North Shore News Hour

As of today, Friday, April 5, the North Shore Pharmacy in Grand Marais is no longer taking or filling prescriptions. After about two years at the pharmacy, formerly the Arrowhead Pharmacy, owner Corey Malstrom is closing the business.

Malstrom has reached an arrangement with Grand Marais Pharmacy to take on the prescriptions held by North Shore Pharmacy. Malstrom and some staff will be on hand at the store until April 19 to answer questions and assist patients with the transfer process, if needed.

The retail section of the store will also be open until April 19 as remaining merchandise is sold. Malstrom said remaining merchandise and store displays will be donated to local nonprofits. 

As for the Dog Hus, the pet food and supply section of the store is already closed. Terri Goettl of Grand Marais is no longer operating her dog grooming there.

The North Shore Pharmacy building, owned by Mike and Laura Swartzwald, is for sale, listed by Edina Realty.

As for Malstrom, he said he is leaving to be with his spouse in Duluth.

From his time working as an independent pharmacist, Malstrom said he recognizes the need for temporary help for vacations or illnesses. Malstrom plans to become a fill-in pharmacist for other independent pharmacies.

Malstrom acknowledged that his arrival at the former North Shore Pharmacy was difficult, after the former majority owners of Arrowhead Pharmacy, the Swartzwalds, had been found to be improperly compensating the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic for drugs obtained under the federal 340B drug program. However, he declined speaking further on that.

Instead, Malstrom thanked the community for welcoming him and said he had enjoyed getting to know his patients. He said he loves Grand Marais and will definitely be back to visit with his family.

WTIP's Rhonda Silence spoke with Corey Malstrom about the closure. 
 

 The City of Grand Marais is asking for public input on its Climate Action Plan.

The city council passed a Climate Inheritance Resolution in 2017 and began developing a Climate Action Plan that is intended to: “significantly reduce Grand Marais’ greenhouse gas emissions to levels that would protect our community’s children and grandchildren from the risk of climate change.”

In 2018, a coordinator was hired to develop the plan along with a steering committee of community members, business owners, city officials, and local youth.
 
A Climate Action Plan, or CAP, is a roadmap that identifies a city’s carbon emission levels and aims to reduce them sustainably.
 
The Climate Action Plan steering committee has prepared a draft of the plan and is seeking public input before presenting it to the Grand Marais City Council for approval.
 
City Communications Director Patrick Knight said, “Your feedback is much appreciated and will be considered in the final draft of the Climate Action Plan.”
 
The Climate Action Plan and survey are available on the city’s website.  

If you have any questions, please call Patrick Knight at 218-387-1848.
 

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 March 26 to April 1.

On March 26, the Sheriff’s Office received a report of harassment. The matter was referred to the County Attorney for review.

On March 26, there was an “incident with squad” call. The call came in after a deputy accidentally broke a window as equipment was being loaded. Sheriff Pat Eliasen said the window has been replaced.

The Grand Portage Casino reported a counterfeit bill on March 30. The incident was referred to the United States Secret Service, which handles counterfeit cases.

On March 26, a caller reported concerns about the driving of a semi-truck, reporting that a truck crossed the centerline on West Highway 61. The call was referred to Minnesota State patrol.

Deputies were called to assist the public in a number of ways, on March 26 to accompany a citizen to gather belongings; on March 29 to assist a vehicle stuck in a campsite on Bally Creek Road in Grand Marais and on March 31 to help retrieve a purse left at a business.

There was a call reporting three horses loose on County Road 7 in Grand Marais on March 26.

There were a number of suspicious activity calls. On March 26, a caller reported footsteps in an abandoned apartment in Grand Marais. Deputies investigated and whoever was there was gone on arrival of the squad. There was also a call regarding a suspicious person at the playground at the Cook County Community Center on April 1. That party was also gone when deputies arrived.

An anonymous letter was received on March 28 referencing a theft in Grand Portage. It was determined to be unfounded.

A parking problem was called in due to a suspicious vehicle – a car had been parked on East Highway 61 for a couple of days. Deputies found nothing suspicious.

There was a report of damage to a vehicle at an auto shop. The vehicle was possibly involved in an accident, but no further information is available.

Animal disturbance calls came in with reports of dead deer on West Highway 61 on March 27; an injured seagull on March 28; and there were two calls of loose dogs, one in Hovland and one in Grand Marais, both on March 29.

After two dogs got in a fight on March 29, a citation was issued for leash ordinance violation in Grand Marais.

There were two calls from 5th Avenue in Grand Marais asking for assistance after being locked out. The parties were given the phone number for a local locksmith. According to Sheriff Eliasen, deputies do not assist with lockouts unless it is a matter of safety.

Sheriff deputies assisted probation in completing a warrant arrest.

There was a report of a power line hanging on March 27 on West 5th Street and a tree on the power line on 8th Avenue West in Grand Marais on March 30.

 A theft of coal was reported from the Tofte Park Road on March 28.

A caller reported shots fire in Grand Portage on March 29. That call was determined to be unfounded.

There was a report of a car in the ditch on Timberwolf Lane in Grand Marais on March 29. It turned out to be a car parked on the power line, which was gone when law enforcement arrived.

There were car/deer accidents on March 29 on Poplar River Road and on West Highway 61 on March 30.

 A party reported that they lost a set of Apple air buds on March 30.

Law Enforcement received notice from a security alarm on March 30. It turned out to be a false alarm.

A party called the Law Enforcement Center wanting to be fingerprinted.

A telemarketing swindle was reported in Grand Marais on March 26.

There was something new on the law enforcement center dispatch log during this reporting period. There were requests for welfare checks from the Lake County law enforcement dispatch every day.

WTIP asked Sheriff Eliasen why these calls were being made. He replied, “Our dispatchers work completely alone from 4 a.m. - 6 a.m., to adhere to DOC (Department of Corrections) recommendations, we have initiated safety checks with Lake County to validate their safety. We record these for proof to the DOC so they can verify it is being done.”

There were eight medical calls in the reporting period. Deputies conducted 32 traffic stops, which resulted in reprimands and five motorists received citations. They also conducted 10 business or residence checks. Deputies also participated in Operation Stone Garden, a joint patrolling effort of the Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Border Patrol.

Dispatchers issued 13 permits to burn debris and handled five crank or misdialed 911 calls.

If you need help from Cook County Law Enforcement, dial 9-1-1. For non-emergency calls, contact the Cook County Sheriff’s Office at 218-387-3030.
 

For 30 years, Cook County has hosted the annual Emergency Services Conference – a training and networking event for all arms of emergency response and planning in the Arrowhead region. The 2019 conference, titled Superior Response, will be held Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27. 

Cook County Emergency Management Director Valerie Marasco tells WTIP there is something for everyone at the conference, ranging from live-fire training to SafeTAlk Suicide Alertness Training, from 3Echo active shooter and ropes team training to street smart incident command sessions and much more.

The conference provides an opportunity for local emergency employees and volunteers to ask questions, learn skills, and train with emergency response colleagues.

And, Marasco stressed that the conference is a time to recognize the hard-working individuals in emergency services. There is a banquet on Saturday, April 27 and at that dinner, several awards will be presented. The awards are the Outstanding Emergency Service Provider, the Dolly Johnson Friend of Emergency Services Award, and new for 2019, Professional Meritorious Service and Exemplary Leadership Award. The deadline to submit a nomination is Monday, April 8.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence sat down with Emergency Management Director Marasco to learn more about those awards.

To see the conference agenda, click here. 

To register for the conference, click here.  

To nominate someone for the one of the emergency services awards, click here.

Photo: Emergency Management Director Valerie Marasco presents the Outstanding Emergency Service Provider Award to Keck Melby at the 2018 Emergency Services Conference. Photo by Rhonda Silence, WTIP
 

Cook County property owners should have received their annual valuation notice and property tax statements in the mail in recent days.
 
On the yellow valuation notice is information about the taxes you could be paying in 2020. Along with that information is the notice of upcoming local board of appeals and equalization (LBAE) meetings for townships (Schroeder, Tofte and Lutsen) and Open Book Consultation dates for the City of Grand Marais and all other unorganized areas of the County.
 
According to county spokesperson Valerie Marasco, these meetings are held to determine whether taxable property in the jurisdiction has been properly valued and classified by the Assessor, and to determine whether corrections need to be made.

Click below to hear from Cook County Assessor Todd Smith about this process.
 
Marasco says if you believe the value or classification of your property is incorrect, please contact the county assessor’s office to discuss your concerns.
 
If you are still not satisfied with the valuation or classification after discussing it with your assessor, you may appear before the local board of appeals and equalization at the scheduled hearings.
 
The board reviews the valuation, classification, or both if necessary, and corrects the information if necessary. Generally, an appearance before your local board of appeals and equalization is required by law before an appeal can be taken to the county board of appeal and Equalization which takes place in June.
 
Last year, the Assessor’s Office was able to resolve 63 appeals prior to the final county board of appeals and equalization hearing and no property owners registered to appear in June, according to Cook County Assessor Todd Smith.
 
He added, “The Assessor’s Office is happy to answer any questions through our office and also encourages people to attend their local meetings if they feel something is off with their property valuation or classification.”
 

 
Board of Appeals and Equalization Schedule:

For any questions on property assessment in Cook County, contact the Assessor’s Office at 218-387-3650 or click here for the Assessor's Office website. 
 

After each meeting of the Grand Marais City Council, WTIP Community Radio speaks to a city official about activities and actions taken at the council meeting. Often WTIP speaks with Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux, however, the mayor was not at the latest council meeting, so in his stead for this interview is Acting Mayor Anton Moody. 

Here's Rhonda Silence with that interview. 

Following up an emergency call to Lutsen Mountains on Sunday, March 31, WTIP reached out to ski hill co-owner, Tom Rider, to learn more.

Initial reports said about 30 or 40 people were stranded on the Caribou Express high-speed, six person chair lift at Lutsen Mountains. However, Rider tells WTIP there were about 25 people involved. See the related story, from the scene, here. 

The chairlift was halted about 3 p.m and the Lutsen Ski Patrol was called in to evacuate the skiers on the lift.

The Lutsen Ski Patrol has practiced numerous times for this scenario and they went into action to belay chairlift passengers to the ground. Passengers were then taken to the bottom of the ski hills by the Lutsen Gondola.

Cook County Ambulance and Lutsen First Responders were paged at about 4 p.m. to standby at the Lutsen Ski Patrol building in case their services were needed. Fortunately the medical response was precautionary and by 5 p.m., all of the chairlift passengers had been lowered safely to the ground.

Here's Lutsen Mountains Co-owner Tom Rider with more about the shutdown and evacuation.
 

 About 25 people had more of a ski adventure than planned at Lutsen Mountains on Sunday, March 31 when the Caribou Express chairlift malfunctioned around 3 p.m., requiring an evacuation from the lift.

The Lutsen Ski Patrol has practiced numerous times for this scenario and they went into action to belay chairlift passengers to the ground. Passengers were then transported to the ground by the Lutsen Gondola. 

A page went out to the Cook County Ambulance and Lutsen First Responders at about 4 p.m. to standby at the Lutsen Ski Patrol building in case their services were needed. Fortunately the medical response was precautionary and by 5 p.m., all of the chairlift passengers had been lowered safely to the ground.

The Caribou Express high-speed, six-person chairlift opened in 2013. Lutsen Mountains co-owner Tom Rider said the lift was back in operation within an hour. The malfunction was due to an electronic card that failed and needed to be replaced. 

Lutsen Mountains is scheduled to be through this week and then on weekends  until May 5, conditions permitting.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence was on the scene and talked to two people who were rescued from the lift. Here’s her report.
 

The township of Lutsen has a treasurer once again.

Long-time treasurer John Groth did not run for reelection in the March 12 township election. No candidates filed to run for the treasurer position, so citizens had the option of submitting a write-in vote.

There were a number of write-in votes for the position, however the person with the most votes—Carl Friesner—was a candidate for supervisor. Friesner won the supervisor seat.

The person with the next highest write-in votes was Paul Goettl.

At a special meeting on March 27, the Lutsen Town Board appointed Goettl to serve as treasurer until the next election.

The next Lutsen Town Meeting is Tuesday, April 16.
 

The Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission met on Monday, March 25 and had in-depth discussion of the federal legislation titled Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

PUC Chair George Wilkes gave a presentation on the legislation and told the board that this bill is well-aligned with the Carbon Fee and Dividend policy that the PUC supported with a resolution in 2017. He said this act is also supported by the local unit of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. 

Wilkes said to date, 135 other cities and counties have passed resolutions for what he described as a “national, revenue-neutral, carbon pricing policy.”

Discussion included questions about how this would impact energy users. PUC member Tim Kennedy noted that this would impact the trucking industry the most. Wilkes acknowledge that could be true, and that in fact, increased expenses for businesses was likely. However, he said a carbon dividend that would be returned to consumers could balance that out.

Kennedy expressed concern about how the process, but ultimately did vote in support of the resolution, along with Possis and Wilkes.

The resolution calls on the United States Congress to urgently consider passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

The PUC will now bring the resolution to the city council at its April 10 meeting at Grand Marais City Hall.

The commission also talked about the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP)’s “Real Solar Deal” program and about how the PUC could support this effort to bring more solar energy to Grand Marais.

Commissioners passed a motion to reimburse the first 10 participants in “Real Solar Deal” $100, which would cover the cost of their site assessment fee.

The PUC also discussed setting up a solar array at the Grand Marais Public Library. There are questions over who would benefit from the energy produced—the library or the city, so that matter was tabled to allow city staff to come up with a plan.

For more information on the city's overall climate action plan, click here.