Senator Al Franken visited Cook County on Friday, October 15, 2010 and had lunch at the Crooked Spoon with Mayor Sue Hakes and a group of community members. They discussed numerous issues and opportunities, including economic development, broadband, biomass, and tourism. Pictured (L-R) are Franken’s deputy state director Daniel Fanning, North House Folk School executive director Greg Wright, Sawtooth Mountain physician Sandra Stover, Mayor Sue Hakes, Senator Al Franken, Harbor Inn owner Jane Shinners, and Hedstrom Lumber Company president Howard Hedstrom.
Senator Al Franken had a beautiful day for a drive through Cook County on Friday, October 15, 2010. He met with officials in Grand Portage and Grand Marais before joining senators Amy Klobuchar and James Oberstar at the Lake County courthouse in Two Harbors to celebrate broadband coming up the North Shore.
At the suggestion of Senator Franken’s office, Mayor Sue Hakes gathered a group of community members representing a variety of issues facing the area. They met over lunch at the Crooked Spoon in Grand Marais.
Hakes summarized the meeting by saying, “Our very brief meeting with Senator Franken was positive and productive. We had the opportunity to raise big-picture issues— economic development, broadband, Cedar Grove Business Park, lumber industry and biomass, safe harbor and marina, Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, stimulus funding, and debt.
“More importantly, this meeting was a rare opportunity to begin building a working relationship with a U.S. congressman. I was grateful for the opportunity to put Grand Marais’ best foot forward and to help him understand our local issues.”
At the meeting with Mayor Hakes was Harbor Inn owner Jane Shinners, Hedstrom Lumber Company president Howard Hedstrom, North House Folk School executive director Greg Wright, Sawtooth Mountain Clinic physician Sandra Stover, and Franken’s deputy state director, Daniel Fanning.
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