New Energy Ideas for Cook County
You might have noticed the initials CCLEP popping up lately—in the paper, on the radio, in the Cook County Conversations on boreal.org—and that’s because the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP) is making headway toward its goals.

Going Native
Every place has native plant species with individual characteristics suited to the local environment. Those plants can even be different depending on where they grow in their natural habitat. Cook County, like anywhere else, has unique native plant species that have survived and flourished for many years.

Ready to Grow

Greenhouses are gearing up for a banner year — grow-your-own is a philosophy many families are adopting this year given the challenges of the economy.

"I think that’s what’s going to happen," said John Van Der Weis, a fourth generation horticulturist who, with his father, operates Van Der Weis Home and Garden in Thunder Bay.

It Takes a Village to Build a Home

When Michael McHugh and his wife Carrie arrived in Grand Marais four years ago with their daughter, Maya, they were really excited to be here.

 

McHugh had a job teaching English at Cook County High School and they just loved the North Shore. It was a perfect place to raise a family. But it didn’t take them long to realize that there was one problem with this paradise — they couldn’t afford to buy a home. In fact, they couldn’t even get a loan to buy land because, as a young couple just starting out, they didn’t have the collateral or cash to begin the process.

Building A Home?

Banks throughout the country who got caught in the sub-prime mortgage debacle aren’t loaning money these days, but that’s not the case for banks in Cook County.

“We’ve got liquidity — we’ve got lots of money,” said Mike LaVigne, president of Grand Marais State Bank.
GMSB, as well as Security State Bank and the North Shore Federal Credit Union, did not get involved with sub-prime mortgages and, as a result, it’s business as usual, the bankers said, with low interest rates for anybody thinking of building a new house.