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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Lying in a hospital bed last Monday, Holly Goad told her youngest son, Perry, to keep up with football while she was there. Perry kept that promise. Holly died Thursday, Sept. 22, and the Cloquet senior played one of his best games Friday night, a contest the Lumberjacks won 14-8 over Duluth East. "I promised my mom I'd do my best to make her proud," the Cloquet senior said. He wore a special sleeve on his right arm Friday. "Momma, this one's for you," it reads, with a heart below the word...
Earlier this week, Carlton County election officials mailed 600 absentee ballots to people who’d requested to vote in advance of the Nov. 8 midterm election. It was a far cry from the 2020 general election, in which roughly half of the county’s voters (10,900) used early voting and mail-in options during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I feel like the 600 we just mailed out will be the bulk of them,” said Kevin DeVriendt, Carlton County auditor/treasurer. Early voting began last week, 46 days prior to election day, and voters can vote at...
Conservation officer Tony Elwell of Cloquet reported that heavy fog and no wind made for a slow opening day of the waterfowl opener last weekend, according to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources news release. “Overnight northwest winds helped some hunters on Sunday,” the news release added, as good numbers of wood ducks and teal have been seen in the area. Elwell observed violations including outdated ATV registrations, no helmet on juvenile ATV passengers, unplugged shotgun, unsigned federal waterfowl stamp, no license/stamps in pos...
This week we highlight a mystery of both past and present: the Cloquet "landmark" mini golf set, which, sadly, disappeared after being used at the West End Flourish event Saturday. When was it built and by whom, and where is it now? Discovered by an employee of Lyn's Autobody in a dumpster behind the U.S. Bank building recently, the homemade set consisted of six mini golf holes, each adorned with a different Cloquet landmark, including the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station, Cloquet High School, the...
As a 23-year educational interpreter working at Cloquet High School, it's normal to find Iris Keller standing with the teacher at the front of the classroom. Keller delivers in sign language what the teacher is saying to a student Keller has worked with since he was in fifth grade. "There I am, looking out at this whole class," Keller said. "I go with the student to all his classes - college government, calculus, physics, German 4. He's really smart." Like the student, she carries a backpack and...
Last week saw two different partial Wrenshall school board candidate forums, but residents may yet be able to attend a meeting with all seven candidates. After rejecting a Sept. 20 forum organized by the teachers union, three of the current board members - Jack Eudy, Deb Washenesky and Cindy Bourn - held their own candidate event Thursday, Sept. 22 at the Silver Brook town hall. Residents had plenty to say at the meeting, which started with a short introduction from each of the sponsoring...
Jonas Peterson celebrated his 13th birthday Saturday by showing up to his first mountain biking race several hours before the start of his race. "I just wanted to hang out," said a smiling Peterson, who was surrounded by hordes of other school-age mountain bikers from across the state and as far away as North Dakota. Peterson, racing for Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, was among more than 600 school-age racers at the Pine Valley recreation area in Cloquet last weekend. He competed in the 3.6-mile eighth-g...
Two dozen people attended Monday’s Carlton County board meeting to voice opposition to a new cemetery being established in Blackhoof Township, at what is known to locals as the old Gordon MacVey dairy farm on Pioneer Road. The Loving Earth Memorial Gardens markets itself as a “eco-friendly” cemetery that provides burial of bodies that are not cremated or embalmed. There are no concrete vaults, and the containers for the bodies are biodegradable. Preparation of the body is billed as “nontoxic.” Grave markers are made from natural, local mat...
Cloquet school board members set the preliminary levy at maximum Monday, Sept. 26, with the final figures to be certified on Dec. 12 after more budget work and state input. District finance director Candice Nelis recommended the board set the levy at “maximum” because the budget and levy are still in flux. That meant the board did not set a dollar amount Monday, but the levy limitation in the board packet — which Nelis said had already changed — listed the levy payable in 2023 at $7.435 million, up from $6.997 million in 2022, an increas...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners approved a maximum levy increase of 6.9 percent for the 2023 budget year during its meeting Monday. The levy set in September can be lower — but not higher — in December following the completed budget process. But none of the commissioners were optimistic the levy would go any lower. The vote featured commissioners Tom Proulx, Dick Brenner and Marv Bodie voting in favor, and Mark Thell voting against. The board set the preliminary budget at $32.3 million for 2023, an increase of $2.1 million over las...
After nearly two years of searching for a new space, it took workers only 10 weeks or so to turn a former furniture store into a new home for the Cloquet Kids Corner and Li'l Lumberjacks Learning Center programs. The cavernous empty space at Pine Tree Plaza in Cloquet is now a long winding hallway lined with bright classrooms - Kids Corner on the right, Li'l Lumberjacks on the left - ending in an indoor gym for kids. Cloquet Community Education director Erin Bates said it's going really well so...
Esko board approves maximum levy The Esko school board held a special meeting Monday, Sept. 26 to approve the proposed levy payable in 2023. The board was not able to vote on the levy at its normal meeting on the second Monday of the month because there were details on a few projects, such as the newly proposed fitness center, that still needed to be worked out. With some of those details ironed out, according to superintendent Aaron Fischer, the district felt more comfortable with the board approving the levy that was presented to them at the...
The 20 members of the Cloquet homecoming court were announced, with the king and queen to be crowned during halftime of Friday's game after a week of activities at the high school....
I-35 traffic near Barnum returned to the normal configuration with separated northbound and southbound traffic on Monday. Motorists should expect continued single-lane traffic in each direction for the remainder of the week of the 26th as final work occurs on the shoulders. After the traffic is shifted, all ramps will be open. Visit the project website for details about the project: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/d1/projects/i35-barnum/index.html....
The Thomson Township Board of Supervisors met for a brief meeting Thursday, Sept. 22. With only three board members in attendance, there was little new business to be discussed by the board. The board approved a new member joining the Township’s volunteer fire department and looked at a proposal regarding a public works facility study. The board did not comment on any of the candidates they reviewed in regard to the empty seat on the board. The board did suggest that the spot would be filled in time for the board’s next work session in mid...
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is updating its fall color finder every Thursday with the latest estimates for peak fall colors across the state. Last week’s map put most of Carlton County at 10-25 percent of color. People can sign up for email or text messages with the latest update, and visit the website for campground specific information. Find out more at www.dnr.state.mn.us/fall_colors/index.html....
With the election season ramping up, it’s time to lay a few ground rules. First up: endorsements. Defined as “the act of giving one’s public approval or support to someone or something,” candidate endorsements generally appear in newspapers in two ways: as letters from citizens endorsing candidates, or the newspaper itself announcing its opinion on the best person for the job. We at the Pine Knot accept one but choose to not practice the other. Endorsement letters are welcome, with limits....
Despite gray clouds and cooler temps, locals of all ages turned out to enjoy the second West End Flourish event on Saturday. There was a little bit of everything that day, with vendors, musicians and community organizations lining Avenue C to commune with the public, a car show on Avenue B and Vine Street, and kids' activities in Wentworth Park along with archery and mini golf in the city parking lot next door. Food trucks surrounded the VFW parking lot, and music filled the air. Cloquet's most...
After seeing his team pushed around on both sides of the ball on a rainy Friday night, Cromwell-Wright Area football coach Jeff Gronner was more than happy to take the 15-0 win over the South Ridge Panthers. "We physically got pushed around, but they had more mistakes and that's how things swung our way," Gronner said. "We won the turnover battle and that was enough to get the win in the game." After a scoreless first quarter, the Cardinals were able to gain the upper hand on a Brady Dahl...
The Cloquet girls soccer team has had a remarkable start to the season, entering Monday night's game against a tough Grand Rapids team with a 10-1 record. In a game with significant playoff seeding implications, the Thunderhawks ultimately defeated the Lumberjacks 3-2 in overtime. "We lost a huge group of seniors from last year," said Dustin Randall, longtime head coach of the 'Jacks. "I knew we had some talent, but it is tough to know what you have when it is a young group and you don't know wh...
Two of the area's better volleyball teams hooked up last week when the South Ridge Panthers traveled to Esko to take on the Eskomos. While Esko pulled away to a 3-1 win, the fans of both teams were treated to an exciting volleyball exhibition. Esko took Game 1 with a 25-20 win, but Game 2 saw South Ridge bounce back with a 25-21 win, and then Esko answered with back-to-back wins of 25-23 and 25-14 to capture the match. "It was nice to be tested," said Esko coach Pete Stasiuk. "They run a good...
Nicholas Jon Finifrock, 19, of Barnum, passed away Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. He was born on May 25, 2003, to Jon and Ann Finifrock in Mercy Hospital, Moose Lake. One day after his birth, Nicholas was airlifted because of seizures and other complications his tiny body was experiencing. One of his many medical diagnoses was cerebral palsy. He may have had CP, but CP didn't have Nicholas, family members wrote in his lengthy obituary, available in full at www.hhkfuneralhome.com. "Nicholas reminded us...
Katherine Grace Loban, 74, of Moose Lake died Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, peacefully in her home with her loving husband Roger at her side. She was born Sept. 24, 1947, in Rensselaer, Indiana to Rachel A. and Clarence C. Tuura. Kathy graduated from Esko High School in 1965, and from University of Minnesota Duluth in 1969 with a degree in home economics. She spent her early working years teaching school. Kathy moved to Moose Lake in 1980 and began working at Moose Lake State Hospital. She spent...
Daniel James "Dan" Stowell, 57, of Savage entered eternal life on Sept. 24, 2022, at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester. Dan was born Nov. 29, 1964, in Cloquet, the son of Eugene and Shirley (DeRosier) Stowell, the youngest of five children. He married Lynn Pink on July 12, 1997, in Shakopee. Dan graduated from Cloquet High School and then the University of North Dakota with a degree in commercial aviation. Dan always wanted to be a pilot, securing his pilot's license in high school before...
JoAnn Lillian Johnson, 80, of Carlton, formerly of Vilonia, Arkansas, died Sept. 20, 2022. She was born Oct. 13, 1941, to Edgar and Bonnie (Annis) Stavang in Carlton. A proud Wrenshall Wren, she was a cheerleader, majorette, and the 1959 homecoming queen. During her career she worked as a legal secretary at Indian Legal Assistance and night-shift waitress at the Country Kitchen. She was united in marriage to Henry "Hank" Johnson in Wrenshall. JoAnn and Hank frequently traveled to Arkansas, and...
