Opinions/Editorials

A new event scheduled for this fall in Ely has received approval from the city’s Planning Commission.
The Jake Forsman Memorial Car Show and Burnout Competition can now proceed on Saturday, Oct. 21 in front of the Ely City Hall on Chapman Street.
There was a good turnout for the hearing Wednesday night. The four members of the Planning Commission, along with city clerk Harold Langowski and attorney Kelly Klun took testimony, asked questions and approved the request with conditions.
There were several opposed to the idea. Not too surprising since these are the same people opposed to mining. Maybe they don’t like motors.
There were a number of people present in favor of the event which is modeled after a burnout competition held every year in Libby, Montana.
A major difference will be the large concrete barriers in place in Ely. Libby’s event has no barriers, just cars burning rubber on the main drag.

There were stories and photos to fill up the 17 pages in this year’s Ely Echo Progress Edition but there certainly weren’t as many as previous years. In fact, there’s just one more page than what we had the first four years, down 11 pages from a high of 28 pages when the business community was thriving.
This year’s edition is a reflection of Ely’s economic downturn that continues despite the cheerleaders who refuse to see the reality of our current situation.
We could’ve written a story about the number of businesses for sale. We could’ve written about the businesses that closed up shop, giving in to declining sales and a lack of customers.
But that’s not what the Ely Echo Progress Edition has been about over the past 23 years. We’ve focused on the businesses who have persevered and made investments in the community. New owners, improvements, additions and a few new businesses are what we wrote about for the 2017 edition.

It’s safe to say that plans for a community recreation center in Ely have reached a crossroads.
Within days, Ely School Board members and the general public will get their first look at architectural renderings for a complex that has been both dreamed about, and talked about, for years.
Now it’s time for government officials, recreation center supporters and yes, Ely area residents, to determine if the project is going to be more than just a dream.
At first blush, some of the numbers talked about have been staggering: $10 to $12 million, 50,000 square feet, an enormous complex that could anchor the west side of the Ely school campus.
Project supporters have laid out a vision and a survey of local residents has shown impressive support for the concept.
But as concept moves toward possible reality, more than one elephant remains in the room.
Let’s break it down like this:
Where will it go?

The official groundbreaking of the Highway 169 project finally took place Thursday morning. Nearly 20 years since the push started to make a safer highway and now we can see the results.
There were five original members of the Highway 169 Task Force on hand, one who came by wheelchair. Their patience for this project as well as their continued support is to be applauded. Thank you to Bill Erzar, Pete Davis, Mike Forsman, Greg Dostert and Rudy Semeja for your determination.
This project jumped more hurdles than it should have including some ridiculous blockages thrown forth by NIMBY opponents who increased the cost and in effect, reduced the benefits of the project and the safety of the final alignment.

The official groundbreaking of the Highway 169 project finally took place Thursday morning. Nearly 20 years since the push started to make a safer highway and now we can see the results.
There were five original members of the Highway 169 Task Force on hand, one who came by wheelchair. Their patience for this project as well as their continued support is to be applauded. Thank you to Bill Erzar, Pete Davis, Mike Forsman, Greg Dostert and Rudy Semeja for your determination.
This project jumped more hurdles than it should have including some ridiculous blockages thrown forth by NIMBY opponents who increased the cost and in effect, reduced the benefits of the project and the safety of the final alignment.

Fifty years ago today the Pioneer Mine stopped producing iron ore in Ely, Minnesota. Our economy has been on a downhill slide ever since.

At the time studies were done on the impact the closure would have on Ely. There were hopes of recovery but there were no hopes of reopening.

After 41 million long tons of iron ore was pulled from the ground to build our country and defend her in two world wars, the Pioneer was put to rest.

Ely was once declared to become the future metropolis of the Vermilion Range. But the process used to make steel no longer needed the oxygen rich ore mined here for 80 years.

We have a proud history of mining here. We still have plenty of people who live here and work at either North Shore or one of the mines in Mt. Iron, Virginia or Hibbing. We have people who work in related industries that provide services or materials to the taconite mines.

Dear Editor;
Mining is not an issue of love and cares for the BWCA, we all love and care for the BWCA!
I will acknowledge with the anti-mining obstructionists and one speaker in particular at the Forest Service listening session at the DECC on March 16 who contend the economy in Ely and towns nearby is an economy built on the strength of the BWCA as an economic wealth builder.
After the speaker was done self-aggrandizing and bloviating about his business, he did elucidate the robustness of the Ely economy ,saying the city is growing and healthy and new businesses were coming in constantly. We know this must be true because we heard the same speech before.

Atikokan is a township in the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,753 as of the 2016 census.
According web sources, “Through the years Atikokan has seen many industries come and go, but one thing remains is their fighting spirit. They continue to succeed in bringing business to the small community.”
I’ve never been to Atikokan, but each week I read the Atikokan Progress newspaper. It was because of its owner/publisher Mike McKinnon that the Echo’s email edition was started. Setting it up was the easiest way to trade newspapers across the border.

No one growing up in the last generation in Ely would have ever dreamed it could happen. The vanishing of St. Urho’s Day as one of the area’s most honored celebrations.
In Ely, Mill’s Clothing Store, under the proprietorship of the late Bill Mills (a Finn with an anglicized name) featured the day. Restaurants were decorated green and purple and featured Finnish foods such as kola mojakka.
In dozens of homes, Finns gathered for more or less solemn observances. For years, the arbiters of Finnish culture and Urho lore were Lorene and Ben Mauser. Lorene by birth, Ben by marriage. Why green and purple? Because St. Urho became known as the cleric who drove the grasshoppers out of Finland and saved the grape crops for wine. Aha, one might say, but is this not a takeoff on St. Patrick, the Irish saint who reportedly drove the snakes out of the Ireland? In a sense, yes; but that is not the only connection.