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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People in jail are at risk to get the coronavirus, simply due to the close confines of a jail and the ease the virus spreads. To avoid a catastrophe, some authorities propose that some inmates be released, and allowed to go home under close monitoring. Serious offenders won’t be let out (other precautions are being taken to protect them from the virus). It hasn’t happened here, yet. But it might. This begs the question: What are these people doing in jail in the first place? It’s no secre...
It’s been called the “Overnight Recession” by some economists. Just weeks ago, the economy was humming along. Suddenly, stock values dropped; people are out of work; and economic uncertainty is scaring the pants off many. So the government’s reaction to pump $2 trillion into the economy is an interesting tactic. It’s welcomed by most, which explains why the stimulus bill passed with huge support from both parties. I am concerned. This is not some rich Uncle Sam handing out quarters to his nephe...
Winter started early, with snowstorms over Thanksgiving I wasn’t expecting. No one was, really. Over 2 feet of heavy, wet snow that clogged the streets caused most of us to “shelter in place” for a while. It took months to get the roads in decent shape and many people blamed the government for doing a poor job of snow removal. Of course, they did an excellent job of snow removal considering the volume and density of the snow, but people still complained. A lot. It’s easy to blame the governm...
I plan to keep working until I can collect my full Social Security benefits. Or, at least until something I did 20 years ago comes back to ruin my career. I know most of us are focused on quarantines, about catching the virus, or how to handle a house full of kids who are not in school. But I can’t help thinking that we have started to put an enormous importance on things that happened many, many years ago that most people would rather forget. As the Democrats have been selecting their n...
Esko residents learned that Canosia Road North of Highway 61 will be closed starting July 1 and into the fall for replacement of a bridge over the Midway River. The news about what is also known as Carlton County Road 1 came at Tuesday night’s Thomson Township annual town meeting, where a handful of residents joined township officials and employees reviewed the annual financial statement, heard from department heads, and discussed other town business. It was a 40-minute meeting at Thomson T...
After the Cloquet City Council fired Eric Lipponen, the CAT-7 cable TV coordinator, I have been asked repeatedly: Is CAT-7 dead? Will "Harry's Gang" ever come back? I am encouraged by the comments, actually. I have produced exactly four "Harry's Gang" shows in the past year, not counting some candidate interviews. (In case you didn't realize my point, there are 52 weeks in a year. Having taped 4 weeks out of 52 is a sign that maybe, just maybe, something is wrong at CAT-7. So, to have so much in...
It’s fun to strategize the run for President. On one hand, we have an incumbent who is wildly popular with his base supporters, and intensely reviled by others. On the other hand, we have a group of nominees who are wildly popular with their respective bases, and reviled by others. That’s why Bernie Sanders is leading the pack (for now) of Democrats who are running. Bernie has a hard-core base, who believe his brand of popular consumer politics will be great for the country. In fact, it’s a wild...
Tara forced me to spend a week in Orlando recently. “Forced” is accurate, but I’ve learned that putting up a fight is pointless, so I went along and even pretended to enjoy it. I can sense that I will not get much sympathy from you, dear readers, about being “forced” to spend a week in sunny Florida while the rest of you stayed back here and tended to the snow and cold. Note that I already said that complaining about it is pointless. Typically, my wife and kids go on vacation — I just happen...
Scott Holman, the former Cloquet police officer who is now suing the City of Cloquet, didn’t run for mayor as I stated here a few weeks ago; he ran for city council against Kelly Riihiluoma but lost 44 percent to 55 percent. That was in 2002, and Holman reminded me about his comment on “Harry’s Gang” during the campaign that the old water tower should be torn down and sold for scrap. (I was hoping at least one candidate for any city office would want to preserve the old water tower, as we just b...
The Carlton County Republican Party invited a self-described refugee resettlement expert to conduct a meeting from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, according to organizer Bill Dian of Wrenshall. Dian said Ron Branstner, who has homes in Palm Springs, California and Eden Valley, Minnesota will conduct the meeting to inform Carlton County Republican members and the general public of his research on the refugee issue in America. “I’ve been studying this...
There’s been a lot of news lately about county boards voting on the “refugee issue.” Places like Cook County in extreme northeast Minnesota have voted to accept refugees, even though the odds of a refugee settling there are about nil. And Beltrami County, which has little need to vote on the issue either, was inundated with fear and innuendo and ridicule when it voted to not accept refugees. It’s a trick, a gimmick, designed, I think, to pit neighbor against neighbor over an emotional issue,...
James Montano, on trial for a murder and assault in rural Carlton County in April 2018, was found guilty on all three of the charges against him Wednesday: first-degree premeditated murder and intentional second-degree murder for the shooting death of his uncle, Andrew Gokee; and the attempted premeditated first-degree murder of his cousin, Hudson Gauthier. The jury heard closing arguments Tuesday afternoon after six days of testimony and deliberated late into the evening before reaching the...
I’ve always liked Scott Holman, the former Cloquet detective who is now suing the city and others after being fired from the police department. I mentioned to former mayor Dave Hallbeck the other day that Scott and I have always had a healthy fear of each other. That made the mayor laugh, probably because he knew exactly what I meant: Sgt. Holman could be an intimidating figure, but I think he respected the different perspective I had on the issues. At least, I hope he did. Officer Holman ran f...
It’s not easy being a man in these enlightened times. Recently, my family spent the day skiing at Spirit Mountain. I was in court, so I joined up with them later in the day. A mile before the Proctor exit I noticed a broken-down Jeep on the shoulder. A few seconds later I noticed a woman walking on the side of the highway, looking cold and hurried. I pulled off the exit and waited for her to reach me. As I waited, another vehicle passed me and pulled over on the ramp. The driver, a woman, got o...
I read in the last Pine Knot News of 2019 that the Rudy Law firm merged with Fryberger in Duluth, and will now be known as Rudy, Gassert, Yetka, Pritchett, and Helwig, a Fryberger Law Firm Practice Group (although I bet they still answer the phone simply, “Rudy Law Firm”). I’m happy for them, as it’s getting harder and harder to attract quality attorneys to small-town practices, and none of the capital names at the Rudy firm are getting any younger. Joining the Duluth law firm will keep the Rud...
I love reminiscing. A good story, well-aged, being told and re-told, brings out the nuances that develop like fine wine and cheese. Details emerge that didn’t exist in the original story. But no amount of reminiscing can turn past predictions into correct predictions. If the prediction was wrong, only history will matter. Here’s what I mean: Nationally, I predicted last year that President Trump would not likely be impeached. That’s because I thought such a move would be very bad for the count...
The Minnesota Board of Pardons is planning to issue its first ever posthumous pardon to a black man convicted of rape in Duluth. Many of you already know the story: In 1920, six black circus workers were arrested after being accused of rape and burglary against a white woman and her boyfriend. The outrage, probably due to commonly held racist beliefs at the time, was intense. A mob stormed the jail and eventually hung three of the men, in public, along First Street in downtown Duluth. A...
You probably know about noncompete clauses from sports and broadcast performers. For example, after Kerry Rodd left KDAL radio in Duluth, (the “formerly great radio station,” as it is sometimes called), he was prohibited from going on the air at WKLK for a year because he had a noncompete clause in his KDAL contract: as a condition of his job at KDAL, he had to agree he wouldn’t work at any other local station for a year after his employment ended. You can see why some employers would want...
There’s so much misinformation over the impeachment proceedings, I thought it might be helpful to explain the process using more common terms and an analogy that should make sense to most of us. So, as a litigation attorney who has occasionally dabbled in criminal law, here’s my best shot: Let’s say Andy Capp (a fictional character used in this analogy) is driving down the road at 70 miles per hour, the speed limit, with a few of his co-workers on his way home from a conference in Duluth. Unbek...
Diocese of Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba died unexpectedly Sunday, Dec.1, after suffering cardiac arrest on his way to celebrate Mass at St. Rose Church in Proctor. "Bishop Sirba was a role model to all of us," said Queen of Peace pastor Father Justin Fish. "I've known him since I was in the seminary, and he will be missed. Father Sirba emulated what the priesthood is all about: preaching the gospel through not only his words, but his actions. He was a kind, joyful, and holy man." Bishop Sirba, who...
A few weeks ago I was in court arguing a motion against the always impenetrable opposing attorney Jessica Sterle. Midway through, the judge needed to stop for a minute to consult with her clerk and Jessica and I took a few minutes to get caught up. We’ve been colleagues for a long time, and have gotten to know each other personally and professionally. After a few minutes, Jessica made an interesting observation: I, Pete Radosevich, was the only male in the courtroom. The judge was a woman. T...
As a divorce attorney, I find myself asking my clients a lot of questions that really don’t have anything to do with the legalities of their case. I like to know why the parties got married in the first place. I ask if the client has a new “friend” or if the parties are still living together. I even ask how the couple met, sometimes, because it helps put the client’s relationship in perspective. When things get tense, I often remind my clients that they married their spouse for a reason....
Jimmy Carter has always been my favorite president. I’m not sure many people agreed with me, because when he ran for re-election in 1980 he got only about 40 percent of the vote and lost to Ronald Reagan. He didn’t even get into office easily; he barely beat Gerald Ford in 1976, even with Ford’s ties to the corruption of Nixon. It’s been said that Jimmy Carter has been viewed far more favorably as an ex-President than he ever will be as a President. But I liked him as President. I was just 12...
The Democrats are excited to find the right candidate to take on the incumbent in next year’s Presidential election. They’re spending a lot of time and energy to pick the right candidate, and the candidates are spending a lot of energy trying to convince the party that they can carry the day a year from now. But some of them aren’t making much sense to me. Too many promises, not enough substance. Lack of substance seems to work on the national scale though. It seems like Presidential candi...
As a patriotic American, I am proud of our Constitution and all its amendments (I am particularly fond of the 21st). But there’s a reason why the First Amendment comes first. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press to print the news has protected our country many more times than armed citizens ever have. No gun owner has ever stopped an attack of tyranny; a free press has done it countless times. Our system of government is good. The Founders figured out how to blend democracy with e...
