Concerns about spear fishing for spawning walleyes



The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa plans to spear spawning walleyes in small lakes in Northeastern Minnesota this spring. The U.S. Supreme Court, in 1999, upheld their right to hunt, fish, and gather in the territory they ceded to the government. However, the court did not say that they could spear or gill net walleyes during the […]

EPA gives Polymet EIS draft favorable rating



Polymet Mining Corporation’s controversial proposed open pit copper/nickel and precious metals mine near Babbitt cleared a major hurdle when it was notified on March 14, 2014 that it had received an EC-2 rating from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the company’s NorthMet Project supplemental draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EC rating stands for environmental concerns. A second […]

Weekly Weather



John Saxhaug to work with local Firewise program



John Saxhaug has been contracted to work with Cook County’s Firewise program, Emergency Management Director Jim Wiinanen has announced. Saxhaug is a part-time resident of Cook County living at his cabin in Lutsen. He is a graduate forester, conservation professional and native of northeastern Minnesota. “I have a great affection and interest in the area, its land and people,” Saxhaug […]

Gifts remembered



On my dresser sits a small, intricate container that was given to my grandmother by a visitor from China. My mom was just a baby, unaware of the stranger who held her and shared a common joy with the mother she would lose too soon. Grandma died when mom was only 5 years old, but already she had given mom […]

Palmer Erling Westerlind



Palmer Erling Westerlind, 83, passed away at Cook County North Shore Hospital on Friday, March 21, 2014. Palmer was born July 17, 1930 in Bismarck, North Dakota, the fifth child and first boy of Victor and Albena Westerlind of Mercer, North Dakota. He attended grade school in Mercer and worked on the family farm until he joined the U.S. Marine […]

Ice cutters assist vessels on icy Great Lakes



As the Great Lakes shipping season began, there was a bit of excitement as huge vessels could once again be seen off the Lake Superior shoreline. The Presque Isle, a cargo vessel was anchored near Grand Marais on Wednesday, March 26, stationary for quite awhile raising concerns for those on shore. Noting that the ship hadn’t moved and looking at […]

Woman, infant uninjured in pickup crash by Durfee Creek



A Grand Marais woman and her infant were uninjured in a single-vehicle accident about 10 miles north of Grand Marais near Durfee Creek at 4:14 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. Sierra Lanning, 20, was driving east when the 2001 Dodge Ram pickup left the roadway and ended up on its side on the lakeside of the highway near mile […]

Historical Reflections



Down Memory Lane



10 Years AgoMarch 26, 2004 Two Wisconsin snowmobilers went through the ice in the narrows on Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. According to the sheriff, a 22-yearold man was able to jump from his snowmobile and pull himself to safety onto the ice as he watched his friend, 38, hit open water […]