On Christmas Day, a day when you never want to get coal in your stocking, a little extra coal to burn in the fireplace or woodstove might not have been a bad thing to add to the fire. Christmas Day saw temperatures drop to minus 17F on Bernice Howard’s outside thermometer. Officially, the low temperature for Grand Marais was 18 […]
Century Link telephone service down temporarily
Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s phone lines were down for a short time on Tuesday, December 26 because of a problem with Century Link telephone service. 911 emergency calls to Cook County Law Enforcement were also off line until about 10 a.m. when most phone service was restored. The temporary outage was believed to be caused by a failed switch in Duluth. […]
DNR seeks comments on sustainable timber harvest analysis
Time is running out for the public to comment on the Sustainable Timber Harvest Analysis issued by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) December 1, 2017. Folks have until January 8 to get their comments to the state. Last year Gov. Mark Dayton instructed the DNR to increase annual timber sales from roughly 800,000 to 900,000 cords, with an […]
Chamber explores bringing workers to Cook County
Even with the current status of J1 and H2B visa programs local employers can’t always find enough workers to fill jobs at peak tourist times in the county. What then, will happen if Congress cuts quotas for both of these visa programs and foreign workers can’t be recruited to the county as they have been in the past? Who will […]
Christmas story from the Gunflint Trail
Christmas Day on the Gunflint—cold, clear, and beautiful. Minus 16 F last night, now minus 14 with a stiff wind putting the windchill at minus 40, but the sun shines timidly through a haze of ice crystals. Blown snow eddies about in dervishes dancing down the lake, casting the far shore into dark, silhouetting the ridge of white pines, their […]
Property tax levy affects those living on a fixed income
Looks as though seniors living on Social Security will again be disregarded for 2018. The much anticipated two percent raise in benefits will again precisely match an increase in their monthly Medicare Part B insurance premium. Three of the last four years saw a very minimal benefit increase, with each annual increase exactly matching the added premium for Medicare Part […]
Writer asks county to cut back
The County of Cook does not have a taxation problem, it has a spending problem. People are certainly taxed enough, more than enough. Government is not your mother; it is not your father or even your friend. By its nature, it takes away resources and freedom. Your spending can easily be reduced by 20 percent or much more per year. […]
Hidden away
When my wife Renée’s father passed away some 16 years ago, her older brother began removing items from the family home. Tucked away under her father’s bed was discovered an old brown Moroccan leather violin case enshrouded in a thin layer of dust. Upon further inspection, the small portable case, exhibiting a simple beauty of outline, was found to house […]
City conducts short meeting
Grand Marais city councilors held a brief meeting on Wednesday, December 27 and approved a final 2017 levy collectible in 2018 upon the taxable property in Grand Marais. Council had agreed to set the levy at 3 percent over the 2017 levy at the last meeting. For 2018 the city will levy $933,671.76. The levy breaks out this way: Revenue, […]