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 476 - 500 of 1471
Low voter turnout and new voting machines led to a speedy turnaround for Carlton County election results in Tuesday's primary election. County elections staff were finished tallying the votes by 10:40 p.m., something Carlton County auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt said was a pleasant surprise. "Things went very smoothly - well, as smooth as can be with all new equipment and many people doing a role for the first time," he said. The county had new DS200 ballot scanning machines at the polling pl...
With the start of school only a month away, local groups hope to give away free backpacks - filled with school supplies - to any child in Carlton County who needs one. And they plan to make a party of it. Thus, the first Carlton County Back to School BBQ and Backpacks event is planned for Saturday, Aug. 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cloquet's Veterans Park. Children have to be pre-registered by Aug. 18; call the Salvation Army at 218-879-5447 or 218-879-1693 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday thr...
The 2021 audit confirmed the city of Cloquet is in a good financial position, even after more than two years of pandemic challenges. Wipfli’s Michelle Swoboda told the Cloquet city council Tuesday that the accounting firm gave an unmodified, or clean, opinion on the city’s financial statements following the audit. According to the audit report, the city of Cloquet ended 2021 with nearly a half-million dollars more than budgeted, thanks in large part to $930,000 in federal CARES Act funds from the federal government. Rising utility fees and dec...
The fifth annual Honey Bee Festival is all about its namesake, but also music and mermaids, food and fun and whatever else comes to mind. "We're just doing what we do: being crazy and loving the bees," said Glenn Swanson, who produces the annual event with his partner and wife, Emily. It is a unique festival. Held on the grounds of the Oldenburg House at 604 Chestnut Ave. in Carlton - their bed and breakfast and entertainment venue - the event combines music and the arts with sophistication and...
Early last month, Wrenshall's Jolene Johnson went to talk to a coach about getting the cheerleaders into the Brickyard Days parade, only to be told that the annual event had been canceled. She was flabbergasted, and almost immediately decided she would take it on. Within days, her mom, Phyllis Rousseau, promised to help and the pair jumped on board, with a month to make it happen. During an interview Tuesday, they were frazzled, but excited. The small town of Wrenshall will be hopping this...
If early voting is any indicator, next week’s primary election may not be a barnburner in Carlton County. Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9. Kelly Lampel, chief deputy auditor/treasurer for Carlton County, said the office was prepared for a much higher turnout in advance of the primary, but relatively few people have requested absentee ballots. “It’s nothing at all compared to 2020,” she said. “But primary elections often have lower turnout, especially during a non-presidential year.” Still, it’s not too late...
On March 17, witnesses estimated nearly two dozen squad cars, ambulances and firetrucks from multiple jurisdictions responded to the school campus in the heart of Esko. Someone - in Africa, it later turned out - had called in a bomb threat. There was no bomb, but that didn't change the fact that emergency responders and law enforcement waited for hours before the scene was cleared. At least two ambulances and staff responded from the Cloquet Area Fire District (CAFD). Nobody was billed for those...
Esko is adding a whole new layer to its annual Esko Fun Days celebration, by inviting every single graduate of the 102-year-old school to come back next week for an all-school reunion. Work toward organizing the reunion and school centennial actually began a few years ago, because the school opened in 1920. “Then Covid struck,” said Maggie Sunnarborg, a retired teacher and school board member who is one of the reunion organizers. So they decided that celebrating the centennial a couple years lat...
Although August is just around the corner, the summer festival season is abuzz with activity, with Carlton Daze this weekend, followed by Esko Fun Days, the Honey Bee Festival, Wrenshall Brickyard Days, and Ma & Pa Kettle Days over the first two weeks of August. Esko Fun Days runs Aug. 2-9 and will be combined with an all-school reunion in celebration of the school's 100th (actually 102nd, thanks to Covid) anniversary. The fun kicks off Tuesday night with a National Night Out gathering...
At first glance, Cloquet's Kelly Avenue looks like any other street in the city: mostly tidy homes with flowers blooming outside, tall trees, cars parked in driveways and on the street, the occasional person out for a walk. But neighbors told a different story at Tuesday's Cloquet city council meeting. Close to a dozen people showed up to complain about what they see as an inadequate police response to repeated calls about two homes that make the neighborhood anything but peaceful. Longtime...
Cloquet city councilor Chris Swanson announced Tuesday that he will step down as the Ward 3 representative effective Aug. 17. Swanson and his family are moving to a home a few blocks outside of Ward 3, so he will no longer fulfill the qualifications to represent his current constituents. "I've taken great pleasure, and it's been really fascinating and interesting. We have a lot of great folks who work for the city. I know we still have some problems, as we've heard from the residents here...
Cracks filled with knee-high weeds zigzag across the tennis courts at Carlton's South Terrace Elementary School. Although there are nets, the courts are in such a state of disrepair it would be almost impossible to play a game of tennis there. With the school district battling ongoing budget woes, repairing the tennis courts has not been a priority for a school board that is working hard to simply keep the schools open and fully staffed. Ed Kavanaugh gets that. The Carlton grad has been on the...
Local veterans organizations lost one of their most valued and beloved volunteers last week. Lillie "Lil" Mae LaVoy, 81, of Cloquet passed away Monday, July 11, after a hard-fought, fourth battle against cancer. Folks at the Cloquet VFW, DAV and American Legion aren't sure what they will do without her. "She was the glue that held us together," said gambling manager Troy Smith, sitting in the party room at the VFW Club in West End Cloquet, which houses all three veterans groups along with the...
As temperatures heated up in Moose Lake this weekend, so did the number of people there for the Agate Days celebration, especially on Saturday afternoon. A half-hour before the 3 p.m. agate stampede, the streets were already lined with eager spectators, eventually standing four- and five deep in the heart of the southern Carlton County city. What is an agate stampede, you ask? It starts with two dump trucks driving up Elm Avenue in Moose Lake, dropping all kinds of rocks and gravel, plus 400...
The weather was perfect Saturday for the Fond du Lac veterans' powwow - held for the first time in three years after a pandemic hiatus. First into the circle Saturday were the Eagle flags, each one carried by a veteran, who was named by the master of ceremonies. The eagle flags were followed by the Fond du Lac Honor Guards with a row of cloth flags, including the FDL reservation flag, a Purple Heart flag, flags from each branch of the Armed Services and a POW flag, flags from other reservations...
A 16-year-old Superior teen who allegedly fired multiple shots at people in Pinehurst Park earlier this month has been identified. Although the identity of juveniles is usually protected by the court system, juveniles over the age of 14 who are believed to have committed felony crimes can be certified to adult court for criminal prosecution. River Ray Schier is charged with two felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, along with felony possession of ammo/pistol/assault weapon under the age of 18, felony reckless...
Early voting started June 24 for the Aug. 9 primary election, but so far it’s been a trickle versus the flood of absentee ballots cast before the 2020 elections, when there was a presidential election and lines across the country the first day voters could cast their ballots in advance. In an attempt to avoid confusion, county auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt noted that “early” and “absentee” voting are the same thing. Whatever name you choose to call it, DeVriendt said last week it’s been...
Cloquet School Board members learned Monday that Washington Elementary School is one of a few schools across the state recognized as a sustaining exemplary school for its ongoing efforts with positive behavioral interventions and supports, or PBIS. Washington was first recognized for its program in 2020. Students and parents at Washington don’t call it PBIS, though — for them it’s “Purple PRIDE.” PRIDE stands for having a Positive attitude, being Respectful, Including others and Doing your best Everyday. It is essentially a code of conduct,...
The basketball courts at Pinehurst Park were buzzing with basketball Saturday afternoon, as the annual 3-on-3 tournament commenced five days later than anticipated. Delayed by stormy cold weather on July Fourth, Saturday was sunny and warm. With two half-court games happening simultaneously - each one with a referee - the courts were constantly busy. Meanwhile, the fences were draped with players, coaches and supporters watching and/or waiting their turn. "We couldn't have asked for better weath...
Police shut down Pinehurst Park Saturday night after shots were fired, resulting in the arrest of a 16-year-old boy from Superior. According to the Cloquet Police Department, at 11:15 p.m. Saturday, July 2, a Cloquet police officer was stopped by two young men and a woman and her teenage child in a car on Cloquet Avenue, who reported that someone had shot at them in Pinehurst Park. The car had damage consistent with gunfire. They told the officer that minutes before, the two young men - ages 16...
Recent Cloquet high school grads Grant Nordin and Caleb Hansen are already on track to go to college for free and land jobs in the maintenance department at the Cloquet Sappi mill once they complete their coursework. The jobs would likely pay between $32 and $35 an hour to start - not bad, for a two-year degree. Hansen and Nordin are the first two Cloquet students to take advantage of Sappi's new Minnesota Dual Training grant for advanced manufacturing from the state's Office of Higher...
With July Fourth in the rearview mirror, summer festivals are now coming fast and furious. Moose Lake and Wright will celebrate their signature events next weekend, with Agate Days running July 16-17 and Wrong Days in Wright starting one day earlier, with events planned for July 15-17. Perhaps the most exciting news out of Moose Lake is the return of the Clark-Olsen Agate Stampede at 3 p.m. Saturday following a pandemic pause the last two years. For the uninitiated: people line up on both sides...
Wrenshall school board members voted unanimously Thursday, June 30, to authorize an outside investigation into allegations of misconduct. The special board meeting was brief and very formal, but public, with motions made after advice from John Edison, the district’s attorney from the Minneapolis firm Rupp, Anderson, Squires & Waldspurger. Last week’s special meeting was held specifically to authorize the investigation, after a motion to hire investigator Justin Terch was tabled at the June 13 board meeting so board members could further inv...
A coach for the Minnesota Wilderness was fired this week after a disturbing video was posted to YouTube. The video showed Brendan Phelps, age 31, responding to accusations that he had driven to a park in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, to allegedly rendezvous with someone he believed to be a 16-year-old boy, after “meeting” on Grindr, an LGBTQ dating app. Instead he found at least two men — private citizens, not police — with video cameras, one who claimed he had posed as the underage boy online. The 18-minute video was posted by a group called Midwest...
In a world where veteran organizations are shrinking, this group is growing faster than similar organizations across the country. In a time when volunteers are often hard to find, this group has stepped up for the community too, taking over the Christmas and Thanksgiving community meals. This year's July Fourth grand marshal is not one, but many: the nearly 650 members of the Carlton County Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Chapter 18. "It was an easy choice to make," said Ivan Hohnstadt, Cloque...
