Opinions/Editorials

Dear Editor,
In a letter to the editor last week, writer Terry Peterson made a couple statements that were inaccurate. Terry stated that I am “an elected official who should neutral attack Paul Piragis for daring to ask for a state grant” as part of an unusual statement to say the least. I’m sure Terry actually meant Steve Piragis.
First, I am not an elected official, I am a ‘selected’ volunteer commissioner and committee member who serves our community at the pleasure of the mayor and city council within the Planning and Zoning Commission, Police Commission, Cemetery Committee and the Projects Committee. My opinions are mine alone and do not represent the city of Ely in any way.

Dear Editor,
Letter to the Editor: We want to express our utmost gratitude to Morse/Fall Lake Fire Department, Ely Fire Department, Ely First Responders, the St. Louis County Deputy and the Conservation Officer that responded to our fire on Sunday the 21st.
Their overwhelmingly rapid response time and skills are second to none. Their compassionate concern for us was genuine and reassuring. They certainly saved our home.
We all express our thanks to our fire fighters, first responders and law enforcement, but when you personally need their services you feel true gratitude.
We are so fortunate and blessed to have these wonderful people in our community.
Jimmy & Kate Nelson
Ely, MN

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.
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 Ireland? In a sense, yes; but that is not the only connection.

Minnesota’s deer herd faces a deadly challenge in chronic wasting disease also known as CWD. The problem can be traced back to deer farms and Rep. Rob Ecklund is looking to put the clamps on these operations.
On Friday a bill was scheduled to be heard in a House committee that would transfer oversight of farmed deer from the Board of Animal Health to the Department of Natural Resources.
Farmed cervidae will also have additional rules including more fencing (two fences at least 10 feet tall), no new farms and if a farmer has deer with CWD they cannot raise deer for 10 years.
Ecklund said the bill may be an uphill battle but he knows the goal of saving Minnesota’s wild deer herd is worthwhile.
“For some reason the ag community has decided they’re going to totally embrace farmed cervidae and treat it as a big ag organization,” said Ecklund.

Letter to the Editor:
My heartfelt thank you to my family, friends, and neighbors for the calls, visits, and help during our Winton frozen water main problems. Our City Council and Destin did a wonderful job of coordinating the repair issues and keeping us informed.
Much gratitude to the Low Impact crew who worked long, hard hours in freezing temperatures. Thank You to Northland and Zup’s for providing us with hundreds of gallons of drinking water. Much appreciation to the friends, family and services from Ely and the surrounding townships and areas who pitched in to help in whatever way they could. If I’ve neglected to mention anyone/anything, my apologies.
What a blessing to live here.
Marvel Prahl
Winton, MN

It won’t be long, March to be exact, and we’ll be a full year into the nightmare known as COVID-19.
Yet the looming 12-month anniversary comes with some of the most promising news yet that the nightmare is nearing its end.
Across the board, locally, within St. Louis County and the entire state, the numbers as they relate to COVID are rapidly improving - and we agree with a prominent legislator who this week predicted that the end is near.
The cause for optimism? Actually, there are many.
Let’s start with vaccinations, with more and more Minnesotans getting their COVID shots each day, particularly in the 65-plus demographic that is most susceptible to dire COVID circumstances.
And overall, about 700,000 Minnesotans have already received one dose of vaccine. Even a modest goal of 20,000 shots per day would bring that number to 2.2 million by May 1.
As vaccinations go up, the COVID numbers are ramping down, and not marginally.

Not that many years ago the Ely Echo was printed right here in Ely, Minnesota. At 2 East Sheridan Street to be exact. We had a two-unit Goss press that could print eight page sections in black ink.
We bought rolls of newspaper by the truckload and soy ink by the 55 gallon drum. But times changed and we had to change as well. The press was sold and we sent our pages to International Falls to be printed.
Then we switched to Hibbing where a plant was installed in the old chopsticks factory. Other papers printed there as well after the presses in Virginia, Hibbing and Chisholm were shuttered.
That only lasted so long as well. The Hibbing plant was shut down and a new plant was installed in Duluth near the airport. This plant replaced the massive presses at the Duluth News-Tribune offices in downtown Duluth.

We’ve reached a point in this pandemic where the end is now in sight. Numbers are dropping like a rock other than vaccination numbers which are climbing higher and higher.
Hearing a girls basketball game this week was postponed due to several players on the visiting team not wearing masks just doesn’t make sense.
The Littlefork-Big Falls girls basketball team has six players that have mask exemptions. They received those exemptions from medical doctors and this is allowed for under the guidelines of the Minnesota State High School League, the governing body for sports.
But Ely’s school administration decided the risk was too great and the game may or may not be played in March. This is depressing for fans, for the coaches and especially for the players.
Mason Imhof, the Littlefork-Big Falls athletic director is also the girls basketball coach. He sent a letter explaining the situation, that included the following:

Dear Editor:
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s office would like to remind everyone to be cautious with unknown callers and emails requesting money or personal information.
With stimulus money being given to citizens, we are seeing an up swing in scam phone calls and emails.
These scammers are preying upon unknowing and trusting individuals seeking personal information and making requests of them.
Some examples of these scams are asking individuals to purchase gift cards on the promise to put money into their accounts, fix a computer problem, social security issue, or to avoid incarceration.
Others go as far as posing as a family member who is in jail and needing assistance with bail money. If you do not recognize the phone number do not answer it and please do not share or furnish any information to them over the phone or via email. If it seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

It may have taken awhile, but a couple of chilly evenings and early-mornings this week were a not so subtle reminder that we’re in the heart of winter here in the Ely area.
The sights and sounds of fish houses, snowmobiles and dog teams on local lakes and trails are another sure sign, along with a report that at least one local lodging establishment was busy enough to put out a “no vacancy” sign last weekend.
In a typical year, a three-day holiday weekend, not to mention the trout opener, would be signal enough to expect hordes of visitors to enjoy what Ely has to offer, and to offer a much needed jolt to an otherwise stagnant economic time.
Make no mistake about it, dog teams, snowmobiles and ice fishing are a much-needed pick-me-up for local businesses in the dead of an Ely winter.