A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
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The seniors on the Cloquet football team gathered at midfield after Wednesday's regular season finale. Stinging from a 44-7 loss in the rain to North Branch, they were already wet but soaking in the moment, too. "It's just incredible," senior wideout Cooper Ellena said. "Brand-new facility; we were so excited. Tough game, though, but it was fun. They're a tough, good team. We were just excited to be on this new field." The football reveal of Members Cooperative Credit Union Stadium came a day...
At their respective meetings Monday, the Carlton and Wrenshall school boards converged on a date to tour each district’s facilities. The boards will walk through three school properties beginning at 5 p.m. Nov. 13. The tours are the latest step as the boards work toward a potential consolidation between the districts. Because the tours are legally a joint meeting of the boards, the public will be allowed to join them. “People would not be restricted from following along,” Wrenshall super...
It's a sparse election season in Carlton County, where the only electable seats belong to a pair of school boards seeking to fill terms vacated by previously elected officials. In Barnum, board appointee Patrick Poirier and challenger Tony Newman will vie to fill the remaining year left on a seat that's up for election again in 2024. Election day is Nov. 7, with early voting already started. The Pine Knot News asked the candidates to respond to our election questionnaire, and both Poirier and...
In a letter last month to the neighboring city of Carlton, the city of Wrenshall declined to support the Carlton ambulance service as it moves toward adding two full-time positions to a historically volunteer staff. “After much thought and deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that it would not be fiscally responsible for us to burden our residents with a levy increase of 10 percent to cover your requested contribution of $9,537.13,” said the letter, signed by Wrenshall Mayor Gary Butala. To date, Wrenshall is the only jurisdiction in...
The Wrenshall farmer at the center of an ongoing animal neglect case agreed last month to relinquish ownership of 12 horses as part of a civil agreement with Carlton County. In exchange, Henry DeVriendt Jr., 63, won't face criminal charges and also will not be responsible for financial costs related to last month's seizure and impoundment of 12 horses from DeVriendt's pasture located at 1196 Gault Road. "Nothing in this agreement shall be construed as an admission that Henry Peter Devriendt Jr....
When Jim Charboneau decided to chronicle the Barnum football season for the Moose Lake Star-Gazette, the proud grandfather to the team's quarterback figured somebody needed to pick up the bullhorn, so it might as well be him. "Barnum usually hasn't gotten much ink locally," Jim said. "I decided I would write articles for the football team." The grandson, Hayden Charboneau, plays quarterback and is one of 10 seniors on the team. "There's all kinds of things to brag about with him," Jim said....
Carlton County averted a double-digit percentage increase in its property tax levy for 2024, but it may not be so fortunate this time next year — when budgeting for 2025 could include wrestling with a runaway health insurance premium. That’s the fear being articulated by county officials, who explained that high numbers of claims forced the county to use 5-percent and 10.5-percent caps on premiums in 2023 and 2024. With no such negotiated cap on the premium with Blue Cross Blue Shield in 2025, the premium could skyrocket. “The increases are d...
A quick trip to Jay Cooke State Park on Tuesday definitely had all the signs of fall. Gabrielle Proefrock and Tom Warner of Minneapolis rest on a rock in the St. Louis River on an unseasonably warm Tuesday. Participants and staffers at the Pinewood day program in Cloquet took in the falling leaves at Oldenburg Point. Pinewood provides training and daytime activities for people with disabilities. The leaves there were caramel apple colored, with peak color expected in the next week. If you have...
Once a member of the first class of students to graduate from the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College campus in Cloquet, Roxanne DeLille went on to u niversity in Duluth and later committed five years to the tribal college at the request of its founding president, the late Jack Briggs. "Twenty-five years later, closer to 30, I'm still here," DeLille said. As dean of indigenous and academic affairs, DeLille described herself as a big-picture person who likes to dream big. For that, she was...
Count the city of Carlton among the growing list of communities to pass an ordinance prohibiting marijuana smoking and use in city parks and other areas the act of smoking is already outlawed. “We’re not trying to control use in public spaces as much as protect people that don’t want to be around it,” Mayor Mike Soderstrom said. “My thought process was parents taking young children to the park and having to walk through clouds of marijuana smoke probably wasn’t the best thing.” Soderstrom called it a proactive approach and one he sees continui...
Carlton County commissioners approved a 3.99 percent increase over last year’s levy, delivering a preliminary figure for 2024 at $33.5 million on Monday. With the unanimous 5-0 vote in Carlton, the number the board settled on cannot exceed above 3.99 percent of this year’s $32.2 million levy. It could go down. The budget is set for public review and approval in December. “I feel 3.99 is a good starting point,” auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt told commissioners. Commissioner Marv Bodie praised the work of the budgeting committee, includi...
Sometime in winter 2024, the city of Barnum will be less of a food and retail desert than it is. Dollar General is moving onto Main Street, with construction already begun on a store which figures to include staples such as milk. While not a grocery store, Dollar General will fill a longtime void in a community that sees its residents travel to Moose Lake, Cloquet and beyond for merchandise such as cleaning supplies, health and beauty products, stationery, seasonal decorations, and some snacks...
More expensive homes are changing hands than ever before in Carlton County, which saw a $1.29 million property sale close Sept. 15, and 16 sales over $600,000 in the past 12 months. "We're seeing record increases in values," county assessor Kyle Holmes said. "When it stops, only the buyers and sellers will let me know. Right now, it's not slowing down." Residential home assessments have increased 70 percent from 2021-23, with respective increases of 20 percent, 30 percent and another 20 percent...
When St. Louis County first permitted a waste tire recycling facility north of Cloquet in 2014, it concluded that the project along Highway 33 was "consistent with a desirable pattern of development" in the area. The county, in its area land use plan, said it wanted "to encourage rural industry," and a findings of fact document concluded there was "limited residential development in the area." That must have been news to the residents who spoke in opposition at the time to the proposed...
In the ongoing back-and-forth between school boards considering a merger between districts, the Wrenshall contingent unanimously agreed Monday to consider the South Terrace site in Carlton as a proposed one-site option with its neighboring district. But, the Wrenshall board's latest formal letter opened the door for a tour of all three school buildings between the two communities. Previously, Carlton had agreed to reopen consolidation discussions provided the existing South Terrace was the only...
The trucks began arriving near the end of last month, transporting jail cells from Baldwin, Georgia. The cells came six to a semitrailer, three trucks per arrival. As of this week, there are 70 jail cells consolidated onto the grounds of the new $75 million Justice Center, which is under construction along Carlton County Road 61 in Carlton. Some of the cells are already installed, stacked to create two floors, and awaiting the construction of a second-level mezzanine in the men's unit. Jail admi...
Carlton County authorities impounded a dozen horses from the property of a Wrenshall farmer last week. The county's civil case against the man, Henry DeVriendt, 63, reached online District Court on Monday. DeVriendt appeared to want to relinquish his claims to the horses, but an erratic performance over the telephone caused Judge Rebekka Stumme to schedule a further hearing for November. The DeVriendt pasture at 1196 Gault Road has been investigated multiple times by the Carlton County...
A nonprofit organization tasked with supporting the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton varsity boys hockey program is hitting reset after falling out of compliance with its federal and state government filings. Calling it “pure oversight,” the Lumberjack Blue Line Club reported its revoked nonprofit status on Facebook earlier this week. “We are in the process of submitting the required forms and past information for our organization to be reinstated,” the social media post said. The Lumberjack Blue Line Club is among many volunteer- run, nonprofit organiz...
Before head coach Jeff Ojanen became a 21-year fixture in the coaching ranks of the Cloquet High School football program, he was a Lumberjack football player. Even then, the program was buoyed by the sale of discount cards. "We've been doing it for as long as I can remember," he said. "The cool thing is how supportive the community is." Every year, the team's players sell between 1,500 and 1,600 cards for $20 apiece, Ojanen said. Doing the math, that comes to $30,000 to $32,000 each year, minus...
Roughly six years after it overcame neighborhood protest to gain approval to shred old tires, a company operating on land north of Cloquet is under state investigation for its possible failure to meet permitted standards. Tire Aggregate, Inc., located along Minnesota Highway 33 just across the Carlton County line, was permitted by both St. Louis County and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in 2017 to shred used tires to make a construction product called tire-derived aggregate. New complaints...
Walking through the halls of Cloquet High School last week, principal Steve Battaglia noted the pending return to school days. "The timing always seems right," he said. As summer waned and the $4.7 million reconstruction of the school's outdoor athletic complex neared its October completion, one project inside the building unfolded in relative quiet. Without tearing down a wall or building an addition, the high school has a new interior fitness center thanks to ingenuity, elbow grease and...
Brady Slater [email protected] A new entertainment venue above Cloquet’s popular Mexican restaurant unveiled itself Sunday with — what else? — a private event. Pedro’s Grill and Cantina Event Center buzzed with owner Erika Aranda’s family, friends and invited guests. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” said Melanie Koski, a Cloquet resident and bookkeeper for the nonprofit REACH. “It’s more than I expected,” said Doug Wolf, CEO of Northwoods Credit Union. “It’s a beautiful space and very...
Three years after having its nonprofit status revoked, the Cloquet Amateur Hockey Association is in good standing again, having had its federal tax-exempt status reinstated late last week. “We’re not happy about it, but we took the steps to rectify it,” said board president Don Gentilini. “It’s a lesson-learned type of thing, and, hopefully, we’ll be better for it in the end.” The association oversees youth hockey in the city, as well as operating the two indoor ice facilities now owned by the...
While still awaiting final city council approval, the city of Carlton’s volunteer ambulance service looks like it will add its first two full-time positions beginning in 2024. That was the consensus Wednesday of an advisory committee featuring representatives from six of the 10 municipalities served under Carlton’s state ambulance license. “This is a big step for Carlton ambulance,” Mark Jones said, “to have a group like this come together not only to discuss financial matters of the service, but also for you to be able to take informati...
During a Cloquet school board work session Monday, superintendent Michael Cary forecasted the arrival of lacrosse as a new varsity sport beginning in the spring. Cloquet-Esko-Carlton has been tentatively accepted into the Hermantown-Proctor cooperative girls program, Cary reported, while the boys program would be operated for five years by the local youth program, the Northern Siege. “For Title IX purposes we have to have equal numbers so it wouldn’t make sense to approve one and not the oth...
