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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During Cloquet's taxation and budget hearing on Dec. 3, frustrated resident Shannon Kesner asked city councilors to think outside the box rather than raising taxes, sharing that her property taxes have gone up over $1,200 a year since she purchased her home in 2020. "I know there's all kinds of funding sources out there," she said. "I implore you and others to take a look at all the different opportunities and see if something can help this." There's good news for Kesner and other residents:...
The Carlton County Disabled American Veterans and its supporters are inviting everyone to enjoy a free Christmas dinner on Christmas Day Wednesday. No military service required, just a hungry belly and a heart for community. The annual Christmas meal will be served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 25 at Zion Lutheran Church at 1000 Washington Ave. in Cloquet. The menu features a wide array of appetizers, salad, dessert, meatballs, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, beverages and lots of company....
What's it like to be a young farmer in Minnesota? For starters, there's an expanding variety of farms and they're being passed down to young people who supplement their agrarian passions with off-farm jobs. It's a challenge as hard as ever before, but it's not insurmountable. "Many have other jobs, where farming is not their full-time job," said Brainerd-based University of Minnesota extension officer Nathan Hulinsky. "They need help knowing how to borrow money to run their business and how to...
Clara Kotiranta Korkala Tefft, 91, of Cloquet left to be with the Lord on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. She was born in Cloquet, the daughter of Martin and Jennie (Berkio) Kotiranta on Nov. 29, 1933. Clara attended Cloquet schools and studied music at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. She was a piano teacher to many (at one time, even 71 students). Clara owned The Olde Depot Inn restaurant in the Fond du Lac neighborhood in Duluth from 1974 to 1996. Later, she worked as a PCA caring for the...
Galen Marlin Sillanpa, 70, of Cloquet passed away Dec. 15, 2024, at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton. He was born in Duluth on April 12, 1954, one of 11 children of William and Aino (Mursu) Sillanpa. Galen graduated from Denfeld High School in 1972 and attended the former Suomi College and Vermilion College. He was employed as a private homecare attendant, later as a physical therapy aide, and as an activity department aide for Inter-Faith Care Center. His former wife was Laura Brubaker of...
Cloquet school board members interviewed six people who applied to fill a soon-to-be vacant school board seat. Board member Sarah Plante-Buhs ran for and was elected to the Carlton County Board of Commissioners. She will take her county board seat and vacate her school board seat in early January. The school board will announce its choice Jan. 6 The six candidates — Ted Lammi, Jason Loons, Brendon McKeon, Robert Peacock, Nate Sandman and Shaun Williams — applied to serve the last two years of Buhs’ term. Only Sandman and Lammi have prior exper...
Take your time reading this week's issue, because the Pine Knot News office will be closed the week between Christmas and New Year. We will not produce a paper next week, and look forward to time with family and friends. Obituaries and breaking news will be published online at pineknotnews.com during Christmas week. Email [email protected] or text Jana at 218-213-1231 with anything that simply can't wait. Feel free to share fun or beautiful winter photos for possible publication in the new...
Rose Marie Liimatainen, 100, passed away on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton. She was born in Cloquet Oct. 5, 1924, to Walter and Hilda Nelson. Rose was united in marriage to Reuben Liimatainen on Jan. 12, 1946. Rose worked as an elementary school aide, was known as “Grandma Rose” at Time for Tots Preschool, and was the bookkeeper for Reuben’s Hardware. She enjoyed knitting, cross-stitch, crossword puzzles, camping, and motorcycling with Reuben. She was the oldes...
The city of Cloquet's holiday light display is up, outlining scenes of winter and holiday fun around Spafford Park campground, located on Dunlap Island next to the voyageur statue, who is now wearing his XXL Santa hat. It's an excellent place to cruise with a carload of kids or maybe just a mug of hot chocolate as you drive around the area looking at all the homes and businesses lit up for the season. The Butkiewicz Family Farm is another excellent destination in southern Carlton County. The...
Maren “Marnie” Hagberg Emerson, 88, of Carlton passed away peacefully Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, at Inter-faith Care Center in Carlton. Marnie was born June 17, 1936, to Julian V. and Leah (Jensen) Hagberg in Duluth, the eldest of three children. Marnie grew up in Duluth and graduated from East High School. She worked at what was then Duluth National Bank in the West End (which later became U.S. Bank), where her father was president. As a young teller, Marnie would walk from the bank several blo...
Gene Harry Bates, 90, of Cloquet passed away Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, at Aspirus St. Luke’s Hospice in Duluth. Gene was born Jan. 15, 1934, as one of six children to Lloyd and Verda Bates in Bruno, Minnesota. Gene was married to Lillian (Breiland) for 61 years. They settled in Cloquet to raise three boys, Gary, Terry, and Scott. Gene had a long career as a school bus driver as well as the custodian at the Cloquet Middle School, where he befriended many students who, as adults, would often happi...
Carlton County residents are encouraged to recycle Christmas trees during Treecycling, a free program with dropoff runs through Friday, Jan. 31. Christmas trees, like yard waste, are banned from landfills in Minnesota. Trees contain valuable resources that can be reclaimed through recycling. Collected trees will be ground up and composted by the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, saving landfill space while safely managing invasive species that may have been brought in on trees from outside of our region. Remove all ornaments, tinsel,...
"My first thought is: We don't deserve an incredible community like this. But then I take a deep breath and realize we are so so grateful to have such an incredible unit of friends, family, and community behind us who see us and love us. And we are eternally grateful." Those were the words to the community from Emily Boulanger this past week. Her temporary home, a bus converted into a camper, was gutted Thursday night by a fire on property in rural Cloquet that she and fiancee Liam May own. An...
Property owners in the Esko school district should see a half-percent increase in next year’s school tax levy, after school board members on Dec. 9 approved the tax levy at $2,365,346, an increase of only $11,681 over last year. Also during the Dec. 9 meeting, board members held a public hearing regarding a proposal to sell a maximum of $895,000 in general obligation tax abatement bonds to pay for a new parking lot and other parking lot improvements in the district. The new parking lot will be constructed on a former residential lot at 25 L...
The Carlton school board approved a levy for 2025 that reduces school taxes by about 4 percent. In the same meeting, there was troubling news about facilities, and mixed news about finances. Before the regular meeting Monday, Carlton schools held this year’s Truth in Taxation hearing, which presents a detailed picture of next year’s taxation and allows for public comment. Jennifer Smith from Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium told the board and the public that the district would see a reduction in the levy totalling $1,135,540.76. “That is...
A story in last week’s Pine Knot, “County explains 3% tax increase,” raised the eyebrows of Carlton County assessor Kyle Holmes. “Market values are independent from taxes and vice versa,” he said, correcting a passage in the Pine Knot report that suggested the factors were intertwined. “Rising property values and rising taxes are not intertwined, and should be kept separate,” he said. Levy increases are a function of spending, he said. Holmes attended the Dec. 11 Truth in Taxation hearing, at which the county heard from audience members and pre...
Welcome to the final Pine Knot News issue of 2024. The paper will be closed next week, so staff can spend more time with friends and family. That means there will be a two-week gap until the publishing of the Jan. 3 editionbut we will be updating the website more frequently. Creating a newspaper every week is a labor of love for all of us at the Pine Knot News, but it’s labor all the same. We could use the breather, but not before we tell you how much we appreciate your readership and support. In the six years since we printed our first e...
Every December, our kitchen transforms into a holiday bakery. The countertop is crowded with bowls of flour, sugar, and spices, while cookie cutters clatter against the wooden table. It's a tradition as constant as Christmas itself: baking cookies with my mom and grandma. They're my memory makers, the women who taught me that cookies are more than just desserts, they're stories in sugar and dough. It always starts the same way. My grandma ties on her faded red apron, worn soft over years of...
Recently I was traveling through Cloquet for work and noticed that there is a quite large Ten Commandments tablet outside of the Cloquet fire station on Cloquet Avenue. Clearly, this is a violation of the First Amendment. In speaking with a local, they stated that the city council was informed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation to remove the Ten Commandments, yet they have clearly failed to do so. Being a lifetime resident of Minnesota (and longtime resident of the Duluth area), I’m surprised at the brazen action taken by the Cloquet c...
When Tony Bender took over coaching the Moose Lake Area boys hockey team this winter, he had a long list of things he wanted to accomplish. Among the top things on the list was increasing the number of athletes in the program and helping each player to learn the game. After seven games, the Rebels have responded with a 4-3 record and stronger play on the ice. The team's latest win came Monday in a 4-1 home victory over Spooner, Wisconsin. "We compete in every game, but there are times where we...
Thursday, Dec. 12 Boys Basketball Moose Lake/Willow River 0, North Woods 48 Cloquet 71, Denfeld 68 Girls Basketball Barnum 55, Moose Lake/ Willow River 22 Esko 59, Carlton/ Wrenshall 25 Boys Hockey International Falls 11, Moose Lake Area 1 Girls Hockey Rock Ridge 3, CEC 2 (OT) MLA 0, Hopkins/Park 0 Friday, Dec. 13 Boys Basketball Cromwell-Wright 67, Cook County 42 Esko 70, Superior 49 Willow River 71, Two Harbors 42 Mille Lacs 58, Carlton/ Wrenshall 51 Barnum 102, Ogilvie 31 Girls Basketball MIB 84, South Ridge 21 Esko 40 Pierz 37 Rock Ridge...
The Esko girls basketball team stormed out to a big halftime lead and never looked back as they beat next-door neighbor Carlton/Wrenshall, 59-25, on Dec. 12 in Wrenshall. "We went into the game thinking we had a chance of giving them a tough game, but they came out in a press that put us on our heels," said Carlton/Wrenshall coach Emma Grover. "My girls didn't adjust to what we were telling them to do, and it just got out of hand for us." Esko was led by Clara Swanson's 18 points and Kaitlyn...
The Barnum girls basketball team steamrolled to a huge first-half lead in a Dec. 12 matchup against Moose Lake/Willow River and ended up taking a 55-22 road win in Moose Lake. "We have some great athletes, and they really got after it in that first half," said Mariah Minkkinen, head coach of the Bombers. "Getting after it" was almost an understatement, as the Bombers sprinted ahead to a 28-4 lead by halftime. "We knew Barnum was good, but we didn't expect that," said ML/WR coach Andrew Miller. A...
The Minnesota Wilderness closed out the first half of the season playing its best hockey of the campaign, completing a two-game sweep of the Kenai River Brown Bears and stretching its winning streak to a season-high five games. The Wilderness (14-13-3) also moved back above .500 after their 7-4 and 6-1 victories Dec. 13 and Saturday over Kenai River (11-15-3) in Cloquet. Minnesota is now idle until Jan. 3-4 at home against Anchorage. A balanced offensive attack led the Wilderness to victory Dec. 13. Seven players scored goals for Minnesota....
Explorer Ponce de León was on a quest to find the mythical fountain of youth in Florida in 1513. President John Kennedy inspired the United States in its quest to have a person walk on the moon in the 1960s. Although maybe not quite as daunting, Dan Rosen, formerly of Cloquet, set out on a quest to golf in every calendar month in Minnesota in 2024. On Dec. 7, he accomplished his goal. Rosen, a part of the formidable golfing family, grew up near the entrance to the Cloquet Country Club. He was...
