Flooring frustrations as YMCA is finished
The Cook County Community YMCA swimming pool has water in it and a punch list of final tasks for the new facility is being addressed, Wade Cole of ORB Management reported to the county board on December 18, 2013. He anticipated receiving a certificate of occupancy from the state no later than December 30. “This is a very busy week. […]
Sheriff Mark Falk not running for re-election—
two deputies announce candidacyOn December 12, 2013, Cook County Sheriff Mark Falk made an official announcement that he will not be seeking re-election in 2014. Two of his deputies have since announced that they will be running for the position of Sheriff, Pat Eliasen and Leif Lunde. Falk said he would be retiring from law enforcement at the end of his term in […]
No tax increase in city’s 2014 budget
Grand Marais taxpayers got some good news Dec. 11 when the city council decided to make minor adjustments to the preliminary 2014 budget, resulting in a zero percent levy increase. City Administrator Mike Roth explained that by increasing the projected revenue income for the city’s Rec Park in next year’s budget, the 2.94 percent property tax levy increase approved in […]
County levy to decrease in 2014
On December 18, 2013, the county board set its 2014 budget and levy. They were able to decrease the levy by $4,213 from 2013, coming at $6,104,890 with $513,241 to be taken out of the county’s fund balance. The board had worked with department heads throughout the fall to keep the budget down as much as possible. Starting in 2014, […]
Care Center staff committed to high standard of care
As staff of the Cook County North Shore Care Center, we would like to address the recent article Department of Health Cites Deficiencies at Care Center. The article contained many excerpts from the Summary of Deficiencies documentation written by the Department of Health, following the annual survey that was completed on September 26, 2013. We recognize the issues outlined in […]
Santa and Jesus embody love, compassion and giving
I, for one, would rather put my faith in Santa Claus and Jesus Christ. Both embody wonderful human attributes such as love, compassion and giving. Evolution’s Survival of the Fittest has no place for such niceties. In addition to this obvious problem with Darwin’s theory, if one were to use the amazing tools of science and objectively look at the […]
Consider other uses for municipal pool building
We have an existent building, the Municipal Pool, right? A building with infrastructure in place. But— come January, the pool is drained? It cracks—becoming useless? Then, sometime later maybe, the…building is demolished as well? So that it’s a “throw-away”. Hmm… Or…couldn’t fish species be raised and sold upon the marketplace? Or, indeed, a “fish tank” become fished as a tourist […]
Volunteer and learn that there is no Smart Growth conspiracy
In response to Nick and Carol Burger and anyone else harboring conspiracy theories regarding Smart Growth America, such claims are about as far from truth as one can get. To suggest that those who volunteer their time and effort toward a better community are unwittingly supporting an attempt to undermine local decision making is an insult, and deserves an apology. […]