North Shore News Hour

Unofficial results have been shared in the Tuesday, June 9 Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribal Council primary.

The race for Tribal Chairperson was very close with Robert “Bobby” Deschampe receiving 54.51 percent of the votes cast. Incumbent Beth Drost received 43.32 percent. The third candidate, Earl Johnson earned 2.17 percent of votes cast.

Under Minnesota Chippewa Tribe election guidelines, any candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary is declared the winner and there is no need for a general election. So, because Deschampe received greater than 50 percent of the vote he wins the Tribal Chair position.

For the committeeperson-at-large position, the primary narrowed the slate from five candidates to two. Candidates Esther “Bess” Deschampe, Rob Hull, and Eric Pehrson were eliminated from the race.

Incumbent Rick Anderson received 41.16 percent of the vote and Marie Spry garnered 25.99 percent. So Anderson and Spry will move on to the general election on August 18, 2020.

It is not immediately clear when Robert Deschampe will take office. In a typical election year, the swearing in of new officers is the second Tuesday of July. However, because the election schedule has been modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the oath of office will likely be sometime in August.

The deadline for requests for a recount is June 12. Election results are not official until certified by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
 
 
 

Motorists traveling near the Gunflint Hills Golf Course on June 4 may have had to make a temporary detour as a large commercial vehicle was removed from the ditch after a tire blowout.

The initial anonymous call reporting the incident came in just before 4:30 p.m. and the caller said a “giant tow truck” had gone off the road. Maple Hill Fire Department and North Shore Health ambulance were paged to respond.

At 4:37 p.m., the law enforcement center heard from McKeever Well Drilling, which owns the rig that went off the road. The company informed the sheriff’s office that the vehicle was a water truck. The driver was not injured and a large vehicle tow truck had been contacted.

The Maple Hill Fire Department traffic control team was paged to help when the tow truck from Blaine Towing arrived at about 7:30 p.m. As the well drilling truck was pulled out, traffic was diverted onto the Golf Course Road. By 10 p.m., the vehicle was back on the road and all responders were clear from the scene.

Minnesota State Patrol was contacted and responded that a commercial vehicle inspection was not needed, as it was obvious the incident was caused by a blown tire.
 

The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is holding its primary for the tribal council on Tuesday, June 9. The Grand Portage election board has enacted a number of changes to normal election procedures due to the coronavirus situation.

If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa would have held its tribal council primary on March 31, 2020. However, just days before the primary was to proceed, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe adopted a resolution to postpone the primary elections for its members to June 9—the date that was to be the general election in 2020.

The general election that follows will now take place on August 18, 2020.

Although the primary in March was canceled, the Grand Portage election board was prepared to proceed at that time. The election board is Toby Stephens, chair; Jason Burnett, clerk; Larry Manthey, teller and Vivian Carlson, alternate.

The same COVID-19 precautions developed at that time will be used in the election this week. According to guidelines shared by the election committee, before the polls open at 8 a.m., election board members will enter the Community Log Building to sanitize all surfaces to be used by voters and board members. Election board members will be wearing gloves during interaction with voters, such as sign-in and ID verifications. The polling station will be equipped with hand sanitizer, gloves, trash cans, and other cleaning supplies. And unlike during a typical election, no coffee, tea, and water station will be available.

The Log Building will also be set up to accommodate eight observers on a first-come, first-serve basis, in compliance with the recommended six-foot social distance guidelines.

Leading up to the primary, Grand Portage Band members were encouraged to vote by absentee or mail-in ballots, especially those in the demographic that is most vulnerable to the coronavirus. Ballots that had been submitted for the planned March 31 primary were held for this week’s election.

Any band members who have already voted by absentee ballot will be counted in the June 9 primary.

In the Tuesday, June 9 Grand Portage primary, candidates are:

For chairperson: Robert “Bobby” Deschampe, Earl Johnson, and Elizabeth "Beth" Drost (Incumbent).

For committeeperson at large: Marie Spry, Eric Pehrson, Rick Anderson (incumbent) Ester “Bess” Deschampe, and Rob Hull.

The Grand Portage Tribal Council is the governing body of the reservation and is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The primary is being held in accordance with the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe constitution, which calls for a primary if there are multiple candidates for the same seat.

The Grand Portage Tribal Council consists of a chair, vice chair, secretary/treasurer, and two committee members. All positions are four-year terms.
 
 
 
 

Construction work in Grand Marais continues, with the Broadway Avenue and Highway 61 intersection completely closed down at this time. From Broadway Avenue west, there are traffic barriers, orange cones and a new temporary stoplight.
 
WTIP's Rhonda Silence checked in with the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Grand Marais Project Engineer Edward Welch to see how things are going from MnDOT's point of view. 

Despite some concerns expressed about truck traffic on social media, Welch told WTIP that he has heard very few complaints from the public. Welch encourages anyone with questions or concerns to join MnDOT for a weekly online public meeting. 

The meetings are every Thursday at 1 p.m. and information on how to observe or participate can be found on the MnDOT project website here. 

Project Manager Welch also said he checks his email for questions as well and those will be addressed in the weekly Thursday meetings. He can be reached at [email protected].

Click on the photo for a slideshow with more photos of the work underway. Also included is a photo followup to our previous story on the MnDOT project Talking with MnDOT about detours, cameras, and typos

A late afternoon call went out on social media in Cook County on Friday, calling for a “pop-up rally” to ask for justice for George Floyd, who died while in police custody. At the time of the rally there had been no arrest and the streets of Minneapolis were filled with protests and violent acts.

Community members who felt they needed to do something were asked to come to downtown Grand Marais, near Java Moose coffee shop, to quietly protest the unjust treatment—and death—of George Floyd.

The social media call suggested that people gather from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. People began lining Highway 61 before 5 p.m. and by 5:30, about 100 people stood along the roadway, bearing signs calling for systemic change and an end to racism.

At 5:30, there was no sign of the crowd dissipating, as people stood solemnly with their signs, or chatted quietly. A few musicians sang and played music.

Many cars passing on Highway 61 honked or gave thumbs up or flashed peace signs to show solidarity with the rally participants.

Click on the slideshow to see some of the activity on May 29.

To see a video at the start of the "Justice for George Floyd" rally, click here. 

To see a video at 6 p.m., when the rally was set to end--but continued--click here. 

North Shore Health has been using telemedicine for more than a year now in its emergency room.  That technology has been greatly expanded in light of the COVID-19 pandemic at both North Shore Health and Sawtooth Mountain Clinic. Doctors and therapists are interacting with patients online instead of meeting face-to-face. 

One of the online offerings from North Shore Health is the opportunity to participate in physical therapy rehab via video conferencing. Patients can work with North Shore Health physical therapists Treg Axtell, Patrick O'Neil, Lee Bergstrom and Sharon Berglund via Zoom, Skype or Facetime. 

How does it work? WTIP's Rhonda Silence visited with therapist Treg Axtell and Patrick O'Neil to find out. Here's their conversation. 
 

Although there won’t be traditional commencement exercises for the Class of 2020, there is a celebration.

Because of the restrictions on large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of a high school gym packed with more than a thousand people, the Class of 2020 will walk through an open gym and through the school building for one last time.

Lining the halls are congratulatory signs made by school staff and throughout the school there are 2,020 luminary bags created by the community to share well wishes with the graduates.

After the walk to receive their diploma, students will then take part in a parade of cars from the high school to The Point in downtown Grand Marais.

The public is invited to watch the parade and cheer for the graduates. The parade, bearing members of the Class of 2020 and their families, will take off from Cook County High School at around 5:15 p.m. once all the graduates have taken their last stroll through the school hallways.

The parade will start at the school, down 1^st Avenue, turning west on 3^rd Street and then down to Highway 61 on 8^th Avenue. The convoy of cars will turn east on Highway 61 to Wisconsin Street, heading to The Point, for a final salute to the graduates. See a map of the Class of 2020 graduation parade route here.