News - The Timberjay

Bois Forte broadband project close to bidding

NETT LAKE- After a delay in the state’s required historical review process, construction bids will soon be sought for the $19.8 million Bois Forte Band high-speed broadband project serving the … more

David Colburn | 10/25/23

Jim Taylor with the Cook VFW displays the colors during a Memorial Day event in Cook on Monday.

Honor and Respect

As area communities honored the nation's fallen military personnel on Monday, Memorial Day, Timberjay staff members were out capturing images of remembrance. more

Timberjay staff | 5/31/23

The runaway dumper after coming to rest in the ditch across the road from where it was parked.

Runaway dumper takes out power, phone service near McKinley Park

BREITUNG TWP— Kristine Jonas pulled up to the stop sign at the intersection near McKinley Park Campground last Thursday when she felt something wasn’t quite right. She looked up the steep … more

Marshall Helmberger | 8/23/23

Standing on the deck of their home overlooking the fields and trees below, Craig and Valarie Flank display the Century Farm sign from the Minnesota State Fair and Minnesota Farm Bureau.

Flank Farm receives Century Farm award

BEAR RIVER- In 1906, Peter Flank, a 40-year-old Swedish immigrant, his wife, Anna, and their two young children, six-year-old Arthur and one-year-old Edith moved from their western Minnesota home of … more

David Colburn | 8/3/22

Sen. Grant Hauschild (l) and Rep. Roger Skraba (r) talk with BWCC director Adam Masloski about the recently completed legislative session.

Progress, but more to do for nursing homes

ELY— In the wake of the recently completed legislative session, area lawmakers met here with officials from the Boundary Waters Care Center to talk about how the session helped address the … more

Marshall Helmberger | 5/31/23

Sheriff discontinues student resource officers

VIRGINIA- When legislators in St. Paul crafted a new state law regarding the use of physical restraint procedures in schools last spring, they were likely unaware that the measure would bring an end … more

David Colburn | 8/23/23

Ambulance study delay adds fuel to suspicions

REGIONAL- Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital (EBCH) CEO Patti Banks accepted some of the responsibility this week for the delay in the completion of the long-promised regional ambulance study … more

Catie Clark | 4/3/24

Ely teacher honored for special education work

ELY – The early childhood special education program at ISD 696 recently received a major boost because of the gratitude of a local parent with an autistic child who wrote a nomination letter … more

Keith Vandervort | 8/3/22

$97 million in small business support coming to Minnesota

REGIONAL- With White House officials reporting that more people than ever before are starting new businesses, the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday announced the release of up to $1 billion for small business … more

David Colburn | 10/13/22

Impact of new unemployment benefits unclear

REGIONAL- Minnesota is now the first state in the country to offer unemployment benefits to hourly school workers who are typically laid off at the end of the regular school year. School bus drivers, … more

David Colburn | 5/31/23

Confusing mix of new marijuana laws

REGIONAL- When Minnesota’s new recreational marijuana law took effect on Aug. 1, an average of one city per day enacted a no-public-use use law against cannabis and cannabinoids during the … more

Catie Clark | 8/23/23

Motorists can expect some delays this summer from highway projects planned to major corridors, like Hwy. 169, shown above.

Road construction ahead

REGIONAL— Spring is coming and that means road construction can’t be far behind. This week, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced its line-up of nearly 200 road … more

Marshall Helmberger | 4/3/24

Costs keep growing for concession/restroom rehab at North Woods

VIRGiNIA- The $300,000 sports field concession stand and restroom rebuilding project at North Woods is going to cost even more, but how much more is yet to be determined. A portion of the extra cost … more

David Colburn | 8/3/22

IRRR okays $2 million for Ely’s school construction

REGIONAL- The Ely school district received $2 million worth of good news coming out of the Dec. 21 Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation board’s quarterly meeting. The funding will help the … more

David Colburn | 12/28/22

Rukavina confirmed as IRRR commissioner

REGIONAL— The Minnesota Senate has confirmed the appointment of Ida Rukavina to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilition. Gov. Tim Walz had announced … more

Marshall Helmberger | 3/16/23

Preventable deaths by suicide rose again in 2021-22

REGIONAL- After a brief dip during the pandemic in 2020, a 20-year trend of increasing suicides in Minnesota resumed in 2021 and 2022, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of … more

David Colburn | 5/31/23

Rachel Betterley is creating a nonprofit to supply sketchbooks and art supplies to help children healing from trauma.

Teacher Rachel Betterley wins national pageant title

COOK- Rachel Betterley has been referred to as a past Miss Minnesota and past Mrs. Minnesota. But for the upcoming year, she can now be referred to as the current Mrs. Petite USA. Though Betterley is … more

David Colburn | 8/23/23

Legislative efforts to control chronic wasting disease in wild deer populations by heavily regulating white tail deer farmers has the state of Minnesota facing a federal lawsuit.

Federal suit filed over deer farm regulations

REGIONAL- Has Minnesota gone too far in imposing regulations on cervid farms intended to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease? A lawsuit filed with the Minnesota federal district court in … more

David Colburn | 4/3/24

Three candidates vie for Ely mayor seat

ELY – Three candidates are participating in the Aug. 9 primary for Ely mayor. The top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.Two incumbent Ely city council members, Paul … more

Keith Vandervort | 8/3/22

Joe Lopac, of Mt. Iron, takes a close look at a still owned and operated by his grandfather during Prohibition.

The Range was “Never Dry”

CHISHOLM- If you think history is boring, pay a visit to the new temporary exhibit at the Minnesota Discovery Center (MDC) which examines a particularly colorful period of Iron Range history. … more

Jodi Summit | 12/28/22

Resignation airs housing challenge for many workers

Rachel Frey, formerly of Ely, resigned her paraprofessional job at Ely Memorial High School, effective March 10, primarily over her inability to find affordable housing in the community. … more

Catie Clark | 3/16/23

isheries staff work quickly to remove sturgeon eggs from a Rainy River sturgeon for recovery stocking within the Red River basin.

DNR now leading egg collection for sturgeon recovery

REGIONAL— Sturgeon eggs from the Minnesota side of the Rainy River will soon be continuing in the effort to restore lake sturgeon populations in the Red River basin in western Minnesota and … more

5/31/23

You’ll want to use special eclipse glasses to see Monday’s partial eclipse in Minnesota.

Partial solar eclipse to be visible in area April 8

REGIONAL- The North Country will experience a partial solar eclipse this coming Monday, as the sun will be partially blocked by the moon as it passes between the sun and Earth. The partial solar … more

Catie Clark | 4/3/24

Three people injured in fiery one-vehicle crash Sunday night

COOK- Three individuals were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries on Sunday as a result of a truck crash about five miles east of Cook on Sunday evening.At approximately 8 p.m. … more

8/3/22

The former Zup's in Ely will be the new home for KJ's True Value Hardware.

J&L Hardware will have new name, new location in the new year

ELY- Inside the former Zup’s building, boxes of hardware inventory are stacked, waiting for their contents to be unpacked onto shelving. The quiet inside is interrupted every few minutes by the … more

Catie Clark | 12/28/22