Photo
On a trip to Grand Marais Jean Brislance came across a small flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding in the mountain ash trees. Said Jean, “Cedar Waxwings have this interesting behavior where they will pass food to each other. I watch this pair pass a berry back and forth to each other until one eventually ate it. They are very social […]
County board approves 2022 levy and budget
Cook County Commissioners approved a final levy of 2.2069 percent at the board’s December 21 meeting. The final levy will be $10,912.424, an increase of $235,623 over the 2021 levy. In addition, commissioners included a 2.5 percent cost of living (COLA) in 2022 for employees. When it came time to set county board salary and per diems, commissioners passed a […]
Conservation Officer Tales
Although the Cook County News-Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are law-abiding folks, there are a few that run afoul of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officers. Periodically, the DNR provides a report of some of the miscreants the Conservation Officers (CO) have encountered. The News-Herald shares these stories as a reminder to all […]
Health officials encourage residents to celebrate safely given the rapidly spreading Omicron Variant
Local officials at Cook County Public Health are preparing for an increase in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks driven by the Omicron variant. Health officials ask community members to celebrate the holidays safely this year with the goal of lessening the impact of the ongoing pandemic. Based on laboratory data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the […]
COVID-19 update
As of December 23, 2021, Cook County recorded 381 case counts of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, but seventeen new cases had been reported in the seven days before December 23, so local health officials are warning residents to take precautions to slow the spread down. To date, there are 4,289 fully vaccinated people in Cook County out […]
Photo
Snow pelted the area this past week, piling up more of the white fluffy stuff on the ground. This latest snowfall gave the area an excellent base for folks who like to slide on sleds, skiers, snowmobilers, snowshoers and everyone who loves to get out and play in the snow. Above, the Coast Guard Light house is enveloped in snowflakes.
I.S.D. 166 approves school levy
The I.S.D. 166 school board held its annual school budget and levy meeting December 16, and approved a 0.89 percent increase levy for 2022. Over the last five years the school board has held the levy pretty much flat. Finance Manager Lori Backlund reported that the Fund Balance was in good shape, with $2,306,725 in the account as of June […]
2022 County Infrastructure Projects
With the 2021 construction season wrapped up at the Highway Department, we are already working on projects for the 2022 season. Projects are slated throughout the county, from Pike Lake to the Gunflint Trail to Hovland and Grand Portage. Beginning west of Grand Marais at Pike Lake is the Pike Lake Road reconstruction project. This has been in the works […]
As I See It
What is science?I am responding to questions posed by the author of an As I See It feature in your publication of December 18, 2021. At issue was COVID 19, and how best to respond to it. From a plethora of questions, I want to address a central one: What is “science?” A Webster dictionary definition of science: (1) Knowledge about the […]