January 2024

Cook County Public Health was awarded $39,000 from the Minnesota “Live Well at Home” grant program. The state allocated $9.5 million to help aging Minnesotans stay in their homes longer by offering caregiver support, housekeeping, retrofitting lodging to prevent falls, and other assistance.

An interactive learning experience about Indigenous history and the laws, policies, and programs used during US nation-building is coming to Cook County. The Cook County Welcoming Communities Inclusion cohort is organizing this community event open to all.

Cook County Commissioners second meeting of the year contained changes in positions at the the courthouse and to committees for the coming year, as well as okaying permits for events and businesses. *North Shore Waste’s solid waste hauler license for 2024 was approved.

A new record for efficiency in city council meetings might have ended the 2023 year. The Grand Marais City Council held a brief meeting on December 27 with the typical consent agenda and one item on the main agenda, setting the 2023 tax levy collected in 2024.

No lines out of the Rec Park office door. No parking lot full of shivering, sleepy people, many of whom had arrived many hours before from far, far away.

On Sunday, December 31, at approximately 3:27 p.m. Cook County dispatch received a call that two people had slid down a gorge and needed rescue. The people were hiking on the Superior Hiking Trail north of Schroeder MN when the accident happened. It was also reported that a dog had slid down as well. The hiking trail was on the edge of an approximately 50-foot gorge. The victims were described as a 60-year-old male and a 35-year-old male, and a 60-70 lb. dog. As responders arrived it was learned that one person had made it out, but the other person and the dog were still at the bottom. At the time of this release, there were no injuries associated with this call. Dispatched to the scene were Cook County Deputies, North Shore Health Ambulance, Cook County Search & Rescue, Tofte First Responders, Minnesota DNR Conservation Officers, Cook County Ropes Team, and USFS Law Enforcement.

Cook County Commissioners didn't waste any time getting to business at their first meeting of the new year on January 2, 2024. To open the meeting, following the Pledge of Allegiance, Board Chair Ann Sullivan asked who was interested in serving as the board chair for 2024.