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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How does one rank the top stories from an entire year? Are calculations made in terms of long-term health, dollars spent, numbers of people affected? What about long-term historical effects, or maybe Facebook clicks? No matter what metric you choose, 2019 was an eventful year in Carlton County, with elected and appointed officials making changes, kids smoking again and building moves that will stand for generations to come. Rather than ranking our top stories of 2019, we chose to place them in...
Last month, the Pine Knot published a photo from the Carlton County Historical Society of people digging out from a February of 1922 storm in Cloquet. The photo above was described as from an "unknown street." Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Ben Anderson of Cloquet, we now know that the photo was from the corner of Third Street and Second Street, looking south, near the gas station designed Frank Lloyd Wright. The two homes on either side of Third Street in the foreground remain... Full story
Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this coming week. Jan. 3 1905 The Minnesota legislature meets for the first time in the state capitol building designed by Cass Gilbert. 1916 Maxene Andrews is born in Minneapolis. With her sisters LaVerne (born July 6, 1911) and Patty (Feb. 26, 1918), she would form the Andrews Sisters singing group, known as “America’s wartime sweethearts” and remembered for their 1941 hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” 1940 The Marlborough Apartment Hotel burns in Minneapolis, leaving at least four people missing,...
The scene at the WKLK radio station last Friday morning looked more like a bar at closing time than an early-morning radio show. Partially emptied bottles of vodka, rum and beer sat on a table outside the studio, drunk by three now-intoxicated volunteers under the supervision of close to a dozen police officers and radio station staff. Josh Widdes had been at the radio station since 5:45 a.m., drinking and taking tests every half-hour to determine how impaired he was. With his larger frame, Widd...
A Cloquet highway project is the only one of five state grants announced Monday located outside the Twin Cities area. The Cloquet project will create "J-turns" on Minnesota Highway 33 where it intersects on the south end of Gillette Road (near the Department of Natural Resources building) in the city's busy retail corridor off Interstate 35. Currently cars can cross over Highway 33 from frontage roads on both sides of the highway, and there is space in the center for one car to wait in the... Full story
Several Carlton County health staff and about 25 other people attended the year-end meeting of the Carlton County Board of Commissioners Dec. 23 to support and finally clap when a new tobacco ordinance was passed unanimously. It is believed that this ordinance will decrease tobacco and vaping use by young adults by controlling access to those products to the age of 21. Nine letters of support came to the commissioners from sources such as the state Department of Health, the American Lung Association and medical provider Essentia. Only one...
The seventh annual Food for Thought: A Tasting Event at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is set for Thursday, January 16, from 4:30-7 p.m. in the campus commons and amphitheater. It’s a major fundraiser for the student scholarship fund. Area businesses offer food specialties for guests to sample. Approximately 15 vendors have volunteered to provide samples of their signature food and beverage specialties. Tickets for the event may be purchased at the college business office Service Window, at Reliable Insurance Agency, or from F...
The crime scene tape outside of Sara's Vac Shack is there because Mother Nature knocked down the large sign that is usually perched on top of the Cloquet Avenue business. Lloyd Nohl, sales and purchasing manager (and husband to owner Sara McAuliffe), said they got a call from the Cloquet Area Fire District on Sunday, telling them that the sign was hanging down from the building. With the help of the CAFD bucket truck, they got the sign back on top of the building. Making lemonade out of lemons,...
I hope you and your family have sources of warmth and joy surrounding you this new year. My family and I are new to this area - like "from North Carolina summer of 2019" new - and we are finding the cooler environment more than made up for by the warm hearts and supportive voices in our neighbors and new friends in this community. All this change, combined with a new year, provides ample opportunity to develop new habits. Some are specific to our new setting here in the northern climes. In the...
There are only two teams in the championship game, and people root for one team or the other, but rarely both. It’s that way in politics, too. And, just like sports, the game just isn’t as interesting when there’s just one team. So, we’ve divided ourselves into conservatives and liberals, neither one better than the other and both working toward the same goals … just from a different perspective. News, though, should not be divided. The Pine Knot News prides itself on covering local news with just one agenda: reporting the facts. There’s n...
Like most of us, I generally make a limited number of New Year’s resolutions. Mostly they are personal: getting more sleep, exercising, and spending time with family and friends. This year, 2020, is special though, an election year. I’m planning to spend more time learning about candidates for office at all levels: what they stand for and their track records. I also hope to talk to more people of all ages and walks of life to hear what their priorities are and how they rate the various hop...
Over the last few decades, like many others around the world, I have listened to the “gurus” and have spent the end of every year planning my New Year’s resolutions for the upcoming year. Some years I am able to keep the resolution momentum going for a month or two, but usually my will doesn’t last that long and I end up ignoring the list as the guilt is too much to bear. This year, however, I am not making resolutions. This year is going to be my UFO year. No, I am not into space travel or Star Wars or Area 51. My UFOs are “UnFini...
The Wood City Classic opened last Friday in Cloquet with some competitive play on both sides of the court for the boys and girls. On the boys side, the host team downed Cromwell-Wright and Proctor edged Pine City. Cloquet lost to Pine City in the second round while Cromwell-Wright upset Proctor in overtime. The Cloquet girls opened play with a loss to Mesabi East and were clipped by East Central in the second game. Boys first round The Lumberjacks led by one point (33-32) at halftime and then... Full story
The history of the Wood City Classic basketball tournament is rife with stories about games and players. But perhaps no tournament was more impressive than the Jan. 2-3, 1976 Classic, which featured the senior classes of 1976. Fans poured into the Cloquet junior high gymnasium filling seats an hour before game time in anticipation of what was to come as Esko, Cloquet, Cambridge and Hibbing all came with impressive rosters. The opening game saw Esko taking Hibbing to double overtime before... Full story
The Esko boys basketball team captured their eighth consecutive Esko Coaches Classic Holiday championship Saturday by dominating Duluth Marshall 94-52 in the title matchup. In what was a split tournament for the boys portion of the tournament, Esko played Northwoods on Dec. 16, defeating the Grizzlies 95-77 in an opening round game. Three Eskomos scored in double digits in the win over Northwoods, including James LeGarde and Payton Wefel, who both hit for 30 points, along with Eli Blue, who... Full story
Coaches Classic all-tournament teams. Boys team • Cedric LeFave, Hinckley-Finlayson • Trevor Morrison, North Woods • Payton Wefel, Esko • Mathew Erickson, Duluth Marshall • Riley Fischer, Esko • Tournament MVP: James LeGarde, Esko Girls team • Kaelynn Kudis, Cherry • Elly Schmitz, Hermantown • Hannah Hannuksela, Mesabi East • Anica Thomas, St. Anthony Village • Samantha Sibbet, St. Anthony Village • Tournament MVP: Ava Hill, Mesabi East....
Thursday, Dec. 26 Boys Hockey Blaine-5 CEC-3 Christian Galatz scored 2 goals for the ’Jacks, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a three-goal second period for the Bengals. Aaron Moore added the third goal for CEC and also assisted on the first goal from Galatz. Galatz scored just 25 seconds into the game, but Blaine hammered home three goals in the second to gain a 3-2 lead entering the final period. Park Rapids-6 Moose Lake Area-4 The Rebels fell behind 2-0 after one period and 5-1 after two periods. They rallied in the final period only to fal... Full story
Boys basketball Cloquet • vs Duluth East at 3:15 p.m., at Superior High School Saturday, Jan. 4 • vs Ashland at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7 • at Hermantown at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 Carlton • vs Floodwood at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3 • vs Duluth Marshall at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6th • vs Cromwell-Wright at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7 • vs South Ridge at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10 Wrenshall • at McGregor at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3 • at Floodwood at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7 • vs Esko at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 Esko • at ML/WR at 7:15 p.m. Fr...
Do you consider yourself a sports expert? Many of us would prefer to land on the orange space — sports and leisure — when we roll the dice and traverse onto a certain pie color in the Trivial Pursuit board game (rather than the brown arts and literature, for sure). The following sports quiz will challenge both your short- and long-term memory on major and minor sports. So grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Good luck. If anyone gets all of these correct, we, at the Pine Knot, will be imm... Full story
Based on what I’ve been able to read in other newspapers, I’m not your typical outdoors columnist. For one, if I were listing jobs I currently occupy, writing for the Pine Knot News would be third or fourth down the list. Also, when I get time away from all my responsibilities, I tend to try to catch or hunt or spear something. I’m not much for taking long hikes with my dog or staring at a campfire contemplating the cosmos. I also don’t own a fat bike or a serviceable pair of skis. Truth be told, I’ve only skied once — and that was long ago. M... Full story
Schools and nonprofit organizations interested in introducing students to archery can apply for a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources program that pays for some of the cost of archery equipment. Through the program, teachers can also receive training on how to teach archery in their schools to students in grades 4-12, using curriculum designed by the National Archery in the Schools Program. Details about the program are available at the DNR website....
Minnesota fishing regulations recognize two types of shelters: portable and nonportable. A portable shelter is one that collapses, folds or is disassembled for transportation. Portable shelters need only licenses and identification when left unattended, which is defined as all occupants being more than 200 feet away. In contrast, all nonportable ice shelters must be licensed. Wheeled fish houses are not considered portable and must be licensed. An annual shelter license costs $15 for residents and $37 for nonresidents, not including possible...
Public entities and nonprofit organizations have until 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, to apply for funding from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in the second phase of the No Child Left Inside grant program, which supports getting more children outdoors. Grant funding is available to assist with work including teaching kids about nature outside or getting them to recreate outside, integrating fishing and hunting programs into school curriculums, and supporting high school fishing leagues. The Minnesota Legislature authorized the No...
Patricia "Pat" Johnson, 82, of Cloquet, passed away Dec. 19, 2019, in St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth after a brief illness. Pat was born May 24, 1937, in Duluth to Lloyd and Julia Lindquist. She graduated from Morgan Park High School in 1955. On July 16, 1955, Pat married Ronald "Bobo" Johnson in Duluth. Pat worked for various places over the years, including the S&L department store, Burger's shoe store, and in the kitchen for Cloquet Public Schools. She also served as an election judge. Pat... Full story
Robert “Bob” D. Cresap, 84, of Cloquet passed away Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, at Essentia-St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth. Celebration of Life: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 at Nelson Funeral Care in Cloquet. Leonard Albert Sheldon Jr., 65, of Barnum, passed away Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019, in his home with his loving family by his side. A memorial service was scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 31 in the Atkins Northland Funeral Home, Cloquet. Inurnment will be in the spring in Sandy Lake Cemetery. Eleanor Francis Elvina Jania, 101, of Cloquet, born May 2... Full story
