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
Sorted by date Results 276 - 293 of 293
There's a saying that goes around Sappi: folks who've worked in the boiler room for 40 years think the paper mill makes steam. It's an insightful joke about the processes within the mill which require heating chilled Lake Superior water to meet the needs of pulp and paper-making. It's also one that's taken on renewed meaning at a time the mill is striving to reduce its energy usage and water consumption. "Back in the late 1960s, we used over 40 million gallons of water per day," said... Full story
The superintendent's introduction of a formal complaint form for use going forward opened the floodgates at Wrenshall Schools on Wednesday. Meeting during the committee of the whole, board members praised a new complaint form, designed to go to the superintendent, or board chair should the complaint address the superintendent. Complaints can come from students, parents, employees or community members. "We need to be transparent about where to go," board member Nicole Krisak said. Superintendent...
The city of Cloquet will host a mountain bike race featuring as many as 600 youth participants later this month. But such a large race coming so close to the ski season at Pine Valley has the local ski club concerned. "We know it's a multi-use park," Cloquet Ski Club representative Ken Ripp said. "But let's not ruin one sport for another." The Minnesota Cycling Association's race series for sixth- through 12th-graders is coming to the Pine Valley Recreation Center on Sept. 24-25. "At this point...
A panel of court-appointed condemnation officials agreed with an $8,000 appraisal for Hotel Solem on Thursday, Aug. 25. The approval opened the door for the city of Cloquet to proceed with plans to redevelop the deteriorating 103-year-old building on the corner of Cloquet Avenue and 10th Street. "We believe we have established that is the actual value of the property that was taken and the amount that should be due to the owners," city attorney William Helwig said near the conclusion of the...
For the first time in 16 years this November, Carlton County residents will face a choice when voting for sheriff. First appointed Carlton County sheriff in 2005, Kelly Lake has experienced only one election challenge, coming in 2006, when she won 85 percent of the vote. Since then, she's gone unchallenged. Until now. Lake is being tested by Jason Syrett, a 10-year law enforcement officer with the Moose Lake Police Department. "Kelly's been in there since April 2005," said Syrett, 35. "My... Full story
Fairgoers who stood in lines 30 deep for food, rides and attractions might have wondered Saturday if attendance had reached an all-time peak in Barnum. Alas, the Carlton County Fair concluded its marquee day with roughly 9,100 paid visitors, off the pace from last year's record-setting 9,800. "It was a good week, but nothing compared to last year," fair manager Lindsey Larson said. "We had fabulous numbers Saturday, but it didn't beat last year with everyone coming out after Covid. It was still... Full story
People ask physician Dan Palmquist why he’s so adamant about encouraging the Covid-19 vaccination. “I tell them, ‘You go to a tire salesman, you expect to be sold tires,’” said Dr. Palmquist, of Community Memorial Hospital and Raiter Clinic in Cloquet. “If you go to a family doc, expect to be lectured about getting vaccinated,” he added. “It’s how we make the biggest impact on the lives of our patients.” Palmquist joined Carlton County public health nurse specialist Jenny Barta, who coordina... Full story
There were more questions than answers Wednesday, Aug. 24, when the Wrenshall school board agreed to discipline an employee during a specially called meeting. The meeting was planned to review results of a personnel investigation which began earlier this summer involving the school’s information technology director, Jaime Hopp, and superintendent Kim Belcastro. The board met in closed session for three hours. Afterward, it declined to name who it was disciplining. But since the disciplinary resolution voted on by the board authorized B... Full story
The Wrenshall school board will convene for a special meeting Aug. 24 to hear results of an investigation into possible misconduct by the school’s information technology director. The board will gather at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the school to learn what Edina-based Red Cedar Consulting found out during days of interviews related to a comment made by technology director Jaime Hopp. Hopp is alleged to have profanely alluded to “killing” the district superintendent while in the staff lounge in June. Another district employee overheard the threa...
The Carlton-Wrenshall Raptors football program won’t take the field for varsity action this season. It’s a victim of not having enough players despite the cooperative agreement between schools in the eastern half of the county. The schools will try to rebuild the football program by participating in the junior varsity and junior high levels. The possible expansion of a sports and activities co-op between Carlton and Wrenshall came to a halt this month, after the Wrenshall school board balked at the 13-page agreement approved by Carlton. “Th...
Bryan "Bear" Bosto surveyed a sunlit field outside the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School last week, and spoke with pride. "We have a lot of Native talent in this game," said Bosto, organizer of the Lax-4-Life summer lacrosse camp. Lacrosse nets lined a field divided into playing areas for both younger and older boys and one for girls. Bosto noted 32 children from six regional tribes taking part in the weeklong camp – a celebration of lacrosse and the Native American cultures from which the game sprang c... Full story
Another tumultuous week within the Wrenshall School District saw a school board member formally apologizing to one group of people, while offending another, and teachers and administrators confronting the board about the impact of its behavior. "As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and co-advisor of our (gender-sexualities alliance) club, I can no longer remain quiet as our leadership ignores human and students' rights," said the school's media specialist Chloe Swanson during the board meeting... Full story
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa unveiled its new $8 million addiction recovery center in Cloquet earlier this month to a throng of well-wishers, adding a new era of residential treatment to the reservation. Tagwii Recovery Center celebrated its grand opening Friday, Aug. 5, with a ceremony highlighted by a drum circle, speakers, tours and a luncheon. "This building has been a huge dream for many years," said Jenn DuPuis, associate director of Fond du Lac Human Services. "Hopes...
A 17-year-old Kettle River boy was killed last weekend after the Jeep he was driving crossed the centerline and collided with another vehicle. Sebastien Jakob Blondo was traveling east on Minnesota Highway 210 outside Aitkin when the crash occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, a Minnesota State Patrol news release said. The driver of the other vehicle, Curtis Dean Watson, 75, of Aitkin was taken by helicopter to St. Cloud Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The hospital declined to provide a condition report on Watson, citing...
Matthew Mangan has always been interested in pollinators. In elementary school, his second-grade teacher, Cathy Rikkola, now retired, had Washington students raise caterpillars into butterflies using milkweed. Years later, Mangan, 13, attended a seminar about building pollinator habitats at the public library conducted by the Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District. So when it came time to create a final project that would catapult Mangan into an Eagle Scout, the choice was simple. "That... Full story
One of the first buildings constructed in Cloquet following the historic 1918 fire is on the verge of condemnation, following a hearing in District Court in Carlton this week. Using eminent domain statutes and referring to the building in its present state as a public hazard, the city of Cloquet moved closer to purchasing the building for $8,000. The goal for the city, stated last December, is to attract new ownership that would restore and redevelop the building. The fate of the Hotel Solem...
A 17-year-old Kettle River boy was killed last weekend after the Jeep he was driving crossed the centerline and collided with another vehicle. Sebastien Jakob Blondo was traveling east on Minnesota Highway 210 outside Aitkin when the crash occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, a Minnesota State Patrol news release said. The driver of the other vehicle, Curtis Dean Watson, 75, of Aitkin, was taken by helicopter to St. Cloud Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The hospital did not respond to an inquiry about Watson’s c...
An investigation into employee misconduct figures to end soon, but not before disrupting the start of the school year within the Wrenshall School District. At a time when Chromebooks and computers need to come online for teachers and roughly 350 students, the district’s information technology director is on administrative leave. Jaime Hopp is under investigation for profanely alluding to “killing” the superintendent in the staff lounge in June. Another district employee overheard the threat, which superintendent Kim Belcastro later repor...
