Breaking News

Dear Editor,
Coming home Sunday from a windy paddle on Ojibway Lake with friends, we found a fire truck on So. Luc Road and another at our cabin on Garden Lake.
Brian Tome (Boathouse BrewPub) going by in a fishing boat, spotted smoke, called in the fire, came up to the cabin and used our garden hose to keep it off the back wall. Thank you Brian!
By the time we reached home several fire fighters were there dousing flames that had sprung up all over behind the cabin.
Some firefighters were from Morse and Fall Lake Township and several from the U.S. Forest Service, and there may have been others. Thank you fire fighters!
Sheriffs’ officers (Lake or St Louis County?) and Forest Service law enforcement and fire superintendents were all here at one point or another and were all kind and careful trying to diagnose the cause. Thank you Sheriffs and U.S. Forest Service!

This has certainly been a school year unlike no other for our Ely School faculty, staff, students, their families and our community. The Distance Learning model of delivering education has been a significant change for all of us, presenting many challenges. I would like to thank students and their families for all they have done to make Distance Learning work in their homes.
While we have been navigating Distance Learning, our Ely School District has also been looking into the future on how to provide a 21st Century Learning environment for our students and community. On May 11, our Ely School Board decided to move forward with a $10 million bond referendum to raise funds that can help address the needs of our aging buildings, connect our buildings for safety and security, and provide new flexible learning spaces for 21st Century Learning. Election day for the referendum is August 11, and absentee balloting starts as early as June 26.

by Diana Mavetz Petrich
A day to say thank you, but it doesn’t seem like enough.
Several years ago, while cleaning out my parent’s basement with my sister Janice, I came across a letter addressed to my mother from my Dad’s older sister Mary Mavetz Rudnick Lobe. She asked if my mother wanted the January 15, 1945 copy of Life Magazine with Johnny’s (my father’s) picture in it. I had never heard anything about this before. I took the letter upstairs and asked my mother what Mary was talking about.

by Tom Coombe
Ely will follow the lead of numerous other school districts across the state and will hold a drive-up commencement ceremony.
Memorial High School’s Class of 2020 will gather separately, each in a vehicle with family members, for the May 30 event set for 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Ely Arena. It will be followed by a graduation parade through town.
School administrators finalized plans this week for the event, after discussions that included engagement with many in the 45-member graduating class.
Students have been out of school since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, and restrictions on large gatherings shelved the traditional commencement ceremony at Washington Auditorium.

POSITION OPENING
Ely Public Schools
Media Generalist

Ely Public Schools is looking for a Media
Generalist beginning the 2020-2021 school year; salary and fringes as per the master agreement between ISD #696 and the Ely Education Association and School Board policy. Background check required.

Qualifications include:
• Current Minnesota teaching license in K-12 Library/Media Specialist
• Previous teaching experience in a media specialist role preferred
• Excellent communication skills including verbal and written
• Technology integration experience preferred

Application available at: www.ely.k12.mn.us

A complete application must include the following:
• District Licensed Application
• Resume
• Copy of official transcripts
• Current Minnesota teaching license
• 3 letters of recommendation

LAKE COUNTY
SEALED BID
TIMBER AUCTION

Bids due Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 10:00 a.m.

Mail bids or place bids in the drop-box in front
of the Human Service Building at 616 3rd ave.,
Two Harbors, by 9:30 a.m. on June 17.

Due to Covid-19, the bid opening will not be open to in-person viewing. If you wish to watch, contact Lake County Forestry for online viewing instructions.

For information on tracts, bidding procedure,
eligibility, and official bid forms, contact the
Lake County Forestry office at 218-834-8340.

Maps, bid forms, and more info are available at the Lake County website: www.co.lake.mn.us

Council Minutes - May 5, 2020
Regular Meeting Ely City Council – City Hall, Council Chambers

1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Novak called the Ely City Council Meeting to order at 5:30pm in the Council Chambers.

2. PRESENT: Council members A.Forsman, Kess, Debeltz, Omerza, Callen, Campbell, and Mayor Novak
ABSENT: None

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Debeltz/Campbell moved to approve the minutes from the April 21, 2020 Public Hearing, the April 21, 2020 Regular Council Meeting, the April 28, 2020 Special Council Meeting, and the May 1, 2020 Special Council Meeting. Motion Carried Unanimously.

4. ADDITIONS OR OMISSIONS TO AGENDA: None

5. MAYOR’S REPORT
Mayor Novak indicated that the meeting is being held in the Council Chambers and Boards or Commissions may also meet in here with Social Distancing in place.

On May 18, the Superior and Chippewa National Forests will open overnight camping in dispersed sites. Forest Service campgrounds will remain closed until further notice. This is in alignment with Minnesota Governor’s new order 20-56. For a full list of open areas and up-to-date information on re-openings, visit the Forests’ websites at www.fs.usda.gov/superior and www.fs.usda.gov/chippewa.
“We understand the excitement for the public to enjoy their public land. Allowing dispersed overnight camping on the Minnesota National Forests now makes that possible,” says Darla Lenz, Chippewa Forest Supervisor.
“We ask that visitors please continue to follow local, state and federal guidelines on staying safe and social distancing wherever they choose to visit.”

by Tom Coombe
Echo editor
Back to normal.
In today's new world, those three tiny words carry an oversized meaning.
Shagawa Lake and some invaluable, memorable family time made that clear to me on a sunny May afternoon.
Let's face it: since mid-March or so, nothing has been normal in Ely, in Minnesota, the United States or anywhere in the world for that matter.
For a time, Ely and much of the nation all but shut down, closing schools and businesses, ceasing travel and crippling airports and vacation hot spots.
Instead there were horrific images and mind-numbing statistics about the impact, and potential future impacts, of the coronavirus.

Richard Bevis, 80, of Ely, passed away at the Ely Bloomenson Community Hospital in Ely. Family arrangements have been entrusted to Kerntz Funeral Home of Ely.