North Shore News Hour

Tucked away in the back corner of the old church building that houses Betsy Bowen Studio is a cozy little bakery. A new owner, Hana Crosby, has taken possession of the bakery. She is having a good time cooking her old favorites in a new place, as well as testing new recipes. 

WTIP's Rhonda Silence stopped by to learn more about Crosby Bakery. Here's her report. 

Each week the Cook County Sheriff’s Office provides a brief report of calls made to the Cook County Law Enforcement Center in the past week. This week’s report provides details logged by law enforcement dispatchers from April 23-29. WTIP asked for further information on a number of calls.

Just before noon on April 23, a caller reported a man screaming and laying on the bike path on the west side of Highway 61 near Superior RV. The caller said the person was pulled into a vehicle. Deputies responded and pulled the vehicle over to investigate. It was determined the incident was just an argument between a boyfriend and girlfriend.

There was a report of criminal sexual conduct on April 24, a juvenile matter so no further information is available.

On April 29, a semi slid across the road on the Gunflint Trail, temporarily blocking lanes. Cook County Highway Department was called.
The semi was just one of several vehicles that ran into trouble on the slippery roads on April 29. Nicole Rice of Grand Marais slid off the road on Devil Track Road at 6:56 a.m., causing some front end damage to her 2007 Subaru Forester.

Nathan Fueston of Lutsen went into the ditch on Highway 61 at 7:18 a.m. causing minimal damage to his 2010 Ford Focus.

Harvey Parker of Grand Marais also slid into the ditch on the Gunflint Trail at 8:33 a.m. His 1998 GMC Yukon was not damaged.

And finally, Cheyenne Sutton of Thunder Bay, Ontario, slid into the ditch on east Highway 61. There was no damage to her 2011 Chevrolet Equinox.

There was a car/deer crash on Highway 61 at 8:58 on April 28.

On April 24, there was a report of an injured moose on east Highway 61. The sheriff’s office called the Grand Portage game warden.

On April 26, a party reported the theft of a pile of 8-foot firewood from North Broadway Avenue in Grand Marais. There are no suspects.

Another theft was reported on April 28 on Aspen Ridge Road. Two boats were stolen sometime in the last year. There are no suspects.

Anyone with information on either incident is asked to contact the Cook County Sheriff’s Office at 218-387-3030.

A welfare check was requested for a party in Grand Portage on April 24 for possible excessive use of alcohol. The sheriff’s office said the party was fine.

There was a domestic disturbance call on West Highway 61 on April 28. It was determined to be a mental health call. There were no arrests or charges.

Another welfare check was requested in Grand Marais on April 28. It was a mental health check.

There was a complaint of a trailer parked in the roadway on Pike Lake Road on April 27. A sheriff deputy contacted the owner, Seth Jeffs, who moved it.

On April 25, deputies assisted Minnesota State Patrol with a traffic stop near Durfee Road.

A call reporting suspicious activity was received on April 24. Baby items were found at the end of driveway on Sugar Loaf Road. The owner called for the items and they were returned to them.

A party contacted the sheriff’s office on April 24 wondering if slander is criminal.

On April 23, the sheriff’s office assisted Cook County Public Health with a phone number.

On April 24 a vehicle was left in a private lot. Owners advised they can have it towed.

There was a fire alarm test on Tofte Town Park Road on April 24.

A party called expressing concern about smoke in the area of West Highway 61. It was determined there was a campfire on the beach; no fire department response was needed.

A caller reported attempted e-mail fraud on April 24.

A day planner was found on April 23. It was returned to the owner. On April 24 a canoe was found at Perent Lake. The owner was notified.

A loose dog were reported in Grand Marais at 7:43 a.m. and 1:24 p.m. on April 25. Just after 1 p.m., a deer head was found in the bushes at Coast Guard Point. On April 26, a dog was found on West Highway 61.

Another loose dog was reported on April 28 in Grand Marais.

At 6:46 p.m. on April 26, a caller reported a wolf at a residence on County Road 34.

Trees in the roadway reported at 1:48 p.m. on April 25 and at 5:46 a.m. on April 26. The Cook County Highway Department was notified for the first tree; MnDOT for the second.

A hazardous materials call on April 27 turned out to be odor from Superior Fuel tanks. The company was notified.

There were two public assist calls on April 27, one to help supervise children at the YMCA and another from Townsite Road from someone looking for a maintenance person.

Power outages were reported on Peninsula Point Trail on April 23 and on West Highway 61 in Tofte on April 28.

There were 10 medical calls. Deputies made 21 traffic stops, with 15 resulting in reprimands or warnings and six resulting in citations.
There were five business/residence checks and two open doors secured. Dispatchers answered nine crank or misdialed 911 calls.

Anyone needing emergency assistance should call 9-1-1. For non-emergency questions, contact the Cook County Sheriff's Office at 218-387-3030.
 

A group of local women is working to bring a high-energy new sport to Cook County—Roller Derby! There are a lot of unknowns at this time. Organizers have found a venue in which to race and a league has been formed, but how many women will sign on to skate and when they will meet for practice and competition has yet to be worked out.

However, initial response from the public has been positive and the women who launched the proposal, Roseanne Cooley and Brandee Wenzel are encouraged by the enthusiasm.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence invited them in to the studio to learn more about their proposal.

For more information, visit Lake Superior Roller League on Facebook or email [email protected].
 

Last week the Minnesota Department of Transportation hosted a “Listening Session” to provide information on the installation of side-shoulder rumble strips on Highway 61. Attendees gathered at Tettagouche State Park and visited some nearby locations to listen to rumble strips versus mumble strips.
 
To follow up on that meeting, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence spoke with Assistant District Traffic Engineer Morrie Luke.
 
During that conversation, Luke spoke about three videos recorded by MnDOT of cars traveling on a highway. One simply driving along a paved road; another crossing over a sinusoidal rumble strip—sometimes called a mumble strip. And finally, MnDOT made a video of a vehicle driving over a rectangular, or standard, rumble strip. Click below to see and hear those videos.  
 
 
Rumble- car passing on pavement
 
Rumble – car passing over a sinusoidal rumble strip
 
Rumble – car passing over a rectangular, or standard rumble strip
 
And again, if you would like to speak with Assistant District Traffic Engineer Morrie Luke, call 218-725-2700.
 

The Cook County Emergency Services Conference took place Friday and Saturday, April 27-28. One of the most meaningful parts of the Emergency Services Conference is the recognition of some of the hard-working individuals in emergency services.   
 
The conference ended with a banquet on Saturday, April 27 and at that dinner, several awards were presented.
 
The Dolly Johnson Friend of Emergency Services Award,
The Dolly Johnson Friend of Emergency Services Award goes to someone who is perhaps not directly involved with hands-on emergency service work, but someone who has lent great support to our community responders.
 
The Dolly Johnson Award went to John Groth, who has played a number of roles in emergency service, including his current job as a Cook County Law Enforcement Center dispatcher. But the nomination for the Friends of Emergency Services Award, asked that John be honored for his work for the Lutsen Fire Department. John worked tirelessly to find funding for equipment and emergency vehicles, building strong relationships with vendors and granting agencies.
 
John was not able to be at the Saturday night banquet, but the attendees there gave him a rousing round of applause and it was apparent the honor was very well-deserved.
 
Exemplary Leadership Award
This is a new award in 2019 and it recognizes exemplary leadership in Emergency Services, such as outstanding incident command or departmental leadership that contributes to the success of an organization.

This inaugural award went to a retired, but very busy couple, Joanne and Larry Krause, who were recognized for “doing just about everything,” according to Emergency Management Director Valerie Marasco.
 
Outstanding Emergency Service Provider
This award is used to recognize volunteer firefighters, First Responders, and members of Search and Rescue for providing outstanding, notable service in the past year or throughout their career.

Such was the case for this year’s honoree, Pat Scully, who has had a 37-year career in emergency services as an EMT and very active member of Cook County Search and Rescue.

The individual who nominated Pat wrote, “There is no single moment that makes Pat Scully an outstanding emergency provider. It’s 30-plus years of caring and reliable service to the community. It’s time to recognize Pat Scully as the outstanding emergency provider that he is.”
 
Professional Meritorious Service Award
The Meritorious Service Award is new this year and it recognizes career emergency professionals, such as Law Enforcement, hired paramedics, dispatchers, Border Patrol or Customs & Border Services or other paid emergency response-related position who have gone above and beyond in their call of duty to benefit public safety in Cook County.

Emergency Management Director Marasco called forward a team for this award—Cook County Sheriff Deputy Paul Spry and his K-9 partner, Eddy.

Paul was recognized for his willingness to become part of the K-9 program, which is a major commitment, for both Paul and his family. The nomination noted that commitment, as well as the great benefit to the community with having K-9 Eddy here in the county.

The theme for the 30th annual Emergency Services Conference was "Superior Response." 

Congratulations to all of the 2019 Emergency Services honorees and thank you for all you do for our community. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Cook County Emergency Services Conference took place Friday and Saturday, April 27-28. There were numerous emergency vehicles at the Cook County Community Center, at Cook County High School and at the Grand Marais Recreation Park on Friday and Saturday as training sessions were under way.
 
There was something for all divisions of emergency management at the conference, ranging from live-fire training and 3Echo active shooter exercises and rope team training to street smart incident command sessions and much more.
 
WTIP’s Rhonda Silence checked out some of the conference activities and spoke with the presenters of “safeTALK Suicide Alertness Training,” which was offered in several sessions over the weekend.
 
She also caught up with the Ropes Rescue team in action and the local fire departments responding to mock fires at the Grand Marais campground.
 
Here’s her report from the scene.
 

The Grand Marais City Council met on Wednesday, April 24 and the primary topic of discussion was the city’s Climate Action Plan.
Climate Change Coordinator Shane Steele gave a presentation to the council on the action plan, which is intended to be a “roadmap” that identifies a city’s carbon emission levels and seeks to reduce them sustainably.

Steele told councilors that the survey to gather citizen input on the plan will be available on the city’s website until May 10. The council encouraged citizens to take a few minutes to complete the plan.

Steele said after May 10 comments would be compiled and reviewed. The comments and the draft plan will be made available to the city council by May 22, to be discussed at the city council meeting on May 29.

The Climate Action Plan and survey are available on the city website.

At the previous meeting, the council asked for some clarification of the proposed contract with HKGi, the company with the lowest bid to conduct an inventory of city housing and to recommend possible solutions to the need for more housing in the community.  The city and HKGi agreed on changes to the contract to better reflect the work that the firm will be doing.
The council approved the contract for the work at a price not to exceed $14, 550.

During the recent Highway 61 redesign process, it was noted that the fuel tanks at Buck’s Hardware are in the public right-of-way for First Street. The city approved an agreement with Buck’s which will allow the station continued use of the space, while releasing the city from any liability.

There was also an announcement regarding a subdivision under development by Anton Moody, who is also a city councilor. His eight-unit Winterstone plat will be going to the Grand Marais Planning Commission on May 1. There was discussion of how matters like this should be handled, with the city’s attorney, Chris Hood sharing his recommendations.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux about these topics and more.
 

The primary election held to fill two vacancies on the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Tribal Council is complete. 
 
On the April 29 ballot were candidates for Tribal Council chair and a committee person seat.
 
The special election is necessary because the Grand Portage community lost its long-time leader when Chair Norman Deschampe died on February 9, 2019.
Since Deschampe’s passing, Tribal Council Vice-Chair Marie Spry has been serving as Interim Tribal Chair.
 
Spry filed to run for the chair position. To run for that position, she resigned from her committee person seat, creating another vacancy.
 
Running for Chair were Marie Spry, Beth Drost, Tony Swader and Donovan Dahmen. Advancing to the special election in July is Marie Spry with 132 votes for 45.52 percent of the vote and Beth Drost with 115 votes for 39.66 percent.
 
Running for committee person were Rick Anderson, Jason Burnett, Vallen Cook and Rob Hull. Winning the most votes was Rick Anderson with 145 votes for 50.52 percent of the vote. The next closest candidate was Rob Hull with 62 votes for 21.60 percent.  Because Anderson received the majority of the votes, he will likely be the new committee person, however that is not official until the election is certified by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
 
The primary was 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 Election Board confirmed the election results at 9 a.m. on April 30.

The special election will be held on July 1st.
 

Due to the heavy, wet snow that has fallen on Monday, April 29 and the anticipated continued poor weather, School District 166, Oshki Ogimaag and Great Expections School schools have announced a two-hour delay for the start of school on Tuesday, April 30. 

Birch Grove Community School has not yet announced a delay.