Trump team is scandalous

To the Editor: The current administration is a scandalous one. Trump and his cronies are enriching themselves with money and power to the detriment of the country. Their playbook is right out of the 1920’s. The Republican administration (1921- 1924) of President Warren G. Harding was rife with scandal. His administration was full of crooks that took bribes and kickbacks. […]

Intellectual honesty


When it comes to just about any topic, it seems as if the public discourse is dominated by rhetoric, statistical noise or just flat out propaganda: people pushing and shoving for prominence in the public square or on the printed page. How quickly objectivity is obscured when it threatens to undercut this “messaging” and the “image” that is being pawned. […]

Bob Svaleson exemplifies community service

About three years ago while watching a Duluth area local news program, they had a segment on replacing the sheriff ’s building in Cook County. I could not believe what I was hearing since there was no discussion of that topic in Cook County and besides, the current building looked new. A public discussion of the topic started maybe 18 […]

Cook County DFL Issues Letter of Support for Michael Garry for City Council

At the September Cook County DFL Central Committee meeting, the central committee members residing within Grand Marais unanimously issued a Letter of Support for Michael Garry. Garry has lived in Grand Marais for 10 years and has been active in Grand Marais city government serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission for five years. He also volunteers for the DFL […]

To our community in support of Myron Bursheim

Dear neighbors: We believe that our future must be based not on partisan division and hatred, but on Cook County’s tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, honoring our mutual need and decency. We believe in working together to build a prosperous community. We believe that prosperity and peace arise from inclusion and respect. We believe that our young families, known for […]

Desperately needed change

Cook County voters have several choices this coming November for local representation. In recent years, we have seen near total failure of our county board to responsibly safeguard the relatively fixed financial resources of those of us who pay taxes in our tourist-driven economy. Fortunately, we finally have a competent and capable option; her name is Stacey Hawkins and I’m […]

Weekly Weather

It is time to focus on goodness


“Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his bee-yard.” Doesn’t sound familiar? Not in the Bible, you say? You are right, it is not Biblical. I am just paraphrasing Isaiah 5:1, which is part of the Old Testament reading appointed for worship on Sunday, October 4. As many readers know I have been trying my hand at bee-keeping […]

John David Avery

John David Avery died in his home on September 12, 2020, after a lengthy illness. John was born in Nirvana, Michigan, on August 21, 1938, to John M. and Goldie R. Avery. John entered the army and served three years in Germany and Iceland. In 1963, he married Connie Jackson in Baldwin, Michigan. John began a career with the U.S. […]

Cook County Chamber’s Fall 2020 Business Health Survey


With roughly 20 percent of the county’s businesses responding to the Cook County Chamber’s Fall 2020 Business Health Survey, there was a mix of good news and bad news. While 40 percent of the businesses reported revenue of 100 percent or more over 2019, 40 percent said revenues were 80 percent or less when compared to last year, and 20 […]