Cook County News Herald

Down Memory Lane




10 Years Ago · Jan. 15, 2001

This coming June and early July, the Minnesota Shakespeare Project is mounting the Minnesota Shakespeare Festival in Grand Marais. It is projected to be an annual event and the signature early summer draw to the North Shore. The festival is set to include 11 days and nights of theater plus workshops and spin-off activities. Why Shakespeare? Shakespeare festivals are proven cultural tourism draws. They happen everywhere from Alabama to Wisconsin, and in a variety of settings.

The Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority voted unanimously to sell the North Shore Business Incubator building which sits on the corner of the Gunflint Trail and Highway 61. Who, exactly, will be the buyer is yet to be decided. The EDA’s attorney said the sale of the building is legal, and very few restrictions apply.

20 Years Ago · Jan. 14, 1991

Sheriff John Lyght’s attempt to collect $3,120 in overtime pay for himself and $3,086 for chief deputy Dick Dorr hit a snag when the county commissioners agreed that an elected official is not eligible for overtime. Lyght, Dorr and other deputies worked overtime last summer during the Rainbow Family’s huge reunion in the Lutsen area. Lyght’s hours, and those of his men, were worked under agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. A bill was sent by Lyght to the Forest Service and was paid by check on Nov. 30, made out to the Sheriff ’s Department. Two deputies were paid about $7,000 overtime, but Lyght and Dorr were not.

The Grand Portage Reservation Business Committee is in the process of developing an industrial park site near Red Rock that will house a chipper mill in its first phase. Funding of the $700,000 project was obtained through a HUD Community Development Block Grant, with the majority of funds coming from Grand Portage RBC tribal funds. Full operation of the mill is anticipated in late April.

A record number of black bear were harvested by Minnesota hunters during the 1990 bear season, according to the DNR. And despite the record harvest, the black bear population remains healthy. A total of 2,328 bear were taken in 1990, an increase of 22 percent over the previous record set in 1989.

50 Years Ago · Jan. 12, 1961

A 27-year-old Grand Portage woman was found dead last Friday a short distance from her home. Cause of death was believed to have been exposure.

Cook County, the 70th in Minnesota to be accredited for tuberculosis control, will be cited for its achievement in special ceremonies at a PTA meeting at the Grand Marais high school Jan. 17.

A group of local ladies are limbering up every Monday night, playing volleyball and shooting baskets at the Phy. Ed. Building at the Lutsen school. They have a lot of fun and how can you beat fun?

The first robins of 1961 were reported seen by Mrs. Edwin Nelson, Lutsen.

75 Years Ago · Jan. 16, 1936

At a joint meeting of the village council and the waterworks committee last Tuesday it was decided a minimum rate of $1.90 would be put into effect to apply on private homes and business houses. The minimum rate would entitle a user to 3,000 gallons of water.

It was learned today that a federal road project in this district has been approved for early this spring. The road, which has been designated a fire protection trail, will start from the Bally Creek Road, crossing Cascade River at the rearing pond, and continue southwesterly to the North Road, just south of Twin Lakes. The distance will be about 10 miles. CCC labor will be used to work on the project.

Oil companies have decided not to sell gasoline to intoxicated drivers. Well, we never thought it was good even for a sober man to drink.



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