In fits and starts, the pursuit of a new Cook County community center in Grand Marais continues. The county board, which holds the 1 percent sales-tax-funded project purse strings, voted April 17 to continue exploring initial concept ideas and cost estimates for attaching a facility to the west wing of the Cook County Schools complex. They put a cap of […]
City council votes to proceed with new zip line plan
Grand Marais City Council put plans for a new zip line on the fast track April 11 with unanimous approval to appraise and negotiate the sale of 20 acres of cityowned land off the Gunflint Trail for development of a $750,000 enterprise. Matt Geretschlaeger, whose proposal last month to build a zip line adjacent to a residential area at the […]
Lots of tracks on Devil’s Track Road this summer
Phase II of the Devil’s Track Lake Road (CSAH 8) reconstruction project is going to cost way less than the amount the Cook County Highway Department had expected to pay. The engineer’s estimate was just under $2,010,230, but on April 17 the county board awarded the project to Ulland Brothers Inc. with a bid of $1,206,450. “We received excellent bids […]
Judge rules for Forest Service on travel management plan
A process begun in 2006 to create a travel management plan (TMP) to designate which forest roads and trails will be open to cars, trucks and off-highway vehicles in the Superior National Forest may be closer to becoming a reality—unless the three environmental groups opposed to the plan once again seek to overturn the Forest Service plan in the courts. […]
Earth Day every day
Cook County is a great place to live. Our citizens are an interesting bunch. Always ready to argue about something—the community center, the golf course, property taxes, religion, or what lake is best for fishing. But also always ready to come to a neighbor’s aid when help is needed. Liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, if your car slides off […]
Love is in the air for grouse
I don’t know if the grouse population is going up or down this year, but there sure was “love in the air” this morning – April 15, 2012. We hiked a section of the Superior Hiking Trail and within the first hour, Sheelagh, our Gordon Setter, had pointed and (because it’s not hunting season) flushed six birds. There was one […]
Research more than candidate’s religion
I too would like to know the “code of ethics” that a candidate has (Letters, April 14) but to use a candidate’s religion as the test can be very misleading. For example, many of the candidates claiming to be Christian speak loudly against gay marriage, contraception and abortion, subjects about which Jesus said nothing and yet are oddly silent about […]
Church work does not have to be secular
In reply to the Geri Jensen letter of April 14. Am I to understand that if a church decides to step outside its doors to help those in need it should lose all control of how its money is spent? That is what we pay taxes for and if the needs aren’t being met and individual Christians join together to […]
Suspend moose hunt until numbers rebound
I get that the 11 parties unable to use moose permits because of last year’s Pagami Creek fire should be allowed to hunt in 2012. I understand why DNR employees involved with the moose hunt would like to hold onto their jobs and those involved in studying the moose population decline wish to continue to receive funding. It seems obvious […]