Residents of the county awoke to snow covering the ground on Friday, October 27. Snow started to accumulate on Thursday evening up the Gunflint Trail and other places inland off of Lake Superior. White flakes fell through early Saturday, often driven by wind gusts up to 50 mph, which made driving and walking hazardous. Snow accumulated at various depths— from […]
Two bear cubs rescued from dumpster
Imagine the surprise of Cascade Vacation Rentals Employee Bara Raah when she went to empty her trash in the dumpsters at the CVR campus, and she found a bear cub trapped inside. It was 7:31 a.m. on Wednesday, October 25 when Raah made her discovery. A hungry mother bear and her two cubs somehow got through the two bear bars […]
Arrowhead Indivisible asks school district to address racial bullying policy
Pat Campanaro, a concerned citizen and a spokesperson for Arrowhead Indivisible, a local group with over 200 members, addressed school board I.S.D. 166 at the board’s October 26 meeting held in Grand Portage. Campanaro came with a group of about a dozen sign-wielding people who were there to let the school board and administration know that the recent racial bullying […]
Weathering winter—
County road maintenance operationsWith the advent of each Minnesota snow season comes the concern about access to school, work and business during snow and ice events. The safety and convenience of the traveling public is a key concern of the Cook County Highway Department. The goal of the Highway Department is to have all county roads passable within a reasonable amount of time […]
“The Golden Goose”
Did you happen to catch the October 21, 2017 Star Tribune article, “In Minnesota lake country, cabin owners shoulder a big share of property tax burden,” written by John Reinan? Reinan pretty much identified “the golden goose” when he divulged that Cook County ranks number one among Minnesota’s 87 counties when it comes to the percentage of property tax revenues […]
Does the county really need a Pictometry machine?
Your October 21st article entitled “County board talks about bonding for projects” was most informative. Without it I suspect we would have never known that they intend to spend a quarter of a million dollars on a “Pictometry machine,” a marvelous device that uses a “patented aerial image capture process that produces imagery showing the fronts and sides of buildings […]
Writer asks commissioners not to do anything to permanently increase the base of the budget
The following comments are the last three paragraphs of a three-page letter I sent to the county commissioners and administrator after the administrator’s property tax presentation at the Hovland town hall. The presentation, in my view, was a largely unconvincing rationalization for an already decided course of action. What to do? Start with the one thing not presented as an […]
North Shore Federal Credit Union donates $2,000 to Ruby’s Pantry
Ruby’s Pantry recently received $2,000 from the North Shore Federal Credit Union. It is a gift that will be shared by the folks who can benefit from it the most. It’s been almost three years since Ruby’ Pantry came to Cook County. Ruby’s Pantry requires a church sponsor for each site, and Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church agreed to […]