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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The Cloquet City Council voted unanimously to lower the city’s property tax levy by 1.5 percent Tuesday, but City Administrator Aaron Reeves cautioned that not everyone would see a decline in the city’s portion of their property taxes. “If you have a property that was valued at $200,000 last year but then the county assessor came through and reassessed it at $220,000, even though we may be decreasing our portion of the taxes, you’re being taxed at a higher value,” Reeves said. “You will quite...
They are Carlton County’s number crunchers. No-nonsense. Often unheralded if even noticed. Cogs in the government machine. So when something has assessor Kyle Holmes and auditor Paul Gassert spooked, it’s a big deal. The 300-pound gorilla both men are facing, as are all taxpayers in the county, is the repayment to utility companies for years they were deemed as overtaxed on their properties. Notably, Enbridge Energy, which has a huge footprint in the county as its pipeline network skims acr...
On Tuesday, Fond du Lac band members in District 1 (Cloquet) elected Wally Dupuis to represent them on the tribal council - a job he's held before. Dupuis got 53.39 percent of the vote to 46.61 percent for Patty Petite in Tuesday's Special General Election. "My message that I believe resonated with voters was that I had the past experience to be able to get into office and get right to work," said Dupuis, who previously served on the Reservation Business Committee (RBC) for two terms, or eight y...
Local historian Joe Peterson thinks President George H.W. Bush will be remembered for his kindness and caring. "His kindness was such a part of him and Barbara," Peterson said. "That's part of the legacy they will leave behind - we'll never know all the caring things they did. They weren't braggers. It was genuine. That's something other presidents and first ladies could learn." Peterson has loved presidential history since he was 8 years old, shortly after President John F. Kennedy died. Since...
Cloquet Public Library to develop youth computer coding programs Cloquet Public Library received $500 from the American Library Association (ALA) to help plan and implement coding activities during Computer Science Education week 2018 (Dec. 3-9, 2018) and beyond. Cloquet is one of 250 school and public libraries around the country to receive this micro-funding from Libraries Ready to Code, an initiative of the American Library Association sponsored by Google. “Cloquet Public Library is excited to be able to offer this opportunity to our c...
Following is a brief overview of Cloquet police calls for the week ending Nov. 30, 2018, provided by the Cloquet Police Department: • Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for not having its headlights on. The driver did not immediately stop when the emergency lights were activated. Upon speaking with the driver, officers noticed what they believed was an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the inside the vehicle. The officer administered the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and later arrested the driver DWI and booked the d...
Cheers and Jeers Cheers: To the “Home for the Holidays” organizers for the spectacular fireworks display last Saturday in Cloquet. Not only was the weather good (25 degrees is just fine for the first week of December) and the timing great (it gets dark at 5:30 p.m., so it’s easier for kids to enjoy the fireworks without falling asleep in daddy’s arms), but the display itself was great, with rapid-fire displays of loud, colorful and plentiful fireworks. It’s going to be hard to beat this year’s Home for the Holidays fireworks display. Ch...
When parents get divorced, Minnesota has a law that presumes each parent should have at least 25 percent of the parenting time with their children. That means that the custodial parent — meaning the parent with whom the child actually lives — will have 75 percent of the parenting time. Most people assume that it’s the mother who will have that 75 percent of the parenting time. And, when I first started practicing family law, that was true. The mother was typically granted “sole physical custody...
It’s been two weeks already but thank God that’s over. With Thanksgiving behind us we can get back to all the self-serving, egomaniacal, narcissistic, consumer-oriented hellness that the holidays are all about. In other, less enlightened cultures around the world, including the one we White, Western Europeans all but decimated on this continent in the name of Manifest Destiny, the concept of thankfulness is so integrally baked into the general gestalt that to devote a single day out of the yea...
Thank you To the Editor: I am writing to say “Thank You” to all the voters who participated in the Nov. 6 election. The recount was done by the County Auditor’s staff in a highly professional manner to leave no doubt about the results of the election. Hats off to Minnesota election judges, job well done! Thank you to all family, friends and helpers who walked parade routes, put up signs and spread my campaign messages. Thank you Fourth District residents for opening your doors and sharing your concerns on county government. I will carry them...
How do community members with a "can do" attitude organize to make their town a better place? This past Sunday, the Cromwell Area Community Club gathered for its annual dinner and meeting. Of course, being a volunteer organization of high-energy people, we filled our plates with warm, homemade dishes. Lots of sausage, meatballs, beans, pickles, and hotdishes, followed by raisin pudding with caramel sauce and ice cream and more than I can recount! First, though, we talked through our agenda....
I read Justin Krych’s commentary on Medicare for All. It stirred some thoughts and questions on the subject. If Medicare is good enough for Grandma and Grandpa, why can’t it work for younger folks? In an insurance pool, controlling costs involves having a balance of healthy and not-so-healthy participants. Adding younger, healthy folks to the current Medicare population improves the overall program. Administrative costs from Medicare are around 2 percent; for private insurance it’s 15 percent or more. And, insurance pools can more effec...
It's that time of year again. The reminders are everywhere that it is time to buy gifts for loved ones in celebration of the holiday season, and there are many options, from the latest bold and beautiful socks to a gift card to a local restaurant or theater. Still, there are other ways to give: People can give time or money or gently used items to help people they may not even know have a better life. Here are just a few of the ways people can give locally this season: Donate new or gently used...
One of the things I really enjoy during the winter season is attending local high school and college basketball games. And I have plenty of options this season. My son Alex, who is in his second year attending Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, is also coaching the Denfeld ninth-grade basketball team. My niece, Michala, is a senior at St. Scholastica and plays basketball for the Saints. And there are usually a few high school church members who play on the Esko basketball...
The earthquake that hit Anchorage, Alaska affected Brandon Burns' family. Luckily, no one was hurt, but there was quite a bit of damage to their home. Brandon was thankful he wasn't in the air flying, as no planes were allowed to land and his wife and daughter would have been left to fend for themselves. It seems like a miracle that no one was killed in this latest earthquake. Alaskans have worked hard in the past years to make as many areas earthquake-proof or at least limit the damage....
Irene Louise Loisel 1930–2018 Irene L. Loisel, age 88 of Cloquet, passed away Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018 at New Perspective Senior Living. She was born Aug. 17, 1930 in Wrenshall, Minn. to John and Hilda (Nelson) Johnson and graduated valedictorian from Wrenshall High School. Irene was united in marriage to Leo Loisel on March 1, 1952. She worked as a bookkeeper for Prindle Jones Insurance, Cloquet Co-op, and the Johnson Company. Irene loved needlepoint sewing, embroidery, gardening veggies and f...
Changes to the county’s snowplowing policies have some rural residents worried they’ll be left out in the cold. Carlton County Commissioner Gary Peterson opened a discussion about the newly implemented County Transportation Policy for opening private driveways at the adjourned session of the Carlton County Board of Commissioners Nov. 26. “I received a few phone calls from concerned Carlton County residents that have depended on the snowplowing service but question the new cost schedule, the sign-up date, and the $450 per winter fee (for the fir...
It was a most perfect week for a holiday celebration. A smattering of snow, temperatures not too cold, and a myriad of activities for all to enjoy. And the people came.Cloquet Police Chief Jeff Palmer reported more than 400 people attended the free chili feed sponsored by the Cloquet and Fond du Lac police departments. Palmer said holding such events fosters positive relationships between the police departments and the community. "Far too often our interaction with people comes at a time when...
Since Finnish Independence in 1918, it has been a tradition for families in Finland to place two lighted candles in each window of their homes on Dec. 6 to celebrate Itsenäisyyspäivä (Finnish Independence Day). Many people of Finnish descent in the U.S. also do the same. However, did you know that this long-time tradition actually came from an even earlier tradition? Legend tells us that in the 1800s and early 1900s, two candles were used as a sign to young Finnish men — who were on their way to Sweden or Germany to join the infantry — that t...
Cloquet sophomore Pery Boyd-Affias will be honored Jan. 26 at the Science Museum of Minnesota's Native American Science Fusion Series events. The Donaldson award is given to one Minnesota Native American high school student who has shown exceptional achievement and or passion for a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) related field of study, in or outside of the classroom. Boyd-Affias was nominated by his research teacher/mentor Cynthia Welsh. Welsh has been working with Boyd-Affias...
Every fall, Cloquet Middle School fifth- graders are out selling calendars for their field trip to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center near Finland, Minn. My son is a fifth-grader this year and when I heard they needed chaperones, I volunteered. The trip took place Nov. 19-21. On a cold Monday morning, approximately 170 fifth-graders and 35 chaperones and teachers piled into three coach buses and headed north. Upon arriving two hours later, I quickly learned that chaperoning a trip to Wolf Ridge was not a vacation! Our total time from...
CLOQUET – One of the most anticipated events in the Santa's Home for the Holidays celebration in Cloquet has fast become the Alumni Hockey game. Featuring alumni from Cloquet, Esko, and Carlton taking on alumni from longtime rival Duluth East, the now annual event was a high-scoring affair, with the Lumberjacks coming out on top by a score of 14-9. Still, it wasn't the score that mattered in the end - it was old friends and opponents out on the ice once again, competing like they did back in t...
It's the winter version of Neighbors Night Out this tonight when local basketball teams hit the floor with schools that are less than five miles from each other door-to-door. The first game will feature Cloquet from Section 7AAA traveling a couple of miles down Highway 61 to play Section 7AA power Esko at 7:15 p.m. Game two will be another next-door-neighbor rivalry between two teams expected to be in the Section 7A hunt: Carlton and Wrenshall. Both Cloquet and Esko are coming off tough losses o...
Luckily for Cloquet grad Anja Maijala, the annual Nordic Cup race with in-state rival University of Alaska was held in Fairbanks this year, and not Anchorage. That meant she was 350 miles away from the epicenter of Friday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake, and largely unaffected by it. "My only experience with the earthquake was that it woke me up Friday morning when my raised bed began abruptly shaking," Maijala texted the Pine Knot News between races Saturday, adding that her entire room was shaking...
The Cloquet boys and girls teams traveled to Duluth East High School Tuesday night to meet the Greyhounds in a basketball doubleheader. Cloquet was seeking to sweep the Greyhounds, but they would have to settle for a split on the night. The Lady Lumberjacks opened the twin bill with a 66-50 win over Duluth East. Allie Wojtysiak would prove to be the difference in the win over the Greyhounds. Wojtysiak scored 21 points, including 15 in the first half to lead all scorers. Wojtysiak’s inside presen...
