At the last county board meeting we were treated to the plans of the 5 million jail proposed by Wold, a firm whose business is designing and supervising the construction of guess what? Jails. These plans were developed after Wold had been commissioned to study whether we need a new jail or not, which is a lot like Hershey doing […]
Chamber announces Great Place Project for 2019
Applications now are being accepted for the sixth annual Great Place Project, community program of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce Foundation, executive director Jim Boyd has announced. The Great Place Project began in 2014 as a partnership between the Cook County Chamber and Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s Moving Matters program. It continues as a program of the Chamber Foundation. Deadline […]
Promises of spring and newness, seen again
Maybe you, like me, can tell when the winter is getting toooo-long. We start scanning roadsides, filled with mid-thigh-deep snow, hoping to see some signs of changes in the color of willows, or hoping to see signs that signal that the promise of spring is given again this year. Out and about this week, I found myself doing just that: […]
George Francis Maruska
George Francis Maruska passed away peacefully at St Mary’s/ Mayo hospital in Rochester, Minn. on February 26, 2019 from a debilitating disease. George was born on October 6, 1950 in Detroit Lakes, Minn. to George and Lillian Maruska, the third oldest of eight children. He attended Holy Rosary School and graduated from Detroit Lakes High School in 1968 where he […]
Historical Reflections
The Midway Texacos, winners of the grade-school basketball championship, posed for this photo in the March 9, 1961 News-Herald. Shown, front row from left, are Greg Smith, Dwane Smith, Gary Zimmerman and Jack Oullis; in back are Fritz Sobanja and Harry Peterson. If you know who is standing next to Harry, please call us or stop in at the newspaper […]
Down Memory Lane
10 YEARS AGOMARCH 7, 2009 After five hours of interviews and discussion Feb. 23 regarding which of two superintendent candidates to hire—Cook County High School Principal John Engelking or Sawtooth Elementary Principal Gwen Carman— the School District 166 school board is without any candidate. Engelking was offered the job but turned it down after accepting a superintendent position with the […]
911 Redundancy solved: emerging technology meets partnerships
Cook County had a big problem: reoccurring 911 outages. More than an inconvenience for residents— when 911 is compromised it puts the safety of citizens, law enforcement officers, dispatchers, emergency responders, as well as regional security at risk. With an international border in our jurisdiction and a limited amount of law enforcement scattered across a huge geographic area as well […]
Lodging taxes up every month for 2018
Tourism continues to be the engine that drives Cook County’s economy. Proof of that is in the 2018 lodging taxes collected by the county. All 12 months in 2018 exceeded every month in 2017, netting the county $1,689,961.64 in revenue in 2018 versus $1,511,931.58 the previous year, or an 11.8 percent increase over 2017. The three months with the biggest […]
School board notes for February
Long time chemistry and physics teacher Al Heine gave notice that February 25, 2019, would be his last day at school. Lately Al has been working as a para in the school. He had to take an extended three-year medical leave due to health issues. Superintendent Dr. William Crandall said, “Our kids have benefited from being in front of him. […]