- Buckthorn
Be strategic: Grow your business
A business program funded by the Blandin Foundation is returning to Two Harbors. The program, which consists of eight sessions over six months, is intended to help small businesses grow through strategic business planning. Past participants have included Jan Bergman from The Vanilla Bean, Cree Bradley from Chelsea Morning Farm, Sheila Leppala from Pure Driven and Michael Stiff from Hybridge Imaging.
The series begins on Oct. 29 and will be held at Larsmont Cottages. Business owners who have been operating for at least two years can visit www.entrepreneurfund.org or call Shawn Wellnitz at (218) 623-5726 to find out more or register. Cost is $600 and includes meals and materials.
Training exercise turns up no sign of missing pilot
Civil Air Patrol crews conducting a training exercise in the Northland over the weekend did not turn up any signs of a plane and pilot that went missing in June.
Crews decided to conduct their training on Saturday and Sunday in a way that would allow them to look for the Piper PA-31 flown by Mike Bratlie, 67, of Lakeville, Minn. Bratlie disappeared on June 8 during what was supposed to have been a flight from South St. Paul to Duluth and back to break in a new engine. At the time, Civil Air Patrol crews, along with ground teams, spent 13 days searching 2,000 square miles for any sign of Bratlie or the plane, without success. That search was focused on the North Shore.
Eight planes took to the skies on Sunday, with better weather conditions than they experienced on Saturday, said Capt. George Supan, public information officer for the Civil Air Patrol’s Minnesota Wing.
Although no sign of Bratlie or his plane was found, “everybody (got) an opportunity to sharpen their skills” for future search efforts, Supan said
Buckthorn is a growing problem
Buckthorn, a plant initially introduced for landscaping, has become a problem in the state. Two varieties, common and glossy, have been classified as restricted noxious weeds, meaning selling, moving or transporting these plants is illegal. The plant out-competes native plants and lacks natural controls to inhibit its growth. Buckthorn has glossy oval leaves, black or redbrown 1/4-inch round berries, grows to 10-25 feet tall and is found in dry and wet sites.
If you have any questions about buckthorn or believe you have buckthorn on your property, please notify Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District at 218-834-8372 or jennifer.thiemann@co.lake.mn.us
Wellstone—still remembered
Ten years ago, just 12 days before the 2002 election, a plane crash claimed the life of U.S Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, their daughter Marcia Wellstone Markuson, and campaign staffers Tom Lapic, Mary McEvoy, and Will McLaughlin. Both members of the flight crew were also killed in the crash.
The party was flying north to attend the funeral of a friend—Wellstone, who was running for his third term, opting to do so instead of appearing at an event with U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy and Tom Daschle and former Vice-President Walter Mondale in the Twin Cities.
“That is one of the things that no one ever knew that was a legacy of my dad,” said Wellstone’s son
David, “he had a knack for the personal stuff.”
The name of Paul Wellstone is still seen in Minnesota on the iconic green signs—no campaign slogan or other
information necessary—and 25 buildings and programs bear the family name, including Wellstone
Action, an organization that has been to all 50 states to train over 55,000 political candidates, campaign
staff and community organizers to “ practice politics the “Wellstone Way,” according to the group’s
website.
Wellstone Action hosted a remembrance ceremony Oct. 25, in Eveleth at the Wellstone Memorial and Historic Site just off U.S. Highway 53 on Bodas Road, near where the plane crashed on its approach to the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport in 2002. A similar ceremony was held in the Twin Cities earlier in the month.
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