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 35
A historic train locomotive and caboose pulled out of the Carlton County fairgrounds this week, although not under its own steam. After calling the fairgrounds in Barnum home for 68 years, the former Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 27 is headed to the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, a family-owned historic train business in Trego, Wisconsin, which currently offers around seven train excursions. Train enthusiasts there hope to restore and ultimately get No. 27 running again. The Carlton...
Carlton students will have classes only four days a week next year, provided the district's proposal is approved by the state. Nearly 30 members of the public were present Monday for the last of three required public hearings on the subject. After a presentation by superintendent Donita Stepan, 10 people addressed the board with voices both for and against the proposal. Stepan outlined the plan, mostly repeating what she had said at the previous hearings, while emphasizing certain points. Early...
A former psychologist at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in Moose Lake broke her silence last week, two months after felony sexual assault charges against her were dropped on the precipice of a court trial originally scheduled to start this month. While relieved to no longer be facing criminal charges, Michelle Brownfield, 41, of Duluth, had counted on the trial for vindication, she told the Pine Knot News. “One of the most compelling aspects of this is how easily this can happen to anyone in a licensed profession,” she said. “An angry...
What initially appeared to be a mental health crisis led to an extended water emergency in Moose Lake last week. In a call to the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office at 4:21 p.m. April 11, a caller reported a man appeared to be having a mental health emergency on the bike trail in Moose Lake Township. Deputies and a conservation officer with the Minnesota DNR responded and attempted to speak with a 32-year-old Moose Lake man. The man was uncooperative and walked into the woods and the nearby Moose Horn River. The male swam up the river into M...
After weeks of searching, Fond du Lac Reservation Mahnomen neighborhood resident Peter Michael Martin is still considered missing. The 31-year-old Fond du Lac Band member was last seen and heard from March 8. He is described as approximately 5-foot-10, 185 pounds with dark brown eyes. He has a small scar on his forehead and a number of tattoos across his left and right arms, shoulders and chest. Anyone with tips or information on Martin’s whereabouts is asked to call 911, the Fond du Lac Police Department at 218-878-8040, or the St. Louis C...
Those who want to receive text messages or emails from the Cloquet Police Department should register with Nixle. Nixle was created for local law enforcement, designed to notify the public of community updates, public advisories and emergency alerts. To sign up for notifications and alerts using the Nixle messaging system, text the city’s zip code (55720) to 888777 and follow the prompts, or follow the link https://local.nixle.com/register. Nixle also offers an anonymous tip line for the public to contact the Cloquet police with information o...
More than four years later, the Covid-19 ripple effect continues, with school districts everywhere coming to terms with the end of federal grant funding intended to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic. On Friday, Cloquet school board members approved roughly $1.6 million in staff cuts — 23 employees in total — most of those the result of federal Covid dollars and a state literacy grant ending this year. About a quarter of the job cuts were due to declining enrollment. School board chair Nate Sandman said this was the lar...
On Wednesday, April 10, some 27 Carlton Lions Club members and guests assembled 32 Solar Power Light kits to send to Ukraine. One light on a fully charged battery can run for 21 hours, if just using the night light they can run up to 11 days. Duluth's Dave Nonnemacher of New Horizions spoke to the group and walked them through the process of making the lights. He just returned from Ukraine in March where they distributed lights as well as pre-packed meals and medical supplies...
Meet the artists and enjoy paintings, photographs and more featuring birds and fish in the “Fish & Fowl” art show 4:30-6:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, at The Knot art gallery at the Pine Knot News. Artists include Stuart Nelson, Adam Swanson, Jody Dixon, Will Stenberg, Mark Cline, Deb Manisto and Ken Hanson. Light refreshments served. The event is free and open to the public. Look for a story on the artists in next week’s Pine Knot News, on newsstands Thursday....
Animikii Mazina'iganan: Thunderbird Press, with Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, will celebrate the release of "Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe's Graphic History" by renowned artist Carl Gawboy 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, April 30. The well-known artist and Bois Forte Band member uses more than 800 pen and ink drawings, connecting historical records and art, oral traditions, Western and Indigenous scholarship, family history and contemporary artisans, to tell the important story of the fur trade...
At roughly 12:28 p.m. Tuesday, the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a structure fire in the 4100 block of County Road 4 in Corona Township, west of Sawyer. Deputies responded on scene and learned the homeowner was using an outside wood stove near a shed, which caught fire. The fire quickly spread to the nearby residence. The home and its contents were lost due to the fire, and a family cat may have perished in the fire. No other injuries were reported at the time of this release. The fire is not considered suspicious, but t...
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, April 27, with a special collection 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Riverside Arena parking lot in Moose Lake. Empty out your medicine cabinet and help prevent drug misuse, crime and pollution by properly disposing of medication. Medications can also be brought year-round to the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, the Cloquet or Moose Lake police departments or the Fond du Lac Min No Aya Win Clinic....
The Carlton County board is often audience to presentations on everything from treating invasive spongy moths to what the county's housing needs look like. Recently, the board heard a pair of presentations from local officials: an annual report from the Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District on April 2 at the committee of the whole meeting, and another April 9 about how the county is spending its portion of opioid settlement money. The information-gathering sessions proved fruitful, presen...
The Cloquet City Council chambers were packed with family and friends Tuesday, present to support more than a dozen Cloquet police officers being honored by the city. Cloquet police chief Derek Randall recognized eight officers for meritorious service in response to the deadly Jan. 8 shooting, which left the shooter and two innocent people dead at a hotel in Cloquet. Investigators from the Cloquet Police Department and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation ultimately determined the shooter...
When asked about proposed legislation to aid emergency medical services across the state, Cloquet Area Fire District chief Jesse Buhs said he believes CAFD “would be eligible for the proposed funding that will reach the Northeastern part of the state.” The fire district has supported the $120 million funding bill proposed by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, but Buhs is hopeful CAFD could see part of whatever funds are allocated for EMS services. CAFD provides fire protection to 170 squ...
We are feeling spring up here at B & B Market. B & B Market has been part of the Cloquet community for over 60 years. We had a change of ownership in 2020 and our current owners are Jacob and Mikayla Richardson. Through the change of ownership, the same core values have persisted. We pride ourselves in being a family-friendly facility that provides excellent service. We are often a one-stop shop for many individuals. We offer a full-line grocery selection, a stocked meat department, fuel, and...
It would be easy to cast a wary eye at the actions of the Carlton school district, which over the course of roughly 10 days this month adopted a four-day school week beginning next year. The notion came as a surprise. The move to adopt it was hasty and could be construed as panic. The outcomes of a four-day week are worthy of a much longer discussion than the one held by the board and administration. The board’s action ignored Wrenshall altogether, even though the districts are in the process of negotiating consolidation. The superintendent p...
I worked for the City of Cloquet for 40 years and came to know Pine Valley well. It has long been a Cloquet gem overlooked by many. The first time I walked into the chalet, my immediate thought was what a great place this would be with an updated chalet that had a Master Fireplace! Thank you to the Medich Family for having this same vision. It will forever be a lasting legacy for not only Joe Nowak, Mike Marciniak and Hank Nelson, who gave their everything to Pine Valley, but also to George and Helen. Thank you! Jim Prusak, Pike...
I want to express my appreciation to kind strangers. Thank you to the father carrying his young son, who took my hand and made a path through the snowbank so I could get to the Good Friday service. Thank you to the kind gentleman who took notice of me struggling to push my grocery cart through the heavy slush and puddles in the Super One parking lot, and came to the rescue, pushing and parking with a smile. So appreciated! Thank you to the patient, smiling clerks who wait for me to decipher and count out the right change with my dimming...
Last week the Pine Knot ran a story by the Minnesota Reformer, with the self-ascribed tagline “Minnesota Reformer is a nonpartisan news producer.” I visited the Reformer website. After perusing several articles, it appears to me this organization is basically a surrogate for the Democrat party that publishes hit pieces. I wrote a letter to the editor filled with vitriol and accusations but paused before I submitted it. I thought, what is one more angry letter going to do to help the situation? It won’t. It may get a few nods of approval by pe...
A new era in Cloquet-Esko-Carlton athletics began last week when the first lacrosse team in school history hit the field April 11 with a home game against Roccori at Members Cooperative Credit Union stadium. When the final horn sounded, the Lumberjacks not only had played the first game in school history, they also had their first win, defeating Roccori 10-7. It was a far cry from playing club games on dirt and grass fields around the Northland, some without a scoreboard. Senior Saige Moran...
Thursday, April 11 Baseball Barnum 14 McGregor 4 Carlton/Wrenshall 14 Cromwell-Wright 4 Hermantown 2 Cloquet 1 Softball Carlton/Wrenshall 2 Cromwell-Wright 1 South Ridge 13 Cherry 7 Boys lacrosse CEC 10 Roccori 7 Friday, April 12 Baseball Cloquet 9 Duluth Denfeld 4 South Ridge 6 Cherry 2 Braham 6 Barnum 4 Esko 7 Fairmont 4 Girls Softball Esko 17 Duluth Marshall 1 Hinckley-Finlayson 3 Carlton/Wrenshall 0 South Ridge 11 Greenway 3 Hermantown 11 Esko 0 Barnum 11 Mille Lacs 10 Hibbing 11 ML/WR 1 Saturday, April 13 Baseball Esko 4 Luverne 2 Boys...
Last season, the Cloquet girls softball team got over a big hurdle by winning in the first round of the Section 7AAA tournament. Next, the 'Jacks nearly pulled off the impossible by taking Chisago Lakes, the section's top seed, into extra innings before losing to the team that eventually ended as runner-up in the state tournament. "We beat Hibbing after they had eliminated us the year before, so that was big for this group of girls," said Cloquet coach Tyler Korby. "After we lost to Chisago, we...
There were still some snow banks in the parking lot, remnants of a late March storm, but the Cloquet Country Club golf course opened for play Sunday, April 14. An opening the same day as the Masters tournament finale is still very early for the Cloquet course to open. Since longtime CCC general manager Bill Manahan accepted the GM job at the Wilderness Club in Tower, Minnesota, on April 1, CCC has made some important administrative changes. Matt Carlson, who has worked in many different jobs at...
The Minnesota Wilderness clinched a fourth straight appearance in the North American Hockey League Robertson Cup playoffs on April 12 in Springfield, Illinois, getting an overtime game winner from Nick Blood to put an exclamation point on the achievement. The Wilderness entered the game needing one point to secure the bid and hold off the fifth-place Chippewa Steel, and got it with a 2-2 regulation tie. “The goal going into the year was to contend for and win a Robertson Cup to bring back to the city of Cloquet,” Wilderness head coach Col...
