News

A special city committee spent nearly five months to develop a plan for rejuvenating Ely's public access cable television channel, but members may be sent back to the drawing board.

Plans for a joint public works garage and maintenance facility are in the formative stages but moving forward.<BR><BR>Representatives from several public entities are talking about working together in an effort both to save money and put their public works operations under one roof.<BR><BR>Their last session, held Feb. 27 at the Morse Town Hall, ended with support for the project, at least in concept. <BR><BR>Next, each entity will come up with its expectations and desires for the facility.<BR><BR>"What we decided is that everybody will go back to their respective boards or councils and determine what they need for square footage," said St. Louis County Commissioner Mike Forsman. "Things like how many vehicles they'll have there, how much space they'll need, more specific things like that.

It's still 10 months away, but the Ely Area Joint Powers Board is already looking ahead to 2005.

Cable television rates in both Ely and Babbitt will increase by just over $3 a month - effective with April billings - according to the cities' cable provider.<BR><BR>Charter Communications has notified officials in both communities that beginning next month, rates for the basic 100-channel-plus expanded basic service will increase to $41.99. <BR><BR>That's up from the current monthly rate of $38.95.<BR><BR>Company officials say the rate increase is attributed to, according to company government affairs and public relations representative Mike Hill, "a significant increase in our business costs."<BR><BR>Hill said that a substantial part of the increase is due to the rising costs associated with obtaining cable programming.<BR><BR>And though Charter has a franchise agreement with both Ely and Babbitt, the municipalities have no voice in the rate process.

Even some warm weather last week did little to Ely area ski and snowmobile trails.<BR><BR>The Ely Igloo Snowmobile Club has been out grooming the Tomahawk Trail that runs from Ely to the North Shore along with the Trezona Ski Trail around Miner's Lake.<BR><BR>"Right now we have some of the best trail conditions we have ever seen up here," said Club President Nick Wognum. "We have been able to add several pieces of equipment and we are grooming more miles of trail than ever before."<BR><BR>In addition, the DNR has been able to contract with the Igloo Club for additional grooming on the Taconite Trail between Ely and the spur to Babbitt.<BR><BR>"We did that section on a Saturday night during the three-day weekend and the Taconite was in great shape the whole weekend," said Wognum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.<BR><BR> Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.<BR><BR> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.