Grab your helmets and winter gear because the coolest snowmobile event hits the trails on Saturday, February 10, kicking off the 2018 fundraising season for Easter Seals Ontario. Once again, the Thunder Bay Snowarama for Easter Seals Kids will head south of the border to Grand Portage, only 45 minutes from Thunder Bay, attracting snowmobilers from across northwestern Ontario and […]
Grand Marais considers Dark Sky initiative
Astro-tourism might someday be coming to Grand Marais. A committee has been formed to study what it would take for the city of Grand Marais to achieve an international Dark Sky Community (IDSC) status, said Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux at the city council’s Dec. 12 meeting. What is a Dark Sky community? According to the IDA website, “An […]
Commissioners hold 2018 organizational meeting
On Tuesday, January 2 the Cook County Board of Commissioners held their annual organizational meeting, finalizing the levy and divvying up board assignments for each commissioner. Ginny Storlie was elected board chair for 2018, with Myron Bursheim elected vice chair. Following the election, board chair Jan Sivertson passed the gavel to Storlie, who ran the rest of the meeting. Commissioners […]
Sign-up for Fisherman’s Picnic spots in the Rec Park goes well
Last year Randy Nemitz was second in line to sign up for a prime camping site in the Grand Marais Recreation Park. This year the Zimmerman, Minnesota resident figured he would be first in line. He and his 14-year-old son, Matthew, left Zimmerman around 9:30 p.m. the night before and arrived at the park office at 1:30 a.m. All to […]
Do you know where the county gets its money?
While the recent property taxpayer survey would seem to indicate that most folks believe the county gets all its money directly from people’s pocketbooks, it is a little more—note, I said, “a little more”—entangled than that. Among the many survey respondents, there were those who suggested the source of county revenues be explained, and perhaps adding flow charts and pie […]
Thinking of EJ Croft
When I was in second grade one of my father’s lumberjacks spent a week at our house taking a vacation from the woods. EJ didn’t have enough money to take a real vacation, but he wanted to rest, read and play the piano. We had plenty of books, an extra bed and my mom had a piano, so EJ was […]
Tax refunds available
Did you know that you could still get a refund for your 2017 property tax? You have one year from Aug. 15, 2017 to file for a refund. If your total property tax for 2017 was 12 percent or more than your 2016 tax, you can get a refund. Also, if you had low-to-moderate- income in 2017 you can get […]
Concerned about the loss of net neutrality
I am concerned about the loss of net neutrality. This is a loss of our constitutional right for a free press. Now is the time to enlarge our news sources to avoid having the sanitized versions, only. We must be willing to face our fear of being fooled, read, listen and watch a variety of sources for our news. It […]
More fundraisers needed
My proposed property taxes in 2018 went up $700 from 2017. I called the county auditor. We spoke about my property; it had not been assessed for a while. The price doubled and the levy was going up. Is this justifiable or are they just trying to pull the wool over my eyes? They say they want to pay for […]