School board passes motion to attach YMCA to the school
On Friday, October 5, 2012, the School District 166 school board met in special session and passed a motion to attach the Cook County Family YMCA to the school pending approval of a purchase agreement with Cook County and a public hearing regarding the closure of the school’s west wing. Presented at the meeting was a draft shared services agreement. […]
Forest Lake couple found dead near capsized canoe
A couple from Forest Lake, MN set out from the Sawbill Lake entry point of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on October 3, planning to spend a week in the wilderness. Unfortunately, Thomas Pineault, 55, and Cynthia Pineault, 51, perished in the cold water of Alton Lake, just one easy portage away from Sawbill Lake. A church youth group […]
County approves community center contracts with school, city, and YMCA
Building a community center on the west wing of the Cook County Schools complex is coming closer to fruition with the county board approving three vital contracts at its October 9, 2012 meeting. The other entities involved in the contracts had yet to sign the agreements. Purchase of building from school The board approved an agreement to purchase the west […]
Candidates share concern about future of hospital
The mission statement of the Cook County North Shore Hospital is “Community Access to Compassionate Care.” The five members of the hospital board work to fulfill that mission at the facility that has 16 critical access hospital beds, 37 skilled nursing beds, a home health agency, ambulance service and a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic services. The hospital board has […]
Harbor plane lowers property value
Autumn has officially begun and with it the season of hope—the hope that the noise from the de facto “airport” in our harbor—and associated airspace (over my house and probably yours) will mercifully be coming to an end. It would appear that two seasons of noise have fallen on deaf ears (so to speak). The mayor and council apparently aren’t […]
Voter ID requirements would hinder voters, cost taxpayers
Requiring voters to show a valid government-issued I.D. to vote sounds like a good idea…until you think about it. Do we really believe that voter impersonation is a huge problem in Minnesota? Do we know of anyone who went to the polls on election day only to discover that another person, pretending to be them, forged their name and stole […]
An ELCA pastor’s response
Last week’s News-Herald included a paid advertisement by an out-of-state individual proclaiming that readers should “vote yes” on the constitutional amendment to define marriage. It singled out the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as “not having core Lutheran beliefs” and demanding that we “should not defile and function as a Lutheran church.” According to the North Dakota Secretary of […]
Vote yes for God-ordained marriage
Vote yes for God-ordained marriage in November! How has Satan, the Prince of Deceit, the Father of Lies, persuaded people to believe that wrong is right and right is wrong? Just as he tempted Eve in the Garden (can’t you just hear his oily voice?): “Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” assuring […]
Vote no to fear and bigotry
My gay and lesbian friends, my partner, and I thank our heterosexual allies for support in opposing the proposed constitutional ban on same sex marriage in Minnesota. Thanks for the “VOTE NO” letters, signs, t-shirts, donations and your vote against the proposed limiting amendment. We are heartened by the help. But people need to hear from us too. We are […]