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Leona Marie Janezich, age 91, passed away on Saturday, January 2, 2021 at the Boundary Waters Care Center. She had finished living her life.
She was born in Ely, Minnesota to Louis and Ana (Matelic) Janezich on May 27, 1929. Leona graduated from Ely Memorial High School in 1947 and from Ely Junior College in 1949. Her work experience for a short time included being a nurse’s aide at the old Shipman Hospital, a clerk at the Sears Catalogue Office, a third grade teacher at Fort Yates on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, a worker in a dental office, and finally, for 47 years she worked various jobs at the American Fraternal Union.
She belonged to the Ely Branch 23 of the Slovenian (Women’s) union, was a member of the Duluth Scleroderma Support Group, a survivor of melanoma cancer, and a member of Women’s Life Insurance. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Ely-Winton Historical Society.

District 6 - Two Harbors
CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) spent the past week focusing on angling and snowmobile enforcement. The snowmobile trails in the Ely area are still poor to fair, but most are useable. Violations included angling without a license in possession and operating a snowmobile with no trail sticker.

CO Mary Manning (Hovland) reports a relatively quiet end to the fisher/pine marten season. The area finally got enough snow to allow for snowmobile operation, although riders should use caution on rougher sections of trail as the base layer is sufficient to conceal but not fully cushion some rocks. Manning worked with DNR Parks and Trails staff to improve signage on snowmobile trails, followed up on ATV issues, and answered questions about snowmobile operation, registration issues and angling.

School Board Meeting Minutes
November 9, 2020
(Board approved 12/14/2020)

Special Meeting of the School Board
November 12, 2020
(Board approved 12/14/2020)

1.0 The study session of the School Board of Independent School District No. 696 was called to order by Chairman Marsnik at 6:00 p.m. via teleconference.
2.0 On roll call the following directors were present via teleconference: Colarich, Mann, Marsnik, Omerza. Absent: Pointer, Sjoberg. Also present via teleconference: Erik Erie, Superintendent.
3.0 Moved by Mann, seconded by Colarich, to adopt Resolution Canvassing Returns of Votes of School District General Election November 3, 2020. YES: Colarich, Mann, Marsnik, Omerza. NO: None. ABSENT: Pointer, Sjoberg. Motion carried. (Vote: 4-0)
4.0 Moved by Colarich, seconded by Omerza, to adjourn at 6:05 p.m. YES: Colarich, Mann, Marsnik, Omerza. NO: None. ABSENT: Pointer, Sjoberg. Motion carried. (Vote: 4-0)

Rochelle Sjoberg, Clerk

Ely Echo 01/02/2021

Study Session
November 23, 2020 (Board approved 12/14/2020)

High school athletes now have a date to look forward to.
Earlier this week, the Minnesota Department of Health cleared the way for youth sporting events to resume Jan. 14 and the Minnesota State High School League followed suit.
The move comes in advance of a Jan. 4 start date for youth and high school sports practices, and follows a several-week “pause” ordered in mid-November by Gov. Tim Walz.
It also includes some new restrictions, among them a requirement that all athletes indoors wear masks or face coverings, even when competing.
That directive generated significant pushback earlier this week but, at least for now, it stands as practices get set to begin.
Still unclear is whether or not spectators will be allowed at indoor events, which begin in Ely Jan. 14 with a girls basketball game between the Timberwolves and Two Harbors and a boys basketball game with Mt. Iron-Buhl the following evening.

When the political season is being evaluated, I hope limits will be set. Both sides are begging for money at a time when financial concerns are elsewhere. A limit for donors will stop any candidate from being sold or stopped by money.
And thinking of money concerns - when did television stop giving free access to users?
There are two things I remember as a teenager heading to high school.
One is slacks or blue jeans. Girls supposedly wore skirts or dresses. My dad took a dim view of my challenging the fashion trend.
The other no no was television at home.
We had a radio to listen to, but dad was reluctant for many years to get a television.
I watched it across the alley at a family’s house which had this extravagance.
Sometimes I think I enjoy being a TV watcher, because I saw so little of it in younger years. Or maybe I’m just enjoying being lazy.

From the onset of the COVD-19 pandemic, Gov. Tim Walz has pledged to use data and science to drive the response by his administration.
Walz has cited data when “adjusting the dials” to ease restrictions or add them during the course of the last several months, including his mid-November “dial back” edict that closed restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, paused youth sports and even set regulations on private gatherings.
Now after several weeks, the data has spoken and it’s long past time for Walz to move the dials again and roll back all of the restrictions he put in place several weeks ago.
While we’ve questioned and taken issue with much of Walz’s response to the pandemic, particularly the impact it has had on businesses and schools in Minnesota, there’s no doubt that November was the state’s darkest month when it came to COVID-19.

by Tom Coombe
Ely could have a new mayor, or at least a temporary one, as soon as Tuesday.
The council’s first gathering in 2021 brings both some drama and uncertainty - all stemming from the surprising November mayoral election victory by Eric Urbas and his subsequent decision to turn the job down.
Council members are expected to either appoint an interim mayor this week or set a process by which to choose one, and take steps that will lead to a special mayoral election - and perhaps a primary - later in 2021.
Some maneuvering toward the mayoral election has already begun, with former mayor Roger Skraba indicating that he will be a candidate for his former job.
The decision by Urbas, who made headlines by unseating incumbent Chuck Novak despite dropping out of the race months earlier, has set in motion a series of events.

by Tom Coombe
After a November spike, reported cases of COVID-19 continue to decline locally, regionally and statewide.
With only five residents of the 55731 zip code testing positive for the virus in a two-week period that ended Dec. 24, the case rate in Ely is low enough to allow for in-person learning for all grade levels, according to state recommendations and a restart blueprint adopted by the Ely School Board.
In St. Louis County, cases have fallen by two-thirds since peaking in late-November while active cases in Minnesota have plummeted by 76 percent since a high-water mark of Nov. 20.
The developments come in the wake of restrictions authorized by Gov. Tim Walz, including a “pause” that has closed restaurants, bars and indoor entertainment venues for several weeks.