The Tofte Town Board and the Birch Grove Foundation meet every other month on the Monday before the regular township meeting. At the latest meeting on Tuesday, December 6, township and school officials considered a number of issues that come about from owning an aging public building. The Town of Tofte owns the Birch Grove Community Center building, which houses […]
Redesign of “community connection” into rec park continues
The configuration and infrastructure of the trail leading from the Highway 61 sidewalk into the east end of the Grand Marais Recreation Area and down to the marina, called the “Community Connection,” is still up in the air after the park’s engineering consultant, SEH, came up with a design that would cost about half a million dollars. The trail is […]
City council hears golf course report
Jim King and Bob Fenwick, representing the Superior National Golf Course at Lutsen, visited Grand Marais City Hall on Nov. 30, 2011, to give councilors a “points of information” presentation about the 20-yearold facility. King, chairman of the EDA’s golf course committee, said he has already talked with the town boards in Tofte, Lutsen and Schroeder in an effort to […]
Higher Ed hosts open house, meets endowment goal
Cook County Higher Education decided to host an open house on one of the busiest of December days, Saturday, December 3. Higher Ed Executive Director Paula Sundet Wolf knew it was a hectic day. She said that is one of the reasons they decided to open the doors of the Grand Marais campus. “We wanted people to stop by and […]
A devil of a Vikings game
I like to think I am a loyal person, but the Minnesota Vikings put my faithfulness to the test. I want to root for our home team—but it’s hard when the green-and-gold team across the border keeps playing in such an impressive manner. And our Purple People Eaters keep disappointing us. It’s getting so bad that when my husband Chuck […]
Representative Dill on deer feeding
I have received many inquiries from residents about the status of recreational deer feeding in Northeastern Minnesota this winter. There is not a Department of Natural Resources deer feeding ban in effect for Northeastern Minnesota at the current time. In August, the Department of Natural Resources had proposed a long-range plan to ban recreational deer feeding in Northeastern Minnesota to […]
Occupy Grand Marais
My sister and I just left our little breakfast spot. As we ate and sipped our coffees, the conversation about the proposed community center began. Every single patron in the place talked of the frustration with the commissioner(s) and how the taxpayers’ voices don’t seem to matter at all. I think its clear that 90% of the people who live […]
Great River Energy investments may increase rates for Arrowhead Electric
We have come to expect an annual increase in our electric rates from Arrowhead Electric, but for 2012 the AECI board of directors and management may struggle to appease co-op members. Great River Energy (GRE), which supplies power to Arrowhead Electric and 27 other member co-ops, has spent 437 million dollars building a state-of-the-art coal-burning power plant in North Dakota. […]
Should hospital levy be capped again?
By now property owners have received their proposed property tax statements for 2012. I am sure no one is happy about the increases. Once again, a major portion of the increase comes from the North Shore Hospital and their ability to levy whatever amount in taxes under “Special Taxing District” they care to with no limits and no apparent oversight […]