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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Pull into Tamarack, 36 miles west of Cloquet on Highway 210, and it’s easy to locate the publicly traded mining company that wants to extract nickel from deep beneath the grassy swamps that surround the town. Visible from the city park, what’s notable about Talon Metals headquarters is that it’s located in a small yellow house. Across from the office on Warren Street, there’s an open garage where workers process the company’s core samples. For a mining company, it looks an awful lot like a co...
Alert neighbors heard smoke alarms and called 911 last week, leading to the rescue of two dogs and a number of cats, along with the prevention of much-more serious fire damage. Cloquet Area Fire District firefighters were called to a possible structure fire at approximately 2 p.m. May 29 on the 300 block of Second Street in Cloquet. Upon arrival, firefighters found smoke coming from the first level of a two-story home, but the homeowner wasn’t home. They quickly located the fire and e...
Family and friends filled the Esko gymnasium Friday night, May 31, to cheer on 104 graduates in the Class of 2024. Student speeches were given, including one by Andrew Osborne that drew a standing ovation. The band and choir groups played on a picture-perfect evening....
Charles "Carl" Oswell, the last Civil War veteran buried in Carlton County, was honored in a ceremony at the Atkinson Community Cemetery on Saturday, June 1. Born in Oslo, Norway, in 1847, Oswell enlisted into Company C of the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment on Feb. 15, 1865. He served in Georgia and mustered out on July 8 in Savannah, Georgia. He and his wife, Juliana, moved to the Twin Lakes area in Carlton County in 1900. They raised eight children. He died at age 90 in 1938,...
Weather permitting, The Beach at Pinehurst Park will open Monday, June 10 in Cloquet. The sand-bottomed public pool is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Daily admission is $5. Season passes are $109 for families, $59 for individuals and $169 for group homes and childcare and are available for purchase at The Beach or the Community Ed office at the middle school. To find out about weather closures, like "The Beach at Pinehurst Park" on...
Carlton County is now using the Schneider Geospatial’s Beacon product for land assessment and tax information. Beacon is an interactive public access website that allows users to interact and view county information, public records, and the county’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in one place. Carlton County’s web portal features a public site that includes important property taxation and assessment information, in-depth search capabilities and property reports. There is an interactive map of the county’s GIS data and aerial photogr...
Thousands of Minnesotans covered by MinnesotaCare need to start paying monthly premiums again this summer to keep their insurance. Monthly premiums were paused during the pandemic. About 46,000 Minnesotans with lower incomes who rely on MinnesotaCare should watch their mail for a bill from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Enrollees must pay their premium by the due date on their bill to avoid losing coverage. The first bill is due June 13. Although MinnesotaCare premiums are returning, some Minnesotans will continue to pay no...
The candidate filing period for political races subject to a primary election ended on Tuesday, yielding a ballot with more than a few surprises. In Cloquet, councilors Lara Wilkinson, Iris Keller, Kerry Kolodge and Lyz Jaakola will all run unopposed, barring a write-in campaign mounted against any of them, on the Nov. 5 ballot. In Carlton County, the commissioners’ races are a tale of three different outcomes. To replace outgoing Dick Brenner in District 1, representing west Cloquet, Scanlon and Sawyer, Sarah Plante Buhs and Caleb Dunlap will...
MPR News A man convicted of killing a Minneapolis teenager will need to be re-tried, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a guilty verdict in the case. In January 2023, Cody Fohrenkam, a former Calrton County resident was found guilty of fatally shooting 15-year-old North High School student Deshaun Hill in 2022. Fohrenkam was sentenced to more than 38 years in prison. In an appeal of the jury’s verdict, Fohrenkam argued that he was unconstitutionally detained for an interrogation early in the investigation of the case. P...
Larson Commons is getting a new lease on life. All the pieces for the renovation of the seven-story senior high-rise building by new owners clicked into place during the Cloquet city council meeting Tuesday. That’s when councilors approved a housing program for Larson Commons along with the eventual issuance of $9.37 million in tax-exempt bonds, which will be used to pay for renovations and programming. The bonds will be paid back by the new owners, Steele Properties, LLC, which has experience across the country with affordable housing d...
David Clanaugh, director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees Local 1701 union, talked with a group gathered Sunday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. It was a rally to raise awareness about work conditions at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program facility in Moose Lake. Clanaugh said there is "serious workplace staffing, retention, and safety issues" at the facility, where he coordinates volunteer service. The rally included delegates and some officeholders from the M...
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is planning to treat six areas in Carlton County and one area in St. Louis County to manage spongy moth infestations detected in those areas last fall. Officials plan to conduct the first of two rounds of aerial management activities the week of June 10, a news release said. The exact date and time of aerial management activities are heavily dependent on weather conditions and insect development. For the most up-to-date information on these activities, cit...
A national scam in which individuals pose as law enforcement officers and falsely claim there is a warrant for the recipient’s arrest is now happening in Minnesota. The scam, which claims people are in imminent danger of arrest for missing jury duty, is designed to pressure victims into providing personal information or making immediate payments to avoid arrest. The Minnesota Judicial Branch became aware that scammers were targeting Minnesotans after the Duluth courthouse received a panicked call from a victim. The person told the court she rec...
During Great Outdoors Month, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is offering special programs and incentives to encourage Minnesotans to get outdoors. The DNR will host a Free Park Day on Saturday, June 8, which allows free entrance to all state parks and recreation areas in Minnesota. The DNR this week announced special programming Saturday and all summer at Jay Cooke State Park as it celebrates the 100th year since the creation of the swinging bridge over the St. Louis River there....
The Brule-St. Croix Chapter of the North Country Trail Association celebrated on June 1 the completion of the new State Line Trailhead and new segment southeast of Wrenshall off the Military Road. Speakers, a ribbon cutting, and guided hikes marked the occasion. U.S. Senator Tina Smith was there to help cut the ribbon, along with Carlton County land commissioner Mark Westphal, former land commissioner Greg Bernu, Superior Hiking Trail Association executive director Lisa Luokkala, and leaders...
The Minnesota Fishing Challenge is one of the largest fundraisers supporting the work of Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge, helping people break free from the chains of addiction and restoring broken families. Top fundraisers Stu Nelson and Rich Brummer of Cloquet are passionate about restoring the lives of people who feel enslaved by drugs and alcohol, and brought in $102,000. In all, 14 of the teams raised at least $10,000. Anglers set another annual record by raising more than $611,000. The cu...
I was able to attend the Floodwood’s graduation on May 31. This class has been very special to me, as I have subbed for them since kindergarten. When you are a substitute teacher, you follow them all the way through their school years, and many of them become special friends. I’d like to share the following poem with them and all our area seniors: To the Class of 2024: I’m glad I was your teacher, and I will miss you so. I can’t believe the end is here. I hate to let you go. Remember all the...
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is beginning a new three-year research project in northeastern Minnesota to gather additional data on deer populations. The DNR will place cameras on public and private lands to gather additional deer density data in deer permit areas in portions of Cass, Beltrami, Itasca, Hubbard and St. Louis counties. Traditional deer population modeling relies heavily on hunter harvest data. This project will provide additional data to increase confidence in making harvest decisions in the study area. The data...
Oh, glorious summer in Minnesota, we hail thee. Sunny days with blue skies and so much green. Summer rains. Pinehurst Park will soon be brightly lit at night with summer softball leagues, and the swimming pond is full and opens its doors next week. Whitewater rafting has plenty of water to ride in the St. Louis River, which is high and impressive, but not threatening (yet). The drought is no more in Carlton County and most of the state, a happy change. The farmers market is open again, mini golf opens soon and folks are firing up their grills...
Thank you, Mike Creger, for the excellent article about Cloquet native William Dupont in the May 24 edition of the Pine Knot News. It is the perfect reminder of what Memorial Day is all about. It is a very somber and poignant article that touches on the experience that way too many families across America have experienced when a loved one dies in warfare. You did a great job of introducing readers to the person behind the statistic. I was especially keen while reading the article because my paternal great-uncle from Itasca County was a B-17...
I am a member of the state bar association and received the article “Strong Link Between Teen Cannabis Use and Psychosis Risk” in one of our weekly bar news updates. I am an assistant prosecutor for the cities of Carlton, Cloquet, and Scanlon, prosecuting misdemeanor offenses and select gross misdemeanor offenses such as thefts from Walmart and impaired driving. While in law school I trained as a guardian ad litem, which is someone who is court-appointed to be the voice for children in certain court proceedings. Part of the training inv...
When the philosophers and theologians and other Smart Alecs living in the realm of Enlightenment remind us that “Beauty Is Everywhere” if only we’d open our vacant, searching eyes to it and allow the reality of it to blanket us like a saffron, terrycloth robe, they tend to leave out the part about beauty — the aesthetic elements of it, anyway — being inherently subjective. Your Beauty may not be mine. So, when we’re encouraged to “allow beauty in,” we’re, in fact, being encouraged to define what...
A huge five-run inning by Duluth Marshall Wednesday, June 5, saw the Hilltoppers topple defending state champion Esko 9-0 in the semifinal round of the double-elimination tournament at Wade Stadium in Duluth. But the season wasn't over yet. Esko needed to crawl back via the Section 7AA elimination bracket later on Wednesday, defeating Proctor to get another shot at the Hilltoppers. They would have to beat Marshall twice Thursday to advance once again to the state tournament next week in St....
Not surprisingly, the Cloquet High School boys golf team has repeated as Section 7AA champions, with medalist Lance Sayler leading the way. The team will now play in the Minnesota state high school golf championship at the Ridges at Sand Creek golf course in Jordan, Minnesota, June 11-12. It is the sixth time the Cloquet team has won the section crown since 2018. As has been the mantra all season, the Lumberjacks relied on a balanced team approach to winning the section. Cloquet's varsity...
The Section 7AA boys and girls track meet concluded on Saturday at Members Cooperative Athletic Complex in Cloquet. Chisago Lakes was a double winner, capturing top honors in both the boys and girls division. The Lumberjacks finished fourth in the girls meet while the boys from Cloquet took sixth in the 11-team field. "Both the boys and girls teams this year are the youngest teams we've had in quite a while," said 'Jacks head coach Tim Prosen. "This is such a nice group of kids. All of them are...
