10 Years Ago • July 2, 2001
Most of the items sold on June 21 at Hedstrom Lumber Company’s Two Harbors auction went for less than expected, which was good news for those buying, but less than great news for Hedstrom, who closed the Two Harbors mill in mid-February. Everything from trucks to oil filters, hand tools and larger ticket items like an industrial planer were let for bid.
A helicopter used for firefighting suffered some type of mechanical failure June 23, and was landed by the pilot in a boggy area near Greer Lake in the Quetico Provincial Park, north of Basswood Lake in the BWCAW. Neither of the two men in the aircraft was injured. The large whirlibird — a Sikorsky sky crane — sank in the bog, and as of yesterday was still mired in the muck, though lots of effort was being made to free it so that another sky crane could lift it and fly it to Ely.
20 Years Ago • July 1, 1991
LTV Steel Mining moved two steps closer to reopening its Taconite Harbor power plant last week. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency citizen’s board okayed a previous staff recommendation to approve water quality permits at their monthly meeting. This followed closely another staff recommendation approving air quality standards. The citizen’s board will review the staff air quality recommendation at its next meeting. If it votes to agree with the staff and also denies a petition filed by a coalition of six environmental groups seeking a formal hearing, the 225-megawatt plant would be permitted to start regular operations.
After a considerable amount of wrangling over the size and scope of the proposed community center building, Cook County commissioners voted unanimously to support the project. The first phase of the project has been budgeted at $557,000. Nearly half the amount, $250,000, is expected to come from IRRRB funds. Cook County is scheduled to contribute $160,000; the city will provide $45,000; the University of Minnesota will chip in $15,000; the curling club will give $3,000 plus 2,000 man-hours of labor; and $84,000 is unidentified as of yet, although other groups have also volunteered labor.
50 Years Ago • June 29, 1961
It is a beehive of activity on the new relocated Highway 61 between Grand Portage and the Pigeon River these days. In addition to the Canadian crew doing the bridge construction over the Pigeon River, five other crews are busy with their work. The local telephone company is laying the huge cable, the guard rails are being built, rock-crushing, graveling and blacktopping are being done on the highway, and the state highway crews are tree planting in areas bordering the highway.
Grand Marais has long planned and waited for a swimming pool, and now it has one. Granted, it is a private pool, but it is available to the public under certain conditions. The pool has been constructed at Tomteboda, and is 20 by 40 feet, with a depth of 9 feet at its deepest point.
The lilacs have burst into bloom. The twin flowers, wild lilies-of-the-valley and partridge berry blooms carpet the forest floor. It would appear that the dry spring will eliminate the possibility of a blueberry crop — as a consequence, we may have more bears looking for a tidy tidbit.
90 Years Ago • June 30, 1921
Sunday afternoon the local fans were treated to a 10-inning game of baseball between the Grand Marais Tigers and the crew of the Coast Guard boat Cook. The Lindskog brothers were pitcher and catcher, respectively, for the Tigers, and the ball game was closely contested all the way through. The sailor boys are very good ball players and the local fellows did not come out victors without a lot of effort.
Word reached Grand Marais last Friday of the death of John G. Howard. He died suddenly, after spending the day in his office. He had been in poor health for some time, but his sudden demise came as a shock. Mr. Howard made many trips to Grand Marais and spent several years exploring in the northern part of the county.
Monday night at the weekly business meeting of the board of managers of the Cook County Automobile Club, five new members were accepted.
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