Week of October 11, 2024
Week of October 11, 2024
Frigid weather looming, dark afternoons creeping in: it's the perfect time for racquetball, say the dwindling number of players in Cloquet. What was once a bustling fraternity of players, filling spreadsheets of court times day after day, is now a dedicated cadre of survivors playing an endangered sport. "We're down to less than 20 people that play probably," said Dennis Painter, 47, of Cloquet. "There's our group of five or six guys, and then another couple of small groups of five-six guys...
Blue Crab Properties, LLC. is excited to announce their new senior development on Sunrise Drive in Carlton, Minnesota. Owners Matt and Amy DeCaigny and Kris and Ann Johnson are all graduates of Carlton High School. Matt and Amy DeCaigny are also the owners and operators of DeCaigny Excavating, Inc. in Sawyer. Kris and Ann Johnson own and operate Lake Superior Energy Company in Cloquet. Their expertise in excavating and electrical contracting, combined with many prior building projects, produce...
Some carry signs, others bring photographs and many simply bring family or friends or the their own thoughts in memory of a loved one who died by suicide. They walk and talk, and remember, together. Held every October, this year's annual Suicide Awareness Memorial Walk will take place 9:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Carlton High School. An average of 150 community members attend the free event in memory of friends, family, coworkers and others lost to suicide, and to bring awareness...
Carlton County is experiencing a steady flow of early voters and absentee ballots in advance of the Nov. 5 general election. “Since early voting started Sept. 20, we’ve been getting 50 to 100 voters each day,” said county auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt. “The mail-in ballots are rolling in, too — 150 to 200 by mail every day.” Early voting is taking place at the auditor/treasurer’s office on the second floor of the Carlton County Historic Courthouse (Room 205). Also called “in-person absentee voting,” early voting is...
Esko grad Koi Perich was on top of the world last Saturday after the Minnesota Gophers defeated No. 11 University of Southern California in Minneapolis. Perich nabbed the game-sealing interception and was celebrated afterwards. He called the crazy scene of fans storming the field at Huntington Bank Stadium and being carried by teammates one of the greatest moments he's experienced. Perich indeed has arrived. Because of injuries, he has been returning kicks and got a lot of time against USC as a...
Cloquet's Pine Valley Park was crawling with mountain bikers last weekend, as nearly 1,000 student athletes competed in the sixth Minnesota Cycling Association race event of the season. Add in their parents, coaches and fans, and the woodland recreation area was in constant motion, with fans hiking into the woods with cowbells or large speakers blaring music under a canopy of yellow, orange and red tents. The announcer's voice could be heard across the park and up to a mile away, as he...
After suffering back-to-back losses on the road to Pequot Lakes and Two Harbors, the Esko football team bounced back last Friday night with a 35-0 homecoming win over Hibbing. Esko wasted little time as Graham Hartlieb streaked to the end zone from 28 yards out in the first quarter. That touchdown was followed up by the extra point kick by Santiago Anich, making it 7-0 for Esko. "Graham has probably gotten more carries this season than any other back we've had since I became coach," said Esko...
Both the Esko and Cloquet/Cartlon girls soccer teams received the No. 1 seed in their respective section tournaments: Cloquet/Carlton in Section 7AA and Esko in Section 7A. Both teams also finished up the regular season in Esko last Thursday, with the hometown team edging the Lumberjacks 2-1. While Cloquet/Carlton waited until Thursday to open tournament play, Esko opened the playoffs at home Monday against Two Harbors. Two Harbors was the lone unseeded team entering the 7A tournament and...
The Minnesota Wilderness dropped two games at home last weekend by 4-3 scores against the Springfield Jr. Blues. The Wilderness held leads of 2-0 and 3-1 Friday before the Jr. Blues scored three unanswered goals. The first goal, coming just 18 seconds in, was scored on a redirection by Brady Zugec off a shot taken by Zach Howard. That was followed by Zach Homer firing in a rebound at 3:54 to make it 2-0. After a Springfield goal made it 2-1 midway through the first period, the Wilderness...
The names on the back of the jerseys may be different, but the results are the same for the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys soccer team this season. The Lumberjacks garnered the No. 1 Section 7AA playoff seed last week by pounding Proctor 9-0. They finished the regular season with a gaudy 13-3 record. "We like to open the season with some games against some of the top Twin Cities schools," said CEC coach John Sundquist, explaining losses that came early. CEC started with a record of 1-3 through its...
The Carlton/Wrenshall girls volleyball team is moving along heading into the final few matches of the regular season. At the .500-mark, the Raptors are hoping to make some noise in the section playoffs. The team is coming off a weekend tournament in Burnsville against much larger schools and have a tough schedule before the section tournament. "We were the only single A school in the Burnsville tournament," said head coach Barb Soukkala. "We played some great teams and most were AAA schools...
The Cloquet/Carlton girls junior varsity soccer team wrapped up its season Saturday, Oct. 5. The JV team was undefeated and had a recorda of 19-0-1, which included 14 shutouts. The team also won an end-of-season tournament, competing against several area schools. Over the season they scored 119 goals while only allowing eight goals...
Thursday, Oct. 3 Volleyball Cook County 3 Fond du Lac Ojibwe 0 Esko 3 Floodwood 1 Cromwell-Wright 3 Carlton/Wrenshall 2 Cloquet 3 Superior 0 Moose Lake/Willow River 3 Silver Bay 2 Barnum 3 McGregor 0 Girls Soccer Esko 2 Cloquet/Carlton 1 Friday, Oct. 4 Football Denfeld 38 Cloquet 22 Ogilvie 2 Carlton/Wrenshall 0 (Forfeit) Braham 52 South Ridge 0 Esko 35 Hibbing 0 Barnum 29 Mille Lacs 0 Moose Lake/Willow River 38 International Falls 33 Cromwell-Wright 22 Verndale 8 Saturday, Oct. 5 Volleyball...
Our society is far removed from the Great Depression of the 1930s. Nevertheless, some government programs instituted to aid in the economic recovery left their marks on the northern communities of Minnesota. One of the most familiar is the Works Progress Administration, established in 1935 to employ millions of people to build public projects such as town halls, bridges, schools and park structures. These buildings and bridges are widely known, and the WPA letters are seen stamped somewhere on...
There’s been a lot of talk about Jeff Dotseth’s domestic abuse and animal abuse. But I’m wondering why he won’t debate his opponent, Pete Radosevich. I called Pete to ask him when the usual candidate forum was scheduled. He said Dotseth won’t participate in a live forum, even when they tried to schedule one in Moose Lake. Why won’t Dotseth debate? It’s not hard to guess. Dotseth has been ineffective as a legislator and can’t hold a torch against Radosevich, in my opinion. Pete’s willing to debate. He’s open and...
We, the voters of Carlton and parts of Pine and St. Louis counties must do the right thing. We have to vote out first-term Representative Jeff Dotseth. He refuses to step down after the Minnesota Star Tribune reported court records alleging domestic abuse of his wife and children in 2008. In a settlement, Dotseth pled guilty to disorderly conduct. The conduct reported makes me question his claims of pro-family values. The Minnesota Republican Party has refused to remove Dotseth from their state house caucus. Domestic abuse can not be...
When I was a young boy and brought home a tall tale from a school mate, my mother said, “Don’t believe everything you hear.” In my Barnum High School English class, Mrs. Docken cautioned us, “Don’t believe everything you read.” When serving in the U.S. Army, we were taught to evaluate information and seek to understand what is true or not true based on current evidence and critical thinking. If we are truly seeking truth, we can test allegations by gathering information, seeking all points of view, and then apply logic and...
Although most media information on elections is about national candidates, Carlton County voters should study the entire ballot before making decisions. They will be choosing, among others, three Soil and Water Conservation District supervisors. While the county has several districts, voters choose all the supervisors. In District 1, roughly the northwest quarter of the county, Michelle Boyechko has been farming for 10 years in Tamarack. She uses sustainable farming practices to raise cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens; she also works at a...
Reese Kuklinski and Nolan Pfister and were crowned Esko homecoming royalty during halftime of Friday's football game against Hibbing. Esko got a big win to cap off a week of festivities. See Page 9 for game...
Local author Katharine Johnson has published a new young-adult fiction book, "Belzi's Blizzard," a story about 12-year-old Belzi, who is unhappy about staying with a grandmother she barely knew in northern Minnesota. Belzi plans to run away until she is stopped by a blizzard and a long-ago mystery about her mom. Johnson is the featured author next week at the Cloquet Public Library starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct....
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources estimates much of northern Minnesota - including Carlton County and the North Shore - is at 75 to 100 percent of peak for fall colors, with Duluth and the surrounding area "past peak," according to its online map. Southern Minnesota remains at 25-50 percent of peak colors. For those looking for communal appreciation of fall colors, Jay Cooke State Park will hold a "falling leaves walk" 9-10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 13. The DNR is updating its fall color...
FRIDAY, OCT. 11 Peterson Westerberg American Legion and Auxiliary spaghetti supper 4:30-7 pm., Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 3756 Fair Street in Barnum. Proceeds support Boys and Girls State candidates and Barnum High School scholarships. Carlton VFW Post 2962 hosts a meat raffle at 6 p.m. SATURDAY, OCT. 12 Fall bazaar 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., River of Life Church, 1002 Carlton Ave., Cloquet. Crafts, art, food. Proceeds support ministry in Haiti. Carlton County Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Oct. 19, in front of Premiere Theatres in...
Arrowhead Senior Nutrition menu Friday, Oct. 11 Meatloaf, baked potato, green beans, orange slices Sat.-Sun., Oct. 12-13 Frozen meals available Monday, Oct. 14 California burger, french fries, gingersnap cookie Tuesday, Oct. 15 BBQ pork riblet, butter and parsley potatoes, dill carrots, Scotcharoo bar Wednesday, Oct. 16 Fish, baked beans, apple, gelatin Thursday, Oct. 17 Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, pumpkin bar Friday, Oct. 18 Goulash, coleslaw and fruit Call the Senior Center, 218-879-5870, from your car for curbside meal...
