Help needed to save Sawtooth mural on co-op building
It’s not too late to save the Sawtooth Elementary mural. This was the word at a public meeting to discuss building plans for the Cook County Whole Foods Co-op in Grand Marais on August 21. The future of the mosaic tile renderings of the four seasons on the north wall of the co-op, labors of love by several years’ worth […]
EDA asks county board for budget and levy increase
Citing five years of successful grant writing resulting in $1.75 million in funding for commercial and residential building rehabs, representatives of the Cook County-Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) Housing Program have asked the county board to approve a budget increase of almost 43 percent for next year. On August 21, EDA board members Mark Sandbo and Mike Littfin and […]
Some lodging establishments to lose seasonal resort tax status
Owners of some Cook County lodging establishments may be paying a lot more in property taxes starting in 2014—people like Scott Mehlhaff and Chris Holland-Mehlhaff, owners of Best Western Superior Inn and Suites in Grand Marais, who were notified last year that their taxes would be going from just under $39,000 to over $96,000. The reason for the big jump […]
Tofte Township pursues housing for seniors
Steve Greisert, of Community Partners Research, Inc. (CPR) came before the Tofte town board on Thursday, August 9 with results of an analysis for rental housing demand for seniors in the Tofte area, and based on that study he recommended the board support a proposal by a private developer to build a senior rental complex. The board hired CPR early […]
Look past the cell phone towers for peace
The announcement on August 22 that the Minnesota Supreme Court would not review the Minnesota Court of Appeals decision regarding the construction of a communication tower near Ely—and near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)—was met with equal parts angst and applause. Ely Mayor Roger Skraba and Lake County officials praised the lower court’s earlier ruling allowing AT&T to […]
Reject nonsensical political preaching
In 1802 Thomas Jefferson wrote to a Baptist church group that there must be “a wall of separation between church and State.” He might have said, “a wall of separation between religion and politics”! Ever since the founding of the United States religion and politics have at times clandestinely walked hand-in-hand and at times dated. Recently they have gone so […]
How does U.S. spending compare with others?
I thought others might be interested in the following information: A country by country financial comparison for one year, 2011, in U.S. dollars. GDP = Gross Domestic Product = all spending in each country. GDP per capita = the average GDP for each person in the country. Annual GDP per capita of the United States…$46,380, population 315 million. Annual GDP […]
Can we live without it?
It’s not possible for appreciation of the new Grand Marais Civic Center to run deeper than the depth I feel. I call the project the GM Center because that’s what it is, though I politely thank the promoters for calling it a county venture as a way of getting funds from the county’s outlying areas. That kind of thoughtfulness is […]