2020-04-18 E-Edition

Fire destroys three downtown Grand Marais businesses


Black and gray smoke filled the downtown area on Monday, April 13, 2020, as flames engulfed first the Crooked Spoon Café, and then the two gift shops on either side of it, Picnic & Pine and White Pine North. Nate Hingos, the owner of the Crooked Spoon Café called law enforcement at 1:19 p.m. to report a fire in the […]

Anna Deschampe selected as new Chief of Interpretation of Grand Portage National Monument

Grand Portage National Monument Superintendent Craig Hansen recently announced Anna Deschampe as the new Chief of Interpretation. Anna currently works for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Interpretive Services Program as a Park Naturalist at Grand Portage State Park. She will assume her new role in late April. “I am pleased to welcome Anna Deschampe as the new Chief of […]

COVID -19 Personal Protective Equipment arriving through Grand Portage


A shipment of 500 KN-95 respirators, urgently needed to protect healthcare workers from COVID- 19, arrived in Grand Marais on Wednesday, April 15. This was the first time Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has arrived in the U.S. through the Grand Portage border crossing. “It took a tremendous amount of cooperation, goodwill, and coordination to get these respirators here,” said Frank […]

Cook County Recycle Center COVID-19 drop-off guidelines

Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Mondays; and 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. on Thursdays. Due to COVID-19, social distancing, and the need to keep staff and the public safe, the Cook County Recycle Center asks you to abide by the following guidelines: Take time to refresh your knowledge of the “Recyclable Materials Accepted” below. Pre-sort your recyclable materials prior to arriving […]

County extends COVID-19 state of emergency resolution for 30 more days


Following a wise old saying, “Safety first,” on Tuesday, April 14 the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to extend the county’s March 17 COVID- 19 resolution declaring a state of emergency for an additional 30 days. The vote came on the heels of a report from the Cook County Emergency Manager Mike Keyport requesting the 30 day extension […]

Photo

Wearing one of the personal protective equipment (PPE) masks his company makes, Frank Imsdahl stands by one of the many boxes of PPE’s he and his wife Cindy donated to healthcare workers at North Shore Health. Frank said he and a partner in China made and sold coffee filters for ten years. He mentioned they could convert the company to […]

Draw close to God, with a caveat

No doubt about it. Troubling times prompt people to draw close to God for needed strength and comfort and hope. If trust in Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, or any of the hundreds of other gods worshiped worldwide gives one an added boost of endurance and a means of coping during our lengthy, frightening, and frankly mind-blowing COVID19 pandemic, wonderful! Who can […]

Our house is on fire

Trump and Republicans across the United States are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic that they have exacerbated to weaken democratic institutions, throw elections into chaos (Wisconsin), threaten your mail (see Trump’s “no aid for the Postal Service), bludgeon international organizations (Trump tries to scapegoat the WHO instead of admit his culpability), further stack courts with unqualified or downright partisan […]

Evolution appears to be hard at work

In our government’s quest to provide personal protection gear for our heroic medical professionals, perhaps decision makers should be thinking a bit more out of the box…or more to the point, out of the bra. Every piece of this common woman’s apparel item could provide two dandy facemasks. Even the manufacturers of athletic supporters might offer some type of suitable […]