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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Things are a "lot different" at Carlton County post offices these days. Different from normal times. Of course, these are pandemic times, and the people who sort and deliver mail are trying to practice social distancing just like everyone else. Carriers are wearing gloves and other protective gear. There are floor markings at the post office, reminding customers to keep their distance from one another. You'll see sneeze guards and hand sanitizer. And, as hard as it may be for both parties, now...
For public safety officials, the coronavirus pandemic made an already dangerous job even more risky. Now, when officers are called to a local store to respond to an intoxicated person who is out of control and - worse yet (during a pandemic) - coughing all over people, the officers should also take time to put on masks and eye goggles or a face shield as well as gloves. That was an actual call earlier this month, explained acting Cloquet police chief Derek Randall, and the officers did not wear...
Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this week. April 17 1990 The Minnesota State Lottery begins selling instant tickets. Within four months, sales reach $100 million. 1997 The Red River crests at 39.5 feet, 22.5 feet above flood stage at Fargo, breaking a 100-year-old record. Continuing into Grand Forks and East Grand Forks on April 21, the flood pushes water levels to 54.2 feet, 26.2 feet above flood stage. The worst flooding in the area in over a century, it causes more than $1 billion in damages and displaces 47,000 of the 50,000...
From the history archives of the MNopedia project developed by the Minnesota Historical Society. James Warren Northrup was an award-winning Ojibwe author, columnist, playwright, poet, performer, political commentator, and Vietnam War veteran. He wrote extensively on combat life as a marine in the Vietnam War as well as daily life on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. The combination of these topics gives his works broad crossover appeal. At age 6, Northrup was sent, with his sister, to the...
Just before Easter, a single chick-in-an-egg toy was left at the end of the day after a customer brought in a birchbark basket of 30 of them. The toys were free. Another woman brought in homemade facemasks on Friday that anyone could take for free. "They went like crazy," said Renee Gaffney, one of the owners of TJ's Country Store. Those are just two examples of how people in the tiny community of Mahtowa have pulled together during the statewide stay-at-home order in response to the...
At least a few Carlton County residents found a pleasant surprise in their bank accounts this week: money from the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 27. There is no exact schedule for payments but officials said the first wave of payments includes mainly people who filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and gave the IRS direct deposit bank information. Paper checks are scheduled to be issued at a rate of 5 million each week until September, s...
A Moose Lake corrections officer is in intensive care with COVID-19 complications, while a second staff member has been hospitalized for the disease, but is not in ICU, according to Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson Nicholas Kimball. A total of 12 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Moose Lake. Meanwhile, the number of cases continues to grow steadily among the incarcerated people there. As of Wednesday afternoon, 12 inmates had...
It can be tempting to fixate on numbers as the coronavirus makes its way through the population near and far. Each day, government agencies faithfully report the number of confirmed cases, the number of dead, the number of those who have recovered and more. But those numbers don’t always add up, and they don’t tell the full story. So far, in Carlton County, the majority of confirmed COVID-19 cases is related to the Moose Lake prison, either people incarcerated there or prison employees who wor...
As Minnesotans continue to hunker down in their homes in response to the stay-at-home orders by Gov. Tim Walz, area hospitals and healthcare leaders are working hard to prepare for what Walz says will be the inevitable surge in COVID-19 cases. Last week Walz said people around the state have done so well with their social distancing that the surge could come as late as July, rather than later this month if no precautionary measures had been taken. That allows health care and the government more...
The primary elections for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation Business Committee (RBC) District I and District III seats originally scheduled for March 31 were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The primary election will now be held June 9, 2020, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The general election will be held August 18, 2020. Candidates for RBC District I (Cloquet) representative include: Wally Dupuis (incumbent), Eugene (Eny) Reynolds, Todd J. Tidaback, Jeroam Defoe and Jarvis “Chubbs” Paro. District I residents vot...
The Cloquet City Council will again be holding its city council meeting by teleconference, in response to the COVID-19 emergency. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. April 21. Residents who would like to submit comments or questions for the Public Comments portion of the meeting are asked to email [email protected] prior to the meeting and include “Council Agenda” in the subject line along with your name and address and any agenda item you are referring to. All public comments are considered public data. Residents can listen to the meeting by...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ruby’s Pantry will move to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, at the corner of Doddridge Avenue and 12th Street in Cloquet, for this month’s distribution on Wednesday, April 22. Organizer Sheila Peterson said the move from the Cloquet Armory comes so that volunteers can bring the food to vehicles outside the church, and she asked that people remain in their vehicles and don’t arrive too early. Anyone can stretch their food dollars with Ruby’s Pantry. Held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month in...
After closing its thrift stores to customers to keep staff members safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salvation Army has announced that it stopped accepting donations at six Minnesota stores, including Cloquet, effective April 11. “The stores’ retail operations had previously closed on March 23 to reduce public gathering and help stem the spread of the virus,” said Joanne Lee, service extension director for The Salvation Army Northern Division. “This additional step is being taken to further improve safety for both our donors and our emp...
A lot of noise has been made about the governor’s extension of his stay-at-home executive order. In a country that values its civil liberties and freedoms as much as we do in America, it’s tough to keep having faith in our leaders when we only see the devastation of our local lives and economy while we just don’t see the effects of the coronavirus itself. So, it’s understandable to see some of us start to doubt the need to keep in quarantine while bills are going unpaid, work isn’t getting done, and the lack of social activities are getting us...
It's been proposed that we conduct the next few elections by mail. No in-person voting, until the threat of COVID-19 subsides and it's safe to congregate at polling places. Plus, it's been hard to find enough election judges as it is. Add in the fear of getting the virus and it will be even harder to properly staff polling places this fall. Still, elections are extremely important, and should not be postponed or altered except in the most extreme situations. Even then, modifications to voting...
It has been an interesting few weeks to say the least. We have all felt the changes that have occurred as our state, county, city and health care system to fight the coronavirus. The pandemic has overwhelmed health systems in other parts of the country and world. I am happy to see that this has not been the case in our state. We should be proud of the steps that our state has taken early to prevent a large wave of patients. These steps have been painful for everyone, but they are going to...
The Carlton County board of commissioners met Tuesday, April 14 with all commissioners participating: Dick Brenner and Gary Peterson attended via telephone conferencing while Marv Bodie, Tom Proulx and Mark Thell were physically present, but socially distanced. County attorney Lauri Ketola read a portion of Governor Tim Walz’s declaration in response to the deepening COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the county board meetings could utilize telephone or computer videoconferencing to conduct county business. For personal safety, commissioners, c...
CAT7 TV is back. The community access channel serving Cloquet, Carlton, Scanlon and Esko residents had not been operating since March 5, when the Cloquet City Council voted unanimously to terminate the station's only remaining employee, coordinator Eric Lipponen. After meeting with members of the Cable Commission, the city hired contractor Martin Dean to get the station up and running again, which took only a couple hours, according to city administrator Tim Peterson. CAT7 is Cloquet's only loca...
On Tuesday, April 14, authorities responded to a report of an airplane possibly having trouble in the air, trouble that led to an emergency landing on Midway Road near Stark Road. According to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, the single-engine Cessna airplane took off from the Richard I. Bong Airport in Superior at approximately 1:45 p.m. Tuesday. The lone pilot, Hermantown’s Tyler Joseph Nelson, 33, was flying at approximately 3,000 feet when his single engine stalled. The pilot dropped altitude to maintain air speed. The pilot fou...
Nancy L. Shanda, 73, of Wrenshall passed away Thursday, April 9, 2020 at AmeriCare Lodges assisted living in Remer, Minnesota. Services are pending with Nelson Funeral Care of Cloquet....
Donate to United Way The United Way of Carlton County created an emergency fund called the COVID-19 Local Relief Fund. The purpose of this fund is to provide immediate support for Carlton County residents who need basic everyday survival items by sending grocery cards through the mail to local families who request help. The fund is open and accepting donations. To donate, text UWCARLTON to 41444 or visit the website. The office is not open to the public but is accepting grocery cards through the mail at United Way of Carlton County, PO Box 250,...
MNsure, the state’s health insurance exchange, and its COVID-19 Emergency Special Enrollment Period closes April 21. This special enrollment period is open to uninsured individuals who need health insurance. Shop and compare plans and see if you qualify for financial help to pay for your plan by using MNsure tools online. For details, call 651-539-2099 or 855-366-7873 or visit mnsure.org....
Cloquet native Dr. Kelly Cawcutt is an assistant professor of medicine and board certified in critical care medicine and infectious diseases with an academic and clinic practice at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. She is a 2000 graduate of Cloquet High School and is the daughter of Daryl and Doreen Hendrickson of Cloquet. She is married to Carlton native Michael Cawcutt. Kelly graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed her residency in internal...
[Editor's note] In last week's Pine Knot News, writer Steve Korby shared memories of an extra- ordinary week at Cloquet High School in 1970. Students and staff organized a weeklong seminar on the environment, called SCARE, an acronym for Students Concerned about a Ravaged Environment. The opening speaker for the week was former Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. The following are excerpts from his speech on April 6, 1970, setting the tone for the week. The speech and notes have been pr...
Cloquet High School’s third quarter honor roll students: A HONOR ROLL Grade 9 Robert Anderson Carter Anderson Brody Anderson Luke Barney Mason Beck Amy Blais Kollin Bonneville Roena Diver Patrick Dunaiski Alec Erickson Ellise Evenson Miles Fischer Eva Flovick Mariah Fonoti Isabella Genereau Alexis Goranson Sophia Green Francesca Halverson Macie Hoffmann Lauren Johnson Araya Kiminski Lance Konietzko Josiah Larson Nicholas Lassard Timber Latvala Bailey Lehto Connor Lindstrom Emily Litchke Macie Majerle Casey Marciniak John McGrath Nicholas Munoz...
