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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It's baaaack. After the Covid-19 pandemic led to a full-scale cancellation of Cloquet July Fourth events in 2020 and no activities at Veterans Memorial Park in 2021, organizers are planning for a return to normal in 2022. Like last year, there will be a parade and fireworks, plus the Sawdust 5K and 1-mile race in the morning, a car show at the Northeastern Hotel and Saloon and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Pinehurst Park. For the first time since 2019, there will also be activities in...
John Edison isn’t a Wrenshall school board member, but for all practical purposes on Tuesday night, he was. The attorney representing the school district was on hand for public discussion on the fate of principal Michelle Blanchard and also for two closed sessions on “allegations” against two employees of the district. The board approved another one-year contract for Blanchard, on the advice of Edison, who provided the board a “confidential legal analysis” on how it might proceed with the princ...
Of exactly 100 seniors -100 percent of the Esko Class of 2022 - graduating Friday, 10 were awarded the title of valedictorian - that means 10 percent of the class earned the highest academic ranking. That was just the icing on the cake of their many accomplishments, said principal Greg Hexum. But he acknowledged that life hasn't been easy for the graduating seniors, whose high school careers were greatly impacted by the first pandemic in more than 100 years, and the loss of a classmate and athle...
For the first 17 of his 18 years coaching Cloquet boys and girls track, head coach Tim Prosen and his team have been the small fish in the big pond. Cloquet was among the smallest schools in the state in Class AA. That all changed this year when the Minnesota State High School League went to a three-class system for track, leaving Cloquet in AA and moving the largest schools into Class AAA. Last week the Lumberjacks benefitted from competing on a more-even playing field by having 23 athletes...
Following a closed meeting with legal counsel Tuesday night, the Cloquet city council signed a separation agreement and full and final release of claims Tuesday with a police officer they originally voted to dismiss in February. The next morning, city administrator Tim Peterson provided the following statement in response to the Pine Knot News: “The council made and unanimously approved a motion to accept the agreement reached with Officer Silgjord on May 20th and to accept her resignation from the Police Department effective June 7, 2...
The intersection at Washington Avenue and 14th Street closed for construction Monday, and will likely be closed for the rest of the summer as workers replace the four-way stop with a roundabout. Work on the roundabout is scheduled to be completed before school starts again in September, said assistant city engineer John Anderson. Fourteenth Street has been closed from Prospect Avenue to Washington Avenue since May 16 for a full replacement of the street and underlayers, including the...
With a June 1 eviction deadline, most of the tenants on upper floors of Victory Apartments have left, according to the city of Cloquet. The eviction notice came in 2020 as the back stairs to the apartments were deemed unsafe for use. The stairs serve as the only direct exit for the upper floors of the building at 17 Eighth Street, across from the Pedro’s restaurant building. Nine of the building’s 12 units are on the second and third floors. After some wrangling with the property owner, and time for him to arrange a fix for the problem, the...
Access to the city of Cloquet’s brush and leaf disposal site at the public works garage, 410 Armory Road, is now open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 to 11 a.m. on Fridays. City officials updated the times this week....
Nominations are open for the 2022 Outstanding Senior Citizen awards. An award is given to both a man and a woman age 70 or older. Nomination forms are available online at www.co.carlton.mn.us and detail what the person has done for others in your organization or community after reaching age of 60. Feel free to discuss the application with the nominee and collect needed volunteer activity information. Send the information to the Barnum Area Senior Citizens, 3794 Main St., Barnum MN 55707, by July 15. If you have any questions, contact Gary...
Free vegetable seeds are available at the Carlton County Extension Office while supplies last, courtesy of the Lakes and Pines Community Action Council. Stop in for seeds, and remember that the Extension Office provides gardening advice and information at no cost. Pickup is available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 317 Chestnut Ave. in Carlton....
The Arrowhead Library System’s bookmobile will make the rounds in the area again this month. The bookmobile offers print books, cookbooks, large-print books, DVDs, audiobooks and video games. Services are also available, such as renewing library cards, updating account information and special programs. It stops every three weeks at these dates, times and locations: -Esko, 10:15-10:45 a.m. at Northwood United Methodist Church June 20 -Proctor, 12:15-1:15 p.m. at St. Rose Church June 16 -Proctor, 2-2:45 p.m. at Community Center June 16 -Solway T...
The Minnesota Judicial Branch announced a framework for how remote and in-person hearings will be held, effective June 6. All hearings scheduled and hearing notices issued will follow the policy. Case participants will find the most accurate information about how their court hearings will take place on their hearing notices. For non-criminal case types, including family, domestic abuse, harassment, eviction and civil cases, many hearing types are generally presumed to be remote. There is a presumption that evidentiary hearings — hearings where...
Don't look now, but the South Ridge Panthers are one game away from their fourth straight tournament championship after a 7-2 win over Cherry Tuesday afternoon in the Section 7A playoffs. The 2 p.m. game was at Mesabi East High School in Aurora. Cherry got on the board first when leadoff batter Isaiah Asuma was hit by a pitch, stole second and eventually scored on a ground ball out. "We weren't worried because the guys knew we needed to score a run to win anyway," said Panthers head coach Aaron...
Last Tuesday the Moose Lake/Willow River girls softball team got a wake-up call. For only the fourth time this season, the Rebels lost - this time to Carlton/Wrenshall in the Section 7A playoffs. The Rebels used that loss as a catalyst to rebound by winning five straight games on their way to the Section 7A title. In those five games the Rebels piled up 53 runs while giving up just two runs. "Give Carlton/Wrenshall and their pitcher Abby Mitchell credit when they beat us," said Rebels coach...
During Take a Kid Fishing Weekend Friday, June 10 to Sunday, June 12, Minnesota residents can fish without licenses if they take children 15 or younger along. Youth 15 and younger do not require fishing licenses at any time of the year, though they must observe all fishing seasons and other regulations. Take a Kid Fishing Weekend allows adults to fish without a license as long as they take a child fishing with them. Minnesota residents also may generally fish in state parks without a fishing...
The 56 members of the Class of 2022 graduated Friday evening, June 3, in a commencement ceremony at Barnum High School. Senior Jennie DeCaigny welcomed her fellow students and their families. "This ceremony is to celebrate us," she said. Senior Thomas Koski shared memories from their school years. "We used to form a conga line and dance while chanting, 'six times six is 36,'" he recalled, "and then there were the class trips to Wolf Ridge and Spirit Mountain." Audrey Langhorst spoke about those...
Starr Marshall decided to organize the first Senior Day in Cloquet in 2019 after she realized an elderly client visiting her office at Reliable Insurance Agency was being abused, as it turned out, by her son. Marshall said the nearly 80-year-old woman had bruises on her face. "We called the police and stuff happened, but it was really sad," she said. The now annual event is held in conjunction with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and it's known here as Senior Day. It's a day to celebrate...
Thomson township received their best score in years on its most recent Western Lake Superior Sanitary District audit, evidence of hard work on the part of township employees, supervisors said at the town meeting June 2. The Thomson township board reported that the township received a zero on the annual district audit. The township is ranked on eight factors, such as “overall responsiveness/completeness of annual report/work plan submittal” and “completed items from the 2021 work plan.” Receiving a zero on each of these sections is the best po...
Carlton County's Jenny Barta has never worked harder than she has during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the public health nurse met the challenge head-on. "This is what I was called for, this is what I was born to do," said Barta, who also acts as the county's disease prevention and control coordinator. When the pandemic began, Barta added another job to her list of duties: subject matter expert for Covid-19. Barta has been a huge part of the county's response to the pandemic, which has received...
Who doesn't want to play a round of croquet in the city of Cloquet, especially if it's for a good cause? The Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College Foundation will host the 12th annual Cloquet Croquet Invitational Tuesday, July 12, at the Cloquet Country Club. Proceeds from the fun event go toward the FDLTCC student scholarship fund. The invitational kicks off at 1 p.m. The 20 teams of four will play one-on-one in a round robin followed by single-elimination playoffs for the top eight teams....
The prospects for a high school lacrosse program in Carlton County remain in limbo, but a group supporting placing teams under the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton umbrella is still pressing. Administrators for school districts told the committee on May 12 that they still weren’t convinced of the sustainability of a program. Until the administration is on board, the idea won’t be going to school boards for discussion, said Paul Reiss, activities director at Cloquet High School. He said the number of ath...
Police are searching for a man who entered an occupied home on Boulder Drive in Cloquet just after 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. Residents awoke to an intruder in their Sunnyside neighborhood home, and that person physically assaulted one of them, according to a press release from the Cloquet Police Department. After another person inside the home intervened, the assailant fled the area on foot. With the assistance of neighboring law enforcement agencies, officers extensively searched the surrounding area but were unsuccessful in locating the suspect....
Three men were arrested last week after a traffic stop led to the discovery of a pound of methamphetamine Friday, June 3. Driver Mark Arthur Locken, 43, and passengers Donald Richard LaBlanc, 63, and Dean Wayne Olds, 56, were each charged in Carlton County Court Monday with one count of first-degree drug possession, for allegedly having more than 50 grams of meth, a Schedule II controlled substance. Bail was set at $100,000 or $10,000 cash for LaBlanc and $100,000 for Olds and Locken. According to the criminal complaint, Carlton County deputy...
By now, most of you may be aware that there’s a new Fourth of July coordinator in town, and it’s the Pine Knot News. That doesn’t mean we are sponsoring the event: that’s done by residents, businesses and organizations through financial donations. What it does mean is we have been hired by the city to work with the Fourth committee and others to make certain Cloquet continues its tradition of offering a day filled with family friendly activities, most of them the same type of activities we paren...
Here’s what’s beautiful: Your daughter’s firstborn, rolling on the floor like she did at that age, chin-drooling like she did, round, wet eyes like underwater jewels and an insatiable appetite for pretend-rough, morning bed-wrestling, the inexplicable joy of him giggling and growling and the unfathomable poignancy of watching her watch the two of you, seeing her remembering herself as him, a lifetime ago and a moment, something in her catching every time you get close to Too Much, the way your w...
