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 27
Covid-19 vaccination shots were given Tuesday at Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet. The first shot was given to Vicki Rostollan, an ICU nurse, above. The shot was given by registered nurse Shelly Demers, who was the second person to receive the vaccine at the hospital, below. CMH safety officer Lucas Goodin administered the shot. About 170 employees and 50 EMS providers from Cloquet, Cromwell and Carlton were expected to get the first batch of vaccines, which are due to arrive on a weekly...
Gene Shank most often got up before his wife, Linda, did. She had allergies, and at night it could keep her from getting to sleep right away. Gene would let the dogs outside at their home next to the Moose Horn River in Barnum. He'd putz around, get on his computer. It was the "normal life of retired people," he said. Linda was a loud snorer - "she rattled the windows" - and he relied on that rumbling to know she was at least getting her sleep. By mid-morning, he'd start preparing the stinging...
Sally DeVriendt sent us a note regarding the naming of Alcohol Road in Wrenshall. Her story is similar to ones we heard from others. No one seems to know how the road was actually named but it’s certain there were booming bootlegging operations in and around Wrenshall during the prohibition years, which ran from 1919 to 1933. DeVriendt including a clipping from a local paper about arrests of the relatives she talks about in her comment. A check of reports from the daily paper in Duluth show a whole string of arrests, especially in the early y...
Youth hockey players choose teams for an afternoon shinny game on the new and improved outdoor rink behind the Pine Valley Ice Arena Dec. 16. Members of the Cloquet Area Hockey Association and even some high school students tore down the old boards and dug up the ground below the rink this summer to create a bigger and better rink. Although the rink was the first to be frozen and ready for skaters, city parks staff have flooded the rinks at Pinehurst Park, Athletic Park and Sunnyside. Parks...
Carlton County residents are encouraged to recycle their fresh-cut Christmas trees during Treecycling, a free program with dropoff locations throughout the region. “Holiday trees, like yard and garden waste, are banned from the trash in Minnesota,” said Karen Anderson, WLSSD’s director of community relations. “Trees contain valuable resources that can be reclaimed through Treecycling. Collected trees will be beneficially reused as fuel, as mulch to line paths or for other purposes, while recovering resources and saving landfill space.” As in th...
The 2020 Christmas Lighting Challenge winners were announced this week, with individual winners for Duluth, Cloquet, Superior and Hermantown. In Cloquet, Reliable Insurance on Carlton Avenue won Best in business, not surprisingly, and will move into the Masters category next year. Steve Torgeson won for Cloquet in the residential category; find his home at 5164 Canosia Road. Duluth was voted favorite Christmas City and Superior’s Brett and Amanda Defoe won the master category; find them at 2101 East Third St. in Superior. Find all of this y...
When Cloquet Community Ed director Ruth Reeves pictured retiring this year, in her mind she saw herself enjoying each activity one last time. "Each last whatever, I told myself I would really really take the time and enjoy it," Reeves said. "And then we just started canceling things in March. And we kept canceling things." She had planned to step down at the end of the fiscal year in June, but it was just too "weird" she said. So she figured maybe things would be better in December. "Of course,...
According to an email from Cloquet schools superintendent Michael Cary, the district is eying Jan. 4 for the Cloquet school district to begin to evaluate its ability to return elementary students to classrooms. This follows new recommendations from the state which allows and even encourages school districts to return elementary students (not secondary) to full in-person instruction, even when county case rates remain elevated, beginning on Jan. 18. If districts choose to return students to in-person or hybrid learning, the implementation must...
The good news for the Carlton school district is that there were no surprises and things stayed pretty much the same as years before in the annual audit released Monday night. That’s also the bad news as the district continues to face rising costs associated with more students living within the district choosing to go to school somewhere else. The district is not getting “economies of scale,” reported Matt Mayer from BerganKDV, which performed the audit. He was reporting at the final regular meeting of the school board for the year. In 2016,...
Residents at Cloquet's Aspen Arms got into the holiday spirit with a door decorating contest. Nearly 20 residents at the apartment building on 14th Street dressed up doors in creative ways, with everything from a beach scene to a snowman. A more traditional take on the Christian holiday, "Birth of Jesus" by Linda Johnson, took first prize, with Matt Manty's grinchy social commentary on 2020 "Stink, Stank, Stunk" snagging second. Third place, which showed Santa stuck in a chimney, went to Fay...
Prekindergarten through second-grade students in the Esko school district will return to in-person learning effective Jan. 19, following both the recommendation of Gov. Tim Walz and a unanimous vote by the Esko school board Monday night. The governor — a teacher for more than 20 years — announced last week that the state’s Safe Learning Plan had been updated to allow every elementary school across the state to return to in-person learning effective Jan. 18, as long as they can implement addit...
The Thomson Town board came through bigtime for Esko Community Education during its meeting Thursday, Dec. 17. These are tough times for the organization, which is part of the Esko school district. Community Ed has suffered financially from the pandemic — which restricted classes and activities, resulting in reduced revenue — and asked for funds from the town’s recreation fund. After agreeing to donate $2,000 to Community Ed as it has for years, along with an additional $2,000 to sponsor Esko...
Santa Claus made a surprise visit to the B&B Market in Cloquet Saturday afternoon, courtesy of Halvor Lines. He estimated about 200 children stopped by to visit and tell him what they were hoping to find under the tree from two benches set up in front of Santa's chair. "We're trying to do something to lift everyone's spirits," said Santa, as he waved to passing cars. "It's difficult to get around the (Covid-19) restrictions, but I think we managed it." Santa said he wanted to get to Cloquet...
We can’t say it any better, so for Christmas, we share with you the prose poem, “Desiderata,” written by Max Ehrmann in 1927. The title itself means things that are desired or wanted, in this case, desired qualities of the soul and of the heart. Desiderata Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid...
It was an infamous utterance made more than five decades ago. “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” So said Beatles member John Lennon in 1966, during a newspaper interview, where he was discussing his evolving thoughts on the meaning of life and God’s place in his world. The backlash in the United States was swift and forceful. Once his remarks were published here, riots broke out, albeit not the kind of riots we see today. People gathered at concert entrances to protest. Radio stations refused...
When I was growing up in Cloquet and Carlton county in the 1960’s, basketball was, in popularity, definitely the king of winter high school boys sports. Most of who were considered each school‘s “best athletes” played hoops (OK, I might get a few arguments here and slightly I’m looking through rose colored glasses as I played basketball). However, for the majority of county players, and for sure all females, there wasn’t a sports option. Basketball was the only winter sport offered at many of...
Bernard "Ben" Allan Hanson, 87, passed away Dec. 15, 2020, at New Perspective assisted living in Cloquet, surrounded by his family. He was born Nov. 21, 1933, to Albert and Julia (Blegen) Hanson. He grew up in the Aitkin area, attending schools in Thor and Aitkin, graduating in 1952. After graduation he worked on several farms in North Dakota. Ben worked as a lineman in Denver before being drafted into the U.S. Army June 9, 1954. He was stationed in France and honorably discharged May 16, 1956....
Alice Irene Hurd, 86, of Maple Plain passed away Dec. 21, 2020, at Haven Homes. Born on April 1, 1934, in Rossburg, she was the daughter of John and Minnie (Mattson) Preston. She grew up in the Kimberly area and attended school in Kimberly and Aitkin. She was united in marriage to Raymond Hurd on July 22, 1950. They lived in several locations within Aitkin County and raised their four children there. Alice worked as a home health aide for many years. She was also a member of the Methodist...
The Cloquet Police Department held its fourth annual Stuff the Squad Dec. 16 outside the Cloquet L&M Fleet Supply and Walmart stores, where people were invited to fill the squad cars with new, unwrapped toys, games, or sporting equipment for the Cloquet Area Salvation Army Toy Drive. Pictured at the L&M store Saturday are CPD officers Laci Silgjord and K-9 Vader, Trevor Kaldor, Ryan Lunda, Dave O'Connor, Larry Sherk and James Demko. O'Connor said between the two stores, the CPD collected five...
Through the contributions of Lake Country Power’s participating members, the Operation Round Up trust board recently approved $53,497 in assistance to various community programs during its quarterly meeting. The cooperative’s trust board reviewed and considered 40 grant applications and distributed funds to 38 projects and programs this past quarter. Since the program’s inception in October 2004, more than $2.5 million has been distributed to community-based projects and programs. Carlton County recipients included the Cloquet Educa...
To thank the men and women who are building Line 3 and the communities all across the right of way, Enbridge purchased more than 3,600 gift cards from northern Minnesota restaurants, totaling more than $90,000. “We wanted to find a way to give back to the communities and businesses in northern Minnesota who we know have experienced significant economic strain due to the pandemic, while also thanking the construction crews who are building the Line 3 Replacement Project,” says Lorraine Little, director of Community Engagement. “Purchasing these...
The Lake Country Power rural electric co-op expects to award college scholarships valued at $4,000 each to more than 30 high school students in 2021. Scholarship recipients can qualify for up to $4,000 over four years to help pay for college or technical school. Scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters, and students must maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or higher. They must have a full-time enrollment status at a technical school, community college or university. The online application process opens Jan. 1 and ends Jan. 31....
With so many folks missing their regular holiday gatherings this year, James Sheetz wanted to share one of his favorite traditions from his time at Wrenshall School. In the 1960s, home economics teacher Joan Urbanski worked with her students to put together a Christmas tea, complete with handmade recipe books. Urbanski still lives in the area. Sheetz asked Audrey (Olson Seboe) Kavanaugh, class of 1965, to reminisce: "I loved everything about it," she said. "Starting with baking and decorating...
As we come to the end of another year, I am longing for better times in the coming new year. I am also reminded of how much I am missing my closest relatives and friends who have passed away. I’m also missing so many folks because we can’t get together like we used to for now. My first memory of losing a dear person in my life was the passing of my dad’s mother, Minnie Dahlman, although I rarely called her by any name other than “Grandma.” During the school year, I would hurry off the school bus...
Carlton County Covid cases continued their downward trend for the fourth week in a row, with an increase of 108 cases and four deaths because of Covid-19 from Tuesday to Tuesday, Dec. 15 to 22. Compared to 172 new cases and eight deaths from Dec. 9-16, it’s a decrease. And those numbers were a decline from Dec. 2-9, when there were 224 new cases and 21 deaths, and Nov. 25-Dec. 2, when there were 327 new cases and seven deaths. But the numbers are still much higher than Carlton County Covid numbers last spring and this summer, when there was jus...
