Threat of COVID-19 shuts down many community activities

Like the rest of the country, the threat of COVID-19 is causing significant disruptions to the daily lives of the folks living here and visitors to the county.

I.S.D. 166 students

With school canceled until the end of the month, maybe even longer, some parents are left scrambling to find daycare.

As far as feeding school kids, I.S.D. 166 decided it would deliver one meal a day to everyone who registered with the school, but not during the scheduled spring break period. Delivery would be on the normal bus routes between 10 a.m. and noon. People living in town can pick up meals at the main Eagle doors between 10 a.m. and noon.

Healthcare providers and First Responders

Parents that work at the hospital and first responders were notified that if they had kids ages 5-12 and needed daycare, March 18 or March 19, that they could sign up and learn the details of the child care program for them.

Grand Marais State Bank

The Grand Marais State Bank issued a statement saying their lobbies will remain open in all locations until further notice with social distancing practiced “to allow in-person transactions when possible.” Further, the staff would be paid full salaries through May 31, “regardless of time off needed for personal or family accommodations that may be required,” with no sick time charged to employees during this time.

Last, Grand Marais State Bank said that upon request, “We will extend the next two monthly payments for any commercial or consumer loan without fees to our customer. These payments do not need to become a source of stress.”

Travel and special events

Many spring vacations were altered or canceled because airlines are closed or have limited flights out of the country. Concerts have been rescheduled as well as big-box movie releases that were set to come out this spring. Venues like Disneyland and Disney World are closed. The Las Vegas strip shut down; Broadway theatres are dark and empty in New York City. At the same time, professional baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis, and track were also scrubbed from T.V. or live events until the country gets a better handle on this pandemic.

Even worse, college basketball and the NCCA hockey tournament were canceled, which leaves a big hole in the hearts of some local fans who wait all year to watch these events.

If you planned to run the Boston Marathon, which has always been held on Patriots Day, this year it will be held in the fall.

Preventative measures

Messages from federal, state and local governments come daily, sometimes hourly, telling us—or advising us—about what we can do and what we should do. The big takeaways are social distancing—stay at least six feet away from people in public—wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap, cough into your elbow and stay hunkered down at home as much as possible.

On Monday, March 16, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz announced state-wide emergency measures closing all bars, breweries, dine-in restaurants, museums, theaters, coffee shops, and places “of public accommodation and amusement,” by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 through March 27.

Under his executive order, the governor allowed dining establishments to offer takeout or curbside orders during this closure.

Local business service changes

In Grand Marais, the Blue Water Café closed, but other establishments like Sven & Oles, Gunflint Tavern, Grandma Rays, Dairy Queen, Hungry Hippie Tacos, Java Moose, Subway, Raven Rock Grill at Skyport Lodge, Wunderbar Eatery & Campground, South of the Border, and My Sister’s Place are all offering take-out to their customers. Each of their Facebook pages or websites contains hours of their service and delivery specifications.

In Grand Portage, the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino Island View Restaurant closed March 18 until Thursday, April 2, “when we will reassess the situation.” Their website advises, “everything will be subject to change on a day-by-day basis. We value our customers and want to ensure their health and well-being. Your understanding during these times is appreciated.”

In Lutsen, Tofte, and Schroeder, the businesses offering curbside pickup orders are Cascade Restaurant, Lutsen Resort (The Strand Waterfront Dining Room, and Poplar River Pub), Blufin Bay Grille, Coho Café, Moguls Grille & Taproom, and Pappa Charlie’s at Lutsen Mountains.

On the Gunflint Trail, only Gunflint Lodge Dining is accepting take out orders, but one has to call ahead and check-in at the front desk for pickup.

The governor’s order excluded “institutional or in-house food cafeterias that serve residents, employees, and clients of business, child care facilities, hospitals, and longterm care facilities.”

Unemployed workers

As far as the staff that will be out of work during this shutdown, the governor announced they could sign up for unemployment that would be speeded up to help cover lost payroll and tips.

Grocery and supply stores busy

Local grocery stores: Johnson’s, I.G.A., and the Wholefoods Co-Op have had record sales days and have had a hard time stocking enough hand sanitizers, toilet paper, or bottled water as those items fly off the shelves as soon as they are stocked. Groceries are also selling at an incredibly brisk pace, a pace that has not been seen before at this time of year.

Joynes Department Store announced on March 16 that, “To help keep supplies available for our community, we are implementing a one item limit on certain health and beauty products, including toilet paper, and medicines for cough and cold, pain relief, and fever. If you come to Joynes, please keep a 3-foot distance from customers and staff. Please make sure to wash your hands, refrain from touching your face, and cover your sneezes and coughs. Our cashiers are cleaning registers and counters frequently.” On March 19 Joynes announced it was closing “until the storm passes.”

The 1st and 2nd Thrift Store and Donation Center closed on March 16. The payout party scheduled for March 25 is also canceled, but recipients will receive their checks. Plans are to reopen the store in the spring.

Churches and the YMCA

Pastor Tom Murray sent this email, “In order to protect the health of those in our community who may be vulnerable, Lutsen Lutheran Church has canceled all worship services and gatherings until further notice.”

Trinity Lutheran Church in Hovland announced that after much discussion, they were suspending in-person church worship services starting Saturday, March 14, until further notice. Pastor Kris Garey explained, “This feels to us far from ideal, yet we recognize that many folks are concerned and uncertain.

“We take this step not out of fear, but out of respect for the current health situation and what is helpful for our broad community,” said Garey.

The YMCA announced, “At this time, The Duluth Family Y will continue our out-of-school programming with the school district. Our early childhood education programs in both Superior, Duluth, and Grand Marais are continuing during regular hours, and your child will continue to receive care by trusted teachers.

“Beginning on Wednesday, March 18, our Y fitness, health and wellness centers, and pools will be temporarily closed. Our YMCA’s plan to restore full operations on March 30 in Duluth and Grand Marais to align with our current school closures; it is possible that this date will move as we learn more about the fight against community spread of the coronavirus.”

Daycare will remain in operation at the Y through this period to allow parents to continue to work.

Arrowhead Cooperative

“In an abundance of caution, Arrowhead Cooperative has closed its doors to the public,” came the email news release. “We will not allow access from the general public, vendors, or unauthorized personnel to enter the building. We have posted signs on the entry, sent a press release to the local paper, Boreal Community, our website, and social media platforms.”

Customers can pay their bill to Arrowhead by dropping a check off at the company headquarter dropbox or use a similar drop box at Como’s office in Grand Marais. Online payments are encouraged and payments over the phone as well.

Cook County Higher Education

Cook County Higher Education explained, “To do our part to flatten the curve,” all classes and workshops were halted through April 19, 2020, with the hope to reschedule or offer instruction online at a later date.

However, Cook County Higher Education is leaving its campus open and student computer room available (for free) to students who need access to computers to complete their schoolwork. They said there is plenty of hand sanitizer available to scrub keyboards and hands.

Grand Marais Public Library

The Grand Marais Public Library declared it was closing from March 18 through Friday, March 27, with information on their website about how to access digital magazines, books, and audiobooks.

Grand Marais Playhouse

Following the recommendations of the Minnesota Department of Health, the Grand Marais Playhouse canceled the remaining performances of Cinderella Tales.

“The Grand Marais Playhouse is a community theater, and in this difficult time, we must take precautions to protect our community,” wrote playhouse Director Sue Hennessy in an email to the public.

“Without the ability to see into the future, postponing the production is not a possibility as we do not know when it will be safe to gather in large groups again. The A.C.A. has other renters, and school use scheduled through May and gathering the cast together again will be difficult due to a variety of scheduling conflicts,” added Hennessy.

North Shore Health

North Shore Health’s March 19 hospital board meeting was postponed for all of the same reasons most every other meeting has been canceled.

The Hub (Senior Center)

Effective March 15, The Hub (Cook County Senior Center) was closed to the public until further notice, but the Meals-on-Wheels will continue as usual. The Cook County Council on Aging Board of Directors was meeting to come up with a plan for the future.

If you are a senior citizen in Cook County, driver safety class for AARP has been canceled until May 1, 2020, but a 25 percent discount is offered for seniors who will go online and take the course.

WTIP limits station access

WTIP took the precautionary step of limiting station access only to paid staff for the next two weeks, starting March 18 and closing its doors to the public for that period. “We have also moved all in-person interviews to phone interviews, and eliminated in-studio live music, as part of the effort at social distancing.” At the end of two weeks, WTIP will review the policy and listen to what public health officials advise.

Cook County News Herald

Even the newspaper has been affected. A notice from our print publisher Forum Communications Printing-Duluth, says, “In the event, a significant number of our employees, or a large number of independent contractors who deliver our products, were to contract the new coronavirus, delivery of our printed products could be interrupted in certain areas, or in its entirety.

“Our ability to print, and deliver, our newspapers, shoppers, magazines and other specialty publications could also be interrupted as a result of supply chain disruptions, including the ability to obtain newsprint, ink, and other key consumables needed in the printing process.

“If our ability to print and deliver products is interrupted, we will send out updates as warranted. We will also communicate with our members via our websites and mobile applications by providing details regarding when we anticipate the restoration of delivery of our printed newspapers and other products.”

Should Forum Communications Printing run out of paper, ink, or have to close temporarily, we will print the Cook County News-Herald online to the public until Forum Communications is up and running.

Government access

Meetings at the state capital between legislators and several Cook County Chamber of Commerce board members, as well as a dinner with Sen. Tom Bakk and Rep. Rob Ecklund were called off.

While it wasn’t the only topic, maybe the most significant issue the chamber wanted to talk to legislators about was the county’s proposed short-term rental classification bill.

In a March 15 email, Cook County Chamber Director Jim Boyd said, “All that remains for the moment is a Tuesday Senate Tax Committee hearing on our short-term rental bill and Wednesday meetings for Judy (the chamber’s lobbyist) and me with the House and Senate tax committee chairs. It is very likely those also will be canceled before the weekend is out.”

“Listening to state officials in press conferences Friday (March 13), it became very obvious that while state government isn’t closing down, the Legislature has narrowed its focus to getting essential work done as quickly as possible, ahead of the full arrival of COVID-19.

“If there is any consolation in all this, it is in the recognition that our state officials appear to be taking on this pandemic with a calm, cooperative, nonpartisan competence that should serve all Minnesotans well,” said Boyd in his email.

Amen to that and pass the hand sanitizer.