Cook County 2020 budget timeline


The county budget and property tax levy will be discussed at a majority of the upcoming county board meetings. The county board meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 8:30 in the Cook County courthouse. Meetings are open to the public and agendas are published the Thursday before the scheduled date for the meeting. If you […]

Know the rules of the new “Hands-Free Law”

The hands-free bill becomes law on Aug. 1, 2019, requiring that drivers use their cell phones only with the aid of a hands-free device or by using a voice-activated method while driving. What does “hands-free” mean? Voice activated and hands-free uses are defined by Minnesota Statute 169.475 subd. 1c as, “attachment, accessory, wirelessly paired or tethered capability, application, wireless connection, […]

Junior Legion wins/loses


Cook County Junior Legion has been playing a lot of baseball as of late, getting ready for Junior Legion Sub-State playoffs. Om Wednesday, July 24 the young team from Cook County faced a very experienced squad from Brookston, and Cook County fell 15-5 in five innings. Many of Brookston’s players were on South Ridge’s high school state qualifying team this […]

Holmen wins USATF 50-mile Trail National Championship


Growing up in Grand Marais, Drew Holmen loved to play hockey and baseball in school, running cross country in the fall only to get in shape for those two sports, but as he got older Drew traded his hockey skates and baseball glove in for a pair of running shoes and the rest as they say, is history. On Saturday, […]

Mike Prom to take on head football coaching duties


Longtime volunteer assistant football coach Mike Prom will be the Vikings head football coach this fall. Prom will take over for Bryan Carpenter, who has taken a new job that will not allow time for him to continue coaching. Carpenter only had one year as head coach, but for many years he was an assistant football coach for the Vikings. […]

PTSD –Save the heroes


John Schaefers has spent a lifetime taking wildlife photography, and now he has compiled 70 of his best pictures into a book that he hopes will help those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “Getting out into nature has helped me,” Schaefers said, a Navy veteran who watched his only brother, age 26, take his life when John was […]

Local students learning to be safer bicyclists


This past year, local third-grade students from Sawtooth Mountain Elementary and Great Expectations schools learned how to be safer, more confident bicyclists through the Third Grade In-School Bike Education Program. Students receive safety and skills instruction and practice in the classroom, gym, and on the street using a fleet of bicycles purchased with grant funds for the program, sponsored by […]

Zapping Mosquitoes


If you don’t live in the north, it’s hard to understand how severe the Minnesota “bug season” can be. To begin, people who hail from gentler climes have a hard time comprehending our cold weather. We Northerners like to think of ourselves as tough. When people from gentler climates ask, “How can you stand forty below?” I answer “Pfft. No […]

It’s “hats off to the fur trade” at the annual Grand Portage rendezvous


Load up your canoe and prepare to embark on an historical adventure! August 9th through the 11th marks the annual Rendezvous Days and Pow Wow at Grand Portage. Voyageur songs, Ojibwe drums, and Highland bagpipes mix as the Montreal canoe brigades, native peoples, fur traders, and North West Company partners gather for their annual rendezvous and traditional Ojibwe pow wow. […]

Brave Girls & Wise Women coming to the library


Grand Marais Public Library is pleased to present Brave Girls & Wise Women with Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux on Monday, August 5 at 1 p.m. Join Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux for a storytelling adventure and hear how Tatterhood battles a band of trolls, Manka solves impossible riddles, and Vasalisa dares to knock at the witch’s door. Daring heroines reclaim fairytales as fierce, […]