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Articles from the June 4, 2021 edition


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  • Kavanaugh wins it all on Jeopardy!

    Mike Creger|Jun 4, 2021

    The uproar at the Streetcar in Carlton late Friday afternoon was not sustained. There were those who specifically came to watch Sam Kavanaugh in the last game of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions final, like the family friends in the back room. There were those who were reminded by the venerable game show airing on all of the multiple televisions that a local kid was doing pretty good, again, on the quiz show. Some chanced into it and caught on, at the bar for food and drink in an early...

  • Honoring those who died ... and those who remember

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    Accustomed to running the entire Veterans Services program on the Fond du Lac reservation, Vietnam War veteran Tommy Whitebird was overcome by emotion remembering the friends and fellow soldiers who fell in Vietnam, and those who died years later from the effects of the war: both emotional and physical. But he was happy to see the more than 75 people gathered at Cloquet's Veterans Park Monday to pay their respects on Memorial Day. Others gathered at cemeteries and events across Carlton County,...

  • Council backs union labor provisions

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    Thanks to Ward 2 councilor Sheila Lamb, the Cloquet city council's 4-3 vote to repeal the city's project labor agreement May 4 became a 4-3 vote to preserve it Tuesday evening. Lamb said she spent the last month studying the PLA issue, having conversations with people from the city of Duluth, local union members and examining lawsuits targeting the labor agreements around the country. "I think that PLAs protect the city on multiple levels and our citizens," Lamb said. "It was why I made my reque...

  • A different kind of senior day

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    Cloquet will celebrate its senior citizens from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 15 at Veterans Park. Those 60 and older will be celebrated at the park at the second annual Senior Day in Cloquet with prize drawings, food and beverages, a photo booth, myriad vendors and more. Gift bags will be given out to the first 100 guests. Arrowhead Transit is offering free rides to and from the park that day. Call 1-800-862-0175 at least an hour ahead for a ride. The June 15 event will also mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Allegations of maltreatment...

  • Interstate lane closures expected

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    Construction of a cable median barrier on Interstate 35 between Hinckley and Minnesota Highway 210 began this week. Barrier installation is at intermittent points and began just south of Hinckley and will continue north. Drivers can expect left lane closures on weekdays. The closures will be limited northbound, Monday through Thursday, and southbound, Monday through Friday. The Minnesota Department of Transportation expects the project will be completed by the end of July....

  • Courts start return to courtrooms

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    The Minnesota Judicial Branch is in the process of a deliberate, gradual return to more in-person court proceedings and modifications to its Covid-19 health and safety protocols. As of June 14, criminal and civil jury trials will be in person along with most other court proceedings. Misdemeanor criminal trials and contested hearings will be held in person beginning Aug. 2....

  • Trading up

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    Starting next week, recent Cloquet High School graduate Hunter Finnila will start work in Duluth, one of hundreds of construction workers building the new Essentia Health hospital and clinic, a massive $900 million project in downtown Duluth that is already reaching toward the sky next to Lake Superior. On the morning of graduation last Friday, Finnila took that giant step into his future, signing on with McGough Construction and joining the carpenters union, where he will be part of their...

  • MNsure costs edging lower now

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    Minnesotans purchasing health insurance through MNsure are seeing increased savings thanks to recent changes to the Affordable Care Act made through the American Rescue Plan. MNsure is reminding Minnesotans in need of health insurance that they can sign up for coverage through July 16 through the marketplace’s special enrollment period. “The new and expanded financial help available only through MNsure can help lower the cost of health insurance by hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year for Minnesota families,” said MNsure CEO Nate Clark....

  • DOC seeks sex offender

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    The Minnesota Department of Corrections is requesting the public’s assistance in locating fugitive Robert Thomas Baca. Baca was released from the Minnesota DOC in October 2020. His supervision was subsequently transferred to the California Department of Corrections in San Bernardino, California, where he has family and a support system. On May 11, Baca was released from a detention center in California, where he was being questioned on new charges, and was instructed to report to his C...

  • Minnesota Public Radio|Jun 4, 2021

    Minnesota’s pandemic picture continues to improve rapidly in the early days of June. Wednesday’s data shows new and active Covid-19 caseloads falling to levels not seen since April of last year. Only 128 new cases were added, with no new deaths. (Late last month, a person in their 80s from Carlton County died from Covid-19 complications.) The only anxious trend right now: the vaccination pace continues to slide. But the overall disease trends remain solid enough that Minneapolis and St. Paul have dropped their masking requirements, joining othe...  Website

  • Our View: An open letter to recent graduates

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    Dear Graduates, Congratulations to the Class of 2021 on your graduation from high school. It is an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourselves, and please know that your community and loved ones are proud of you, too. As you go off to jobs, college, the military, trade school, working through a gap year or however you choose to begin adulthood, we’d like to offer some words of advice. Although some of them may seem cliche, that doesn’t mean they’re not sincere or based in reality. Enjoy the moment, because you never know what’s coming...

  • Harry's Gang: Summer learning remains a key to school-year success

    Pete Radosevich|Jun 4, 2021

    School is over for the summer, but the learning never ends, according to most professional educators. Kids learn a lot over the summer, even if it's not in a classroom. And it's a good idea to keep your kids challenged, mentally, and exercise their brains during the summer months. Not only is it good for your kids, it's good for the school teachers come fall, when they get their students back, to have them primed and ready to go. I've been supplementing my kids' education forever, like many pare...

  • Obituaries: Marie Carlson

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    Marie Carlson, 82, of Cloquet passed away surrounded by her family on Monday, May 31, 2021. She was born Feb. 2, 1939, in DeWitt, Illinois, the daughter of Carl Dean and Isabelle (Monaghan) Callison. Marie married Raymond B. Carlson on Dec. 26, 1959, and the couple went on to have five children. She was a workaholic, working at numerous places and wearing many hats. She could handle most anything that came up. Marie was a great mother and wife, a good listener, caregiver, and the silent...

  • Death Notices

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    Bernard “Ben” Allan Hanson, 87, passed away Dec. 15, 2020, at New Perspective assisted living in Cloquet, surrounded by his family. Memorial service: 11 a.m. Saturday, June 12 at Grace Baptist Church, Cloquet, followed by lunch at the church....

  • MPR News|Jun 4, 2021

    Oxygen levels are falling in freshwater lakes in Minnesota and across the globe — a trend likely driven by climate change and human development, a new study suggests. The findings could be a sign that trouble is ahead for Minnesota lakes that provide important habitat for coldwater fish species, and could have more harmful algal blooms in their future. The study, published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature, was the first to look at temperature and oxygen changes across a large number of lakes across the globe. Its research team include...  Website

  • Getting in some practice

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    Practice makes perfect ... or at least it makes being trapped inside a hot, dark, loud burning building more tolerable. Members of the Cromwell-Wright fire district - along with firefighters from Carlton, Mahtowa, Blackhoof and Floodwood - spent four hours on a weekend in May practicing their firefighting skills with a live fire. Cromwell-Wright fire chief Lucas Goodin said such practice burns are vital to training because they offer real-life conditions versus more usual training, which often i...

  • In a changing world, savoring our farms

    Francy Chammings|Jun 4, 2021

    Sometimes we hold a treasure within our reach without an awareness of its value and, as the refrain from the song "Big Yellow Taxi" goes, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you don't know what you got till it's gone." Many states across the country are recognizing what the loss of family farms means to our quality of life in rural areas. Carlton County's farms constitute a wealth of wholesome food and valuable resources in our backyards, but do we truly appreciate our farmers?...

  • Graduations provide a pre-pandemic feel

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    High schools across the county celebrated graduation Friday with confetti, speeches and congratulations, and the tossing of brightly colored caps up into the air, to celebrate the end of an unprecedented school year fully gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic. In Cloquet, graduation was held outside on the football field, with graduates and families on or near the field and other audience members in the bleachers. In Carlton, Wrenshall, Cromwell and the Fond du Lac Ojibwe school, the ceremonies were...

  • On Faith: Vaccination is the Christian thing to do

    CJ Boettcher|Jun 4, 2021

    In the Lutheran tradition we affirm the idea of now and not yet. This is particularly important as we bask in the post-Easter glow. God's promise of new life and resurrection has come to pass and yet it has not been realized in its fullness. We have the down payment, the first installment but the day is yet coming when all will be brought to fruition. We find ourselves in such a moment more than a year on from the outset of this pandemic. Vaccines are available to nearly everyone or soon will...

  • Cloquet is heading back to state tourney

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    The undefeated Cloquet boys golf team successfully defended its Section 7AA title Tuesday, winning sections for the third time in a row and the fifth time in school history. After last year's season was canceled due to the pandemic, it was even more exciting for the team, which is loaded with seniors this year. The Lumberjacks won with 640 points overall for the two-day section meet - held at the Quarry near Giant's Ridge - compared to 663 for second place Marshall and 698 for Hermantown....

  • It's a laugher, then a squeaker for Esko in playoffs

    Kerry Rodd|Jun 4, 2021

    It's a big week for high school baseball teams this week as the sectional baseball tournaments kicked off with state tournament berths at stake. With presstime on Wednesday evening, we both preview and update games this week. Section 7AA The Section 7AA tournament featured No. 1 seed Esko opening the postseason Tuesday against No. 16 Rush City and cruising to an easy 7-0 victory. Noah Furcht led the Eskomos with a three-hit night and also scored a pair of runs. No. 2 seed Aitkin opened play...

  • Teams make postseason statements

    Kerry Rodd|Jun 4, 2021

    The sectional softball playoffs kicked off this week and will continue through the weekend with local teams hoping to secure a spot in the Minnesota State High School League softball tournament. Section 7AAA The Section 7AAA tournament opened Wednesday with Cloquet taking on Grand Rapids in Cloquet. The Lumberjacks are the No. 3 seed and the Thunderhawks are the No. 6 seed. Chisago Lakes, the team Cloquet defeated in the 2019 section title game, is the No. 1 seed this season and will host No. 8...

  • 'Jacks come close at True Team

    Jana Peterson|Jun 4, 2021

    Track sections don't start until next week for Cloquet, but the team already competed at the state's True Team competition - and proved their team is truly packed with talent. Cloquet head track coach Tim Prosen announced Monday that the Cloquet boys team finished 3.5 points short of a state True Team title - with 595 points compared to No. 1 Willmar's 598.5 - and the girls took a very respectable seventh place (out of 12 teams competing) with 410.5 points. Started in 1987 by the state track...

  • Players with local ties in NHL playoffs

    Pine Knot News|Jun 4, 2021

    The National Hockey League started its Stanley Cup Playoffs May 16, and the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey program has had seven alumni take part, according to a UMD hockey posting Tuesday. Two of the seven former Bulldogs have Carlton County ties: Karson Kuhlman and Kasimir Kaskisuo. Kuhlman, an Esko native and former Lumberjack hockey player, plays for the Boston Bruins. The former Bulldogs forward made his postseason debut Monday, registering an assist on Charlie Koyle’s first-period goal. He played on the third line for 12 min...

  • Wright/Cromwell news

    Jennie K. Hanson|Jun 4, 2021

    The Floodwood VFW Post 8299 was at Wright Park for Memorial Day services. This year, Wes Heikkila was the honored veteran, as he passed away June 25, 2020. I also see that the veterans memorial in the Wright Park has been shored up. The parents of Cromwell-Wright students send a huge thank-you to all the teachers and staff for their extremely hard work and perseverance throughout the school year. Thank you for keeping our kids in the school to optimize their learning experience. Your hard work...

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