Page 22 - Keith Vandervort News Today

Keith Vandervort EMBARRASS – Don Taylor grew up spending time on his neighbor’s farm in Menahga, where he helped with the dairy cows, went on the milk route and did other various chores. He took something away from those formative years that has stayed with him as he nears the end of his seventh decade. He developed a respect and admiration for old barns, and the wood they are made of. “I’ve always liked the look, the feel, even the smell of barn wood,” Taylor said earlier this month ...

Blown engine prompts rental agreement with Breitung Township Posted Keith Vandervort ELY – The Ely Police Department will operate for the rest of this year, and perhaps longer, with just two primary squad cars due to a blown engine in their third vehicle, a situation which could affect the department’s overall response capabilities. The EPD responded to 2,347 incidents in 2020, about two dozen more calls than in 2019, according to Police Chief Chad Houde, so the number of incidents/calls ...

Posted Keith Vandervort VIRGINIA — An ice pick or similar object was allegedly used in a July 10 attack in Babbitt in which a business owner was stabbed multiple times in the stomach and legs, according to court documents filed last week in St. Louis County District Court. The suspect, Dylan Thomas Peterson, 29, of Grand Rapids, was charged last Wednesday with three felonies, according to the criminal complaint. He was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-...

Posted Keith Vandervort ELY – Council members here last week unanimously agreed with Interim Mayor Chuck Novak’s proclamation of again calling for Twin Metals Appreciation Days to run concurrently with the community’s largest festival of the year on July 23-25. “I’m going to read this because every year we do this for Blueberry Fest,” Novak said. The annual proclamation by the city’s top elected official does not necessarily speak for all city residents. Nonetheless, local envir...

Keith Vandervort ELY – With a perfect 4-0 record, Roseau won the 20th annual American Legion Sir G’s Midsummer Classic baseball tournament here last weekend. They beat Virginia 3-2 for the title in Sunday’s championship game. Ely went 2-2 in the ten-team field that also included teams from Wadena, St. Paul Highland Park, Hermantown, Cloquet, Taconite, Proctor, and International Falls, In Ely’s opening game Friday night, St. Paul Highland Park gave the home team a 14-12 loss. “We led ...

Posted Keith Vandervort ELY– The U.S. Forest Service reported several fires in the Ely area late last week due to extremely dry conditions and a lightning storm on July 4. Hot shot crews continued to battle the largest, the Delta Lake fire, this week, as worsening drought has pushed the fire danger to extreme. The Delta Lake fire is burning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in a thicket of waist- to chest-high blowdown dating back to 2016, that is hampering firefighter access, a...

Keith Vandervort ELY - After a year on hiatus because of public health concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic, the community’s signature art and craft event, the Blueberry/Art Festival, is back for 2021, hosted by the Ely Chamber of Commerce. The Blueberry/Art Festival begins on Friday, July 23 and runs through Sunday, July 25.  “This year’s festival will concentrate on arts, crafts, and food,” said Ely Chamber of Commerce Event Coordinator Ellen Cashman. Public health guidelines fo...

Keith Vandervort ELY - Highway 169 about two miles west of Ely was shut down last Saturday afternoon for more than six hours because of a fire involving a semi truck that was pulling a tanker of gasoline. According to a report from Morse-Fall Lake Fire Chief Ted Krueger, as related to the Northland Fire Wire, around 2:15 p.m. Saturday the brakes of the semi caught fire and the blaze spread to the vehicle’s tires. The truck driver uncoupled the burning vehicle from the tanker. The front of th...

Posted Keith Vandervort ELY - A sparse agenda for the city council here this week found council members in the middle of a dispute between neighbors over lawn mowing. One neighbor wants to mow the lawn on portions of city property surrounding his property on Sibley Drive. The other neighbor doesn’t want him to. Apparently, Andy Hill, of 2111 Sibley Drive, has been doing the extra lawn mowing outside his property limits for the past two summers, but the Ely City Police were recently notified...

Keith Vandervort ELY – U.S. Forest Service crews used the Ely Airport for a helicopter training session last Friday as the trainees learned and refreshed their skills in working with rotary aircraft while fighting wildfires in the North Country. Eric Holzem, USFS Helitack supervisor for District 9, including the Kawishiwi District, oversaw the training as eight students on the ground performed training drills in cargo transport via external load. “The skills are needed for transport into an...