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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Maybe you’ve noticed the “Hidden Gems” series on Facebook or seen them on CAT-7 more recently. You can also find them on their website, TheHiddenGemsofCloquet.com. It’s a salute to local small businesses, produced by Holly Hansen and Shelly Peterson, focusing on the small businesses of Cloquet that make up the backbone of our local economic vitality. Each segment is about two minutes long, featuring a local small business. Holly Hansen is Cloquet’s economic development director, and also the administrator of Cloquet’s Economic Development...
The Esko School Board approved pay hikes for noncontract substitute workers during its July 12 meeting, citing a need to not only attract new substitutes but also to show appreciation for the current roster of substitutes. The rates for substitute teachers did not change, and will remain at $120 per day or $60 per half-day. But substitute paraprofessionals, food service, and custodian workers and program assistants all will receive $12 per hour, a raise of 50 cents per hour. Superintendent...
I love newspapers, and always have. It's common for me to pick up a copy of the local paper at every little town I may be traveling through, and it's fascinating to learn that every town has its issues - there's often a story about a local tax increase or public construction project, and there's always coverage of local government meetings. You can figure out who are the local sports heroes of the day, and it seems people are getting married all the time. Even the obituaries provide a nice...
My wife forgot our wedding anniversary last week. I am not sure I can forgive her. Shocked? So was I. Not a card; no flowers, candy, fancy dinner or beer. Nothing. Well, she didn’t completely forget; she did wish me a happy anniversary that morning as she started packing for our 5-day family camping trip. She organizes it every year, and this year she invited all my brothers and sisters and their families too. I guess she was too busy with all that to do anything special for me on our anniversar...
Like any good organization, it's important for the U.S. Postal Service to keep up with modern times. It's the only way it can survive. Some of my more crazy ideas to save the USPS won't work in this political climate. Or in any sane climate. I've suggested the USPS act as a kind of national bank, issuing credit cards and handling more financial transactions. It already sells money orders, so that's not too much of a stretch. I've also suggested it sell cellphones and provide internet service....
After serving as pastor for the Queen of Peace Catholic Church for the past 10 years, Father Justin Fish celebrated his last mass here Sunday, June 20. He likes to joke that he's spent a quarter of his time on Earth here. "I've always felt very much at home in our parish community and the Cloquet community," he said. "I've been a good fit for the parish and the parish has been a good fit for me. Fish will be the new pastor at St. Joseph's Church in Gilbert, and Resurrection Parish in Eveleth....
There's clearly an employee shortage right now. As the pandemic wanes and the economy improves, we're seeing it harder and harder to find people to fill many job openings. Some blame the state and federal unemployment programs, which essentially paid people (mostly lower-end workers) to stay home during the pandemic. It worked, as the toll of the coronavirus was bad enough without it spreading even more through the workforce. That's not the only cause of the employee shortage. Our country's...
A picture is worth a thousand words, it's said, and I agree. This article is about more than half that, and there's no way I can adequately explain how beautiful my mother is, even if you read to the end. But if you look at her picture here, you'll know whether I'm full of natural pride or if my mother is not beautiful at all. You can see for yourself. In the criminal justice system, we didn't always have that option. Until recently, the testimony or report of law enforcement officers was all...
School is over for the summer, but the learning never ends, according to most professional educators. Kids learn a lot over the summer, even if it's not in a classroom. And it's a good idea to keep your kids challenged, mentally, and exercise their brains during the summer months. Not only is it good for your kids, it's good for the school teachers come fall, when they get their students back, to have them primed and ready to go. I've been supplementing my kids' education forever, like many pare...
Memorial Day is Monday, and many people take advantage of the long weekend to get to the cabin; maybe travel or barbecue, and enjoy other activities to mark the “official” start of the summer season. I keep hearing complaints that the true meaning of Memorial Day has become lost, as too many people simply see the day as an extra day off from work to relax and play. I have to disagree — I think the extra day off makes it much easier to remember those who have come before us, and the fact that...
It was exciting to see so many people breathe a sigh of relief when Gov. Walz lifted the state's mask mandate last week. Not only was it easier to breathe that sigh of relief, we could actually see people doing it: no masks were covering their faces. Of course, it's too early to declare victory over the coronavirus, and we can't get too careless now. The CDC has recommended only that people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask; those who are not vaccinated should still stay...
Esko seniors will graduate in a normal ceremony this year, if everything goes the way superintendent Aaron Fischer hopes it does. “Current guidelines will allow only two guests per student,” at the graduation ceremony, he told the Pine Knot News, “but we’re expecting the restrictions to be relaxed May 28. If they are, we’re ready to have a completely normal graduation ceremony on June 4.” Students will be allowed up to six guests if the Minnesota Department of Education modifies its guidelines...
I don't know if people realize how close we came to losing a seat in Congress recently. If good ol' Minnesotans had not been so effective at completing the census, odds are pretty good our eight representatives would have been reduced to seven, and redistricting would have made our region grossly underrepresented in Congress. That census really worked out well for us. Minnesotans were so close to losing a seat, if New York state had counted just 89 more people, Minnesota's eighth seat would...
One of my favorite jobs was writing restaurant reviews for the old Ripsaw, the now-defunct alternative weekly out of Duluth. After exploring a couple of locally owned restaurants recently, I couldn't resist stepping back into my old shoes and taking another stab at it. Heather's Café Heather's Café is simply a reincarnation of Culbert's Café on 11th Street and Cloquet Avenue. Culbert's had been shut down since the pandemic forced many restaurants to close, but Heather was unable to reopen ev...
There’s a lot of talk about raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which is one of the campaign promises of the Biden administration. I’m uncomfortable with such a high minimum wage, but I understand the issue is not as simple as either side wants us to believe. For example, business people tell us that many small businesses won’t be able to afford such a high minimum wage, and will have to close down. But I think most businesses will adapt. There will be a completely new way of provi...
Bruce Ahlgren is a pretty well-known guy around these parts, having served the community for decades: first on the Cloquet school board for 12 years, then as mayor for about 16 years. Meanwhile, he ran the courts as court administrator, which is how I first got to know him. I've admired the man since I first got to town, and even though we've had our skirmishes and disagreements over the years, I think he's a pretty good example of a local politician with the best interests of his community at...
Teresa Hart has been hired as the Esko school district’s new business manager, replacing Janet Halonen, who is retiring June 30. Hart is the current business manager at the Floodwood school, a district of about 200 students and a budget of about $3.2 million. At her new position, she’ll be managing a budget of about $13 million in a district with nearly 1,300 students. “I’m excited at this opportunity,” Hart told the board at its April 12 meeting. The district interviewed five candidate...
There's been talk of making major changes to the Supreme Court, and that makes me nervous. Politics can be a dirty game, and it often attracts dirty players. For example, after the last president won the Electoral College even though his opponent won 3 million more popular votes, many people wanted to abolish the Electoral College, or reform the election process in some way to prevent that from happening again. Politicians, usually very partisan politicians, seized on that sentiment to make all...
I had an interesting experience the other day. In an email with a fellow attorney over settling a case, the attorney told me that her client's previous offer was no longer on the table, because "unforeseen circumstances" had made it impossible for her client to honor the agreement. So, even though we had agreed on a settlement, her client was backing out. That was annoying, but it happens. But in this case, I had a little more information than opposing counsel had. This was the third lawyer the...
Even I was a little shocked to get my Pine Knot News in the mail last Friday. Maybe we should start mailing them in brown paper wrapping, so little kids can't see the covers, like they used to do with "adult" material. I'm referring, of course, to the front page picture in last week's issue. Apparently, someone in town feels strongly enough about his perception of the political climate that he feels a flag, emblazoned with vulgar expletives, is an appropriate way to express his frustration....
The Esko school board approved a revamped graduation party for its students that will be abbreviated from the traditional all-night event during its meeting Monday night. In previous years, graduates would board a bus after the ceremony and enjoy a cruise on the Vista Fleet in Duluth, while parents prepared the gymnasium for an all-night event designed to keep students in a safe environment. Last year, the event was canceled due to the pandemic. This year, the parent-run organizing committee...
There's no denying the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis is having an effect all over the state, including here in Carlton County. The issue has been politicized, pitting ultra-liberals who want to defund the police against super-conservatives who claim Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group. Of course, neither side is correct. These labels are just slapped on by the other side to incite otherwise-reasonable people, who, without the hyperbole of the extremists on either side, would probably...
Brothers can be the most competitive people you'll ever know, while still being your biggest supporters. I've got three brothers, two older and one younger, so I think I know what I'm talking about. We have a pretty close family, but, man, can we be competitive. I don't think we got that way competing for our parents' affections; we all did pretty good in that department. Maybe it was competing for food at the dinner table? I don't know. But we sure are competitive. My brother Bill is just a...
I had a chance to chat with Cloquet city administrator Tim Peterson this week. He's been on the job a bit over a year now, so I figured he's been acclimated to his new job enough to give us a decent State of the City address, informally, of course. I love asking leaders about economic development. To many of us, economic development means bringing in new business to town. But Peterson has a more pragmatic approach. "The question is: How do we renew and sustain the businesses we already have?"...
That was quite a cold snap we just outlived, with 13 days in a row with lows of around 20 degrees below zero or even lower. Many of those days it never rose above zero. Our furnaces worked nonstop the whole time, or at least it sure seemed that way. Thank goodness that's over. It's been so warm this past week, relatively, that I can actually see brown spots in my yard. Sure, there's still plenty of snow and a big chance a blizzard will blanket us with snow before spring actually arrives, but...
