Free press in Cook County?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
-First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
called the Bill of Rights, adopted in 1789

"Go now, and tell it on the mountains and in the cities. From your Web sites and laptops,tell it. From the street corners and the coffee house, tell it. On campus and at the mall, tell it. Tell it at the synagogue, sanctuary, and mosque. Tell it. Tell it where you can, when you can, and while you can. Tell America what we need to know--and we just might rekindle the patriot's dream."
-Bill Moyers, keynote address
National Conference on Media Reform
Minneapolis, June, 2008

Cook County is blessedly free of corporate-dominated media. Oh ya sure, the News Herald is owned by a media group but it's not Fox, not Murdoch, not even a very big player in the control-of-information game that was invented by the neocons who now control all three branches of the U.S. government--at which the founders would turn over and rise up from their grave to peaceably assemble and protest.
Lucky, yes, but well-served for the 21st century? True says no. Mind you, True is only a humble, ragtag collective. But She formed in response to a gap between the grapevine and the published Word a couple years back when Grand Marais was being invaded by Big Developers. That issue was happily resolved, to the benefit of most if not all.
New issues emerge, however, in our 21st century where technology daily changes the nature of the "press" even as most information is not now printed but rather published in cyberspace. And our backward local "press" have not joined the free and open Internet where anybody, anywhere can google something like "Poplar River impairment" and get all the published news articles from the local angle. Well, once we could get it from the News Herald but now it has gone private and you have to sign away your life story and pay money just to see an article. As for the Star, they are SO 20th century, you just have to save a copy of every paper.
And even here in our cozy little county our media have more serious limitations than Internet access. Let's name them:
The Star, the News Herald and WTIP are beholden to advertisers. Once the News Herald did editorials about issues in Cook County but now, nobody does.
WTIP is the emerging leader in comprehensive and substantive news coverage. They do a great job, covering issues and meetings that neither paper seems to manage to attend or explore.
But nobody gives us a big picture, nobody tries to put it all together (even inadequately, which would be a start), nobody fills in the gaps between the gossip mill and the deep truth.
Outsiders, even summer residents, can read and listen to every word but they still can't figure out what is really going on. That's partly because covering meetings, the basic stuff of the three branches of media, doesn't tell the stories but only describes the meetings.
OK, let's get specific, with a couple of examples.
1) The new major issue in Cook County is the big plans for development of Lutsen Mountain into an Aspen-like monstrosity. While this huge proposed travesty of the Cook County development ordinance looms large as an even greater threat than turning Grand Marais into a huge marina with Disney condos, there is scarcely a peep about it in the news.
2) Directly related to the Mountain Megalomania is the impairment of the Poplar River and the big misinformation being disseminated freely in both papers by--you guessed it--the OWNERS of Lutsen Mountain, who call themselves the "Poplar River Mangement Board." The irony here is that although these guys could well afford to BUY a page in both papers, they got it for free, in direct conflict with the policies that opinions and letters be strictly limited in word count. True will be exploring the Poplar River issues, trying to sift Truth from Sediment, in future posts.
But the point is, nobody else is looking at the big picture here, or taking any kind of a stand. Certainly not the county board which dances around and dodges with silly stuff about the legality of a special tax district that would force other Poplar River landowners to pay for the damage wreaked by the Lutsen Mountain owners, or the Lutsen Town Board that agrees to anything they want.
And here is the great failing of the media: what the Founders feared most when they wrote the First Amendment: that people can't make informed decisions without all the information. Both papers have printed full-page ads purporting to be "facts" by Lutsen Mountain owner Tom Rider. NOBODY has bothered to do any fact-checking.
Editorials have two purposes: one, to engage a public discussion and two, to bring a truthful perspective to the slipshod, piecemeal and disconnected stories that make up the daily news. We badly need them here, even without Rupert Murdoch's blockade of any facts at all.

Press gives free full-page ads to Lutsen Mountain owners

Both the Star and the News Herald have strict policies about word limits on their editorial pages. Lots of just plain folks as well as elected officials have gotten the brush-off when they attempted to exceed the limits, maybe because they were writing about an issue too complex to cover in 400 words.
Not so the Poplar River Management Board, that thinly veiled cover for the owners of Lutsen Mountain who want a North Shore Aspen of megadevelopment to add to the already overtaxed Poplar River...
No, both papers gave these folks a full page, right a full page, presumably without charging for the advertising that their devious spin on the facts amounted to.
Corporate owners don't deserve to get public support, period. And when they are part of the problem they darned well ought to pay for the solution, and not pass it on to the hapless residents who can so ill afford to pay more taxes.
True

Here's a pretty mess!

Reprise: Developer mania once seen in downtown Grand Marais is alive and well on Lutsen Mountain. True is reminded of the neocon power domination philosophy so eloquently stated by Karl Rove (or was it Darth Cheney?): You just push and push and keep pushing until you get stopped.
So it is on Lutsen Mountain. The rich owners who here shall remain nameless wish to turn the moutain into an Aspen-like city of huge buildings (55 plus feet high) and infrastructure paid for by the government (as in "public-private partnership" meaning public subsidies of private enterprise) and utterly destructive of the moutain's steep-slope land with its limited soil on bedrock, and the Poplar River watershed that supports all life within its domain.
The nameless management has shamelessly advocated for a new one-percent sales tax that will like the proverbial straw break the backs of us poor folks already suffering from huge new costs for food, energy, gas and health care.
Says Leroy Halberg, water and septic inspector for Cook County, "No one is lookiing at the overall picture, the cumulative effect of development on the watershed."
A recent letter was sent to the Lutsen town board from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health. In part this letter read, "We are starting to question whether the area can sustain such increased pressure on its water resources without impacts to human health and the environment. Currently there are 14 noncommunity wasterwater treatment systems in the area and all of this water is obtained from aquifers that have limited capabilities for providing drinking water."
In case y'all haven't noticed, neocons in the years since Reagan have increasingly de-clawed regulation; all the more remarkable that two Minnesota regulatory agencies have the courage to send a letter like this to challenge the corporate-owner dominated Poplar River Management Board.
There will be public meetings between the PRMB and the county coming up to consider wastewater treatment and drinking water safety.
Folks, turn out! Or failing that, write letters or emails or call your West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson.
Do you think Lutsen Mountain makes a profit from its disregard of the Poplar watershed? Does the Pope shit in the woods?

Lutsen: who's minding the henhouse?

The day dawns for Lutsen township elections and Paul Quinn is challenging incumbent Supervisor Marland Hansen. Sounds like a healthy democratic process? Guess again.
Hansen and Quinn are both on the same page when it comes to the HUGE issues facing Lutsen township, namely the downtown development design approved by a public process and the Lutsen Mountain mega-developers who are not answerable to anybody. Not for their mega-slump dump of dirty water into the Poplar River. Not for their increasing push toward the limits of the TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) that can't absorb additional turbidity. But most of all, not for their Mega-Development of a new McCity on Lutsen Mountain with 55 foot high buildings, curb-and-gutters designed for a mini-urban area, and no, repeat, no, plans to mitigate the already challenged TMDL on the Poplar River watershed, a huge area affected by the Mega Mountain Corporation.
So, people of Lutsen, do you want to elect Tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee? Either candidate washes his hands over the Poplar River/Lutsen Mountain pollution issues. Either candidate expresses disdain for the public-process-approved downtown design by the U of M Center for Changing Landscapes. True, having closely studied these designs, has nothing but praise for them, especially for the seamless integration of the bike trail into the overall plan and for the "intelligent design" (if you will pardon the reference) that will limit new development to the town center and to the publicly determined good--i.e., housing and commercial development that serves citizens.
Lutsen citizens: True can't vote for y'all. You need to stop being world-class wimps while others decide the fate of your lovely, lovely township.

News Express » Archive » EDA requests affordable housing bids from local builders

True loves News Express, the on-line headline news posted to Boreal by the Cook County News Herald.
The local folks who asked the EDA and the Grand Marais City Council for a chance to bid on affordable housing projects have gotten their wish. It's not maybe as simple as they thought, navigating the mysterious realms of federal, state and private grant applications, mortgage lending, infrastructure costs, and the strict criteria set by the Minnesota Green Communities Initiative while still creating high quality affordable housing. The Land Trust model will also have to do duty here if the project has any chance of succeeding.
But, best of luck, locals. It would be a win for everybody if we had an affordable housing coalition of city, county and contractors to meet the needs of the half of residents who fall below the median income. Go for it.

News Express » Archive » EDA requests affordable housing bids from local builders

ATV Reprise: USFS and Cook County Roads

True's mailbox includes a packet from the U.S. Forest Service about their proposed OHV (ATV) trails and asking for public comment. With chagrin, he notes that the public comment period ended today.
Still, True has read and studied the USFS scoping document as well as their maps and he thanks our Tofte and Gunflint ranger staff for making this process very open, for coming to town and county meetings, for mailing out information to interested parties such as Yours Truly. He is impressed at the effort to close dead-end trails, reclassify roads, and create trails to move from the lower to the upper forest. Okay, he (I) don't like or want ATVs over-running our county but if they must and will come here let them come to designated trails. As Tofte district ranger John Wytanis put it, "We are not going to allow everything, and we are not going to allow nothing."
But, unfortunately, on the ATV issue most all of the comments come from the ATVers themselves. Notably, a four-page document was submitted by the local ATV club recommending additional trails to be opened. Ugga bugga boo.
For most of us, the USFS plan is a compromise we can reluctantly live with, but not for the hard-core folks who like to enjoy the environment by destroying it. This puts me in mind of nasty little boys who tear the wings off of butterflies because they just don't SEE anything outside their personal ego demands for instant gratification.
Metaphors aside, a more serious ATV issue looms on the horizon, that being permission to ride on virtually all county roads. Last time the county had a public hearing at least two-thirds of those attending were strongly pro-ATV. Next time, who knows? We have a statewide lobby that would just love to devour Cook County as an ATV destination.
Commissioner Jim Johnson has promised to vote against the Open Season ATV Plan (because his constituents are adamantly opposed) but most of them, like politicos everywhere, are just watching to see which way the wind blows. Commissioner Bruce Martinson, at least, has been vocal in his reports to his West End constituency about all of the issues in play here; his personal concern is safety.
True (aka yours truly) admits that there will be an increased ATV presence here in Cook County and hopes that if enough folks who love the peace and quiet of the woods, or even enough folks who understand that the economy will suffer if the ATVers take over the woods, will speak out in time to make a difference, in time to set limits we can live with.

True Exclusive: Lutsen town plan

Lutsen Meeting Minutes from Tuesday 3-27-07

Thank you to everyone who attended Tuesday night's meeting!
We have just posted our concepts/drawings on our server. Follow this link:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~cland/

There will be two folders labeled 11x11 and 8x8. This refers to the size of the drawing so you can either print them out on 11x17 or 81/2x11 if you wish. Inside the folders will be pdf files of all of our boards. Let me know if you have any technical difficulties. Please remember that this work is preliminary. We have posted it so people can refer back to it and ask any additional questions or give us additional comments on the work. For those who could not attend the meeting the drawings will help you have a better understanding of the meeting minutes. We will will be re-shaping the work for a final presentation that will be scheduled for sometime in June.

I have attached the meeting minutes in a word document and also pasted it below.
Again, if you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to call or email.

Nichole Schlepp
Design Coordinator
Center for Changing Landscapes
University of Minnesota
612-624-2976
schl0482@umn.edu

Lutsen Meeting Minutes 3.27.07:

A steering committee workshop was held in February. In that meeting we received many comments/inputs on the Gitchi Gami Trail alignment through Lutsen , discussed some town center concepts, and received feedback on what people saw as the character of Lutsen and the potential character of a future town center. Based on that meeting we were able to refine our concepts and present them Tuesday night at a preliminary design meeting held in the Lutsen Church basement. Here are the topics that were presented/discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting:



1. Gitchi Gami Trail:

-An existing regional trail map was shown that spanned from the Poplar River to the Caribou Trail. The DNR has funding for the trail and an alignment with property owners’ consent to Arrowhead Electric. This portion of the trail was shown as a solid line on the map. It is in the power line corridor after crossing Poplar River and then makes its way to the right-of-way along Highway 61 before reaching Arrowhead Electric.

From this point the trail was shown as a dashed line and split into two options along the right-of-way: one is on the north side and one is on the south side of the highway.



2. Zoning and Linear Systems:

-A map of the existing town center from Arrowhead Electric to Lutsen Church was shown with dashed lines for the Gitchi Gami Trail on the north and south side of the highway.

-Town Center ‘Gateway’ locations were shown to the west of Arrowhead Electric and to the east Lutsen Church. This is where the speed could drop to 30 m.p.h,, town center signage would be placed, there could possibly be curb and gutter along the highway, ‘Town Center Plantings’ could be incorporated helping to signify that you are entering the town center of Lutsen.

-Zoning as specified from Lutsen’s town plan is also shown on this map. One of the only changes we would be suggesting is that in the ‘LGC’ area the density could be more than .25/acre with an option for single-family residential to enter this area as ‘Town Center Housing’.

-Within the ‘LGC’ area a thicker red line was drawn indicating our ‘Town Center Study” area. This line is carried out through the town center concept drawings as well.

-A section line (in red) was cut just to the east of Lutsen Church for studying the highway/frontage road/Gitchi Gami trail spacing.



3. Highway/Frontage Road/Gitchi Gami Trail Section Studies

-Section studies were cut at a pinch point east of the Lutsen Church where a home is approx. 12’ from the R.O.W.

The studies shown were: existing conditions, a very ‘bare minimum’ MNDOT typical rural section at 40 m.p.h., a curb and gutter option at 30 m.p.h., and a section showing the trail on the south side.

From these studies it was apparent that there is more room on the north side (100’ of R.O.W.) of the highway for a frontage road and/or trail. On the south side there are steeper slopes and there is only 50’ of R.O.W. causing the trail to be within 2’ of the road with guardrails on either side.

People responded well to the curb and gutter option because it allowed a separation between the trail, the highway, and the frontage road and allowed the plantings to come in closer to the highway creating a narrow visual corridor.

In terms of stormwater runoff, the rural section with its ditches works best. Curb and gutter eliminates the ditches and would require some other type of detention or treatment before moving into the creek.

For next time, more studies will be done that take a closer look at the stormwater for the curb and gutter option Discussions will continue with the DNR and with MNDOT to ensure we are meeting trail and highway requirements as well as having something that works well for Lutsen.



4. Town Center Concepts:

-Two concepts were shown for the town center. These drawings are meant to be a vision for the future, to help the community of Lutsen see what their zoning and town plan could possibly accomplish, and how having a plan for the future can help the community retain and protect the character of Lutsen and become an even greater resource along the North Shore. Both concepts worked to emphasize the feeling of community, to create a pedestrian-friendly cohesive town center, and to focus the town center and housing on amenities such as the creek or open green spaces as well as thinking about potential stormwater collection/treatment facilities.



-Town Square Concept- this concept focuses the town center core around a small square. (See Town Square axon drawing for a closer look at the square). It is a very traditional plan that would be pedestrian-friendly. “The square” uses the land quite efficiently and therefore allows for more commercial/retail buildings. As the design moves up the hill it changes to live/work units, small single-family tuck-unders and single-family rear attached that focus on a common green space. (See drawing of Town Center Housing Types 1&2). Beyond that the housing shifts to single-family residential rear detached on 60’x120’ lots. (See drawing of Town Center Housing Type 3)



-Town Green Concept- this concepts follows the same principles as the Town Square concept but focuses the town core commercial area around a single curving “Main Street” that frames a large central green. (see Town Green Axon drawing for a closer look of the green) This design is not as dense as the Town Square so there is less square footage of commercial/retail in this plan. A ring pattern emerges in this design where each ring is a different type of commercial building (all commercial/retail or live/work units) and then shifts to the different patterns and densities of housing types (again see Town Center Housing drawings)



Of course, before all of this could possibly happen a community septic system and water system would have to be in place as well as a stormwater plan. We discussed septic package plants and were they are located in the plan. Another big question was water. Water is a much larger issue that needs to be looked at by engineers but we will do what we can. Again, we will continue to develop our stormwater plan for these town center concepts.


There were also many questions about costs, funding, timelines, etc. These concepts are a vision and would be a very long term idea for Lutsen. This would not happen overnight but very gradually. Costs and funding are big questions as well as the market in Lutsen for this type of development. Some ideas about funding sources were discussed. We will explore some of these questions for next time.



The community decided that the final presentation should be before the busy season starts so we will be back sometime in June. We will continue to work on the details, the character of the buildings, and develop a signage and detail package for the town center. The Gitchi Gami trail/frontage road/highway sections will also be studied again.


Lutsen Meeting Minutes 3.27.07.doc
29K View as HTML Open as a Google document Download

Poplar River meeting canceled due to pending blizzard

Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:30:59 -0600 (CST)
From: etoile@boreal.org
To: news@boreal.org
Subject: Poplar River TMDL meeting canceled

Subject: CANCEL: Poplar River Public Meeting
Importance: High


Due to significant travel safety concerns related to the pending
blizzard that will be in the region over the next couple days, we are
canceling the Poplar River public meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday ,
3/1 ) evening. We will reschedule the meeting for a future date to be
determined. Please communicate this as soon as possible to as many
people as you can. We will do the same on our end as well. Thanks and
we’ll be in touch to talk about follow-up in the near future (after we
dig out!?).



Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this
decision.
Pat Carey, MPCA Duluth Watershed Supervisor



------------------------

Impaired Poplar River: public meeting March 1st

From: "Rebecca Wiinanen"
To: news@boreal.org
Subject: Poplar River: Public meeting on the official study to determine sources of pollution
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:15:07 -0600

Recent monitoring on the Poplar River found that the river’s water quality is poor enough to be officially listed as impaired due to excessive turbidity (cloudiness or muddiness of the water). Because of this, the river was put on the state’s list of impaired waters by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in 2004. On Thursday, March 1, the Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will host a public meeting to discuss the study being completed to determine the sources of turbidity to the Poplar River. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. March 1, 2007, at the Lutsen Evangelical Lutheran Church, 5307 W. Hwy. 61 in Lutsen.

The MPCA is required to complete the study to determine what’s known as a
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum
amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards. This first public meeting is meant to introduce stakeholders to the partners working on the study, provide an overview of work done to-date and planned activities, and will also address how this project fits in to other current projects on the Poplar River (such as the “megaslump” erosion control project).

Although the Cook County SWCD will serve as the local resource agency for the project, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contractor will complete most of the study’s technical portions. Citizen participation is encouraged, and will be addressed through a series of public meetings like this one, interactions with the Poplar River Management Board and other interested stakeholders, and an official public comment period.

Contact: Dave Stark, Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District
(218) 387-3648 - Office
(218) 428-4413 - Cell

Lutsen residents speak out on town planning, bike trail issues

Nancye Belding

True North correspondent

At Monday’s town planning meeting, funded by grants from Lutsen township ($5,000) and the Northeast Minnesota Sustainable Partnership ($30,000), 50-plus residents answered co-moderator Mary Vogel’s call for a “lively and productive discussion” with wide-ranging and divergent dialogue, often reflecting starkly opposed points of view. The biggest issue addressed was whether snowmobile and ATV use will be permitted in downtown Lutsen once the Gitchi Gami Trail comes through.

In general, multi-use is prohibited on the trail, but in Beaver Bay there is an exception, according to Lutsen Supervisor Diane Parker. Local residents object to restricting snowmobile and ATV where it has been permitted in the past. Locals use the existing service road to get groceries and mail and fill up their gas tanks. They don’t want to give up this access; the decision to fund the planning process with township funds was made primarily in the belief that multi-use in the town center could be accommodated with professional planning.

The Gitchi Gami Trail is already funded, but resident disagreement regarding its location prompted the trail association to delay implementation for a year. Meanwhile the township looks the University of Minnesota’s Center for Changing Landscapes to create design models based on resident-directed options that include snowmobile and ATV access in the town center, along the existing service road in use for many years past. “We are here to listen to your ideas, hopes and aspirations,” Vogel said, and then present some options using conceptual drawings and “ideas to protect, celebrate, and enhance both cultural and natural resources.” CCL consultant CJ Fernandez explained the basics of the planning process:

· A volunteer steering committee will serve as an essential liaison between CCL and residents. They will inform the public about their meetings and findings, and help to complete resident surveys as needed. They will publicize the next three public planning meetings in which CCL will present design options for review and comment; and they will bring together all of the players/stakeholders concerned with the town center process. All citizens attending were invited to sign up for the steering committee. “This is a community design process; everything is on the table. We want to hear every idea.”

· Because of the imminence of the Gitchi Gami Trail, funded for Lutsen during the coming year, CCL’s second public meeting will focus on a trail assessment, as well as an overall analysis of the downtown physical environment. In the third meeting they will present the first set of preliminary town center designs, and the final plan will be presented at a fourth meeting, hopefully in June of next year. The steering committee will then draft a formal letter, including its project recommendations, and deliver it to the town board.

Resident and sculptor Tom Christiansen got laughs for suggesting that a Wal-Mart might be on the town wish list. Whatever your politics in Lutsen, nobody wants the big boxes. “My big issue is slowing traffic,” Christiansen said. Fernandez said CCL will look at clear zones, design speeds, access points and safety to help the town “present a unified view” to highway planners.

The ensuing discussion focused on some basic issues:

· What will Minnesota Department of Transportation require of the township plan, and what speed limits will apply in the town center? What do speed limits dictate about road design—number of lanes, surrounding vegetation, curb and gutters, etc.?

· Will MnDOT work with the township? CCL staff said that Rod Garver, North Shore highway corridor manager, is anxious to work with local governing entities. He is an enthusiastic supporter of local control and wants future MnDOT plans to reflect local consensus.

· Is there wiggle room in MnDOT’s plans for trails that will accommodate both biker/hiker/skater needs and local access via snowmobile and ATV? Yes, Fernandez and some residents said, it should be possible to find space for both a bike trail and multi-use access in the highway configuration.

· A number of residents complained about ATV and snowmobile use on the highway, saying that non-locals were not respectful of other drivers and fearing that in future the township would be over-run with these vehicles. Lutsen Board Chair Brad Ludlow responded, “Locals just want a place to ride, gas up, and get to the trail heads.”

· Summer residents asked to be kept in the loop. Fernandez said design options will be posted on the CCL web site: http://ccl.gis.umn.edu, and there will be mail surveys as well as e-mail input throughout the process. The second public meeting will probably occur in January.

Reprinted from Cook County News Herald

Lutsen downtown design planning begins October 2

Nancye Belding

True North correspondent

The long-awaited planning process to integrate Highway 61 and Gitchi Gami Trail planning into an overall downtown design concept that meets the needs of Lutsen residents will commence with a public meeting on Monday, October 2 at 7 p.m. in the Lutsen Evangelical Lutheran Church. The public is cordially invited to attend.

The design plan will be facilitated by the University of Minnesota Center for Changing Landscapes, an interdisciplinary team that looks at history, culture, ecology, watershed, and other preservation issues in addition to elements of landscaping and architecture. CCL has been working with Tofte on a similar downtown design, with similar attention paid to highway redevelopment, bike trails and many other trails intersecting the downtown area. CCL works up designs based on public input, gets feedback, makes new designs, and gets more feedback before signing off.

The $35,000 project is funded by a $5,000 donation from Lutsen township and a $30,000 grant from the Northeast Minnesota Sustainable Partnership Fund.

-This article reprinted courtesy of Cook County News Herald