in November—not for a vacation, but to join a crew building homes for families in the storm-torn region with the Jimmy and Rosalind Carter 2011 Work Project. Each year the Carters spearhead a project with Habitat for Humanity. This year the goal is to build 100 […]

Lives Remembered



Catherine H. Helgeland, 67, of Manitowoc, Wis., died September 14, 2011, at her residence. She was born Aug. 2, 1944, in Rockford, Ill., daughter of lifelong educators Thomas C. and Louise (Kintzel) Horrall. She grew up in Rockford and Grand Marais. Catherine was a graduate of Rockford West High School, and received her BS and MS in geography from the […]

No more getting lost



It looks like my “getting lost” days are over. I received a wonderful (at least I think it may be wonderful) gift a couple of weeks ago. I opened the box and found a GPS. You know, a global positioning system. I read the instructions and found that it “provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to worldwide users on […]

Historical Reflections



As the Pagami Creek forest fire begins to be contained, it seemed appropriate to share this impressive photo from the Fire of 1908, along with a historical excerpt about the fire from the Cook County Historical Society archives. …By early Sept. 1908, rain had not fallen since the 10th of July, some two months previous. The woods were tinder dry. […]

Down Memory Lane



10 Years Ago · Sept. 24, 2001 The county board of commissioners firmly rejected the idea of removing snow from Highway 61 should a predicted state worker strike extend into winter. Cook County Highway Engineer Chuck Schmit appeared before the commissioners on Sept. 18, asking if the board would authorize county workers to take on the job of clearing, salting […]

County Highway Department looking at facility project



The Cook County Highway Department facilities study is under way. On September 20, 2011, the county board approved an agreement with Braun Intertec for geotechnical borings and evaluations needed to assess the potential costs of new facility site grading and foundations. The proposal states, “As requested, we propose to drill 10 standard penetration test borings for the project, extending them […]

Trends in elder services hitting Cook County



People in the know can be found here and there throughout Cook County if you just know where to look. North Shore Hospital Administrator Kimber Wraalstad found one of them and invited her to speak to the hospital board on September 15, 2011. Gayle Kvenvold is president and CEO of St. Paul-based Aging Services of Minnesota, Minnesota’s largest association of […]

Breaking Bread



I don’t think I cried more in one day ever than I did on 9/11/01. From the minute I turned on the TV that morning until I finally fell asleep late that night I had tears streaming down my face. I had just left my job in May to stay home with our three children, Ben then one year old, […]