On Tuesday, December 17 the Cook County Board of Commissioners gave Esten Nelson approval to build a 60’ by 160’ foot pole building (9,600 square foot) structure that will be used for storage and recreational vehicles on his land near the Ed Thoreson gravel pit on the Devil Track Lake road. Some of the space will be rented for storage. […]
Commissioners table decision on POTUS refugee resettlement order
Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken came before the Cook County commissioners on December 17 to discuss the President of the United States (POTUS) executive order on refugee resettlement. Hicken said that prior to the president’s September 26, 2019, Executive Order, consent by local governments before a refugee could be resettled in its jurisdiction was presumed. Now, said Hicken, because of […]
Operation Family Christmas once again a success
Underneath the Christmas trees of many families’ homes this year were presents donated by people participating in Operation Family Christmas. Call it the Christmas spirit; call it an expression of love. For organizer Jes Rodne, she calls the annual outpouring of generosity from the community nothing short of amazing. “It was another successful year in the books for Operation Family […]
Stauber secures reappraisal of Thye-Blatnik
On December 20 Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08) announced that the U.S. Forest Service will reappraise the value of federal lands within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which determines how much Thye-Blatnik funding that St. Louis, Cook, and Lake counties receive annually. All three counties learned that they would receive substantially less money from Thye-Blatnik because of the way the […]
Lily Gruber-Schulz co-captains Thunderwolves basketball team
It seems like yesterday that Lily Gruber-Schulz was in a Viking uniform playing basketball for the Cook County High School Vikings. As a high-scoring, fierce defender and a strong rebounding guard/ forward, Lily was one of the few Viking girls to score over 1,000 points in her high school career. She achieved that milestone in a game against Ely on […]
Girls fall to Moose Lake/ Willow River
Sophomore forward, Rhonnie Poyirier made five two-point field goals and was three of four from the free-throw line to score 13 points to lead the Vikings in a tough loss to the Double-A Moose Lake/ Willow River basketball team. The game was played in Willow River on Friday night, December 20. After a sluggish first half, which saw the Vikings […]
Cook County I.S.D. 166 starts the process for an athletic hall of fame
Cook County High School will soon honor noteworthy athletes and teams through an athletic hall of fame. The school board approved the project on December 19. A hall of fame board has been organized through donations to the athletic fund. Current I.S.D. 166 assistant principal and activities director Mitch Dorr made the presentation to the school board. He noted that […]
I’m so glad we had this time together….
The day has come for my final column and radio show. I say this with very mixed feelings. After writing more than 300 columns, a book, and working on two radio shows, the time has come to make a change. As of January 1st, 2020, I will be signing off the columns and the air. I truly loved this work, […]
Canoeing in December
A snowy frigid Saturday evening might seem an odd time to strap a canoe to your car or load it in a trailer and entertain dreams of gliding down rivers or paddling across lakes. But that was what Toni and Charlie Koch of New London, Minn., were doing Saturday, Dec. 14, in Grand Marais. Back in August, Toni and Charlie […]
Winter wonders of the night sky
You may not realize it, but today is longer than yesterday, and yesterday was longer than it was a week ago. We turned the corner on day length with the passing of the winter solstice on December 21, before Christmas. From now until the summer solstice in June, days will do nothing but grow longer and longer, and our noontime […]