Starting Wednesday, May 13, the Grand Marais Public Library will provide the Cook County community access to over 20,000 books, audiobooks, DVDs, and magazines through a limited pickup window service. Library patrons are encouraged to place requests on Grand Marais’ holdings via the online catalog today. When the order is ready, staff will contact the patron with instructions for picking […]
Schroeder Township sets road and townhall projects
Bids are being solicited seeking a contractor to repair two culverts this summer on the northern end of the Sugar Loaf Road. Schroeder township officials made the decisions to replace two culverts and to also make repairs on the Schroeder townhall at their April 14 meeting. Peter Borson, a local Schroeder contractor, will prepare cost estimates to remodel the kitchen […]
Short term rental tax rate reverts to 2019 rate
Unable to wrestle with the newly proposed legislation for short-term rentals, the senate passed a two-year moratorium on class rate changes. Which means, said Senator Tom Bakk, “Seasonal rec from 2019 will be frozen in that class for tax years 2020 and 2021.” Both Sen. Bakk and Rep. Rob Ecklund carried a bill to the floors of their respective legislative […]
Tardy hired as temporary Cook County Highway Engineer
A retired former Cook County Highway Engineer has agreed to accept a temporary contract to replace Krysten Foster. Foster left to take a position with the State of Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). Michael Tardy, who served as the cook county highway engineer from 1988 to 1992, has agreed to step back into his old role on a temporary basis […]
DNR’s Ray Ruiz shares fishing tips for beginners and experienced anglers alike
Anglers can find fantastic fishing opportunities all across Minnesota. Wherever you are, chances are there is a lake, river or stream nearby with fish that can be caught. But what if that fishing pole in storage has caught more cobwebs than fish? Worry not, help is on the way from Ray Ruiz, an angler who loves to catch fish close […]
Minnesota DNR releases infested waters list
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently released its 2020 statewide Infested Waters List of waters that contain high priority aquatic invasive species. In Cook County there are a dozen lakes and a couple of rivers infested with spiny water fleas. Those lakes are: Caribou (in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, just west of Pine), Devilfish, Devil Track, Flour, […]
Photo
While he and his wife Rhonda were out 4-wheeling last Saturday, Butch Schulte stopped to take a photo of the boat launch at Thompson’s campground on Devil Track Lake. “There is still some ice on the lake, but it won’t be there for long,” said Butch. With Minnesota fishing opener taking place this weekend, most of Cook County’s lakes will […]
Who hit the farthest home run ever?
Greg Tofte tells a story about his family and the Netland family getting together to play baseball. “We had nine kids in our family and the Netlands had ten kids in their family, so we had enough players to make teams,” he said. Growing up in Tofte in the 1960s, kids had to make their own fun, and Greg said […]
Singing wolves
This column is dedicated to the memory of my mother. She was born in Siberia and had many exciting stories to tell. One was the experience of wolves following her father’s sleigh. I believed it as a child, but as I got older, I became skeptical. I’m sorry I was. I now have my own list of wolf stories and […]
Too young for a gun
I’m taking down the few remaining Posted signs around our place. The other few have already fallen down or disintegrated over the years, falling into litter in the leaf duff. This is no great welcome mat for the steelhead fishermen. I have seen banks on the Kadunce and Devils Track rivers eroding from heavy boot traffic. Along the honey holes […]