ELY

80-year-old woman dies after scooter fire outside Ely care center

Staff reports — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 15:32:10 GMT

ELY, Minn. — An 80-year-old woman died after a fire erupted on her motorized scooter outside a care facility Monday, authorities said.

The Ely Police Department said the victim was "engulfed" before staff members were able to get her off the scooter. The incident was reported to 911 by a witness shortly after 4:30 p.m. outside the Boundary Waters Care Center, which provides skilled nursing and rehabilitation services.

The woman suffered "severe burns" and was initially taken by ambulance to Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital before being airlifted to Duluth, police said. She later died from her injuries. Her identity was not immediately released.

One staff member also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was released after receiving treatment.

It's unclear what caused the blaze. Police said the case is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal's Office.

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Catholics exhume Duluth priest who may become Minnesota's first saint

Jay Gabler — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:47:51 GMT

DULUTH — There are over 10,000 canonized saints in the Roman Catholic Church, and none of them are from Duluth. In fact, none are from anywhere in Minnesota, and only a dozen can even be considered American.

The closest thing to a hometown hero Northland Catholics can claim in the pantheon of official saints is Mother Cabrini (1850-1917), who worked in Chicago. Then there is Solanus Casey (1870-1957), who has been beatified; he was born in Oak Grove, Wisconsin, and spent a short time in Duluth.

So it would be a big deal if Monsignor Joseph Buh (1833-1922) achieved canonization.

"As far as actually spending a lot of time in the state of Minnesota," said Fr. Richard Kunst of Duluth, "he would be the only one."

It may be a long shot, but Daniel Felton, Bishop of Duluth, feels the time has come to ask whether Buh is worthy of sainthood. In July, the Diocese of Duluth exhumed Buh's remains from Calvary Cemetery in preparation for eventually re-interring the missionary priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary.

That step alone is a mark of the esteem Felton and his fellow Catholic leaders have for Buh. Kunst, who has been asked by Felton to lead the process of publicizing Buh's story, said no other area Catholic has received similar treatment.

"We exhumed him to bring him to an appropriate place because he's the patriarch of our diocese," said Kunst. "He helped establish 50-some parishes."

Buh was born in Slovenia and developed an interest in missionary work. He arrived in Minnesota in 1864, ultimately becoming a pivotal figure leading the establishment of Catholic institutions across the northern part of the state. In doing so, he worked with the Ojibwe and with the rapidly expanding populations of immigrant settlers.

"Bishop Daniel Felton is very much of the mindset of our diocese being a missionary diocese," said Kunst, and "Monsignor Buh (is) the primary missionary that our diocese has ever had. ... He's the perfect role model for our diocese."

Buh's missionary spirit is relevant today, said Kunst, in inspiring the faithful to be forthright in sharing their beliefs.

"Anybody within our realm as priests, whether they're Catholic or not, we have a certain responsibility for their spiritual well-being, and that's what a missionary is," he said. "Bringing (Jesus) Christ to people doesn't mean you have to travel to a far-off land."

"There's an evangelization movement among many Christian churches, but now among (Catholics), too," said Sister Beverly Raway, Prioress of St. Scholastica Monastery. With that comes an interest in "recognizing those leaders from the past who spread the faith."

The Sisters of St. Scholastica have long nurtured a special connection to Buh, working to keep his memory alive for the past century. "There was a great friendship between Mother Scholastica, the founder of our community, and Monsignor Buh," said Raway.

At one point, a Sister of St. Scholastica "found one of his shirts, a white shirt, and cut it into little tiny pieces and attached it to prayer cards that were distributed among the sisters," said Raway. "I'd love to know if there are any of those still around!"

Two members of Raway's order, Sister Bernard Coleman and Sister Verona LaBud, wrote a biography of Buh: "Masinaigans: The Little Book" (1972). The book's title comes from an Ojibwe nickname for Buh, who was often seen carrying a small book — likely a breviary or, for the busy missionary, a day calendar.

Sainthood is ultimately conferred by the Pope, but it's not simply an executive decision.

Advancing a candidate for the series of steps toward canonization involves documenting the deceased's continuing impact on the lives of the living. In conferring sainthood, the church is officially agreeing that a person's soul is in heaven with God.

Catholics who believe in the holiness of a person who has died don't need to wait for a green light from Rome, though: They can start praying for the person's "intercession" with God right away. In fact, that's just what local Catholic leaders are asking people to do with Joseph Buh.

A newly produced booklet being distributed in the diocese contains a short biography of Buh, and has the words of a suggested prayer to Jesus requesting "that you make your goodness known by granting us through (your servant Joseph Buh's) intercession the petitions we implore."

Those who feel that Buh has interceded to bring about a positive result, even a miracle, are encouraged to share their stories.

Years before coming to Minnesota, Buh contacted another Slovenian missionary who had ties here. Bishop Frederic Baraga (1797-1868), Michigan's famed "Snowshoe Priest," is honored with a granite cross at the North Shore mouth of the Cross River, where Baraga completed a perilous crossing of Lake Superior by canoe.

Baraga is also being advanced for potential sainthood by his own devoted following and is much farther along in the process than Buh. In 2012, Baraga was declared venerable by Pope Benedict XVI. Baraga would next need to be declared blessed before becoming eligible for the final step toward sainthood, canonization.

The diocese booklet cites Buh's particular impacts on "Native American and Slovenian immigrant communities." James Lah, president of the Ely branch of the Slovenian Union of America, attested that Buh's memory lives on in the Northland.

"His picture hangs in the basement of St. Anthony's Church here in Ely. He looks like some Old Testament prophet," said Lah. At times, a chalice owned by Buh circulated among Ely families, who used it as a sacramental object to pray for vocations.

Among Ojibwe, the missionary is seemingly less well-remembered. Kunst said he has not had conversations with Native community members regarding Buh, and two different experts in Minnesota Ojibwe history, when reached by the News Tribune, said they were unfamiliar with Buh's story.

Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, said he did not have enough knowledge of Buh to comment on that missionary specifically, but pointed to a passage from his book "Everything You Wanted To Know About Indians But Were Afraid To Ask."

In a passage addressing the topic of Christian missionaries generally, Treuer wrote, "Missionaries were not simply evangelizing their faiths — they were colonizers."

Many Indigenous people resented missionaries, though some adopted Christian beliefs. "Today," wrote Treuer, "Native Americans have differing and sometimes conflicting views about the missionaries and the religions they brought."

To Felton, Buh's conviction in his faith and willingness to spread it is a signal of virtue. "Reflect on how he evangelized the people he served as a model for our own time," encourages Felton in an introduction to the biographical booklet.

"It's always going to be (relevant), whether it's the 21st century or 20th century or any time, the idea of being a missionary," said Kunst. "Bringing people back to Christ and bringing Christ to these people, that's what Monsignor (Buh) did on a heroic level."

Raway said St. Scholastica has supplied the diocese with archival materials to help tell Buh's story. If Buh becomes recognized along the path to sainthood, she said, it would be meaningful to area Catholics.

"To have one of your own recognized just strengthens your own faith," she reflected. "It just makes you feel, we can do it, too!"

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Ride for the Troops donates $2,000 to Veterans on the Lake

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 16:00:00 GMT

Al Sprague from Ride for the Troops recently presented a donation of $2,000 to Andy Berkenpas, general manager of Veterans on the Lake, for the organization which is located in Ely.

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Lake Minnetonka in the North Woods? Ely cabin owners push back against resort plan

Dan Kraker / MPR News — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 12:44:00 GMT

A $45 million proposal to remake a historic fishing lodge near Ely into a modern resort just two miles from the edge of the Boundary Waters is generating pushback from residents who fear it would transform the area’s quiet, wilderness-oriented culture into something more akin to the boat-filled party atmosphere of Lake Minnetonka in the Twin Cities suburbs.

A pair of developers — one from Duluth, one from Brainerd — with financial backing from an Indiana-based firm, is proposing to transform the Silver Rapids Lodge, built in 1919 on a rocky split of land between White Iron and Farm Lakes, into a resort featuring a new lodge, restaurant and bar, indoor pool, hot tub and tiki bar.

Most controversially, the plan calls for 49 new “fractional share” cabins that would each be purchased by four different owners. Each owner would have the opportunity to stay at the cabin for a quarter of the year, and could rent it out when they’re not there.

The proposal also envisions up to 90 boat slips, including one for each of the new cabins.

At a county zoning commission public hearing about the project last month, residents detailed a laundry list of concerns. They ranged from invasive species, to increased boat traffic and vehicle traffic along the Kawishiwi Trail connecting the resort to Ely, to noise and light pollution, to the resort’s water supply.

Commissioners scheduled an Aug. 8 follow-up meeting to gather more information from developers. They also are expected to take up a petition signed by more than 300 people calling for a more detailed environmental review of the proposal.

“Let’s slow down, look at other examples and work to get Silver Rapids a sustainable improvement plan that is scaled to fit, not force a tacky, cheesy mini Disney” onto a “very special once in the world location,” wrote Mary Garbutt, who owns a cabin on White Iron Lake.

Developers are asking Lake County for two zoning changes, one to expand the resort, the second to subdivide undeveloped land on the property into small lots for the fractional share cabins.

“Change is scary, and I respect that” said Sandy Hoff, President of F.I. Salter Real Estate in Duluth and one of the project developers, who said he hopes to break ground on the project this fall.

“And I respect the fact that they have this wilderness environment, and they don’t want a Lake Minnetonka type environment to evolve up there,” Hoff said. “I am very confident that’s not what’s going to happen."

Bring the shine back

First built more than a century ago along the rocky narrows that connect Farm and White Iron Lakes about a 10 minute drive east of Ely, the Silver Rapids Lodge is showing its age.

“I mean look at this, the way these buildings are,” said Rod Gruba as he steered his pickup through the property recently. “These shingles are shot. I mean, this whole facility has just been let go.”

The 70-year-old general contractor and retired Fall Lake Township board member lives nearby on White Iron Lake. His family owned and ran the resort from 1975 until 1992.

“I got a passion for it that basically it was in my family for 18 years, and I’d like to see it come back to a facility that’s liked by the area, is what I want,” Gruba said.

Hoff said he and his partner “saw the opportunity to bring it back to life” when they purchased the resort two years ago. “To bring the shine back to the diamond that is Silver Rapids Lodge,” as they wrote to the county in their application.

Hoff said as they began talking to neighbors, they heard old stories of people eating prime rib at the restaurant. People told him they’d love to be able to drive a boat there, dock it, and have a drink or a meal.

The challenge, he said, is the present resort is at the end of its functional life. Additional plans include replacing a small motel, modernizing existing cabins and removing a campground and RV sites along the lakeshore.

The fractional cabins would be built in three phases over several years. Hoff said they would be small, under 1,000 square feet. Not, he stressed, large lake homes. He said that model, similar to a timeshare, gives people an opportunity to buy property in Ely who may not be able to afford a larger cabin or lake home.

“Because first, the fractional share reduces their cost, and then the opportunity to generate income off of that unit,” through the resort’s rental pool, which, Hoff said “helps them underwrite that cost,”

Unwanted change

Many nearby residents welcome an updated resort with a new restaurant. But the scale of the current proposal has sparked an outcry from many locals who fear that newcomers will fundamentally alter the serene North Woods environment they treasure.

“I don’t think people understand the gravity of how many boat slips they’re looking at, and the potential of the number of additional watercraft that will be on here,” said Bill Wagner, who bought a cabin on White Iron Lake three years ago.

The software engineer from Chaska worries puttering pontoons like the one he steered toward the resort recently will be replaced by jet skis and ski boats.

“What you’re going to see over here, you’re going to see that hillside populated with housing that's going to be looking down right here. And you can see right up there is where the tiki bar is going to be. And you can just imagine ... that sound, it gets projected out this way.”

On the other side of the resort, Charlie and Marilyn Marsden own a cabin on Farm Lake, along a narrow, mile-long channel.

The Marsdens worry their grandkids won’t be able to paddle canoes along the narrow stretch of water, because of increased motor boat traffic.

“It’s going to change,” said Charlie Marsden. “We understand that things change over time. One of the things that’s awkward is when you’ve got something that’s really wonderful, you like to share it. We share it with friends. We share it with grandchildren. If you share it with too many people, you end up losing the thing you’re trying to share.”

“Especially with the whole culture of what they’re trying to build at Silver Rapids,” said Marilyn Marsden. “A tiki bar, a pool, a hot tub, is not consistent with the culture that exists here now.”

Hoff believes those fears are unfounded. He said the current clientele of the resort, and people who have inquired about the new development from the Twin Cities, Des Moines and Chicago, are looking for that Boundary Waters-type experience.

“They can go anywhere and find a lake that they can run their big speed boat. That’s anywhere. This is a unique experience that is more nature-minded and wilderness,” Hoff said.

Locals are skeptical. They say if that was the case 90 boat slips wouldn’t be needed — only a stack of canoes.

Maggie Jesme is a 33 year old nurse who grew up in Ely and moved back a couple years ago. She said she welcomes an updated Silver Rapids, especially a new restaurant. But she said the kind of housing being proposed — aside for five workforce cabins planned for the project’s final phase — is not what Ely needs.

“What we don’t have a shortage of is housing for tourists and for people who can afford to come and stay in our town for the weekend,” said Jesme. What Ely needs is affordable housing for people who live there year-round, she said.

Jesme stresses that she doesn’t have a NIMBY attitude — a “Not in my Backyard” approach to the development. She wants what’s best for her hometown.

But others argue as Ely has embraced a tourism-dependent economy it should support projects such as this.

“One way or the other the decision has been made that we’re going to develop an economy based on tourism,” said Kevin Lawler, who owns a cabin on Farm Lake about a half mile from the resort.

“And if we’re going to do that, I think we’ve got to stop saying ‘no’ to every development project that supports tourism, if we want to be in a town that has grocery stores, hardware stores, restaurants and things like that.”

Environmental review

County staff noted at the July meeting the proposal appears to require an Environmental Assessment Worksheet, because of the number of housing units proposed along the lakeshore.

“We’re not really trying to to change a lot of people’s minds and get people fired up,” said Hudson Kingston, legal director for the environmental group CURE, who submitted a petition with more than 300 signatures requesting the review.

“They’re already fired up. We’re serving the community to get the proper review that they would want, and which we think is called for under Minnesota law.”

Kingston also has a personal stake in the issue. He lives near the resort in a cabin his grandparents built. He said the county could decide to put protective conditions on the permit.

“But I think our position is that they have to know what the dangers are before they can fashion the right conditions.”

Hoff contends the review isn’t necessary. He said they’ve already replaced the resort’s septic system, which was out of compliance. They also have plans to remove leaking underground tanks, install a stormwater system and landscape a steep gravel pit that covers a large part of the site.

“From an environmental standpoint, we are going to be transitioning this to something that people are going to be really proud of,” Hoff said. “And so while I respect the concerns of people, take a deep breath and I think if you support us, you’re going to be really pleased to see how we're going to clean up the neighborhood.”

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Family opens new accessible resort near Ely

John Myers — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 11:00:33 GMT

ALONG BIRCH LAKE — In an era when many small resorts are sold off for their waterfront land values and developed into condos or lake homes — Minnesota has fewer than half the “ma and pa” resorts it did 50 years ago — Sean and Jill Leary are bucking the trend.

The Learys are building North of North, a three-cabin resort on 11 acres of raw land at 12265 State Highway 1, 10 miles east of Ely, from scratch.

The first cabin was ready for guests last week, the other two were just about finished and their website went live this week to accept reservations.

“It’s taken a little longer than we expected, but we’re almost there,” Jill Leary said as she unpackaged steak knives from a box for one of the cabin kitchens. “There was nothing here before. No driveway. ... The first time we came to the property, we had to come by boat.”

It’s been exhausting work and many trips back and forth from their home in Minneapolis. They cut a path from Highway 1 into the property and slowly figured out how the cabins would fit onto the landscape.

North of North is an all-new destination for lovers of the Ely experience, the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — just a stone's throw up the Kawishiwi River. But it’s also perhaps unique in the Northland woods for being built, from the ground up, to be accessible for many people with disabilities.

It hasn't just been Sean and Jill Leary on the job. It’s been a family affair with daughters Annika,10, and Britta, 7, helping along with the family’s sled dog, Freya.

The idea sprouts

The Learys were on their first post-pandemic family vacation to the Yellowstone National Park region a few years ago when they decided they wanted their own destination in the northwoods of their home state. Moreover, they wanted a place where others with disabilities — Sean has been using a wheelchair for 23 years — could enjoy Minnesota’s “up north” like everyone else.

They had an idea to build a small resort using accessible design principles so people at any stage of their lives, from the elderly to families with infants and strollers, could get around. Even the waterfront lot they chose was picked because of its relatively flat topography, with easy access to the lake.

From the gentle slopes between the driveway to the cabins, and paths to the lakes, to the height of the cabin counters and tables, to the wheel-in showers and the 425-foot boardwalk and floating dock on the lake, many parts of North of North are designed to be accessible under accepted guidelines.

Little things, like lower light switches and shower controls, and an opening under the sink so a wheelchair-bound person can wash dishes, are icing on the cake.

Even the doors to the barrel-style saunas have been widened to make way for wheelchairs.

“People throw around 'accessible' pretty easily,” Sean said. “Everyone has a different definition. ... Hopefully, we are there for most people.” He’s also been visiting Ely restaurants and other attractions to take note of accessibility and offer tips for his future guests.

It’s all about removing barriers, from thresholds of cabin and sauna doors to getting into a kayak on the lake. It’s the Learys’ goal to create a place that is not only welcoming and accessible for anyone to stay but also opens access to the great outdoors to people who haven’t always been able to get out.

“It really doesn’t take that much more thought to do this in a way that works for people in chairs,” said Sean, 41. "Yet, most of the time, people still don’t think of it when they are building something.”

Access to outdoor adventure

Sean Leary was 18 when he was driving home from a long day of work one night during his summer before college. He drifted to sleep and his truck left the road. The accident cost him the use of his legs and he has been in a wheelchair ever since.

But it didn’t take long for Sean to move on. An avid wilderness paddler and snowboarder before the accident, he adapted his outdoor pursuits to his newly defined abilities, including off-road hand bikes. He traveled across the U.S. and Europe and tried scuba diving and adaptive wilderness canoe trips. He met Jill when she was a canoe guide, and the St. Cloud natives married in 2010.

Sean’s theory is that if you build it right, they can and will come — meaning anyone with accessibility issues.

Building it right for people with accessibility issues also makes access easier for others, Leary notes. He calls it "the curb-cut effect." Curb cuts on sidewalks allow people in wheelchairs to cross streets, but they also allow kids on bikes and trikes to cross, parents pushing strollers, senior citizens and people with other, less noticeable physical impairments.

Jill sees the resort as a destination for family reunions and group trips.

“We hope this becomes a place where families can bring grandma and grandpa back to the lake again,” Sean added. “But anyone can come here. ... Do you think disabled people only want to be around other disabled people?”

The Learys have had to correct some confusion about the resort. Since they have more than $1 million tied up in a mortgage with their name on it, the resort itself is for-profit and has to pay the bills and at least break even.

“We don’t expect to make money off this,” said Jill, 39. "It (the resort) has to make it on its own, but we're both going to keep our day jobs." Jill is a teacher in the Minneapolis school system; Sean is an environmental project consultant.

“We’ve put everything we have into this,” Sean said.

The 1,100-square-foot cabins are not inexpensive. At $550 per night, they are competitive with the region's nicer resorts and VRBO rentals.

And, they are first-class, including panoramic views of the forest and scenic Birch Lake; individual saunas (with lake views) for each unit; sleeping arrangements for up to eight people; screened-in porches; a deck with barbecue grill and campfire pit; a dishwasher, washer and dryer; televisions, high-speed internet and Wi-Fi.

Through the Learys' nonprofit, Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, they hope to set up people with physical disabilities in the cabins while they participate in various wilderness experiences like kayaking, canoeing, fishing, cycling, dog sledding and more.

To that end, AWWR (say it fast to sound like a wolf howling) already has received $16,000 from the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation - with additional state money expected soon - to buy accessible kayaks and build an accessible kayak launch at the end of their unusually long boardwalk/dock, which is also fully accessible. Canoes and kayaks can be rented, and Sean said he hopes to go into accessible BWCAW outfitting in the future.

Motorboats and other watercraft can be docked at the resort for free and can also be rented and delivered to the resort by Ely outfitters.

Making local connections

The Learys are working with local guides and businesses such as Ely-based Piragis Northwoods (kayaking and canoeing) and Cast Outdoor Adevntures (dog sledding) to provide instructional and guided opportunities for participants.

They’ve also arranged for a wild rice harvesting demonstration early this autumn by a member of the local Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, noting their waterfront is packed with manoomin.

The Learys made an early choice to buy local as they built. Their general contractor, Reed Alan, has a place on Snowbank Lake nearby. Most of the contractors have been local. The Learys hired a local property manager from Ely to run the daily operations. Much of the wood was sourced from northern Minnesota sawmills.

When Jill needed an indoor place to stain wood paneling that would be going up in the cabins, their plumbing contractor offered his shop for free.

The effort has received financial backing from several sources, including Minnesota-based Sunrise Bank, the Northland Foundation, Lake Country Power and the Entrepreneur Fund.

“A lot of people are invested in this now. … We’ve had such great cooperation and buy-in from just about everyone in and around Ely,” Jill said. “I’m in the hardware store at least once every trip now. ... They know me by name.”

Sean said the new resort and nonprofit’s missions have been just as accepted by the local community as the money they spend in town.

“People with accessibility issues really haven’t been able to take full advantage of the natural resources we have up here, the Boundary Waters, the lakes,” Sean said. “And I think people here are really behind the fact we’re trying to open that up, bring in new people who haven't had the chance to experience all this.”

For more information on North of North Resort, or to make reservations, go to northofnorthresort.com. To find out more about the nonprofit Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, go to awwr.org.

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Judge dismisses Twin Metals lawsuit against Biden administration

Jimmy Lovrien — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 01:49:46 GMT

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Twin Metals filed last year against the Biden administration over its decision to cancel the company’s mineral leases for its planned copper-nickel mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 6, granted a motion by two federal agencies and a coalition of environmental groups and recreational businesses to dismiss Twin Metals’ claims. The decision can be appealed, according to the order.

In a 21-page decision, Cooper said the court found it lacked jurisdiction on two of the company’s claims “and that the remaining two fail to state a claim.”

In August 2022, Twin Metals and its exploration subsidiary Franconia Minerals sued the U.S. Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management, arguing the federal agencies' decision to cancel two of their mineral leases in January was "arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful evisceration" of the company's mineral rights.

Although Twin Metals submitted its mine plan to federal and state regulators in late 2019, actions by the Biden administration have dealt major setbacks to the project.

"Twin Metals Minnesota is disappointed by the opinion issued today regarding a lawsuit the company brought in U.S. District Court on Aug. 22, 2022, and we are working to determine next steps. We remain committed to the communities of northeast Minnesota — as we have been for more than a decade — and to supplying the minerals required for the energy transition," Twin Metals spokesperson Kathy Graul said in an email to the News Tribune.

Environmental groups celebrated the judge's decision.

“This is a great day for the Boundary Waters,” Ingrid Lyons, executive director of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, said in a statement. “Twin Metals tried to force renewal of terminated federal mining leases next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The United States government followed the rule of law and moved to dismiss this unlawful lawsuit. We are one step closer to permanent protection for the Boundary Waters watershed.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Interior declined to comment Wednesday and the Bureau of Land Management did not immediately respond to the News Tribune’s request for comment.

The company, owned by Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, is hoping to build a large underground copper-nickel mine and dry-stacked tailings storage facility near Ely and Birch Lake, within the Rainy River Watershed and 5 miles from the BWCAW. Critics say the project could send tainted runoff into the BWCAW, while supporters say the mine would bring much-needed jobs to the region.

The leases, first issued in 1966, were rescinded in the final days of the Obama administration in 2016 over concern the mine would pollute the BWCAW if it were ever to open in the same watershed. The Trump administration then reinstated the leases in 2017 and moved to renew the leases in 2018. The 10-year leases were then formally renewed in May 2019.

But in January 2022, Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes, acting deputy solicitor of Indian affairs for the Department of Interior, wrote in a memorandum that the 2019 lease renewal by the Trump administration violated Bureau of Land Management regulations and that the agency prepared an "inadequate (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis of the renewal decision."

Earlier this year, the Biden administration also halted new mining on 225,500 acres of the Superior National Forest for the next 20 years.

Similar to not renewing the leases, the mineral withdrawal had been started by the Obama administration, was later reversed by the Trump administration and then brought back by the Biden administration.

A study released by the U.S Forest Service last year found that hardrock mining in the Rainy River Watershed would pose an environmental risk to the BWCAW.

“Twin Metals was making a Hail Mary pass in its hope to get around the law and facts. The court saw through this and in its decision to toss out the case, affirmed science, affirmed the law, and protected some of the cleanest water in the country,” said Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. “Despite this resounding victory, in the conservation world, it’s often said that every victory is temporary and every defeat is permanent — we will remain vigilant in protecting the Boundary Waters.”

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27-year-old Ely man killed in crash Monday

Staff reports — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 16:18:32 GMT

MORSE TOWNSHIP, Minn. — A 27-year-old Ely man was killed when his pickup truck left the road Monday evening.

William Orion Lloyd Fearn was driving his 2004 Ford F150 eastbound on the 2100 block of Grant McMahan Boulevard at approximately 5:40 p.m. when his truck went into the northside ditch and struck a power pole, according to a news release from the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office.

Fearn was pronounced dead at the scene. There were no passengers.

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Ely camp marks century of sending Scouts into Boundary Waters

John Myers — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 11:00:00 GMT

ALONG MOOSE LAKE — At the very end of the road, at exactly the point where civilization meets the million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, lies a Scout camp brimming with kids heading out into the wild.

They sometimes waver at first, struggling to flip a canoe up onto their shoulders or to steer one in a straight line. But after a week or 10 days of paddling they come back stronger, tougher, leaner and better.

This place goes by several names, unofficially — Sommers Canoe Base, the Ely Base, the Canoe Base, Northern Tier or just the Base — but for 100 years now it has always had a single mission: Get kids out in canoes.

It began in 1923 with trips organized by a guy named Carl Chase from the Iron Range Boy Scout council and was at first called Region 10 Canoe Trails. Flash forward to 2023 and it’s now officially called the Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base, part of the Northern Tier High Adventure camp network owned and operated by the national office of the Boy Scouts of America.

It is the oldest high-adventure camp in the U.S. and has been the base camp from which hundreds of thousands of Scouts have trekked into the wild over the decades — some of them canoeing for the first time, most of them venturing away from roads and civilization for the first time.

The numbers are impressive: This summer alone, the camp will send nearly 4,000 kids from across the U.S, into the wilderness, both the BWCAW and Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park that lies just 6 miles up the way.

On any given day this summer, the camp will have more than 400 people out on canoe trips. There are 500 canoes (not all are being used) in what’s believed to be the largest private fleet of canoes anywhere in the world. Racks of life jackets, paddles, cook kits and cookstoves and water bladders and tents and packs, hundreds of packs of various sizes, fill entire buildings. (Ely-based Kondos Outdoors now sews most of the camp’s big canoe packs because they have been able to make them “Scout proof” better than any other company.)

Some 125 staff are needed to keep the camp running: cooks, maintenance, office managers and guides, called interpreters, who accompany each canoe trip.

“We really could use more staff just to give our people a few more breaks during the summer. We were up over 200 before COVID hit and then all the craziness of trying to hire people started,” said Leslie Thibodeaux, general manager of the Northern Tier program.

The interpreters must be at least 18 years old and have a zest for adventure. Some are former campers returning to be guides, but many are not.

“We get a lot of college students. A lot of kids taking a gap year off. … We get some wandering souls who aren’t quite sure what they want to do but have the summer available to do this,” Thibodeaux said. “We have a few adult interpreters, too, some teachers who have the summer off. … Some people just have a sense of adventure and find us.”

While they come from various backgrounds, most of the interpreters are outgoing, responsible and capable, able to function independently as well as take responsibility for getting a group into, through and out of the wilderness.

“You really have to be an extrovert to do that job well, to be able to communicate,” said Thibodeaux, a Nebraska native who has been with the Ely camp since 2012.

On a breezy July day, interpreter Ryan Harvey was preparing a group of Scouts from Missouri and Kansas for their canoe trip. Harvey came to the camp as a Scout/camper in 2018 and liked it so much he knew he wanted to come back as a staff member.

“I love this country, the lakes, the topography,” said Harvey, 19, who lives near Denver. “It’s so different from what I’m used to. I fell in love with it just driving up here. I love to be on this water.”

This summer has been a bit of a challenge due to a record crop of black flies and mosquitoes, he noted, but head nets and bug spray help. And the energy from a constant stream of excited campers is easy to feed off.

Every day, the camp sends out eight to 10 groups of up to nine people, the maximum group size allowed in the BWCAW — usually one staff interpreter, two adults from the Scout troop and six Scouts. (Most of their canoes have a built-in third seat.)

Every day, more groups arrive from across the U.S. Some drive all the way from Maine and Florida and California and Texas, others fly into Minneapolis or Duluth and then rent vans to get to Ely. They spend their first afternoon meeting their interpreter, planning their canoe route and readying their gear. The next morning, they practice some basic moves, like getting a canoe up on their shoulders for a portage, and then head out before noon.

Then each afternoon a tired but happy stream of eight to 10 groups comes back into camp after a week or 10 days in the wild where they fished, swam, learned to set tents, cook outdoors and paddle a canoe straight and true. They spend one last night at camp with a bonfire ceremony and then head home the next morning, just before another surge of eight to 10 groups arrive.

This goes on every day, all summer, a bit like the movie "Groundhog Day."

“We have to remind ourselves that every day is the first day for another bunch of groups and that they need to start from the beginning, just like yesterday’s groups and the day before,” Thibodeaux said.

Each group has a designated leader, one of the youth who eventually becomes the decider of where to travel, where to camp and when to break camp or have a meal. At some point, the interpreter “works himself out of a job,” as the youth leader takes over the group dynamic and decision making and as the campers take up daily chores.

“That’s part of the goal of the program is to build up that leadership skill,” said Blake Ferree, camp director.

For its first 20 seasons the camp was mobile, with canoe trips starting from various locations, and then moved to its current location on Moose Lake, about 20 miles northeast of Ely, in 1942. The first camp-owned canoes, made of wood and canvas, were purchased in 1928. In the 1950s, famed Ely canoe builder Joe Seliga began selling wooden canoes to the base and continued as the primary supplier until 1972, when the shift to lighter aluminum canoes was made.

Now, the camp is buying dozens of lightweight Wenonah canoes every year, made from Kevlar and weighing just 45 pounds or so. (They use mostly the 18-foot Champlain model.) The Scouts get a good deal from the Winona, Minnesota, manufacturer in part because its founder, Mike Cichanowski, is a Sommers camp alum from 60 years ago, just before he started making canoes.

Chichanowski, who founded Wenonah Canoes in 1968, was an Eagle Scout, as were his three brothers. He attended the canoe base for his first BWCAW trips in 1964 and 1965.

“I can’t overstate how big an influence going to that camp had on my life,” Chichanowski, 75, told the News Tribune. “I had been canoeing quite a bit down here on the (Mississippi) River. … But those first Boundary Waters experiences, they were just awe inspiring. ... They helped form who I am and what I’ve done, making canoes for more than 50 years. … I still go up there, with my grandchildren now. It’s still a big part of my life.”

In addition to the Sommers base camp near Ely, Northern Tier High Adventure also runs canoe bases near Atikokan, Ontario, and Bissett, Manitoba, all part of the Boy Scouts' national High Adventure program.

The Ely camp was hit hard by the 1999 windstorm that devastated the Boundary Waters region, and by another 2016 storm that killed an adult and a youth camper on a trip in Quetico when a tree fell on them. But perseverance has always been a big Boy Scout trait.

Thibodeaux noted the Northern Tier camps pushed through not just the COVID-19 shutdown but also the 2020 bankruptcy of the Boy Scouts of America and the nearly 18-month border shutdown halting travel between the U.S. and Canada that shuttered both of Northern Tier’s Canadian operations and kept Ely-based campers on the U.S. side of the border.

“We’re back to normal, or getting there,” she said. “After 100 years, it’s going to take more than that to stop this place.”

For more information, go to ntier.org/canoetreks/ely.

Who can go to camp?

High school age girls and boys who are part of the Boys Scouts of America program. All campers must be either 13 or have completed eighth grade. They also must pass a swim test before the trip. Most Scouts go as groups from specific troops although some go as individuals and are placed into other groups.

How much does it cost?

Camper fees are based on groups of up to eight people — two adults and six Scouts. If the group is full, the cost this year is about $800 per person for the seven-night trip with six days in the BWCAW or $1,150 per person for the 10-night trip with nine days in the BWCAW.

Okpik winter camping

The Sommers base camp also is home to the Scouts' Okpik winter camping program that offers ski, snowshoe and dogsled excursions into the wilderness near Ely. For more information, go to ntier.org/winter-adventures.

National High Adventure Camps

In addition to Northern Tier’s three canoe camps, the Boy Scouts also operate Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and Sea Base in the Florida Keys.

Who was Charles Sommers?

Charles L. Sommers, a St. Paul businessman, was an avid camp supporter, canoe trip organizer and participant. He was active in the Boy Scouts and went on to help purchase the current camp location where in 1942, the historic lodge building was erected. It now serves as a meeting hall and interpretive center.

Alumni reunion in August sold out

Hundreds of Sommers camp staff alumni are set to gather for a 100th anniversary celebration Aug. 24 at the camp, but the event is already sold out.

Buy the book

Alumni of the camp may be interested in a new book, “The Far Northland, a Century of High Adventure at Northern Tier,” published by the Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association and written by Dave Kenney, a Minnesota-based professional researcher and author. The book has 112- pages and dozens of historic photos commemorating the camp's first 100 years.

It costs $34.99 and can be ordered at the alumni association's website, holry.org. (The URL is named after both a cheer of sorts that campers give and the Hol-Ry cracker, baked by the Zinsmaster bakery in Duluth, that was sturdy enough to stand up to canoe trips and a staple food at the camp for decades.)

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Rural hospital CEOs warn of consequences of Minn. nursing bill

Laura Butterbrodt — Wed, 17 May 2023 16:17:51 GMT

As the Minnesota legislative session winds down, the Minnesota Hospital Association is pleading with legislators to reconsider the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act before it becomes law.

Hospital leaders told state media in a call Tuesday, May 16, they fear the bill would only cause further harm to the already struggling health care systems across the state.

Patti Banks, CEO of Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital, said after a high volume of patients this past weekend, it's more clear than ever that the staffing requirements that would be enforced by the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act would hurt the rural, critical access center.

“I can assure you that if we had to adhere to the mandates in this proposed legislation, we would have had to turn patients away," Banks said. "This would have been detrimental to our communities as well as the reputation of our organization. Care delivery in Greater Minnesota looks different, but our expectation to save lives is the same.”

The bill would require every hospital in Minnesota to form staffing and nurse workload committees, as well as develop and implement core staffing plans. The Minnesota Nurses Association has been vocal about its support for the act, saying the bill was designed to address the nursing shortage and retention crisis. MNA leaders have asked Gov. Tim Walz to sign the bill into law as written.

However, Minnesota hospitals strongly oppose this outcome. A letter signed by leaders at every nonprofit hospital in the state, including Essentia Health and St. Luke's in Duluth, was sent to legislators last week, warning them of the consequences this law could have on health care.

Carrie Michalski, president and CEO of RiverView Health in Crookston, said hospitals, especially rural hospitals like hers, are already under financial and workforce strain to the point where RiverView had to close its skilled nursing facility earlier this spring. The Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act would only add more administrative burden onto teams that have no margin to take on more work.

“This session, as someone that’s geographically far from the Capitol, it’s been feeling like the real world realities of rural health care are just not being understood and heard in St. Paul,” Michalski said. "To mandate a one-size-fits-all across a variety of hospitals and sizes and resources and geography just does not make sense.”

Rahul Koranne, president and CEO of the Minnesota Hospital Association, said there are two aspects of the bill the MHA sees as most harmful. The first is the proposal to take patient care and staffing decision-making outside the hospital system. Koranne said the decisions need to be made by professionals on care teams in hospitals, not in a legal system with arbitration and courts.

Koranne also worries about the aspect of the bill that would allow nurses to refuse an assignment they deem unsafe, such as working on an understaffed floor that could put their license in jeopardy. He said the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act was designed with nurses in mind, but not patients.

“The union wants to put into state law the ability for a nurse to refuse to take care of a patient for any reason whatsoever," Koranne said. "That is going to be so disruptive. How do we know which patient a nurse is going to refuse? That’s not what we do. We take care of all patients that come through.”

The Minnesota Nurses Association says the bill will not restrict patient admissions, but will instead allow nurses to have a say in staffing levels and protections to their job and license if they raise concerns about assignments they deem unsafe according to their professional judgment. The bill is not creating staffing mandates, MNA said, but the committees would be composed of local hospital management and bedside workers to make decisions together at their hospitals.

“This bill is about taking care of Minnesota patients,” said MNA President Mary C. Turner. “Someday, all of us and our loved ones will need care in a hospital. When that day comes, people need to know there are enough skilled nurses at the bedside to provide the safe, high-quality care all patients deserve. Giving nurses a seat at the table and a voice in the process will help improve staffing levels, bring nurses back to the bedside, and protect patient care throughout the state.”

Rachelle Schultz, president and CEO of Winona Health, said all hospitals have shortages, but there aren't enough nurses out there to fill all the open positions. Nursing programs are not filling up, so there aren't enough resources in the labor pool. Therefore, Koranne said, the MHA supports aspects of the nursing bill, including using state surplus funding to forgive nurses' student loans and working to reduce and prevent workplace violence. But the hospital leaders say the bill won't help them fill open nursing jobs because the workers aren't out there.

“Passing a law that allows nurses to pick and choose who they will care for is not just bad policy — it’s not a minor inconvenience — it’s a matter of life and death when you’re the patient in need of emergency and critical care," Michalski said. "Minutes matter and we need to be able to make quick decisions on the front line. You can’t be threatened with litigation and processes that draw out that timeline.”

Michalski, Schultz, and Rick Ash, CEO of United Hospital District in Blue Earth, said the idea that the Mayo Clinic may get an exception to the law is troubling to them and the rest of Minnesota's hospital leaders. Mayo Clinic, which said it would withdraw billions of dollars worth of state investments if the bill passed, could possibly be exempt from its requirements, DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortmann told WCCO-TV on Sunday.

“If that goes through, and there’s consideration for an alternative path, then that should be made available to every hospital,” Schultz said.

Ash also worries about transfers between hospitals, which already sometimes require patients to wait days or even weeks in rural inpatient or emergency departments for an open bed at larger hospitals. The legislative act could further limit the number of beds available if staffing ratios are reduced further.

“This is crazy," Ash said of the act. "It’s dangerous and reckless, in my opinion."

Minnesota Nurses Association members have been participating in a sit-in at the state Capitol, and plan to continue to do so until Gov. Walz signs the bill into law as written.

“Gov. Walz and legislators must stand strong against corporate bullies, and defend democracy to protect patients and retain nurses in Minnesota," Turner said in a news release from MNA last week. "All patients, at every hospital in the state, deserve safe and high-quality care from enough trained professionals. No exceptions, and no exemptions.”

Koranne, on the other hand, said legislators need to act now and listen to the state's health care leaders, before the voting is done, to prevent a harmful law from taking effect.

"The only supporter of this bill is the union, which represents less than 20% of nurses in the state. The fact that the bill authors are working to find exceptions to their own bill shows that even they know that this bill is not good for health care in Minnesota,” Koranne said. “... We’ve been saying for weeks, if not months, now: If these stacks of bills pass as written, Minnesotans, our patients, are going to suffer."

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Man accused of intentionally crashing into deer in Ely pleads not guilty

John Myers — Fri, 12 May 2023 16:00:18 GMT

VIRGINIA — The man accused of crashing his truck into three deer in Ely in March pleaded not guilty Friday, May 12, to three misdemeanor charges of chasing or injuring wildlife with a vehicle.

Casey Meadows, 20, and his attorney appeared in front of Judge Mark Starr in a Zoom hearing. A pretrial hearing was set for July 5.

Meadows is accused of intentionally ramming his pickup truck into three deer on an Ely road, paralyzing all three, which had to be euthanized.

The News Tribune first reported the case March 27 when Meadows faced a single misdemeanor charge of chasing or injuring wildlife by use of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor with a $300 penalty, and was also issued state restitution orders of $500 for each deer, for a total penalty of $1,800. The single misdemeanor citation would have allowed Meadows to plead guilty and pay his fines without appearing in court.

But due to public outcry that the charges and penalties weren't strong enough to fit the crime, Minnesota Conservation Officer Anthony Bermel rescinded the original charge filed in State District Court in St. Louis County and recharged Meadows with three separate counts of the same crime. By stacking the crimes, Meadows now faces a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for each count. If found guilty, he must still pay the $1,500 restitution for the value of the deer — for a potential cost of $4,500.

The incident occurred March 21 “in broad daylight right on Highway 21 by the golf course,” Bermel said. The injured deer were euthanized by an Ely police officer. Within 24 hours, Bermel and others began receiving tips on who the driver may have been. Bermel, joined by a St. Louis County Sheriff's deputy and an Ely police officer, interviewed Meadows at his residence in Ely, and the criminal complaint says Meadows admitted he hit the deer on purpose.

“There was never any good explanation of why. It doesn't make much sense to me,” Bermel told the News Tribune in March. “It's a 30 mph zone. ... He had to speed up to hit them all, single file.”

Bermel said Meadows had a heavy-duty bumper guard on his truck, which sustained no damage in the incident.

Meadows is now listing his home address as Madison, South Dakota. He had moved to Ely to attend Vermilion Community College, which specializes in wildlife and other outdoors majors. Court records show Meadows paid citations for having a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle in 2021 and for not having a current registration sticker on his snowmobile earlier this year.

Bermel said the deer incident caused a stir on social media, with some people suggesting officers should issue more severe charges, such as a felony. But Bermel said Minnesota statutes are limited in this case, noting there is no provision for this crime for the state to take away Meadows' hunting or fishing privileges.

Doubled restitution for future cases?

The Ely case made headlines statewide and has inspired Minnesota lawmakers to propose a change in state statutes that would double the restitution charge for wildlife cases if the crime was committed in a malicious way. The provision currently is included in the omnibus natural resources bill now being discussed in a conference committee at the Capitol. If the provision passes, it would not apply to Meadows’ case.

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