Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | November 07, 2015
For years I’ve shared stories about our golden retriever Fearless. Longtime readers— those who started reading Unorganized Territory more than 14 years ago—may remember that Fearless came to us as a Father’s Day gift from our son Gideon and his wife Sara. The roly-poly puppy was to make up for the fact that they had taken our family dog— Gideon’s... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | September 19, 2015
My husband Chuck and I were at an event recently, and as it frequently does, the question “What’s happening at the paper?” came up. Usually my answer is “what isn’t happening?” Our small Cook County News-Herald staff is constantly on the run. We spend a lot of time covering meetings. There is a meeting of one of the myriad governmental... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | September 05, 2015
I don’t always agree with Governor Mark Dayton. However, I do agree with a comment he made about the protest of the Minnesota State Fair by the Black Lives Matter group. According to the Pioneer Press, before Saturday’s fair protest, the governor said that while Black Lives Matter had valid concerns, the protest of the “Great Minnesota Get Together” was... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | August 01, 2015
I sometimes say that my grandfather would be mortified by my sense of direction. I never know if I am traveling north or south or east or west. I can get lost in Grand Marais. Apparently the navigation gene has skipped a generation. My grandfather, Roy Oberg, had an unerring sense of direction. He was a commercial fisherman on Lake... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | July 18, 2015
Just after we put last week’s issue “to bed” we received the disheartening news that Minnesota Power was going to idle the Taconite Harbor Energy Center in the fall of 2016. I felt sick, thinking of all the friends who work at the plant, who rely on their job there to be able to live here on the North Shore.... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | June 27, 2015
As the tourism season kicks into high gear, my husband Chuck and I headed out of town for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. It is really fun to visit other communities to check out different restaurants, lodging and just to see how visitors are treated. I’m happy to say that in the towns we visited, customer service was... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | June 20, 2015
Greetings to everyone visiting the North House Folk School Wooden Boat Show! Whether you’re someone who made the trek from far away or a local resident who enjoys heading to the waterfront, I hope you have a wonderful weekend checking out the meticulously crafted canoes, kayaks, skiffs, dinghies, rowboats, sculls, sailing vessels and more. I hope that you are able... READ MORE >
Rhonda Silence starnews@boreal.org | June 06, 2015
As I’ve mentioned in the past, sometimes I take a detour while writing Unorganized Territory. I start out with a certain subject and veer off to another, completely changing the topic and the tone of my weekly column. That is exactly what happened last week when I started with a mention of being a Girl Scout leader. I meant to... READ MORE >
Last week I missed an all-important meeting of the School District 166 school board because it was on the same afternoon as the Cook County Girl Scouts’ Court of Awards. At the time, I wasn’t too upset. As I told School Board Chair Jeanne Anderson before the meeting, I’d rather hang out with the Girl Scouts than sit in a... READ MORE >
It’s been a busy few weeks for the community, especially for our local schools as they wrap up the school year. It’s been an adventure as Brian Larsen and I struggle to remember when and where all the events are taking place. We’ve been juggling and rearranging schedules to try to be everywhere to get photos. And then, we have... READ MORE >
