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 1 - 25 of 32
Pink isn't a good color for city ash trees these days. That's because Cloquet trees marked with bright pink dots (and some with large X marks) are short-timers, doomed to be cut down in response to the invasion of the emerald ash borer. Five trees in a row bear the mark on Eighth Street, and another five or six on 17th Street sport pink accents. The list of city ash trees affected by the emerald ash borer (EAB) has grown from 20 to 32 since mid-December, when Cloquet public works director Caleb...
Search warrants issued just after the deadly Jan. 8 shootings at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet reveal how much investigators will be processing from a scene where three people were found dead, including the suspected shooter. The first search warrant signed off by a Sixth District Court judge was standard, and came just seven hours after the shooting that Monday night. It allowed police to search and collect evidence after midnight from the hotel property and vehicles belonging to the suspected...
Under the watchful eye of Scanlon employees Dave Line and Matt Baquette, Barnum's Pete Began gets warmed up during his first skate of the year Monday afternoon. Began, who once lived in Cloquet, made a special trip to Scanlon to meet a friend and skate, because there was no ice in Barnum. Line said crews started making ice as soon as the temperatures came down in the past two weeks after a record-warm December and early January. "It takes about 50,000 gallons of water," he said, adding that... Full story
Rad Zoo owner Jamie Pastika gets help holding a large boa constrictor named Louie from a handful of children Thursday, Jan. 18 at the Cloquet Public Library. A 33-year-old former pet, Louie was extra shiny because he had just finished shedding his skin. More than 200 children and their family members packed the large meeting room to learn more about various reptiles and amphibians from the visiting zoo, which travels around the state and is based in an outlet mall in Medford, Minnesota. Other...
City of Moose Lake staffers set out 100 chairs in city council chambers Wednesday for a public hearing on policing, and each one was needed to hold the crowd. On tap: deciding whether to keep the city's police department intact, or disband it and contract with the Carlton County Sheriff's Office to provide the city's law enforcement. "When you start taking anything away from the city, you're not going to get it back again," said Doug Probst, whose sentiment was shared throughout the hearing....
The soonest consolidation between Carlton and Wrenshall schools would become official is the 2025-26 school year. That was the timeline shared during a Jan. 18 meeting of the Wrenshall school board. Specifically, consolidation could take place July 1, 2025 — the start of the calendar year for schools across Minnesota. “Barring any emergency circumstances, that’s the earliest you could legally consolidate,” said Wrenshall superintendent Jeff Pesta. “You’re at the point now where … the next step is a commitment from the boards, which would b...
The Carlton County board on Tuesday unanimously adopted a housing trust fund, following a public hearing and presentation by Mary Finnegan, executive director of Carlton County Economic Development. The trust fund will be used to offer loans and grants for low-income homebuyers. No residents or other speakers addressed the board during the hearing. “So, basically what the housing trust fund is being established for is workforce housing,” Finnegan said. “Workforce housing can best be described as housing for all those people who are provi...
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, Feb. 1, to focus on Highway 33 intersections at Carlton Avenue and Cloquet Avenue. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Cloquet Public Library, 320 14th St. MnDOT has a project planned in 2028 along the Highway 33 corridor from the Big Lake Road/Doddridge Avenue intersection to the St. Louis River bridge. The meeting Feb. 1 will talk specifically about the Carlton Avenue and Cloquet Avenue intersections. MnDOT is proposing alternatives at the intersections and... Full story
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Enbridge are moving forward with the planned removal of deactivated sections of Line 3 and Line 4 from the Fond du Lac Reservation beginning this month. The project removes deactivated sections of pipe and restores the land to its natural state, making it more accessible to tribal members. Native-owned union contractor Gordon Construction is leading the work along with a team largely made up of Native and tribally owned subcontractors. Enbridge said in a news release that it expects removal...
Twin Lakes Township is offering grant money for up to 10 township low- and moderate-income homeowners for home improvements. The homes must be owner-occupied homes in the target area of Twin Lakes Township. Grant funds are loaned to individual property owners for 10 years, at which time, if the property is still owned and occupied by the original borrower, the funds are forgiven and considered a grant. The grant can pay up to 90 percent, or a maximum of $25,000 towards improvements. The remaining 10 percent of the total project cost is the...
President Joe Biden was expected to visit Superior Thursday to tout the $1.06 in federal funding marked for the replacement of the Blatnik Bridge, a major connector between Duluth and Superior. Officials announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Transportation had awarded the funding. The federal funding prompted a flurry of celebratory messages from other elected officials, including Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, whose district includes Duluth. In a statement issued Monday morning, Stauber said he “long fought for these funds.” Democra...
Schultz is angling for a rematch in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, which stretches from areas just north of the Twin Cities area all the way to the Canadian border. Schultz lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber by 15 points in 2022. But in kicking off a new campaign Tuesday, Schultz said this time will be different because she entered earlier than last time. She said she will have more time to visit with residents across the expansive district. She also pointed to her bipartisan work at Minnesota’s Capitol, where she rep...
Local attorney and Pine Knot News publisher Pete Radosevich is ready for Election Round 2, after an announcement Tuesday that he is running for Minnesota House of Representatives in District 11A. "I'm running for House District 11A because Carlton County is my home and I care about the issues unique to our community. While the other candidate is mimicking national issues, I feel we need a representative in St. Paul who is looking out for the issues that affect us, locally," Radosevich said in a... Full story
More than 50 people turned out for the Barnum school board meeting Tuesday, the majority in a show of support for school bus drivers. The crowd came as the board considered contracting with a private company for transportation services. It's something the district began exploring last summer, when it was down to three bus drivers. It takes eight to drive all the Barnum routes. By the start of the school year, there were four. Now, the district is up to six with the potential return of a...
The phrase is simple enough, and surely heard often these days. We are Minnesotans, afterall. We like to talk about the weather. But for some reason, the phrase just doesn’t resonate like it might in other years. Of course, the last time we had a weather spell like what we saw in December, none of us were alive. It was 1877 — 147 years ago. We’re quite sure the same phrase was bandied about back then, too. Right now, it is quite gloomy-looking outside the Pine News windows. The weather app says it’s 35 out, but feels like 36. There is drizzle... Full story
It’s said that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result. Regardless, this will be my last “Harry’s Gang” column for a while, because I have decided to run for the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 11A, which encompasses all of Carlton County and a small part of Pine & St. Louis counties. Again. There is no legal restriction preventing me from continuing this column. The First Amendment guarantees that the press is free fr... Full story
I use my computer all day at school. Then I do homework on my device until I nod off. I overuse screen time. Experts say we should use our devices for under two hours and 30 minutes, and here is why. As an adult, your phone is essential for communication with other adults and your children (who need constant reminders). Your children also benefit from screen time in multiple ways. They can gain communication skills. If you let your children use educational apps, they learn academic skills to help them in school. Numerous negative effects... Full story
Although Donald Trump won the Republican caucus in Iowa, it was the lowest voter turnout in years with only 14 percent of registered voters, according to David Muir of ABC News. Weather may have contributed. However, this means 86 percent failed to participate in the caucus, leaving one to believe there are many undecided voters who will wait until November to cast their votes, depending on one of the many lawsuits yet to be decided against Trump. As a voter who has lived through 14 presidents, I believe there has been too much drama during... Full story
Things could not have gone any better for the Moose Lake/Willow River boys basketball team in their matchup against Carlton/Wrenshall Friday night. The Rebels shooting was beyond hot as they opened up a massive halftime lead on their way to an 84-40 win in Willow River. "We had a big start to the game and shot the lights out," said Rebels coach Paul Dewey. "I was a little surprised, because we hadn't been shooting that well and then we came out in that first half and lit it up." The Rebels... Full story
Thursday, Jan. 18 Girls Hockey CEC 2 Northern Lakes 0 Boys Hockey Northern Edge 4 MLA 1 Girls Basketball ML/WR 63 Carlton/Wrenshall 47 Hill City/Northland 70 Fond du Lac 35 South Ridge 70 Cherry 44 Cromwell-Wright 51 Mesabi East 45 Esko 88 Two Harbors 34 Boys Basketball ML/WR 83 Aitkin 55 Friday, Jan. 19 Boys Basketball Cook County 68 South Ridge 51 Barnum 83 McGregor 44 Esko 69 Two Harbors 45 Fond du Lac 83 Bigfork 56 ML/WR 84 Carlton/Wrenshall 40 Superior 80 Cloquet 59 Cromwell-Wright 84 Floodwood 21 Girls Basketball Cloquet 55 Hibbing 38... Full story
At first look, one might expect the Fond du Lac boys basketball team to be long in experience. A deeper look shows that the Ogichidaa have a number of older players, but most don't have a lot of experience playing high school ball. "We do have five seniors, but really only a couple of them have time on the floor at this level," said coach Cameron Thompson. "We have a lot of players that are stepping into new roles this season." The Ogichidaa record is 3-9, but the numbers don't tell the whole... Full story
Friday, Jan. 26 Girls Hockey CEC vs Chisago Lakes, 7 Boys Hockey CEC at Bemidji, 7 Boys Basketball Barnum vs Two Harbors, 7:15 Carlton/Wrenshall vs Hill City, 7:15 Cromwell-Wright at McGregor, 7:15 Esko at ML/WR, 7:15 Wrestling CEC at Mora, 5 Saturday, Jan. 27 Girls Hockey MLA at Kasson- Mantorville, 3 Boys Hockey MLA at Wadena, 2 Girls Basketball Cloquet vs North Branch, 1 ML/WR at Ely, 2:30 Boys Basketball CEC at South St. Paul, 10 Barnum vs Two Harbors, 7:15 Esko vs Breck at Chanhassen, 4 Skiing CEC Nordic at Ely, Hidden Valley, 9:30... Full story
Losers of three straight games last week, the Minnesota Wilderness (22-14-4) lost its grip atop the division standings, tumbling into third behind red-hot teams from Wisconsin in the Janesville Jets and Eagle River’s Windigo. The Wilderness lost on the road in Chippewa Falls, a 3-2 shootout on Jan. 17, then dropped both games of a home-and-home series with St. Cloud, 5-2 and 2-1, last weekend. The St. Cloud Norsemen won the season series over Minnesota, winning all four meetings. Minnesota is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games. Meanwhile, Janesville i... Full story
After starting the season with eight straight wins, the Cloquet girls basketball team was flying high, then on Dec. 27 things changed. That was the first day of the Wood City Classic basketball tournament. The 'Jacks fell, 48-41, and that started a seven-game swoon that left the team reeling. "I thought the final game we played prior to our tournament against St. Francis that something was not right," said Cloquet coach Heather Young. "Even though we won that game you could see we were not... Full story
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is starting its own teaching press, which it’s calling Animikii Mazina’iganan: Thunderbird Press. The press aims to publish innovative, culturally significant, high-quality works in English or Anishinaabemowin. The first publication, “Fur Trade Nation,” by renowned artist Carl Gawboy, will be released this spring. “After more than a decade of publishing The Thunderbird Review, our annual literary journal, it’s time to see what more we can do for our com...
