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 Carlton County board of commissioners voted 3-2 to upgrade the overcrowded Barnum transportation garage and attach a large addition to create a 50,000-plus square-foot facility. The need for a new facility wasn’t debated — it was how to pay for the $10 million bonding package for the construction that commissioners didn’t agree on. In the end, they compromised and voted to use two funding sources to pay the estimated $600,000 yearly payments on $10 million bond for the upgrade and addition. Three sources were considered: a property tax i...
On any given Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday you may see the large group of mountain bikers standing eagerly, roughly in a circle. This group is the Cloquet- Esko-Carlton mountain biking team, and they are itching to get riding on the trails to continue their training for the upcoming races scattered across Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is a significant age range, with the youngest riders in sixth grade and the oldest preparing to start their senior year of high school. The CEC mountain biking...
About a dozen residents attended the hearing on funding a new Carlton County transportation garage in Barnum on Tuesday during the regular meeting of the Carlton County Board of Commissioners. Most people attending voiced concern that using a half-percent sales tax for funding the building would hinder road maintenance projects. In a PowerPoint presentation, county engineer JinYeene Neumann said space is limited at the aging facility, which was built in 1975 and added onto in 1978. In the 1970s, dump trucks were 25-feet long and motor graders w...
The Carlton County Master Gardeners is offering a self-guided tour of gardens in the Barnum and Mahtowa area 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 16. Highlights of the tour will be yards with perennials, vegetables and a pumpkin patch, a lake home with a woodland garden featuring trilliums, Jack-in-the-pulpit, toad lilies and Lady’s Slippers, a residence with beehives and fruit trees and, as an added bonus, a local grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork and poultry farm. Maps for this free event are available at the Extension office in Carlton, TJ’s in Mah...
While students in our area are enjoying summer break, I’m thinking ahead to the start of the new school year. I’d love every student to have one-on-one support, but school districts simply don’t have the resources. Fortunately, Cloquet, Barnum and Carlton all have partners with a literacy program called Minnesota Reading Corps. It helps our students get ready for kindergarten and on track to be successful readers by the end of third grade. To help our students succeed, we’re looking for 12 new tutors for the 2019-20 school year to fill opening...
Roger F. Thompson died May 4, 2019, at his “home on the Rocks” in Apache Junction, Ariz. Visitation: 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. memorial service Saturday, July 20 at Barnum United Community Church. In accordance with Roger’s wishes, a Celebration of Life at his “home on the lake” will be held following the service. All friends and family invited. Donations may be made in Roger’s memory to the Barnum United Methodist Church or to Barnum Dollars for Scholars for the Thompson Scholarship Fund....
Coffee Chat with Mayor Maki at the Cloquet library 1 p.m. Friday, July 12. Hear Mayor Maki’s plans for our city. Mayor Maki recently attended the annual conference of the League of MN Cities with the governor and nearly 600 city officials from across Minnesota. Refreshments provided by the Friends of the Cloquet Library. Music and dancing at the Cloquet VFW Karaoke with Jackie 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Friday, July 12. Two for the Road 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 14. Senior dance with Lindy’s Band 1-4 p.m. Wednesday, July 17; potluck, $7 cover. Smear Lea...
For years, I’ve been asking candidates for sheriff (there’s been only one for more than a decade) and county board how they feel about a new jail. I get to do this because “Harry’s Gang” and the Cloquet Chamber have sponsored candidate forums every election for the past 20 years, and I’ve been fortunate enough to moderate most of them, along with Barry Bergquist. I always included that question, because I thought it was inevitable that a new jail would be necessary in Carlton County. The...
Roger F. Thompson, 85, died May 4, 2019, at his “home on the Rocks” in Apache Junction, Ariz. He was born Dec. 28, 1933, in Cloquet to Chester and Helen Thompson. Roger attended school in Floodwood, Mahtowa, Barnum, and for one year in Moose Lake. He worked for a surveying company, the Wood Conversion Company, Solhiem’s Hardware, Barnum AI, then later for Barnum High School as a bus driver and custodian for more than 35 years. Roger also served on the Barnum school board as clerk. He was active in various community activities including the B...
It seems that summer is really flying by again this year. There are just so many activities to take part in and only so many weekends to get them in. But with this in mind I am asking, no, begging, for volunteers to help out at the Little Red School House at the Carlton County Fair Aug. 15-18 in Barnum. The Carlton County Retired Educators have volunteered for many years at the Little Red School House and need more help this year, as many members have died, and many others can no longer help....
A Nesting Place meets every other Saturday 10-11 a.m. at Community Memorial Hospital, Pine Room. Next meeting: July 6. For those in the third semester of pregnancy, and mothers and their infants up to one year, no matter where they live or delivered their baby. Questions: Brenda Graden, 218-499-6702, [email protected] Music and dancing at the Cloquet VFW Todd Eckart 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 7. Karaoke with Jackie 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Friday, July 12. Two for the Road 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 14. Senior dance with Lindy’s Band 1-4 p.m. W...
The question is not if there will be a new county jail, but what that new building would include, and how Carlton County would make the annual loan payments on such a massive mortgage. Voters are being asked to weigh in on the "how to pay" question in November, when the county will ask for approval of a new half-percent sales tax versus simply raising property taxes to make the annual bond payments. In the meantime, the Carlton County board of commissioners and the county jail executive...
More than four years ago, then county highway engineer Mike Tardy sold a half-percent sales tax levy to upgrade county roads (those identified by a number above 100). He said that extra revenue was needed for major repairs, sometimes a complete overhaul, of these roadways that had little chance of being fixed otherwise. Since the sales tax passed, the record of county road work has been amazing and has widespread support. I have heard the comment often: “We can see the results of the tax we are paying.” These projects come from a dedicated lis...
Steak fry 4-6:45 p.m. Friday, June 28 at Cromwell Park Pavilion. (Hamburger plate also available.) There is also a silent auction 4-6:45 p.m., followed by the variety show 7-9 p.m. Sponsored by the Cromwell Area Community Club CHS Class of 1989 30th reunion 7 p.m. Saturday, June 29 at Cloquet Country Club. [email protected] Pet loss and terminal illness grief support group meets 5:30-7 p.m. the first Monday of the month. Next meeting: July 1. Suite 1000 in the Alworth Bldg, 306 W. Superior St., Duluth. No registration required. 218-481-7660...
The spring sports season wrapped up with what has become a fan and player favorite for all - the Polar League All Star baseball and softball games. Things kicked off Friday at Wade Stadium in West Duluth with the boys taking the spotlight first, facing off as the Polar Blue All Stars vs. the Polar Silver All Stars. From Carlton County, the Blue All Stars featured James LeGarde of Esko, Ryan Gray and Tanner Anderson of the Carlton Bulldogs, Mason Lane of the South Ridge Panthers, and Wyatt...
Few Carlton County taxpayers attended local boards of review to contest — or at least ask questions about — the estimated market value for the buildings and land they own. Land values continue to improve with a typical 40-acre piece valued at $1900 per acre, which is a 6.5 percent increase from last year. The County Board of Appeal and Equalization, made up of the current county commissioners, met Monday, June 17 with only one homeowner from the city of Carlton appearing in person about his property value. Most concerned property taxpayers had...
It’s probably been more than 20 years since there was an active Carlton County fastpitch softball league. I thought about it the other day when I was driving down Minnesota Highway 210 toward Cromwell and passed the old Iverson Inn ballfield. The inn, a bar and restaurant that grilled great hamburgers and served ice-cold beer, burned down to the ground many years ago. The adjacent ball field still has a backstop today but does not resemble the field where I had the privilege of playing f...
A light mist began to fall at 11 a.m., just as riders began to roll their bicycles onto the Munger Trail from the Northern Pacific Junction shelter in Carlton. The occasion was the Carlton County Community Bike Ride on June 9. Organizers were concerned that the cool, wet weather might dampen enthusiasm for the second annual event. With multiple access points to the trail, it would be difficult to know right away how much impact the weather might be having on the turnout. At about the same time t...
With the Great Recession firmly in the rearview mirror, local governmental bodies are eyeing and undertaking building projects that many say are long overdue. In most cases, they're correct. Still, the question of how to fund a public building boom has elected officials scratching their heads, and taxpayers worried that property taxes are going to make their homes unaffordable. In Carlton County - and particularly Cloquet - there are so many big-dollar current and proposed projects, it can be...
Carlton County was well-represented at last week’s Minnesota State High School League Track & Field State Meet. As the largest school in the county, Cloquet was the only school to send athletes to the Class AA meet. Cloquet sent a total of eight athletes to state: Olivia Jameson in both the girls 100-meters hurdles and the high jump, Jordan Allen in the boys 3200-meter run, and the boys 4x800 meter relay team of Mario Genereau, Dennis Osvold, Blaine Bong and Logan Dushkin, with alternates C...
All options are on the table as Carlton County board commissioners try to figure out how to pay up to $10 million for a new or renovated shop building at the Carlton CountyTransportation Center in Barnum. During its Tuesday, June 11 regular session meeting, the board called for public input at a hearing to be held at 9 a.m. July 9 during its regular monthly meeting. Public input is being encouraged in person or by writing a letter. Funding for the transportation garage, whether it’s from a wheelage tax or using monies from the half-cent c...
The 37th annual Barnum Spring Fever Days was “a total hit,” according to Wayne Suronen, president of the Barnum Community Club. “The Miss Barnum pageant was beautiful and well-attended,” he said, noting that they had a full house of supporters to watch the four candidates and their attendants vie for the crown. Allison Began is the new Miss Barnum and first runner-up is Eden Sebring (pictured). “The next night we sold out 300 steaks in two hours and 15 minutes at the annual steak fry — that mi...
Area qualifiers for the Class A State Track & Field Meet in St. Paul this week. • Girls 100 meter dash: Reese Miletich, Barnum (first) • Girls 4x100 meter relay: Gracie Nelson, Brooke Doran, Danna Weets, Reese Miletich, Makenzee Schleret, of Barnum (second) • Girls 4x200 meter relay: Mikayla Mellesmoen, Sophie Lenz, Courteney Sajdak, Jaden Ellefson, Taylore Mejdrich, Kenna Ridge, of South Ridge/Cherry/Northwoods (second) • Girls pole vault: Skyla Thompson, Moose Lake/Willow River (second...
Congratulations, graduates. And there are so many of you. With nine high schools in Carlton County, there are nine graduation ceremonies to attend. Barnum and Esko both hold their ceremonies tonight, May 31. Wrenshall, Carlton, Cromwell-Wright, Fond du Lac and Cloquet all held ceremonies last Friday, May 24. Moose Lake matriculated its students last Sunday, May 26, in an afternoon ceremony and the Cloquet Area Alternative Education Program held its graduation program the afternoon of May 23. In our view, attending a graduation ceremony brings...
Ready, set, start a tradition. The second annual Carlton County Community Bike Ride is set for trails across Carlton County Saturday, June 9. Beginning at 11 a.m., there will be treats, food, activities for all ages, entertainment and, most importantly, water, at all four rest stops on the Munger Trail: the DNR pavilion in Carlton, TJ’s Country Corner in Mahtowa, the Munger Trail parking lot in Barnum and the Historic Train Depot in Moose Lake. This year two different homegrown bands will be performing at different spots along the trail. The La...
