North Shore News Hour

A phone outage that is apparently national is affecting some services for CenturyLink customers here in Cook County.

The Sawtooth Mountain Clinic says its phone lines are down until CenturyLink is able to make repairs. During the outage, patients can access their information online via their “Patient Portal” on the clinic website.

For non-urgent messages, the clinic asks patients to email Teresa Bragg at [email protected]. For urgent messages only, call 218-370-2286.

Cook County Emergency Management Director Valerie Marasco says the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has been advised that landline CenturyLink customers in Cook County, and other parts of the country, may be experiencing a phone outage.

Marasco says, “All exchanges have been tested by 911 dispatchers and to our knowledge, 911 service is not impacted – all test calls have come through.”

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office has been in contact with CenturyLink operations and customer service who have reported that technicians are working to identify and repair the problem. The duration and cause of the outage is unknown at this point.

Updates will be provided when more information from the utility is available.
 
Anyone who needs to contact the Cook County Sheriff’s Office should still call 9-1-1. If 9-1-1 does not work, individuals should try a landline at the home of a neighbor that does not have Century Link service, or a cell phone.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office can also be reached by calling 218-387-3030.
 

A page went out at 7:30 p.m. to the Grand Marais Fire Department and other responders on Christmas Eve to respond to a structure fire at 1591 East Highway 61.

A caller reported that the structure, the former Smith’s Bait Store was fully engulfed.

The Grand Marais Fire Department responded, as well as the two neighboring departments, Colvill and Maple Hill to assist with water delivery to fight the fire.

The structure and its contents were a complete loss, however, the fire departments managed to keep the blaze from spreading to the owner’s home, which was approximately 10 feet away from the fire.

The house was heat-damaged, but occupants were able to return home that night.

There were no injuries and the fire department, Cook County Ambulance and Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputies were clear from the scene by just after 10 p.m.

The cause of the fire is believed to be from a faulty heating device.

Submitted photos.

WTIP Community Radio loves to open the studio doors to local youths. During the school year we have local students come in to share school news. And this holiday season we were delighted to welcome the Great Expectations School Bear Cub and Fawns classes. 

The students sang several Christmas carols for WTIP listeners. And before they left, WTIP's Rhonda Silence spoke with some of the children, asking, "What--besides presents--do you like best about Christmas." 

Here are the some sweet and thoughtful answers from some of the Bear Cubs and Fawns. 
 

The “queen of lights,” St. Lucia, visited Grand Marais on Saturday, December 15, one of the longest, darkest, days of the year. The visit was part of the 44th annual Julefest at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Each year a student from the Bethlehem Lutheran Church confirmation class is selected to be St. Lucia. This year’s St. Lucia was Katie Peck of Schroeder.

Community members gathered in the fellowship hall, enjoying coffee and the many Scandinavian treats, such as romme grot, rice pudding, Krumkake, Sandbakkels, Norwegian wedding cake, cardamom toast and more.

As St. Lucia (Katie) entered, Tina Hegg-Raway sang the St. Lucia song—first in Swedish, then in English with the audience singing along. She was accompanied on piano by Stacy Hawkins. The women led the audience through several Christmas tunes.
Also offering lovely holiday music was Philis Anderson on oboe and Sue Anderson on violin.

Pastor Mark Ditmanson emceed the event, with an opening invocation and closing prayer, as well as one in the middle of the program in which he thanked God for “butter and sugar,” the key ingredient in so many Scandinavian treats!

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence joined the festivities – click below to hear her report.  

The Legend of St. Lucia
According to a Swedish folktale, Lucia appeared during a famine and distributed food from a ship to the starving people on land. For centuries, St. Lucia Day has been celebrated in Scandinavian countries on Dec. 13.

That date marks the darkest day in the Swedish winter, and is reason for a family celebration. The oldest daughter in the family is St. Lucia and wears a white dress with a crown made of pine boughs. On the crown are seven glowing candles, to represent the coming of brighter days. Around her waist she wears a bright red sash.

The other children in the family carry candles and follow her into their parents' bedroom, singing the traditional song, Santa Lucia. It is considered bad luck to eat after dawn on this day, so the children treat the parents to a special breakfast in bed.

St. Lucia is the “queen of lights” bringing the promise of longer days after a long, dark winter.
 

A single vehicle accident occurred on the curve known as “Hog’s Bend” on the Gunflint Trail this morning, December 20.
 
Katlyn Linnell, 27, of Grand Marais was driving a 2005 white Jeep Wrangler when she went off the road and into the ditch.
 
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Marais First Responders and Maple Hill Fire Department responded and the victim was transported by Cook County Ambulance to North Shore Health at 7:17 am.
 
The extent of injuries is unknown at this time.
 
The vehicle was extracted from the ditch and towed by North Coast Towing.
 
The Sheriff’s Office reminds motorists to use extra caution while driving in potentially slippery conditions and allow for extra time.
 

Alpine Ski Coach Charles Lamb said KooKoo at Lutsen Mountains was in great shape for the opening meet, the Cook County Invite on Friday, December 14. Eight teams gathered at Lutsen Mountains for a total of 124 athletes competing.

Coach Lamb said he was greatly impressed with his JV skiers, many who were racing for the first time at the high school level. The boys' JV team swept the podium, with Elijah Blanck in 3rd, Ray Dressley in 2nd and Cy Oberholtzer taking the top of the podium with 1st.

In JV girls, Kalina Dimitrova had a strong race day to claim 2nd.

For varsity boys, Will Surbaugh had a great first run, but faced some challenges on the second for a 5th place finish.

The girls varsity team did exceedingly well against the tough Brainerd and Duluth East teams. The Cook County Alpine team had three girls in the top 10. Elsa Lunde finished in 12th; Halle Lamb, 10th and Sela Backstrom 7th. Reilly Wahlers was the overall girls’ winner, taking 1st place on the podium.

The Cook County Alpine team takes to the hills again on Friday, December 21 at the Virginia Invite. WTIP will have more on that race for later, but click below to hear Coach Lamb’s thoughts on the Cook County Invite. Here’s Rhonda Silence with more.
 

The Best Western Plus - Superior Inn in Grand Marais underwent major renovations over the last year. The exterior got a fresh northwoods look that everyone can see. But not everyone has reason to go inside the local hotel, which has renovated rooms, a luxurious new whirlpool spa and exercise room, an expanded breakfast area, a lobby bar  and more. 

Best Western Plus - Superior Inn owners Scott and Chris Holland Mehlhoff would like that to change. They have put the breakfast room, called the Grand Room, with its huge stone fireplace and cozy seating, to use in the evenings with performances by local musicians. The public is invited to stop in to enjoy the music and perhaps a beverage at the Cove Lobby Bar. 

Such a peformance is coming up on Sunday, December 30. Performing Jazz with Chris Gillis & Friends from 5 to 8 p.m. will be Gillis, Thomas Stamps, Max Bichel and Carah Thomas. 

WTIP's Rhonda Silence was recently treated to a tour. Join her as Best Western Plus - Superior Inn owners Scott and Chris Holland Mehlhoff show off the changes at their hotel. 

Click photo to see more of the Best Western Plus-Superior Inn

The city of Grand Marais met on Wednesday, December 12 and during that meeting the council selected a new council member, gave a Truth-in-Taxation presentation and talked about the changes ahead for the Highway 61 corridor through Grand Marais. 

The council had two potential citizens to appoint to the city council vacancy, Craig Schulte and Anna Hamilton. Schulte was selected to fulfill the two-year term and the mayor shares his thoughts on working with a new council member. 

The city council expressed appreciation to Hamilton for applying for the seat and encouraged her to consider applying for a board or commission in the city. In fact, the council asked all city residents to consider serving on various boards and commissions, such as the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission, the Grand Marais Park Board or Grand Marais Planning & Zoning. 

Anyone who would like more information on a position on those boards should call Grand Marais City Hall at 218-387-1848 or email [email protected]. More information can also be found on the city's website - click here.