City council hears concerns about building height restrictions
During the public comment period, John Gorski came before the Grand Marais City Council with concerns about city planning and zoning laws that potentially allow buildings to be built much taller than the city’s 30-foot height restriction. The meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Gorski, who said he had been out of town for awhile, came […]
B2B trail planning session held at CCHS
An evening meeting to gather further public input about a proposed 400-mile border-to-border backcountry scenic byway for licensed all-wheel/ four-wheel drive vehicles was held in the high school cafeteria on Tuesday, Feb. 20. About 30 people attended the information gathering session where the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sought feedback about Cook County back roads that would potentially connect […]
Moose population low but stable
Results of the January 2018 aerial moose survey by the Minnesota DNR indicate that the Minnesota moose population in northeastern Minnesota remains stable, but there are no signs the numbers will return to the 2006 estimate of 8,840 anytime soon, if ever. This is the seventh year in a row the numbers of estimated moose were low, according to the […]
Leah Phifer pays a visit
On Friday, February 16, some 65 people turned out to hear 8th District DFL candidate for Congress Leah Phifer speak at the Wunderbar in Grand Marais. Phifer spent about one hour laying out her views on a wide range of topics, and then spent another hour talking individually with the public. Following the announcement by Rick Nolan that he would […]
Blanket collection under way
After reading Sarah Hamilton’s letter I couldn’t stop thinking about the families at Pine Ridge Reservation. What could I do? Well I have two or three blankets we’re not using. I bet most people have at least one blanket they could give up. So I decided to collect blankets. We will have a box at the Community Center and will […]
What will become of the DACA children?
Recently I had the opportunity to see what awaits the USA raised children who, under present executive order, will be returned to Mexico starting in March. Some 800,000 children brought, for the most part, by their parents as very young children. First was Megan, a 16-year-old teenager in San Miguel working as a desk clerk in a B and B. […]
Heart of the matter
As I watch the ABC evening nightmares of the latest school tragedy in Florida, my heart goes out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy. People will wonder why or how this could happen; people will want to blame gun lobbyists, others will want to blame politicians for not having stricter gun control laws, some will want to blame […]
Same headwaters, different rivers
Several companies, including Twin Metals, PolyMet, and others that aren’t as far along in the process toward production, want to open the state’s first copper-nickel mines. They would be located in the headwaters region west of Cook County where pure waters flow into three great watersheds. The article “Forest Service Moving Forward with Environmental Assessment…” in the February 3 paper […]
Compensation Study— Part I
Ever wonder how Cook County, as an employer, measures up to other comparable counties in the state when it comes to compensating its employees? This was something that was debated among commissioners when I first came on board in 2013. It became a key focus when hiring our first county administrator in October of that same year. Due to the […]