Letters to the editor are the opinions of the writer and don’t necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper. Letters should be 300 words or less but exceptions will be made for longer letters in some cases. All letters must include the writer's legal name, phone number, and email if applicable.
I have had experience with both Cook County and the Grand Marais City zoning boards.
County Commissioners are considering if the County can fund service and protection for the Fed owned roads, culverts and land (about 363,000 acres). Needed is an adequate Fed payment n Lieu of Taxes (PILT). $1.3 million Fed PILT was paid n 2024.
The SAVE Act is actually a voter suppression bill which recently passed in the US House and is currently in committee in the Senate. The GOP backed SAVE Act would not even authorize federal funding for the new and significant challenges it presents to states to administer it, and it has no phase-in period. Pete Stauber, MN CD-08 Representative to the US House was one of the sponsors for this bill.
Last week I attended a town hall in Grand Marais. The town hall was not in support of any particular candidate or political party, but instead was an opportunity for people to come together to speak their minds. About 100 people from the community attended. Most talked about how they and their families have been hurt by the Trump administration’s ongoing destruction of the nation’s social infrastructure. They talked about how the devastation of federal services is crippling everything from forest management and fire fighting, to food programs, to health care, to education and library support, to weather forecasting. Underlying the moving stories people told of their fear, anger, and loss was the sense that people in Washington simply don’t care about us.
Last week was National Library Week, a time to celebrate public libraries all across the country, including the Grand Marais Public Library, here at home. That same week, our library received word from The American Library Association (ALA) that The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was being dismantled, following a Presidential Executive Order issued in March. The IMLS is the only agency that provides federal funding to libraries, and according to the ALA, comprises less than 0.003% of the annual federal budget. By April 1st, nearly all staff within the agency were placed on administrative leave and, as a result, all processing of grants has been suspended.
I ran across this statement by Edwin Way Teale (1950).
Last Saturday’s Anti-Trump demonstration downtown was heartening—the second in two weeks. People in both parties are standing up against the outrageous practices of this administration, which has outstepped both logic and the law.
The truth from a liar is not to be believed. Irish Proverb Let your faith be stronger than your fear.
Letters to the editor are the opinions of the writer and don’t necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.