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 151 - 175 of 1471
A chilly wind raced across the strawberry fields Monday evening as the Lambert family and four young teenagers meticulously planted rows of strawberries. Together, they were a picture that could have been taken any time in the past 100 years. Slowly, the tractor rolled across the field: Amanda driving with two younger kids inside the cab, protected from the wind, and three or four older kids behind the tractor. Two teenagers sat with their backs to the tractor, taking turns feeding a planter...
The Thunder Film Fest welcomed a regional celebrity to its screening of the "Bad River" documentary Saturday afternoon at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Mike Wiggins Jr., former chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, was the guest of honor and featured in the movie. "Bad River" tells the story of the Wisconsin- based Bad River Band and its ongoing fight for sovereignty - not only its recent legal battle over the 70-year-old Enbridge Line 5 pipeline and the threat...
Work to complete the Minnesota Highway 23 culvert replacement project at Perch Lake near Gary New Duluth will begin May 13. Contractors will begin mobilizing heavy equipment to the site on May 7. Motorists should expect a signal-controlled single-lane bypass. Work is expected to last about one month. A final phase of work to install a recreational bridge on the adjacent Marten Trail is expected to take place later in the summer. The culvert replacement is a part of a Minnesota Department of...
Get your dancing shoes on because New Wine is putting on a party, with Jesus and Judas as the two main characters in an updated version of "Godspell." "Godspell" is a (mostly) joyful musical that tells the story of the Book of Matthew and many of the parables through song. "All the songs are just full of energy, except for a couple tearjerkers," said musical director Jennifer Osborne. Many people will recognize the songs, including "Day by Day" and "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord," plus at...
Although University of Minnesota administrators say the transfer of the Cloquet Forestry Center is essentially a done deal, Carlton County legislators say they won't vote for bills proposed in the Minnesota House and Senate that would support the land transfer to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. In response to questions posed by the Pine Knot News, Rep. Jeff Dotseth (R-Kettle River) and Sen. Jason Rarick (R-Pine City) both said they would "not support" any measures to move this...
When the Northern Lights Academy was created seven years ago by the 12 school districts served by the Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative, it gave those schools a place to send students they couldn't serve on their own. It also gave the students - who might have autism or significant emotional and behavioral disabilities and/or mental health needs - a place where they could be surrounded by classmates with similar needs and teachers specially trained to help them. Northern Lights...
A Cloquet man was sentenced April 12 for physically abusing a 2-year-old child in his care, pleading guilty to felony third-degree assault. In a plea deal with the Carlton County Attorney’s Office, Travis Dean Thrun, 22, was sentenced to four years, with a stay of adjudication, resulting in supervised probation. Thrun was arrested in November by Cloquet police. According to the criminal complaint, witnesses, including other caregivers, reported the child suffered through a series of three strangulation events, as well as a weeks-old anal cut t...
It felt like the right time to tackle something a little more serious, said Cloquet High School theater director Corey Hunt, and what could be better than a play about the Salem witch trials? The CHS performance of "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller, runs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. "We wanted a different acting challenge for the kids, a different production challenge for the crew," Hunt said. "And a play that has something pretty important to say." Based on historical people and real events...
The issue of sewer line capacity dominated discussions during the April 18 Thomson Township Board meeting, and threatened to shut down an apartment building project that has been in the planning process for over a year. Josh Evans — an assistant engineer with the township’s new contracted engineering company, AE2S — recommended a halt on any new construction after surveying and modeling the sanitary sewer capacity for the Southridge subdivision, where developer Gregg Perich of GSP Const...
The Lumberjacks track and field teams held their first home meet Tuesday at the newly renovated Members Cooperative Credit Union Stadium. "We've got a great facility," said head coach Tim Prosen. "We're really excited." While everything is shiny and new, Prosen and assistant coach Michelle Wick really praised the arrangement of the renovated facility. "The layout is way nicer," Wick said. "The kids can stay warmed up easier on the infield turf, which is also just better on their legs. And the...
A historic train locomotive and caboose pulled out of the Carlton County fairgrounds this week, although not under its own steam. After calling the fairgrounds in Barnum home for 68 years, the former Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 27 is headed to the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, a family-owned historic train business in Trego, Wisconsin, which currently offers around seven train excursions. Train enthusiasts there hope to restore and ultimately get No. 27 running again. The Carlton...
More than four years later, the Covid-19 ripple effect continues, with school districts everywhere coming to terms with the end of federal grant funding intended to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic. On Friday, Cloquet school board members approved roughly $1.6 million in staff cuts — 23 employees in total — most of those the result of federal Covid dollars and a state literacy grant ending this year. About a quarter of the job cuts were due to declining enrollment. School board chair Nate Sandman said this was the lar...
The Cloquet City Council chambers were packed with family and friends Tuesday, present to support more than a dozen Cloquet police officers being honored by the city. Cloquet police chief Derek Randall recognized eight officers for meritorious service in response to the deadly Jan. 8 shooting, which left the shooter and two innocent people dead at a hotel in Cloquet. Investigators from the Cloquet Police Department and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation ultimately determined the shooter...
When asked about proposed legislation to aid emergency medical services across the state, Cloquet Area Fire District chief Jesse Buhs said he believes CAFD “would be eligible for the proposed funding that will reach the Northeastern part of the state.” The fire district has supported the $120 million funding bill proposed by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, but Buhs is hopeful CAFD could see part of whatever funds are allocated for EMS services. CAFD provides fire protection to 170 squ...
About the size of a parched grain of wild rice, a microchip inserted under a pet's skin can make all the difference should that dog or cat decide it wants to roam. A simple scanner can read the microchip, which can be linked to the pet owner's contact information and even address. Cloquet patrol commander Dave O'Connor said he heard of a scenario in which a dog ran away, but was returned home within a half-hour, thanks to a scanned microchip. "You can get them back home pretty quickly," he...
With my dad in a hospital bed in late 2022, we planned how the family would gather for the 2024 eclipse at his house in Vincennes, Indiana - not quite a halfway point between my brother's home in Florida and mine in Minnesota. A huge fan of all things outer space, my dad had taken an astronomy class in college and enjoyed dragging kids and neighbors outside to search for constellations, planets and even the space station for the rest of his life. He didn't live to see 2024, but we did. My...
News that the Biden administration finalized strict limits on certain "forever chemicals" in drinking water didn't come as a surprise to the city of Cloquet Wednesday. The new rule that will require utilities to reduce PFAS - or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances - in drinking water to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. PFAS have been under discussion for the past decade or two in Minnesota, in large part because Minnesota-based company 3M is and has been one of the...
Cloquet Postmaster Todd Manisto retired April 3, 30 years and one day from his first day as a city carrier in the city of Cloquet. It's been a rewarding career, but increasingly busy as he climbed the ranks of the United States Postal Service. Manisto may not know what to do with himself at first. He often puts in six or seven days a week. "We'll miss him," said supervisor Ben Bergerson, after threatening "words" for Manisto. "I came to this office thinking I'd take postmaster for sure when he...
Members of the Kavanaugh village gathered at the Streetcar last week to watch Carlton's own Jeopardy champion, Sam Kavanaugh, in another tournament. The hometown hero didn't disappoint, keeping fans guessing to the very end of the high-stakes trivia show. It wasn't that Sam answered the final question correctly: no one did. Rather, he wagered less than Monica Thieu did, who was beating him by $3,800. The end result saw her score drop to $7,599 while Kavanaugh's dropped to $7,600. A dollar's diff...
The new owners of the Hotel Solem building in downtown Cloquet can begin pulling building permits now, after the Cloquet City Council unanimously passed a slew of resolutions that will help fund its transformation into modern apartments. They also got a blessing from David Guckenberg, the grandson of Hans and Lucy Solem, who built the new hotel at 915 Cloquet Ave. more than 100 years ago. "A lot of memories in that hotel," said Guckenberg, briefly addressing the council at the start of the...
A photo featuring the 1931 Cromwell girls basketball team in the March 8 issue brought accolades on Facebook, a visit from Clarence Badger with an old Cromwellian magazine, and a phone call from June (Kingsley) Collman, whose mother, Blanche Line, was the top scorer in 1931. Collman said her mom had been playing defense until someone got sick and she was moved to center. That meant she could finally shoot and was a lucky change for Cromwell. According to the March 1931 Cromwellian, Line played...
The woodpiles weren't a problem until they moved behind her house last fall, said Deb Kamunen. The Cloquet resident has lived next to the former Diamond match mill for 37 years. When the mill was still operating at 1800 Cloquet Avenue - under various owners - the lot behind her home was used for parking. Now it's a woodyard, piled high with logs stored there for the Potlatch mill in Brainerd. That is an allowed use, according to Cloquet city code. Woodyard manager Jesse Fitzsimmons leases...
A potential busing overhaul in Barnum ended last week, with board members choosing to keep its buses and bus drivers. The board had explored selling its fleet of buses and contracting with a private company for transportation services, after a shortage of school bus drivers caused a rash of parent complaints as children had to spend hours on longer routes and parents had to find other transportation because there were no substitute drivers. In exploring its options, the Barnum school board had posted two bids, one for bids on its buses,...
More than three dozen women gathered at Oldenburg House and Carlton Greenhouse Saturday to learn more about women from Carlton County who make up the fabric of the history here. It was also a time to enjoy tea and some flower arranging. After tea and treats at the Oldenburg House, the group walked to The Green House for more history and a chance to try some flower arranging while local musician Mary Hagen played the harp. It was the first gathering of what the historical society hopes will...
The final investigative report of the deadly Jan. 8 shooting at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet revealed new information, including that the shooter had subcontracted with the city of Cloquet and recently relapsed into drug use. It also expanded information already released. Shooter Nicholas Elliot Lenius, 32, appeared to be having mental health problems and did not know his two victims: Cloquet resident and Super 8 employee Shelby Trettel, 22, and Patrick Jeffrey Roers, a 35-year-old Deer River...
