Higher property taxes hurt second homeowners



This letter was also sent to the county administrator and Cook County commissioners If the proposed 2018 Cook County tax statement I received recently is a joke, I am not laughing. My property value went down 6.2 percent but my proposed taxes went up 32.3 percent with little or no detailed explanation as to why. What am I missing here? […]

The Ninety-Five Theses



It’s been five hundred years—although it seems like yesterday—since an energetic 33-year-old Augustinian friar, Martin Luther, is said to have approached the main entrance to the Castle Church of Wittenberg Germany to hammer a list of grievances to its gargantuan doors. Dubbed the “ Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” more commonly known as “The Ninety- Five Theses,” […]

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Weekly Weather



Appreciation, a discipline of faith



It was an unseasonably warm first Sunday of Advent, and we heard an unseasonable reference to the branches of a fig tree becoming tender, putting forth its leaves and giving us a sign that summer is near. (Mark 13) But Jesus wasn’t talking about the seasons; he was guiding the disciples to be aware of the signs of God’s will […]

Howard R. Alton Jr., “Bob”



A life well lived, age 90, of Wayzata, Minn., passed away peacefully of natural causes at his home in Wayzata on December 3, 2017 surrounded by his loving family. Preceded in death by his parents, Howard R. Alton Sr. and Vera Boehmke Alton, and his sister Barbara Alton Fox. Survived by his wife, Camilla Ann Alton, his children Ann L. […]

House passes Nolan bill to facilitate Superior National Forest Land Exchange



On November 28 the U.S. House of Representatives passed U.S. Rep Rick Nolan’s bill, H.R. 3115, the Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act, which finalizes a long-awaited land exchange in northern Minnesota between the U.S. Forest Service and PolyMet Mining. The exchange – approved earlier this year by the Obama Administration’s U.S. Forest Service after undergoing seven years of scrupulous […]

Historical Reflections



Down Memory Lane



10 YEARS AGODEC. 7, 2007 Just in time for the season’s first big snowfall, Grand Marais city councilors took action Wednesday to facilitate snowmobilers’ travel around town. At the request of Dick Parker of the Cook County Snowmobile Club, council considered and approved two items. The first was to author a letter of support to the Department of Natural Resources […]

City council discusses 2018 levy



Mike Roth, the city administrator, led a discussion about the proposed Grand Marais 2018 budget at the city council’s November 29 meeting. The city council has been looking at a proposed levy of 8-9 percent for 2018, but Roth said there might be ways to lower it. The board must set the levy before January 1, 2018. Revenue generated by […]