Telling the board it was long overdue, new District One Cook County Commissioner Bobby Deschampe opened the July 18 meeting by presenting the county board with a flag from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The flag was placed behind Deschampe’s chair and will be a permanent addition to the commissioners’ room. On hand were the Stone Bridge […]
Danna MacKenzie to receive 2017 Community Broadband Hero of the Year Award
Former Cook County I.S./ Communications Director Danna MacKenzie received some good news this week. On Monday, July 17 MacKenzie was notified by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) that she, now the executive director of the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, was the recipient of the 2017 Community Broadband Hero of the Year Award. NATOA honors outstanding […]
County contracts with Lake County for highway engineer services
With Cook County’s former highway engineer Dave Betts departing for greener pastures, the county entered into a short-term contract with Lake County Highway Engineer Krysten Foster to provide engineering oversight until the county can find a replacement for Mr. Betts. On Tuesday, July 18, commissioners voted 5-0 to accept the contract with Foster pending review and approval of Cook County […]
Progress for Public Works building on schedule
Good news, said Eric Johnson to the Grand Marais City Council at its July 12 meeting. Despite the continuous outpouring of rain through June and now into July, work is right on schedule for the city’s new maintenance building. Johnson is the project manager for McGough Construction Company LLC who was hired by the city to oversee the (approximately) $5 […]
Moose Management— Weather
According to the Minnesota Climatology Office, the earliest recorded trace of snow in the Northeast region of Minnesota was on Aug. 31, 1949, which served as a harbinger for the 170 inches of snow that would accumulate during the 1949- 1950 winter season – the most recorded in Minnesota in one season. It was also the highest recorded snowpack as […]
Why are we educating students from Lake County?
I waited for my recent copy of the News-Herald to see what the response would be to the article about township monies to Birch Grove. I was stunned to not see one letter questioning their representatives’ decision to circumvent the law by coming up with a statute that fits their agenda. Really! I have to say I have never been […]
County needs to slow down on spending
Does anyone else find the amount of county borrowing in the form of bonds a bit daunting? Some of what the county had previously paid for with property tax has been shifted to the 1.5 percent in county sales tax. Even so, the county property tax levy has and is projected to rise in double digit increases in a somewhat […]
It’s all about money
For almost three years now I have followed and studied local politics, tax dollars and its practices. That was pointless. In my travels I have found that this county and its people running it including some of the towns have little in the way of any morals or good decision-making abilities. Some are blinded by self-serving ambitions and of course […]
