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
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 35
The flag burning Sunday was not a protest. Instead - on the day before Veterans Day - members of Cloquet's BSA Scout Troop 171 were observing the United States Flag Code when they officially retired three worn and tattered American flags at Veterans Park in Cloquet. According to the flag code, a flag, "when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." Scoutmaster Stafano Piazi said the Boy Scouts had a...
Wrenshall school board members voted unanimously Tuesday to write and deliver a letter to the Carlton school board posthaste, indicating Wrenshall's desire to continue with consolidation talks after news broke last month that the Carlton superintendent and board chair had initiated merger talks with Barnum. Short and to the point, the letter adopted by the board stated: Dear Carlton School Board. We are ready to meet to discuss consolidation between Wrenshall and Carlton when you are. Raptors... Full story
Once again, Santa and Mrs. Claus will make a special trip to Cloquet for a little pre-Christmas party, aka the annual Santa's Home for the Holidays community celebration. It's three days of fun - Dec. 5-7 - courtesy of a wide range of local businesses, organizations and the city of Cloquet. "This little celebration just keeps growing," said co-coordinator Jana Peterson. "It's really special because so many people collaborate to get our community together for some winter fun." Make a plan while...
The Cloquet Country Club has a goose problem - between 100 and 200 Canadian geese have developed a special fondness for the 18-hole golf course on the west side of Cloquet. During the Cloquet City Council meeting last Thursday, Nov. 7, CCC general manager Matt Carlson proposed a genuine northern Minnesota solution: holding a special goose hunt. The geese are not new, and the club has simply put up with droppings and damage for years, Carlson said. The turning point came after last year's mild...
A woman suffered life-threatening injuries early Tuesday morning in a car crash. According to the Minnesota State Patrol incident report, 29-year-old Soleil Rintoul of New Richmond, Wisconsin, was driving a 2017 Ford F150 on Highway 210 in Carlton when she failed to navigate the curve near Vermillion Street just before 4 a.m. Tuesday. The truck left the roadway and came to rest in the trees. Road conditions were dry and the airbag deployed; the driver was wearing her seatbelt. Alcohol was not involved according to the report. Carlton Fire and...
A driver and his passenger both suffered non-life-threatening injuries Saturday, when their vehicle spun out on Interstate 35 near Barnum. Driver Daniel Wilczek, 68, and his passenger, Elizabeth Wilczek, 67, of Bayfield, Wisconsin, were traveling northbound on I-35 at Milepost 219 (Barnum Township) when the 2022 Honda CRV struck a bridge wall and spun out and hit the median, coming to a stop in the left hand lane. Conditions were wet. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, Barnum Fire and Essentia Ambulance out of Moose Lake responded. Both p...
Concerts On 4th presents “Stars I Shall Find,” a suicide awareness concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Presbyterian Church of Cloquet, 47 Fourth St. The concert features the Presbyterian and Zion Lutheran choirs, director James Sheetz with Gretchen Chelseth on piano, Dan Palmquist on trombone and Marge Stillwell on organ. Freewill donations will be given to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Guest speaker is Pastor Christina Johnson....
The Minnesota Wilderness headed back to the Lower 48 after completing its second weekend of its first Alaska trip of the regular season. In the three-game series at Anchorage, the Wilderness were victorious in the Friday opener, 4-2, and fell in Saturday’s game, 6-3, before dropping the Sunday finale in overtime, 5-4. The Cloquet-based team went 3-2 over the two weekends away....
Tied at 143 votes each after the Nov. 5 municipal election, challenger Jeff Bloom’s name was drawn at Wrenshall City Hall Tuesday, meaning that he will likely replace incumbent Gary Butala, who requested a recount after the drawing. That will be done by Carlton County, and is within either candidate’s rights, considering the knotted vote totals. The recount will take place at 9 a.m. Dec. 2 at the county transportation building. Butala said there are some questions about 50 ballots that were not counted. All voting for the city is done by mai... Full story
Essentia Health has reached an agreement with UnitedHealthcare (UHC) to remain an in-network provider for UHC’s Medicare Advantage insurance plan in 2025. “We realize that the uncertainty of this situation was difficult for many of the patients we’re honored to serve,” said Dr. Cathy Cantor, Essentia’s chief medical officer for population health. “We felt strongly that it was important to advocate for our patients, and we were able to reach an agreement for 2025 that addresses many of our issues and concerns by improving timely and reliable ac...
Winter parking is in effect now through March, so don’t leave your cars parked on the streets of Cloquet overnight. According to city code, cars cannot be parked on the streets or in alleys between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. from Nov. 1 through March 31, to allow snowplow drivers and others to clear the streets. The only exception is a vehicle parked at an open business establishment between midnight and 2 a.m. “unless ordered to be moved at the direction of a peace officer.” In Esko, parking on the street is prohibited 4-7 a.m. In Carlt...
Laura Simi and Patricia Lund shuffled to a table decked with cards that would be the final arbiter of who would spend the next four years on Kettle River's city council. City officials at Kettle River's council meeting Tuesday viewed this quirky procedure - prescribed by state statute in the event of a tied election - with some humor as candidates Simi and Lund drew their lots. Lund expressed disappointment as she picked the winning number. Lund joined the race to give voters options. That was... Full story
The Cloquet School Board welcomed the return of incumbent Melissa Juntunen and two new board members - LeAnn Butler and Nichole Diver - who attended Monday's meeting. In total, Juntunen garnered 4,428 votes in the Nov. 5 election, Butler had 3,593 votes and Diver, who ran as a write-in candidate for the third open spot, received 417 votes. Included in that count were various versions of her name, including Diver, Nichole, Nichole Buckanaga and Nichole Diver. An additional 240 write-in votes... Full story
Carlton Schools superintendent Donita Stepan delivered a side-by-side comparison of the two consolidation options facing the district on Tuesday night, with a strong push to pivot to Barnum. It was the first time the board met since Stepan and Carlton chairwoman Julianne Emerson dropped the bombshell that they had initiated talks with Barnum about consolidation. Stepan began by stating that the merger talks with Wrenshall were stalled. "We've been trying to consolidate with Wrenshall for over...
Loriene Roy loved books and reading from a young age while growing up in Carlton County. Whenever she had enough allowance, she bought a book and started her own home library for a shelf her mother had set up. Her younger sister Della can attest that Loriene was already practicing to be a librarian when she was in grade school. If Della wanted to read one of Loriene's books, she had to sign a card to check it out. Della lost her borrowing privileges when she tore a page corner instead of using...
Virginia Wright-Peterson reads from her book, "A Women's War, Too" at the Cloquet Public Library on Veterans Day. Wright-Peterson shared stories of the many women from Minnesota who played a role in World War II, from Mayo Clinic biophysicist Julia Herrick who was loaned to the war department for radar research, to Cloquet native Gertrude Esteros, a nurse in New Guinea during the war and in charge of creating recreation programs there. Others were spies, entertainers, pilots, factory workers...
Since its founding during Women’s History Month in March 2024, a group of about a dozen Carlton County women have put together five projects as part of the Carlton County Historical Society’s Local Women’s History Affinity Group. The members aim to enhance understanding of women’s place in local history and celebrate connections between those lives and ours today. The group is looking for more members: they meet the first Wednesday of the month at the NP Junction Bookstore in Carlton. Every meeting starts with a presentation by a citizen...
Fred Rogers, from the beloved children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, once recalled how his mother comforted him during frightening times. “Look for the helpers,” she would say, reminding him of the people who, even in the worst situations, step up to help those in need. Many of those helpers recently returned home after restoring power in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, where entire towns were torn apart, homes were flooded, and millions faced the grueling uncertainty of days, even weeks, without power. For millions across... Full story
The 7-year-old was obviously confused Wednesday morning. Her school voted for Harris, why didn't the country? "I want a woman president." She pondered her school chum who had voted for the other guy. "But we are still friends." She asked rhetorically if the votes at her school had counted in the wider world. "I know, you have to be 18." I wondered if what she was spouting post-election was precocious or just how yet another person in the world can get so inundated with politics in the current st... Full story
A strong developmental season for the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls swimmers and divers came to a conclusion for all but one of the team's participants last weekend. The Section 7A championships in Grand Rapids featured scores of personal bests and many solid performances in race finals. But for Esko senior Rilee Durovec, a history-making season intensified starting Thursday with her participation at the girls state swimming and diving meet at the University of Minnesota. Durovec won the section... Full story
The Cromwell-Wright football team entered the state 9-player quarterfinals with a good feeling after a Section 5 championship win over defending state champion Nevis a week prior. Fertile-Beltrami dashed that groove Thursday night in Moorhead, handing the Cardinals a 48-7 defeat. The Falcons cruised with star running back Isaiah Wright, who rushed 10 times for an amazing 292 yards and four touchdowns, including the first play from scrimmage from 61 yards out. Wright would score on other runs of... Full story
Moose Lake/Willow River entered its 19th state football tournament with the Rebels normal poise and determination but - as Friday night's State AA quarterfinal kicked off in Brainerd - the Rebels saw an anomaly on the opening kickoff: a fumble and immediate momentum for Kimball Area, on its way to a 38-0 win. Kimball, on a state tournament drought since 1991, recovered the fumble at the 13-yard line and Mason Danelke scored the first of his two touchdowns on the night. "We needed to take care... Full story
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team came out fast and determined Tuesday night at Northwoods Credit Union Arena as the Lumberjacks scored three times in the first seven minutes. Although the Moose Lake Area team threatened, they couldn't overcome the CEC lead. The win moved the 'Jacks to 2-1 on the season. CEC defeated Anoka 3-0 Saturday in Anoka, but dropped the season opener last Thursday by a score of 4-1 to Grand Rapids-Greenway. On Tuesday, the Lumberjacks' first goal came just 51... Full story
The holidays are upon us, and the orange lights will be replaced with red, green and white twinkling lights. Many of us have been out to local stores or been online shopping for that special gift for family and friends. When you are out shopping, please think about purchasing a toy for the 30th annual Toys for Carlton Area Kids toy drive. Help us celebrate giving to area kids in need. The toy drive runs through Dec. 6. Dropoff locations in Carlton are the VFW, city office, Carlton Wellness Cente... Full story
It’s been 34 years since Nov. 10, 1990, since our son Garrie was shot in the face during the opening of deer hunting season. He sustained a broken jaw, but was able to walk out of the woods and get to the waiting ambulance. He had to have surgery and ended up with three metal plates and eight screws in his jaw. They are still there, and will be for the rest of his life. We thank God for his survival. Enjoy the second week of deer camp, and stay safe. The Cromwell Area Community Club’s hun...
