Archive - Jun 6, 2008

KABETOGAMA — Borderland residents are watching, waiting and praying for the rain to stop as they continue to watch lake levels rise.
The Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office has begun checking its stock of sandbags. Resort owners have watched their docks become submerged in Kabetogama Lake as the water creeps closer to buildings. And meteorologists predict more days of rain to come.

The International Rainy Lake Board of Control this week issued high lake level notices for both Namakan and Rainy Lakes. The cautions come as spring runoff levels peek and more rain is forecasted this week.
Boise Inc. data, as of Tuesday, had the Namakan Lake level at just above flood stage and Rainy Lake rose another half inch to just less than three inches below.
Bob Anderson, Boise public affairs, said it appears that Namakan and Kabetogama lakes have crested but that the net flowage inflow cannot run through the bottleneck of Rainy River at Ranier fast enough to bring the levels down.

New projects leave less time for respected mayor

Littlefork Mayor Jerry Anderson tendered his resignation at a special meeting Tuesday and it was reluctantly accepted by a council he has served for eight years.
Anderson cited his and wife Cleo’s new proprietorship of DJ’s Big Spoon Restaurant in Littlefork as the main reason. Today is Anderson’s last day of service.

Bethany, Littlefork, Zion and First Lutheran Churches are planning to complete a “Crop Walk” to raise funds for reducing poverty.
Participants will be walking from Smokey Bear Park to the Ranier Community Building and back to the park Sunday.
Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. and the walk begins at 2 p.m.
Of the money raised, 25 percent will stay local by going to the Falls Hunger Coalition and The Salvation Army, according to walk organizer Pat Norby.
“This is truly a worldly cause and the fact that we can provide for our community is great,” Norby said.

Medecke’s ground rule double provides winning margin

By ROGER JEROME, Sports Correspondent

For the first time in its state tournament history, the Littlefork-Big Falls softball team won an opening round game, doing so in dramatic fashion when Caitlyn Medecke hit a ground rule double to bring home Kelly Hams in a 1-0 Viking win over Verndale Thursday afternoon at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

When the Falls High class of 2008 was lining up in preparation for graduation last Thursday, seniors Matt MacKenzie and Kyle Potter were also in line. The difference is that MacKenzie and Potter were in line to board a bus in Duluth.
The pair of seniors missed their high school graduation due to a scheduling conflict with the Minnesota State High School League. They were in Duluth to play a baseball playoff game.

Study may give insight into decline in young walleye survival rate

Marked walleye fry have been released into Lake Kabetogama at Voyageurs National Park in an effort to better understand the species’ natural reproduction and recruitment cycles.
Staff from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released the first batch last week.
The work may help researchers understand why young walleye survival rate has declined on the lake recently, after remaining steady for almost two decades.

To the editor,
As property owners in the City Beach area, we received a letter informing us of the meeting June 12 where the city is asking for a zoning change to allow rustic campsites at the City Beach. All property owners within 1/4 mile of the beach were to receive the letter. I believe that this potential change affects more than just the few homes that are within that radius.

Choosing which direction to go in life can be difficult. There are all kinds of choices we must make as we move from childhood to adulthood.
However, two Falls High School seniors should not have been forced to choose between joining their classmates at their graduation ceremonies and supporting their baseball team in a playoff game held at the same time.
FHS graduation ceremonies and a playoff game against Cloquet in Duluth were scheduled during the same time period.

Luke and Laura Zika, International Falls, announce the birth of their daughter, Allison Grace Zika, born May 22, 2008 at North Country Regional Hospital, Bemidji.
She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long.
She is welcomed home by her big sister Macy.
Grandparents are Pete and Carol Anderson and Dan and Sharon Zika, International Falls.
Great-grandparents are Fred and Rita Anderson and Nils Anderson, International Falls, and Arlene Fisher and Adie Zika, Austin.