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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Carlton County's Farm Family of the Year is the crew at Pasek Dairy Farm, run by Jeff Pasek and his family in rural Kettle River. Each year the University of Minnesota's Farm Family Recognition Program honors farm families from each county in Minnesota for contributions to the agriculture industry and their local communities. The Pasek Dairy Farm in Split Rock Township has been in the family since Jeff's great-grandfather bought it in 1909. As the farm was passed on from one generation to the...
Join the Carlton County Master Gardeners for its signature event of the summer. This year’s garden tour will showcase five gardens in the Cloquet area. Highlights of the tour will include a small-space garden with a children’s area; a garden where a resident grows garlic and herbs and harvests maple syrup; stops at a beekeeper and a berry farmer; a community garden; and, as always, lots of perennials and garden art. The free, self-guided tour runs 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, rain or shine. Maps will be available after July 9 at the Ext...
Minnesotans can now vote early in Minnesota’s 2024 primary election, which is on Aug. 13. To be eligible to vote, a person must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on election day, a resident of Minnesota for 20 days, not under a court order prohibiting them from voting and not currently incarcerated for a felony. This will be the first statewide primary election that felons will be able to participate in as long as they are not currently incarcerated. In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law restoring voting rights to people w...
July Fourth festivities are thundering toward the big day. In Carlton County, both Cloquet and Moose Lake put on a communitywide celebration. "Fingers crossed for good weather," said Cloquet co-coordinator Jana Peterson. "We have a full slate of activities planned, and a nice summer day would be the icing on the nation's birthday cake." Fireworks will cap a full day's worth of activities, beginning at 8 a.m. with the Sawdust 5K at Pinehurst. A second footrace, the LaVonna 1-Mile, starts at...
USG Interiors was fined $18,949 for air quality violations at its Cloquet facility two years ago by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. According to an MPCA enforcement investigation, USG exceeded nitrogen oxide emissions by 10 percent above permit limits for nearly 50 days during the summer of 2022. The violations were confirmed following a failed stack test of equipment that dries materials to be formed into ceiling tiles at the company’s facility in Cloquet, Minn. An MPCA staff inspection in May 2023 also confirmed other violations i...
The Minnesota Fishing Challenge is one of the largest fundraisers supporting the work of Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge, helping people break free from the chains of addiction and restoring broken families. Top fundraisers Stu Nelson and Rich Brummer of Cloquet are passionate about restoring the lives of people who feel enslaved by drugs and alcohol, and brought in $102,000. In all, 14 of the teams raised at least $10,000. Anglers set another annual record by raising more than $611,000. The cu...
Observed on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day was originally set aside to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting and decorating cemetery graves or holding family gatherings. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season. Local honor guard members and other veterans groups treat Memorial Day — and their stops at various cemeteries — as a sacred duty. Cloquet Combined Honor Guard Captain Rich Chassé said...
Cromwell-Wright kicked off the Carlton County high school graduation season last Friday, May 17, ending the ceremony with a spray of confetti. Many of the other graduations in the area are scheduled for today, with more next week. Starting on Page 25 of issue of the Pine Knot you will find the graduation section, with details on graduation ceremonies and photos of the members of the Class of 2024. Beginning on Page 9, find out what honors seniors received in Cloquet and Esko. The Pine Knot...
A 32-year-old Moose Lake man is in Carlton County Jail awaiting sentencing following a guilty plea in March to felony criminal sexual conduct. The charge is related to a 2023 incident involving a vulnerable 15-year-old girl. Justin Eugene Arbuckle pled guilty March 6 to third-degree penetration of a victim under 18 — impaired/incapacitated/helpless. The victim is on the autism spectrum and requires use of an individualized education program in school. She was considered vulnerable, “easily manipulated,” and in need of supervision, accor...
The Minnesota Wilderness North American Tier 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) team has added 11 players over the last few weeks to its roster for its first season under new ownership. The Wilderness made two selections in the NA3HL draft held April 24 and followed that with nine player tenders. The first player added to the franchise was Cloquet-Esko-Carlton forward Ryan Jones. The 18-year-old Jones was the second-round, 49th overall selection. Jones played 23 games for the CEC Lumberjacks in his senior season, recording six goals and six assists. Mark...
A Carlton County man is in jail after allegedly holding, assaulting and threatening a woman — known to him — against her will for five days at his home northwest of Cloquet. Dennis Alan Oberg, 27, was charged April 29 with four felonies in Sixth District Carlton County Court, including kidnapping, felony domestic assault, threats of violence and false imprisonment. He remains in jail, with bail set at $7,500 with conditions or $75,000 without conditions. According to the criminal complaint, the woman told police that she willingly went to Obe...
The County Seat Theater will present "First Night" by Jack Neary, one weekend only. The tender, sweet, and yet acidly incisively funny romantic comedy will have you leaving the theater feeling warm, remembering the crushes and happy loves of your youth, and dreaming about living it all over again. It's New Year's Eve, 1985. Danny Fleming, in his mid-30s, is about to close up his video store for the evening when into the store pops a woman he believes he remembers from grammar school. What he rem...
The Carlton school district postponed a planned meeting Wednesday of the Carlton/Wrenshall consolidation committee. Carlton schools announced the decision Tuesday on social media, citing a letter from the Wrenshall school board resetting consolidation to July 1, 2026 — one year later than originally planned. “Our school board will discuss this new possible date at its next work session,” said the Carlton postponement notice. The next work session for the Carlton board is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 13, with its next regular board meeting 7 p.m....
A couple stopped while traveling through Carlton County earlier this month remained in the local jail this week facing multiple felony charges. Kenneth Sky Quade, 30, of Duluth, and Bethenia Elaine Rankins, 33, of Woodbury, Minnesota, both face first- and fifth-degree drug possession charges, with first degree charges for possession of 25 grams or more of heroin or fentanyl carrying up to $1 million in fines with maximum sentences of more than 30 years in prison. A Carlton County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped the couple for speeding at 4:30 a...
With a 1-0 overtime win April 5 in the finale of a two-game set with Springfield, the Minnesota Wilderness surged into a prospective playoff spot with two regular-season games to go. The Wilderness got a goal from Nate Murray two minutes into overtime to secure the win at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. Goalie Adam Prokop, of Wausau, Wisconsin has been carrying the team of late, and completed his fourth shutout of the season. The Wilderness (29-24-5) face the Springfield Jr. Blues...
Pine Valley Recreation Area received an unexpected boost this week - and it wasn't from the late-season snowstorm. During the Cloquet city council meeting Tuesday, longtime city parks commissioner Tom Urbanski shared news of a $1 million commitment for construction of a new multipurpose chalet at the popular Cloquet park. The donation comes from a family with deep ties to Cloquet and neighboring communities. "I am happy to inform you of my intent to donate funds for the planning and...
The Pine Knot and our weekly dose of news is likely complicit in any information overload you may be feeling these days. On average, Americans spend at least eight hours in front of a screen each day. And there’s that fascinating fact that one day of information today is as much as our ancient ancestors learned in a lifetime. Ugh. So let’s take a break Monday. It’s a perfect opportunity with the solar eclipse occurring in the early afternoon. It’s a good time to reset, relax and perhaps repent. The effect of this cosmic event on our brains...
The Wood City Quilters Guild of Cloquet celebrated National Quilting Day in Cloquet onMarch 15. Seventy quilts made by guild members were displayed at the Cloquet Public Library and the Carlton County Historical Society museum, right. Guild members were on hand to answer questions, provide information on the art of quilting and to promote Wood City Quilters Guild. The guild, formed in 2019, currently has 40 members at all skill levels. Its mission is to connect area quilters, learn from...
A 3-point weekend against the top team in the division allowed the Minnesota Wilderness to keep pace in the playoff hunt last weekend, with four games to go. Minnesota got a shutout from goalie Adam Prokop, 3-0, on March 29 to beat the Wisconsin Windigo, while the Wilderness sent the next night's game into a tie and shootout, won 2-1, by the Windigo. With 61 points, Minnesota (28-23-5) remained in fifth place in the division with four games left to play, all against the Springfield Jr. Blues,...
A 21-year-old man from Pengilly, Minnesota was arrested for criminal vehicular homicide Thursday, March 21 after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle in Moose Lake. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office said Brent Keranen was transported to the Carlton County jail. Responders believed that alcohol impairment was a contributing factor in the incident that occurred just after 2 p.m. The sheriff’s office said reports from staff at the Minnesota Corrections Facility came in about a pedestrian, Justin McNeil, 61, of Moose Lake, laying in...
A search was underway Wednesday morning on the Fond du Lac Reservation for a 31-year-old Native American man last seen and heard from on Friday. Peter Michael Martin is considered a missing person, according to a Fond du Lac Band news release. A search and rescue effort began at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, March 13, using police and volunteers combing the Mahnomen neighborhood. The search-and-rescue effort was being coordinated out of the Brookston Community Center at 8200 Belich Road in Cloquet....
Carlton County voters proved none too eager to decide presidential nominees earlier this week. Voters turned out for the presidential nomination primary Tuesday at a rate 10 percent lower than four years ago. Only 4,101 ballots were cast among 22,377 registered voters, or 18 percent, compared to a 28 percent turnout in 2020 on the way to the first go-round between Democrat incumbent President Joe Biden and Republican former president Donald Trump. "It has been a lower turnout for the...
The Cloquet Police Department and investigators of the deadly Jan. 8 shooting at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet have determined that the shooter was a stranger to his two victims, had methamphetamine in his system, and was likely having a "mental health episode" when he shot a front desk clerk inside the hotel, a guest in the parking lot, and then himself. The shooter, Nicholas Elliot Lenius, 32, contacted a work associate during the early evening incident and said he was "dealing with monsters,"...
Three University of Minnesota Duluth journalism students are getting a taste of the small-town newspaper world with the Pine Knot News this spring through a first-ever micro-internship experience. Chloe Farnsworth, Max Thibault and Maddie Gagnon all seniors, will participate in the program. Farnsworth and Thibault will work on the editorial side of the paper, while Gagnon - who is business manager at UMD's student-run news magazine The Bark and its website - will be working mostly with Pine...
The Minnesota Wilderness dropped into fourth place in the eight-team Midwest Division last weekend, after losing a pair of home games to the Janesville Jets, 3-1 on Feb. 23 and 7-5 on Sunday. Five players scored for the Wilderness in the second game, including Alessandro Lurati, Nate Murray, Aiden Shrey, Peyton Nelson and Nash Jacobsma. Minnesota erased two Janesville leads during the high-scoring contest, but Janesville kept tacking on go-ahead goals, leading 6-4 after two periods. Not even a goalie change could alter Minnesota’s outcome as s...
