Breaking News

District 6 - Two Harbors area
CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) reports angling activity continued to be slow in the Ely area. Snowmobiling continues to pick up as trail conditions improve. Violations included angling without a license in possession and driving after revocation.

CO John Velsvaag (Ely #2) checked anglers and a few trappers this past week. Slush is on more area lakes and fishing is slow. Marten trappers had nice weather but a fair amount of snow. Velsvaag also saw a few snowmobiles out on the newly groomed trails.

CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) spent time on the snowmobile checking anglers and snowmobilers. Time was spent talking with snowmobile clubs about trail conditions and common violations. Area lakes are improving with the cold last week.

by Tom Coombe
Ely’s holiday tournament opponents never really had a chance.
That’s what the Timberwolves did to back-to-back opponents in its home event last weekend, getting off to fast starts in back-to-back contests and rolling to a pair of lopsided wins and a first-place finish in the four-team high school boys basketball event.
Ely blew out Isle 84-44 in the opening round and jumped out to a 27-3 lead in the tournament final against Bigfork en route to a 74-48 romp.
The wins gave the Wolves - one of the early-season surprise teams in Section 7A - an 8-1 record for the winter.
At the Ely Hoops for Hope Tournament, the hosting Timberwolves used a strong 41-point first half to cruise to a 74-48 win over Bigfork Saturday.
In some respects, the home holiday tournament and some time off this week were the calm before the storm.

Looking back on 2019 we realized there was some news we’d rather forget. Looking ahead to this year, we’re hoping the headlines are much kinder to the Ely area.
Losing the Shopko store was a major hit to the area. Consumers lost a place to pick up items not available at other Ely retailers. The Ely Echo lost a major advertiser since we were the main distribution method for the company’s weekly fliers.
Not having a place like Shopko in town hurt every retailer. Faced with a need and a lack of a store to get it from people will travel out of town or take to the internet to spend their money. Those dollars then never circulate in Ely to help our local economy. They are lost forever.

He saves things, like wine corks, and he dabbles them with high gloss paints, making, shaping, carving, creating his own floats. We call them bobbers, and he says, its small bobber season, but once he makes one, it’s a float.
Chunks of sponges, any color imaginable, driftwood chips, all sorts of insulating foam board pieces and sliced up plastic pop bottles are in bins and pails and buckets heaped to overflowing as well as half empty which are his warehouse of choosing choices.
He has a row of glue bottles, glue tubes and glue sticks and glue guns and its an oozy looking gobble of goop, like glue lava gone wild. But it all works once he re-warms it up.

by Tom Coombe
The area’s biggest snowmobile event of the year does not require that participants be avid snowmobilers.
In fact, one doesn’t need to own a snowmobile at all.
While proceeds from the 20th Annual Fun Run support area snowmobile trails, the event has evolved in its two decades and now serves as one of the top family-fun events of the winter for the Ely, Babbitt and Tower communities.
This year’s event is set for Jan. 25, culminating with giant wrap-up party that evening at Fortune Bay Resort Casino, where more than 650 prizes will be given away.
And getting to the ’Bay by snowmobile is purely optional.
“I’d say the majority of people right now are going by car,” said Jimmy Zupancich, Fun Run chairman and longtime organizers. “And they’re bringing their children. It’s a great event and anyone can come.”

The Minnesota Department of Commerce has launched another investigation into Frontier Communications, focusing on the company’s billing and customer service practices. The Department’s previous investigation into the company in 2018 found that Frontier Communications failed to provide adequate, reliable phone service to Minnesota customers.
The primary issues currently under investigation include whether Frontier failed to inform customers of their service options and whether Frontier enrolled customers in long distance service plans that customers did not want or use.
“We are concerned about Frontier’s practices when customers are signing up for service and the prospect that Minnesotans are being overcharged for their phone service,” said Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley.

John Chester Ojala, 89, of Ely, passed away on January 1, 2020 at his home, Chester was born on February 14, 1930 to Taito and Esther (Riikola) Ojala. He worked in the "bullgang" at Reserve Mining in Babbitt and was married to Kathryn Koski on June 8, 1963.
He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters: Marge and Ardis and brother: Bill.
He's survived by his wife: Kathryn, son: Jon, nieces: Colleen and Cheryl and nephew: Dan.
As per Chester's wishes, there will be no funeral services. Family arrangements have been entrusted to Kerntz Funeral Home of Ely.

ARLENE JACOBSEN of Richfield, Minnesota passed away December 24 at her residence, The Pines Senior and Assisted Living Facility. She was 98 years old.

She was born April 23, 1921 in Hewitt, MN to Lloyd and Ella (Sycks) Bower. Shortly thereafter the family moved to Hibbing, MN where her parents farmed and her father worked as a railroad engineer in the Hull Rust mine.

Robert Gene Furniss, age 58, longtime resident of Ely, MN and formerly of Gridley, IL, died Sunday, December 29, 2019, in his home with family at his side. He was born April 20, 1961, in Galesburg, IL the son of Robert and Jean (Hagerty) Furniss. He attended school in Galesburg. He was united in marriage to Nancy Chin in 1983 in Galesburg.
Bob was the owner operator of Lake Auto in Ely, MN. He was a Harley-Davidson enthusiast, an avid gun collector, and a collector in-general.

The views of the holidays doesn’t vary much among the elderly. Well in the past is the hustle and bustle of gift giving. Even the meals are in the past. The Saturday before Christmas is when the day was celebrated. Mary cooked up a delicious brunch, we shared gifts and it was peaceful and pleasant.