News

Primary elections for both mayor and city council are assured after a flurry of filings last week at City Hall.<BR><BR>When the Echo went to press, three candidates had entered Ely’s mayoral race and seven people had joined the contest for three council positions.<BR><BR>That ensures that Ely will hold a primary, to be conducted in conjunction with the Sept.

State Auditor Pat Anderson released a letter outlining the results of an investigation into allegations made against former Orr city administrator and current state Representative David Dill. <BR><BR>While the review began with allegations about Representative Dill, it resulted in greater concerns about how the city of Orr conducted its business. <BR><BR>“Our review did not find illegal activity on the part of Representative David Dill or the City of Orr. We did find some minor legal compliance issues and a general pattern of lax financial oversight in the city,” wrote Anderson.<BR><BR>“I was real happy to have the audit report come out,” said Dill. “We cooperated fully, all of the entities I worked for over the years provided the information the state auditor requested.<BR><BR>“I’m glad no conflict of interest was found as had been alleged,” said Dill.

A pre-construction meeting Thursday should hammer out the timeline for a major road project on the Echo Trail.<BR><BR>The St. Louis County Board has approved KGM’s bid of $2,605,627 to rebuild 2.6 miles of road.<BR><BR>The project will start at the Bass Lake parking lot and then veer north from the current roadway, ending approximately one-half mile past Passi Road.<BR><BR>“It’s all going to be rebuilt,” said county engineer Earl Wilkins. “This will be brand-spankin’ new construction.” <BR><BR>The new section will match the existing work done from Highway 88 to the Bass Lake parking lot. The road will have two 12-foot driving lanes and six-foot shoulders. <BR><BR>“Essentially the road will look like the first portion we did,” said Wilkins. <BR><BR>Eighty percent of the project funding comes the federal government with the county coming up with the remainder.

In 2003 much discussion took place in Ely in regard to America’s involvement in the Iraq war. Discussion and an anti-war resolution was also the focus of elected officials and newspapers across the country in cities large and small.<BR><BR>If you look at the end of this article you’ll find the first page of ten that Google offered last Monday of news about anti-war resolutions.<BR><BR>Last week a so-called newspaperman phoned the publisher and said he was planning a visit to Ely and wanted to discuss “old myths.” The publisher offered to help him find a variety of people who know of traditional myths about Ely in its early days and those who can reflect on the city as it is now.<BR><BR>Some newspapers have agendas they wish to promote beyond their editorial page.

It’s always nice to see new faces at the Fall Lake Township monthly meeting. In fact, of the 18 in attendance, two thirds were regular attendees and one third were new faces. <BR><BR>Most of the new faces addressed an issue with that was brought before the board last month. The parties asked the board to write a letter to the court in the event that the dispute between neighbors regarding storm water runoff in the White Iron Villas area wasn’t settled out of court. <BR><BR>Last month the board had no objection to the parties diverting the runoff onto public lands. Supervisor Mary Tome suggested the parties involved check with the Lake County auditor or assessor as to the ownership of the lake access lots where the runoff would be diverted. Evidently when the White Iron Villas were platted, an access to the lake (in essence a fire lane) was left between every few lots.

Tourists and townspeople eagerly await the mid-July exhibition and sale of a wide variety of paintings from the brushes of local area watercolorists. This year’s show will be no exception, featuring well over 600 watercolors, all painted by local artists. The Watercolor Show and Sale will run from 9:00-5:00 on Wednesday and Thursday, July 14 and 15 at the Community Center. <BR><BR>The efforts of the Ely area artists depict watercolors that are “the heart of the Northland” - scenes tourists especially enjoy having to keep alive memories of their visit. <BR><BR>Marian Cheney, whose blueberry painting was selected for the NLAA poster this year, has many new Burntside Lake scenes, as does Helen Kuehlman, who will also have more of her unique style watercolors.

City officials didn’t have to look far to fill a vacancy in Ely’s police department.<BR><BR>Emergency dispatcher Darrin Kittelson has been selected to join the police force and fill the void created earlier this year, when Samantha Hunter left the department to take another law enforcement job.<BR><BR>The city council voted 5-0 Tuesday (members Butch Pecha and Mike Hillman were absent) to offer the post to Kittelson, who was picked from a field of about 20 applicants and recommended by the city’s police commission.<BR><BR>But despite the decision, Kittelson won’t immediately join the department.<BR><BR>Council members put Kittelson’s start date on hold, pending the transition from the current local dispatching service to the county 911 system.<BR><BR>“We’re going to coordinate this transition so it’s orderly,” said mayor Frank Salerno.

Cash registers were ringing, people were smiling and the crowds were overflowing in Ely over the Fourth of July weekend.<BR><BR>The community’s usual Independence Day festivities, combined with the Ely Memorial High School All-Class Reunion, turned Ely’s usually quiet streets and sidewalks into a hub of activity.<BR><BR>Ely’s Fourth of July and park activities drew large crowds while many business owners reported brisk business throughout the weekend.<BR><BR>“It was almost like Blueberry Festival (weekend),” said Steve Piragis, owner of Ely’s Piragis Northwoods Company. “I’m not sure if it was because of the reunion or because of the rain, but we were up significantly from last year. We had a heck of a Monday.”<BR><BR>Many local merchants had similar sentiments.<BR><BR>“I don’t care whether it was lodging, restaurants or tourism, it was a super weekend,” said Linda Fryer, who directs the Ely Chamber of Commerce.

Before turning heads while flying over Ely during the Fourth of July parade, the yellow Wipaire Fire Boss airplane had the full attention of U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar. <BR><BR>The plane was flown to the Ely airport on Sunday at the behest of state Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake), who has been trying to get Wipaire to locate a maintenance base and construction facility in his district, possibly at the Ely Airport.<BR><BR>Getting Oberstar to look at the plane may help bring some very good paying aviation jobs to northeast Minnesota. <BR><BR>Dill said Wipaire, which has a plant in St. Paul, has been unable to get the floatplane approved for use in fighting fires on federal land.<BR><BR>“The Fire Boss is FAA certified, it can even be sold to the general public.

Before turning heads while flying over Ely during the Fourth of July parade, the yellow Wipaire Fire Boss airplane had the full attention of U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar. <BR><BR>The plane was flown to the Ely airport on Sunday at the behest of state Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake), who has been trying to get Wipaire to locate a maintenance base and construction facility in his district, possibly at the Ely Airport.<BR><BR>Getting Oberstar to look at the plane may help bring some very good paying aviation jobs to northeast Minnesota. <BR><BR>Dill said Wipaire, which has a plant in St. Paul, has been unable to get the floatplane approved for use in fighting fires on federal land.<BR><BR>“The Fire Boss is FAA certified, it can even be sold to the general public.