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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The fate of spring sports lies in the hands of the governor and the Minnesota State High School League - for now, nothing until May 4 - but coaching contracts are another matter. To pay or not to pay, that is the question school boards across the state are facing as it looks less and less likely that in-person classes will resume and prep sports seasons will happen after all. On Monday, Gov. Tim Walz said it was unlikely that the sports season would be salvaged. He planned to talk with school of...
On a day that saw Minnesota deaths due to COVID-19 jump to 179 - the largest increase yet - and confirmed numbers of infected rise to a total of 2,721 statewide, the state prisons in Moose Lake and Willow River also saw a startling increase as more inmates are being tested in both Minnesota Department of Corrections facilities. The number of patients tested at Moose Lake almost doubled, jumping from 24 to 45, with 14 confirmed positive, 12 confirmed negative and 19 test results pending. At Willo...
Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this week. April 24 1956 The first baseball game is played at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The Wichita Braves beat the Minneapolis Millers, 5-3. April 25 1924 A race to break the world record for the longest distance traveled in a hot air balloon ends in Rochester as the winner, W. T. Van Orman, lands the Goodyear III just under the world record distance (1,179.9 miles). The race had begun in San Antonio, Texas, and the three top finishers...
Last week's MNopedia spotlight on the late Jim Northrup - a well-known author and columnist - wrongly noted that Northrup was the first Native American graduate of Carlton High School in 1961. Pine Knot News subscriber Shirley (Cummings) Armon, a class of 1954 grad, pointed out the error and sent photos from the 1951 Carltonian yearbook to prove it. According to Armon, at least two prior Carlton grads were Native American: Shirley Barney graduated with honors in 1951, and Jack Kari graduated in...
It’s an image everyone knows. A young Native woman kneels on a patch of grass, blue waters and green trees behind her. She’s wearing a buckskin dress and has two feathers in her hair. She holds out both hands, smiling, as she offers the viewer a pound of Land O’Lakes butter. “Mia the butter maiden,” as she’s called, first appeared on packaging in 1928. Her presence at the American kitchen table has spanned generations — until the last several months, when Land O’Lakes phased her out. In the 1950s, Red Lake Chippewa artist Patrick DesJarlait was...
Reflecting what all Minnesotans are seeing in their local economies during the COVID-19 “stay at home” orders, the jobless numbers that are coming out are startling and historic. And they are rising by the scores daily in counties across the state. Carlton County had 3,171 people file for unemployment insurance March 16 through April 20. That is 17.4 percent of the available workforce. Nearby counties in the northeastern had similar numbers: • St. Louis: 18.6 percent. • Pine: 19.2 percent. • Lake: 20.2 percent. • Aitkin: 17 percent. Th...
Northwoods Credit Union's board of directors recently appointed Jeff Kletscher as its new board chairperson. Kletscher has served on the Northwoods Credit Union board since the 2018 merger with Floodwood Area Credit Union. Prior to that, he served on the Floodwood Area Credit Union supervisory committee for many years. Kletscher is a licensed real estate broker and owner of Northland Woods-n-Water Realty in Floodwood. He also works for Hope Lutheran Church as the church administrator. In the...
Gwen Carman, superintendent of the Carlton school district, has resigned. In a letter to school board chairwoman LaRae Lehto dated April 14, Carman said she had accepted the superintendent position in the Lewiston-Altura school district in southeastern Minnesota. Her resignation will be effective June 30. Her new job begins with the start of the school calendar year on July 1. The Carlton school board voted to accept the resignation during its regular meeting Monday, which was held online. “We’re sad to see her go,” board chairwoman LaRae...
Neighbors’ voices beat out public safety officials and educators in the debate on whether or not to include a sidewalk in the upcoming Prospect Avenue street reconstruction project, as Cloquet city councilors voted 5-2 Tuesday to reject the sidewalk bid. Councilors Bun Carlson, Sheila Lamb, Kerry Kolodge, Steve Langley and Mayor Roger Maki voted against the sidewalk while councilors Chris Swanson and Lara Wilkinson were the two “nay” votes. The vote in favor of the street project itself was u...
Cloquet city councilors unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday that will give naming rights for a new meeting hall to Northwoods Credit Union in exchange for a gift of $80,000 from the local credit union. Under the terms of the agreement, Northwoods will pay $40,000 upon execution of the agreement, followed by four $10,000 gifts beginning in 2021. In years six through 20 of the 20-year agreement, Northwoods agreed to provide additional support of $1,000 per year. The Cloquet Shaw Memorial Public Library Foundation has been working with...
Following interviews with the two finalist candidates for the position of Cloquet Area Fire District chief, members of the CAFD board opted to not hire either candidate, citing the difficulty of finding someone with the skill set to lead the district as both CEO and fire chief. Board chair Jim Langenbrunner said the board’s succession committee is shifting its attention to coming up with an interim plan to cover the fire chief position, as current fire chief Kevin Schroeder is retiring at the end of June. “Kevin is a very difficult person to...
A Moose Lake man shot by a Carlton County deputy last summer is suing the deputy, the county and other participating agencies for $35 million, claiming that the deputy used unnecessary force by shooting him twice, that the deputy was poorly trained, and that he had been drinking prior to the incident. Shawn Michael Olthoff, 35, was paralyzed from the chest down after being shot twice by Carlton County deputy Sgt. Jason Warnygora during a Consolidated Emergency Response Team (CERT) operation on...
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a petition against the state Department of Corrections April 15 to keep prisoners and staff at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Moose Lake safe from the rapidly spreading COVID-19. Filed on behalf of three inmates — Roger Foster, Kristopher Mehle and Adam Dennis Sanborn — and “all other similarly situated,” the petition asks for the release of the three prisoners and others in a similar situation to a safe location during COVID-19 pandemic because the state has failed to take reasona...
There’s been an outbreak of COVID-19 at the Moose Lake Correctional Facility, and that’s raised a few eyebrows around here. Not just prisoners are affected, staff also have been infected. We know from the Department of Corrections spokesperson that employees at the prison have contracted the coronavirus, and two were hospitalized, with one still there. We know that prison employees go home after their shifts, potentially spreading the virus into the community. We also know that fear of contracting the virus has caused anxiety, fear, and neg...
It takes some chutzpah to commit a crime, get sentenced to prison, then complain about the poor conditions and ask to be let out. After all, prison is not supposed to be fun. Or pleasant. That's why they are called "prisons." So, many of us were not too sympathetic when some prisoners at the Moose Lake Correctional Facility filed a lawsuit to get released from prison due to the pandemic. But America is a nation of laws. It is our respect for those laws, and the process of creating, enforcing,...
The Pine Knot’s April 17 story, “Health care centers prep for a surge in cases,” along with other articles, deserves a thank-you after showing where our county is with the COVID-19 preparedness. We all recognize this contagious disease, like several others, has shaken our way of life. It is with leadership — families, federal, state and local help — that we are able to begin the process of removing this enemy. Cloquet Community Hospital CEO Rick Breuer has displayed again his strong leadership. He has continued to triumph through some very...
It was the stand of white pines that sold us this spring. We turned off the gravel road, stepped out of the car and you could hear it: The wind whistling through the pine needles. We were home. Or, we thought we were. The 40-acre parcel of land was just down the road from Cromwell and near where we now rent a farm. It had most of the things we were looking for - decent land, a few outbuildings, and a large buffer of woods and wetland. My partner could run her vegetable farm from here and I...
The snow has melted, the grass is turning green, and the weather is warming up. This can only mean one thing: It's tick season. Ticks can be out at any time of year, but they have surges in the spring and fall. Although ticks can infest any mammal, dogs seem to be at a higher risk. This may be due to a combination of reasons. Dogs run through the bushes and grass where ticks are found, their fur makes it harder to see the ticks, and they are not the fastidious groomers that cats are. Cats can...
I set out to ask small businesses in Carlton County how they are faring under social distancing practices. I found amazing spirit, concerns, and accommodation on the part of employers, suppliers, customers, and workers. Among those deeply challenged are those working with food. It's not surprising that those engaged with growing, harvesting, processing, distributing, selling and preparing food face formidable challenges at present. Many café and restaurant owners have had to shutter their doors...
A writing assignment was shared with the Pine Knot News by English teacher Jason Richardson. Cloquet High School student Allison Sickmann used a prompting quote about not thinking of what you don't have but instead of what you do have to work with. It's from Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." She turned in the following abstract about her dad demonstrating this philosophy during the governor's stay-at-home order. "It's good writing. Timely," said Richardson. Situation Shifter The...
At the direction of Gov. Tim Walz, the city of Cloquet has opened a limited number of park facilities to allow for safe outdoor recreation — provided people follow safe social distancing practices. Tennis courts are already open to the public. Facilities will be open for small groups and recreational use only. Organized events and league play continue to be prohibited by the State of Minnesota. Playgrounds will not reopen for now, because it’s impossible to keep them disinfected. Additionally, the skatepark at Athletic Park on the corner of...
Worried about that funny looking skin ulcer but don’t want to risk going to the clinic in this time of COVID-19? Why not make a video appointment? Many of the providers at Community Memorial Hospital and CMH Raiter Family Clinic are now offering patient visits through the new CMH Telehealth program. The program allows you to have an appointment with your doctor, without leaving home. All you need to participate in a doctor’s visit via telehealth is a device with a camera and internet con...
Worries about keeping staff healthy when they unknowingly deliver meals or homework to students or families members who are sick with COVID-19 led to a mass email to families in the Cloquet school district last week. Superintendent Michael Cary said a staff member handing out bagged lunches from a bus was confused when a student came out of their home and waved at the paraprofessional to just leave the food. There was some confusion, and the boy eventually came and grabbed the lunch. Then a parent came to the door and told the paraprofessional...
Patricia (Wedl) Bailey passed away peacefully Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton. The May 2 Celebration of Life has been postponed due to COVID-19. Information will be provided when updated arrangements have been made. Arrangements by Nelson Funeral Care, Cloquet....
If there's one lesson to be learned from the history of the St. Louis River it's this: Let us not be complacent. That Earth Day message comes from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Environmental Institute director Courtney Kowalczak, who has also served as the coordinator of the St. Louis River River Watch Program, which engages students in water sampling of the river. Kowalczak recalls a day not long ago when the river was an industrial dumping ground. "With the St. Louis River the...
