An all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crash in Lutsen just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, resulted in injuries to two women from Victoria, Minnesota. Jennifer E. Barrett, 46, was traveling westbound in the south ditch along the highway in a 2013 Polaris Ranger, a “side-by-side” machine. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the ATV came to a narrow pass and […]
Mailboxes bashed on Brandon Lane
The scene at their mailboxes shocked postal customers on Brandon Lane in Grand Marais on Saturday, July 2. The mailboxes had been vandalized, smashed with some sort of bat or club or hit by a car. Cook County Law Enforcement received a call reporting the damage to mailboxes at the intersection of County Road 6 and Brandon Lane at 5:50 […]
Grand Marais Postmaster Frank Lehto retires
Grand Marais Postmaster Frank Lehto retired after 28 years with the U.S. Postal Service on June 30. Why did he end his career on a Thursday? Lehto said the official reason is because it is the last day of the month. But he added that the day holds special significance for him—40 years ago on that date he entered boot […]
New Superior National Forest supervisor named
Connie Cummins has been named the new forest supervisor on the Superior National Forest. Cummins brings a wealth of experience, including time as the district ranger on the LaCroix Ranger District. She is coming to the Superior National Forest from the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Lakeview, Oregon where she has been the forest supervisor since 2014. Before moving west, Cummins […]
Commissioners get Kaizen report
With the walls surrounding the Cook County Commissioners filled with large sheets of white paper tagged with various colored sticky notes, Judy Hill began a presentation about ways to improve the county’s parcel split process with her newly formed Kaizen Team. Hill, who is the county’s Human Resource generalist, recently led about a dozen employees through a series of strategic […]
County launches new website
Cook County IT Director Rena Rogers had some exciting news for Cook County commissioners at the June 14, 2016 meeting. “Last Friday afternoon, June 10, we officially launched the new Cook County website,” Rogers announced. “And like some counties, we didn’t spend $100,000 to do this.” This new site will allow people to pay property and lodging taxes online as […]
Everybody wins in first Viking Alumni Football game
White team quarterback Miles Drake, Class of 2009, took the snap from center, faked a hand-off and sprinted to his right, getting around the corner before heading up field where two old friends waited to take him down. But as Viking football historians know, Drake was never an easy tackle. Rather than putting his head down and trying to bull […]
Historic Gunflint Lodge has new owners
John and Mindy Fredrickson are the new owners of the iconic Gunflint Lodge. The Fredricksons took ownership from Bruce and Sue Kerfoot on June 15. The couple grew up in small towns in North Dakota, met at North Dakota State, married, moved to the Twin Cities for work and then lived in Atlanta for the last seven years where Mindy […]
Satellite tips
Orbiting the earth, moving swiftly in the night sky—that’s not the kind of satellite I’m talking about. No. I’m talking about the down-to-earth portable toilet satellite found at crowded outdoor activities. Recently I was forced to use these portable restrooms during the Back to the Fifties car show at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. After two days of satellite usage, I […]
Smiles served at North Shore Winery
A fine wine must age for a while before it reaches perfection. And apparently it takes time for a winery to develop as well. North Shore residents have been watching the wooded area near the bottom of the Ski Hill Road in Lutsen for quite awhile, waiting for the winery to come to fruition. And finally, like a fine wine, […]