Week of January 17, 2025
Week of January 17, 2025
Workers removed nearly all of the brick on the east wall at the former Hotel Solem building in downtown Cloquet last week. Developer C&C Holdings of Cloquet purchased the building - and former Mexico Lindo restaurant - from the city and is renovating the historic building into market rate apartments over the next year or two. Want to know more about this project? Search for "Hotel Solem" on this...
Decorated with major state awards and beloved for his leadership both in-house and across the public health sector, Dave Lee conducted his final all-staff meeting on Jan. 9. The roughly 150 employees in Carlton County Public Health and Human Services left him with a standing ovation. The 66-year-old director is retiring at the end of the month after 25 years with the county, with the last 20 in the department's top spot. "I have been director for 20 years," he said. "I feel like I have had my...
A good-sized crowd turned out for Monday's open house highlighting Esko high school's new flexible learning space for juniors and seniors, a place students can gather to study for their various College in the Schools classes. Guests at the open house got a bonus on Monday: free samples of coffee from the new student-run Kahvia Coffee shop opening soon inside the learning center. Kahvia means coffee in Finnish, and is a little more straightforward than Esko's "sisu" motto (which has no direct...
Organizers for Hockey Day Cloquet couldn't have asked for a more picturesque setting than what everyone saw Saturday. A fluffy white snow fell all day long, the smell of cookies, popcorn and burgers emanated from food vendor stands, and an energetic crowd surrounded the hockey rink at Veterans Park. Unfortunately, the CEC boys hockey team struggled to put pucks past the Sartell goalie as the Lumberjacks fell in overtime 2-1 in the second game of a varsity and junior varsity quadrupleheader,...
Coming off a tough loss last Friday night to Barnum, the Cromwell-Wright boys basketball team picked up its seventh win of the season Tuesday, defeating the Carlton/Wrenshall Raptors 80-48 in Carlton. Carlton/Wrenshall was fresh off its first win of the season, also last Friday, over the Floodwood Polar Bears. "This was a big bounce back win over the Raptors," said head coach Bill Pocernich. "We had a tough loss last game with Barnum, and it was nice just to come out and play well." The...
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team was hungry for a win as they took the ice for Hockey Day Cloquet Saturday. The Lumberjacks had not had a win since Dec. 5 against Hibbing/Chisholm. Saturday night the young CEC squad snapped a 10-game losing streak with an impressive 2-0 win over the Northern Tier Stars, a Class AA cooperative of St. Francis, North Branch and Cambridge-Isanti. "That was a huge win for us," said CEC coach Kennedy Weets. "The girls were smiling all day long in...
The Minnesota Wilderness and Wisconsin Windigo each earned regulation wins in their Thursday/Friday series last week in Eagle River. The Wilderness (17-14-3) kicked off the series with a 5-3 win on Thursday, while the Windigo (23-9-3) bounced back Friday with a 4-0 victory. Minnesota stretched its season-high winning streak Thursday to eight games with a balanced offensive attack and a strong performance in goal from Valdemar Andersen. Andersen finished the contest with 39 saves on 42 shots in...
Thursday, Jan. 9 Boys Basketball Moose Lake/WR 72 Hinckley-Finlayson 36 Cloquet 83 Hermantown 62 Girls Basketball South Ridge 65 Fond du Lac Ojibwe 34 Esko 67 Hibbing 33 Cromwell-Wright 63 Barnum 27 Mesabi East 58 Carlton/Wrenshall 24 Floodwood 61 Moose Lake/WR 35 Boys Hockey CEC 3 Duluth Marshall 2 (OT) WSFLG 6 Moose Lake Area 3 Girls Hockey Duluth 2 CEC 0 Friday, Jan. 10 Boys Basketball Carlton/Wrenshall 78 Floodwood 57 Deer River 74 Moose Lake/WR 59 Cherry 82 Esko 70 Two Harbors 71 South...
Friday, Jan. 17 Boys hockey CEC at Orono, 7 Boys basketball Esko at Barnum, 7:15 Carlton/Wrenshall vs. Two Harbors, 7:15 Cloquet at Superior, 7:15 Cromwell-Wright vs. McGregor, 7:15 Fond du Lac vs. Bigfork, 7 Girls basketball ML/WR at Denfeld, 7 Alpine skiing CEC at Mont du Lac, 5 Saturday, Jan. 18 Boys basketball Esko vs. St. Paul Johnson, 4 Monday, Jan. 20 Girls hockey MLA vs. International Falls, 5 Girls basketball Carlton/Wrenshall vs. Silver Bay, 7:15 Cloquet tourney at St. Catherine...
When my dad passed early Sunday morning (Jan. 5) I was scrambling to write and proofread an obituary for him, and, when it was finally satisfactory, I started looking to publish it. My dad always wanted his obituary in the Pine Knot and another local publication. So I first contacted the larger local publication and they wanted $1,767.69 to publish it and, on top of that, they said I had missed the deadline for the Wednesday print edition by 90 minutes, so the only paper they could get it in was Saturday, the day after the funeral. I called...
Hockey Day Cloquet could not have gone any better last weekend. "Happy Hockey Day," Cloquet resident Catherine Loeb said. "Best day ever!" Among the best, for sure. The stands were full and easily 2,000 or more people descended on Veterans Park throughout the open air extravaganza Saturday which featured Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys and girls varsity and junior varsity hockey games. The weather cooperated and even graced the day with snow fit for a Hallmark film. Certainly somebody was falling in...
“With hope waning, horse is found,” was a heartwarming story, written by Wendy Rockvam Johnson, about the disappearance, search and recovery — after two long months — of my horse, Taz. It was published in the Pine Knot News on Dec. 6. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the people, many unknown to me, who helped by posting flyers and/or participating in our search: on foot, on horseback, online and on ATV. When we brought him home, Taz was grossly underweight, dehydrated and with an injury, so following the advice of my...
Hockey Day Cloquet encapsulated more than hockey. There were food trucks, fire pits, hills to slide down, friends to see and a true sense of community, no matter whom you were cheering for. The result of years of talk, months of planning and weeks of building the arena, Hockey Day Cloquet organizer Nate Knutson and his band of volunteer hockey parents and others thought of just about everything. Giant heat-duct hoses snaked from Frost Fighter heaters to team boxes and the press boxes above,...
Cloquet city councilor and local funny guy Warren "Bun" Carlson passed away Sunday, Jan. 12, from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart disease. In his second term on the council, Carlson was first elected to the Ward 1 seat in November 2018. Well known for his involvement in local hockey programs - as player, coach and radio personality - Carlson easily won reelection in 2022. Carlson grew up playing hockey in Cloquet, graduating from Cloquet Senior High in 1974. He served as senior...
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has released its 2024 Forest Health Annual Report, which uses data from aerial surveys and on-the-ground site visits to compile information about insect outbreaks, disease epidemics, and other impacts to the state’s forests. DNR aerially surveyed 17.5 million acres of Minnesota for damage to forests in 2024. Since the early 1950s, aerial surveys have been a valuable tool for discovering, tracking, and managing forest health threats like spruce budworm, oak wilt, ice storm damage, eastern larch...
FRIDAY, JAN. 17 The Cloquet Public Library closes at 12:30 p.m. for staff training. SATURDAY, JAN. 18 Junior Rangers Frosty Adventures 1-2 p.m., Jay Cooke Park. Discover the secrets of winter, and make and take a snowflake craft. Sign up by Jan. 17 to ensure supplies: 218-673-7005, [email protected]. Carlton County Animal Rescue cats and dogs adoption event 1-4 p.m. at PetSmart in Duluth. Application process and approval required; applying prior to the event is encouraged. (218) 900-7066, [email protected],...
Senior Nutrition menu for Jan. 17-24, 2025 Friday, Jan. 17 Chef Salad, orange slices, chocolate pudding Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 18-19, frozen meals available Monday, Jan. 20 Ham, cheese & broccoli-stuffed baked potato, gingersnap cookie (call 24 hours ahead for alternative entree: 879-5870) Tuesday, Jan. 21 Glazed pork loin, herbed rice, peas, applesauce, brownie Wednesday, Jan. 22 Turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, red gelatin Thursday, Jan. 23 Shepherd’s pie, broccoli Normandy, chocolate chip cookie Friday, Jan. 24 Cook’s...
