As the Arrowhead region dug out after yet another blizzard, the 2014 Cook County Emergency Services Conference opened at the Cook County Community Center on Friday, April 26. Emergency Management Director Jim Wiinanen noted that it was “Severe Weather Awareness Week” and joked, “Looks like we complied!” Welcome and thank you to emergency responders County Administrator Jay Kieft also welcomed […]
County sets after-the-fact fees for unauthorized construction
Tim Nelson, Cook County planning director, presented final recommendations from the after-the-fact (ATF) fee committee to the county board on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. Commissioners adopted the fee committee’s recommendations. Under the new rules, a permit to build up to a 600-square foot structure will cost $100; an ATF fee is $200 with a variance ATF Fee of $500. A […]
GreenStep meeting held
“GreenStep cities is a tool and process for helping cities plan for changes and challenges in the 21st century. Unfortunately many cities planning for the future are using 20th century models,” said Bill Mittlefehldt, the state energy coordinator who oversees the GreenStep program for nine northeastern Minnesota counties. Mittlefehldt was addressing about two dozen people who attended the April 28 […]
Open school campus for lunch debate continued
On par for this long winter, the April 24, 2014 ISD 166 school board meeting was once again held on the evening prior to a snow related closure of school on Friday. Noah Warren, Cook County junior class vice president, addressed the board during the community comments portion of the meeting. Warren spoke to concerns of student drivers speeding during […]
Large turnout for West End affordable housing meeting
“On the issue of affordability of single family homes, 83 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied,” said West End Cook County Commissioner Bruce Martinson to a group of about 50 people who attended an information and strategy session on affordable housing and buildable lots in the West End of the county. Martinson was referring to a […]
Entrepreneurs in the loop
It was nice to see our community in the spotlight for positive reasons last month. It is amazing that rural Cook County had not one, but four community businesses in the running for the Annual Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards Program. According to the UMD Center for Economic Development (CED), the Labovitz award is given to recognize business owners who […]
The Cosmic Conflict
I’m writing in response to Jake Hjorth’s letter in the April 26 News- Herald. My intention is not to enter into a debate over what the Bible says, or what we think the Bible says, but to suggest consideration of an alternative perspective of the Bible narrative that focuses on a “bigger picture” scenario that has been largely overlooked throughout […]
Daily walleye limit not the same for all
I recently expressed in a letter to this paper my concerns about the Fond Du Lac (FDL) Band’s plans to spear spawning walleyes in lakes in our area. That is still a great and imminent concern that everyone should wake up to and speak up about before we potentially face the same lack of walleyes that Mille Lacs Lake and […]
Government officials can be bullies
In a public setting on Easter, citizens listened as a female school board member informed a voter that a male elected official who did not vote her way must have a very small penis! Are male students referred to in this way? Could a male elected official talk of a female elected official’s private parts in public and still hold […]