Breaking News

Bonnie Jo Christensen of Ely, Minnesota, passed away at her home on June 11, 2019. She was born in Ortonville, Minnesota, on October 30, 1950, graduated from Aurora-Hoyt Lakes High School (Mesabi East) in 1968, and received her Bachelors of Science from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 1972.
Bonnie loved children and taught elementary education for over 30 years, first in Blue Earth, Minnesota, and then at several sites within school district 2142.
Bonnie is survived by her daughters, Kayla Christensen and Bethany Christensen-Kunz; her sisters, Judy (Tom) Lehtinen, Vicki (Jerry) Baumann, and Jan Shambow; and her brother, Jim Paul. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Bryn, Brentley, Evan, Jordyn, and Tristan. She is preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Alice (Thompson) Paul.
Her funeral will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Ely on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at 2 p.m. with visitation one hour prior to the service.

Helen Kolberg passed away on June 10, 2019, with her loving family by her side, after a short illness. She was born on the 4th of July, 1930, in Ely, Minnesota. Her parents, Jacob and Anna Maki, were both immigrants from Finland. She truly enjoyed her birthday every year with marching bands and picnics!
She graduated from Ely High School in 1948, and enrolled in nursing school at St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, MN. She graduated from there, in 1951, and began her nursing career.
During her nursing school summer break in 1950, while working as a cabin girl at a fly-in resort in the Minnesota Boundary Waters area, she met her husband Anton (Spike) Kolberg, who was working there as a fishing guide. They married in 1951 and spent 54 years together.

by Tom Coombe -

Karen M. Oreskovich, 75, of Ely, passed away at her home on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Family arrangements have been entrusted to Kerntz Funeral Home of Ely.

E. VIRGINIA Smith, 89, of Babbitt, passed away on Monday, June 10, 2019 at the Boundary Waters Care Center in Ely.
She was born in Bagley, MN on March 19, 1930. Virginia loved school as a child and loved reading, crossword puzzles and crocheting.
Virginia started working at age 13 and finally retired at age 74. She married Henry L. Smith on June 26, 1948.
She was preceded in death by her husband Henry, son Lane Allen, grandson Matthew; parents Hilda and Elmer Torkkola; daughter-in-laws Merry and Donna, son-in-laws Mike and Dave; five brothers and one sister.

Joanne Zahn was ushered into glory on Saturday, June 8, 2019, during her stay at the Solvay Hospice House in Duluth, Minnesota, with her faithful husband Dick by her side.
Joanne was born to Melvin and Hazel Carlson on July 7, 1934, in Fahlun Township, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. She graduated from Atwater High School in 1952. She was working for Title Insurance Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during this time she met her husband Dick on a blind date. They were married at Atwater Lutheran Church on July 27, 1957.
Over the next sixty-two years they enjoyed many adventures together as a military family. Their first home was in Newport Rhode Island until Dick was transferred to the USS Hull DD-945 destroyer in San Diego, California. They moved several times, from the Great Lakes and back to the west coast until 1968 when Dick’s final duty station was Joplin, Missouri.

by Tom Coombe -

Similar to other parts of the state, Ely is looking at modifying its garbage collection system. A meeting for the public to voice concerns will be held by the city council on the matter in July.
Currently the council has a contract for all residential and commercial customers through G Men Environmental Services. They are the only company allowed to haul within the city limits.
We’ve heard some of the concerns, including the exclusivity clause which doesn’t work for some commercial customers who may need their trash hauled more often than once or twice a week. With summer upon us, we’d like to see those issues addressed just to keep the smell down to a bare minimum.
While people can haul their own garbage, for seniors and those on limited income the system doesn’t work very well. There is a monthly charge whether the garbage is hauled or not and saving up garbage, especially in the summer, is not a workable solution.

Robert G Cooper II passed away on May 12, 2019 in Ely. He was born October 15, 1947, in Indiana and made a living in construction. When he moved to Ely in the summer of 2001, he settled here to enjoy nature and pursue his passion for photography. In his latter years, he lived a more solitary life, but always had friends who cared for him and will miss him. His confession of faith in Jesus carried him through the health issues he faced, and that relationship with Jesus gave him comfort and a hope in this life, and in the life to come.

With graduation going on this past weekend and getting to take photos at both the Ely and Babbitt ceremonies, it didn’t seem like there would be time to get out to the shack.
My nephew Mitch was up and wanted to show his girlfriend where we hang out during hunting season.
“Would you mind if we went out there,” he asked.
“No problem. The key is in the same place,” I said.
Then came the phone call. No key. That’s when I remembered Evan and I brought the key in to have copies made.
We only have the one key and it had gotten bent, probably from someone leaving it in the door and a hip giving it a new look.
So Mitch and Jackie made a second trip to the shack on Sunday. Mary and I decided to join them and loaded up the wheeler.
The four of us were able to do some riding and Jackie learned how to drive a wheeler when you have to shift gears by the buttons on the handlebars.