Lake Superior’s Ice


Have you seen the ice? The smoothness stretching almost endlessly? The smoothness which, when the sun pops out, becomes a blindingly bright reflector of the 93 million-miles-away yet still so powerful light filled rays. Have you seen it? Ice? Rays of sun? Glinting back into sky and vision? True, we’ve had a stretch of snow filled, wind-blown, dang-cold weather—but look […]

Janice Anderson

Janice Anderson, 82, Two Harbors, formerly of Tofte and Bloomington, died peacefully on Friday, February 22, 2019 at her daughter’s home after a battle with cancer. Janice was born August 7, 1936 to Sever and Hulda (Korpi) Mattson in Hinckley and graduated from Two Harbors High School in 1954. Janice was married to Raymon Anderson on August 20, 1955 and […]

Robert (Bob) Nicholson III

Robert (Bob) Nicholson III, 69, passed away peacefully but unexpectedly at home on February 25, 2019. He truly enjoyed his new home, friends, and neighbors since moving to Grand Marais in 2014. He will be missed by many. His family is planning a private ceremony in the spring.

Join other parents dedicated to walking and biking to school


We need you to lace up your sneakers and join our new parent-led “Walk and Roll Wednesdays” team to encourage more walking, biking and carpooling to our schools. Our goal is to create a safe biking and walking culture by encouraging green travel every week through promoting “Walk and Roll Wednesdays” beginning March 13. We hope to teach our children […]

Indoor gardening classes to be offered


Winter Seed Sowing for Native Plants: You don’t need an expensive greenhouse to start many plants in the winter. Come and learn an easy way to begin native plant seeds in a plastic container that is put outside and uses nature to start your seeds growing when the time is right. This is a great way to start plants for […]

March happenings at the Care Center


The days are getting longer, and the residents are anxious for spring. In the meantime, we have been having fun indoors with craft projects, music, and a lot of intergenerational activities in February. It’s a joy to see the interactions of the elders with the children who come to visit the Care Center. I happened to overhear a conversation between […]

Historical Reflections

Glenn Larsen of Grand Marais believes this photograph was taken by Milford Humphrey in the early 1950s. The aerial photo shows the old air strip, which was used infrequently before development of the airport on Devil Track, near the present-day site of the high school campus just north of the village of Grand Marais.

Down Memory Lane

10 YEARS AGOFEB. 28, 2009 Several weeks after Cook County Veterans Service Officer Dale Tormondsen tendered his resignation upon accepting a full-time job elsewhere, the county board approved advertising for his replacement. Tormondsen will continue serving county veterans for the time being. After at least 60 years of free television reception, is Cook County being left in the dust of […]

Staff are a significant part of the equation



Qualified staff are necessary to deliver the vast array of services that citizens depend on and expect from their county. Staff costs (wages and benefits) make up half of the county’s operating budget. In 2016, for the first time in at least 30 years and at the request of several employee groups, the county contracted with Keystone Consulting to conduct […]

Motions approved by the Cook County board Feb. 26 meeting


• At the recommendation of the Cook County highway department, commissioners made a resolution authorizing the county engineer to apply for a Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) application for Fifth Avenue West in Grand Marais. The reconstruction project is targeted for 2021. The county intends to work with the city of Grand Marais to get this much-needed road improvement done. […]