The August 21, 2014 meeting of the ISD 166 school board began with Facilities and Transportation Director Tom Nelson reporting on final preparations taking place prior to the first day of school. The upcoming week will be his staff’s busiest time of the year. He and his staff successfully completed a mock Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection. Nelson […]
Boaters stranded on Gunflint Lake overnight
Two young boaters were rescued at 9:38 a.m. on Tuesday, August 26 after being stranded on the north side of Gunflint Lake overnight. According to Cook County Law Enforcement, the two young men—Anthony James Tidgwell, 18, of Maplewood, MN and Jesse Lee Ritzer, 17, of Stillwater MN, had rented a 16-foot black Lund boat with a 20-hp motor from Gunflint […]
DNR concerned about wolf incidents in Grand Marais
Living with the chance of wolf encounters is nothing new to Cook County residents. However, in recent weeks an apparent increase in the number of incidents involving pets and livestock has caused the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to establish one “wolf control zone” and to consider setting up another. DNR Conservation Officer Darin Fagerman said a wolf control […]
Struggle to stretch 1 percent funds continues
The county board had serious discussion with Community Center Director Diane Booth regarding what to do with the yet-uncommitted funds from the 1 percent sales and infrastructure tax on August 19, but ended up tabling the matter because it was still waiting for the final tally of expenditures from ORB Management, the county’s general contractor on the Grand Marais Library […]
Let’s build a pyramid
I am excited by the revived biomass project but disappointed by the low jobs figure. We can do better. A similar use of local resources and a 25-year contract coupled with higher spending is sure to result in more jobs. For that I suggest switching from biomass to rock-mass. We have the material for a pyramid. Let’s build one. Egyptian […]
If only candidates concentrated on issues
If only Ms. Silence and I could influence the “politicians”! It would be refreshing to view and read only truthful political ads and statements. Interestingly, once a week, our Austin, Texas newspaper publishes a column titled, True, Partially True and Pants on Fire. It reviews several timely political statements that appeared in the newspaper that week…I don’t know who determines […]
Tansy and thistle better than chemicals
In letters over the past month, Greg Koschinska, board president of Sugarloaf: The North Shore Stewardship Association and local environmental advocate/ educator Molly Hoffman have been embroiled in a somewhat heated discussion. Sugarloaf has been defending and promoting the use of herbicides, while Molly has questioned the proliferation of herbicide use by Sugarloaf. I’m going to side with Molly on […]
Think globally—act locally brings more government control
In June of 2005 an international conference was held called World Environment Day. The conference was the full implementation of the UN’s Agenda 21 policy and sustainable development. This time the targeted audience was the nation’s mayors. They were going straight to the root of American society. Think globally–act locally. Two documents were presented for the mayor’s signatures. The first […]
Back-to-school cool
Just about everyone I’ve talked to in the last week has bemoaned the fact that summer is nearly over. The weather this year has not been kind to us on the North Shore. After the brutally cold winter that seemed would never end, things never really warmed up. We only had a few days of hot weather. More than once […]