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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Unrelenting rainfall this past spring has culminated in historic flooding across the state, especially during the first weekend of official summer last week. Carlton County was not spared, but while water levels were high and rapidly moving water posed a risk, the area was spared any major damage. The St. Louis River in Scanlon crested at just more than 11 feet Monday, and slowly receded as the week went on. Carlton County Emergency Management director Marlyn Halvorson said close monitoring...
Police are in short supply these days, so Cloquet city councilors voted Tuesday to spend the money to keep its department competitive, approving raises of 6, 5 and 4 percent in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Then they voted again after a closed session to make the pay even more competitive: adding a "market adjustment" to police hourly pay, a move that will likely increase taxes, city officials say. "We value our police department and we want to keep them working in Cloquet," said Ward 4 councilor Kerry...
Storm chasing is a dangerous and unpredictable hobby, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. For me, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of chasing a storm cell and trying to capture the perfect shot. I had the opportunity to do just that when a severe thunderstorm warning was issued June 12 for our area. I grabbed my camera and headed out into the field, hoping to get a glimpse of a tornado or just amazing cloud formations. As I drove, I watched the storm clouds build in the distance. T...
Earlier this month the Pine Knot reported on a proposal by Talon Metals to bring a nickel mine to Tamarack, near the border of Carlton County and Aitkin County. But it’s not the only mineral-based exploration being conducted in the area. Rio Tinto, the second-largest mining group in the world, has conducted an exploratory drill in Carlton County, outside Tamarack, in an attempt to locate bedrock that would be ripe for carbon sequestration. The area is part of the 11-mile Tamarack Intrusive Complex that has had 500 exploratory drills in s...
A Cloquet man who once served time for kidnapping and raping an ex-girlfriend was found guilty by a jury on June 7 of four felony counts related to his attempted sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl. Tony Allen Gohl, 40, was charged in fall 2023 with a series of crimes related to an incident involving a girl he’d been taking care of for approximately one year. His trial was conducted at the Sixth District Carlton County Courthouse before Judge Rebekka Stumme. The jury found Gohl guilty of two counts of attempted criminal sexual conduct in t...
The Laveau Grandview Dairy in Wrenshall, Carlton County, will host Breakfast on the Farm from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 29 at 508 Cemetery Road in Wrenshall. The event includes a breakfast, farm tours, milking demonstrations, wagon rides and hands-on activities for all ages. The event is free, including breakfast (pancakes, sausage, milk, and coffee). Donations will be accepted. There is parking on site, with a tractor-pulled carriage for your convenience....
A rural Carlton County man pleaded guilty to producing child pornography in U.S. District Court earlier this month. Cord Cameron Schipman, 33, was arrested last fall after an FBI covert operation revealed “sexually explicit contact” with a minor, including an explicit photograph. According to the criminal complaint, a special online covert FBI employee was searching chat rooms on Kik Messenger, which the National Center on Sexual Exploitation calls a “predator’s paradise.” They found a post by Schipman under the name Cord218 in a chat room...
In recent weeks, local schools held graduation ceremonies to honor this rite of passage into adulthood. These are momentous occasions, but most of us carry few memories of the speeches or the ritual after a few years have passed. What we do carry with us are the knowledge and lifelong emotional connections to our classmates. The grad parties and celebrations will continue for a while, but then it is time to move on. As the Class of ’24 continues to find its way in the world, they hold m...
For 36 years, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has fulfilled its mission of providing higher education opportunities for its communities in a welcoming, culturally diverse environment. As an institution, we have much to be grateful for. In reflecting on our history, my thoughts go back to what took place behind the scenes in 1987, and years prior, to officially establish our unique institution. We are the only college in the nation that is both a Tribal college and a state community...
Foundation grants increase The Northland Foundation has increased the amount of funding available through its Native American-led Maada’ookiing program to $5,000 per grant, twice the previous cap of $2,500. The increase is effective immediately, so those applying for the fall 2024 grant round (Sept. 15 deadline) may request up to $5,000. The board also opted to allow recipients to apply for additional grants within the same year. “Grantees are facing higher expenses for supplies, renting spa...
Pine Knot News staff report Whether you’re looking for a way to while away an afternoon or plan an entire week’s worth of activities — staycation style — there’s plenty to do in Carlton County. Now that summer has taken hold, it’s the perfect time to explore everything the area has to offer, from hiking in Jay Cooke State Park and whitewater rafting down the St. Louis River, swimming at The Beach or perfect rainy day attractions like our local museums. Established in 1857 and home to more than 3...
Erik Peterson does what he loves, consulting for grassroots advocacy in agriculture, the environment and social justice. It finds him regularly doing work with people all over the world, including as far away as Australia. All of it he does from his home off North Cloquet Road in Esko, since 2009. For some tasks, he's got to make sure his wife is not on the computer, so that his internet connection through telephone lines isn't disrupted. It was years before the Petersons learned that not all...
Carlton County office will be closed Wednesday in honor of the Juneteenth Holiday. This includes County Courthouse offices, County Government Services Building, County Transportation Department, Human Services, Public Health, Motor Vehicle License Bureau, Veterans Service Office, and the University of Minnesota Extension Service/Carlton County. The Hwy 210 Transfer Station will be open Wednesday. Cloquet City Hall is also closed Wednesday and the U.S. Postal Service....
A 60-year-old Mahtowa Township man was charged with arson after allegedly setting a barn on fire following a dispute. Dennis James Jurek was charged in Sixth District Carlton County Court Tuesday, June 11, with first- and second-degree felony arson, felony first-degree damage to property with foreseeable risk of bodily harm and three gross misdemeanor charges of physically assaulting and interfering with a police officer. According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 9:52 p.m. Sunday, June 9, Fond du Lac and assisting law enforcement...
Two parking lots in downtown Esko are the site of the latest Superfund cleanup in Carlton County. The site in Esko amounts to the Post Office and its lot, plus another lot used as an auxiliary student parking lot by Esko High School during the school year. Similar to the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station in Cloquet, dry cleaning chemicals are the main culprit. A building on the site that was first a creamery, then a coin-operated dry cleaner, was demolished in the 1980s. Chemicals used in dry...
My granddaughter was recently sitting on my lap and asked, "Why do you have such hairy knuckles, Grandpa?" Kind of a personal question, but it made me pause and think. My dad had hairy knuckles. The hair even curled. To my eyes, he always had big, strong hands. He died 40 years ago, when I was 29. My dad, for most of his working life, was a car mechanic and gas station owner. When not at work, he was putzing around in his four-stall garage. He could fix almost anything: cars, plumbing,...
Kerry Rodd [email protected] Carlton County was well-represented last weekend at the Class A Minnesota State High School League's boys and girls track and field state meet at St. Michael-Albertville High School. While there was no state champion from the area this season, a number of athletes made the finals and medaled for being in the top 10 places. Barnum's Annaka Bogenholm had the best state meet of all area athletes by finishing third in the discus in Class A and seventh in the shot...
Charles "Carl" Oswell, the last Civil War veteran buried in Carlton County, was honored in a ceremony at the Atkinson Community Cemetery on Saturday, June 1. Born in Oslo, Norway, in 1847, Oswell enlisted into Company C of the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment on Feb. 15, 1865. He served in Georgia and mustered out on July 8 in Savannah, Georgia. He and his wife, Juliana, moved to the Twin Lakes area in Carlton County in 1900. They raised eight children. He died at age 90 in 1938,...
Carlton County is now using the Schneider Geospatial’s Beacon product for land assessment and tax information. Beacon is an interactive public access website that allows users to interact and view county information, public records, and the county’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in one place. Carlton County’s web portal features a public site that includes important property taxation and assessment information, in-depth search capabilities and property reports. There is an interactive map of the county’s GIS data and aerial photogr...
The candidate filing period for political races subject to a primary election ended on Tuesday, yielding a ballot with more than a few surprises. In Cloquet, councilors Lara Wilkinson, Iris Keller, Kerry Kolodge and Lyz Jaakola will all run unopposed, barring a write-in campaign mounted against any of them, on the Nov. 5 ballot. In Carlton County, the commissioners’ races are a tale of three different outcomes. To replace outgoing Dick Brenner in District 1, representing west Cloquet, Scanlon and Sawyer, Sarah Plante Buhs and Caleb Dunlap will...
MPR News A man convicted of killing a Minneapolis teenager will need to be re-tried, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a guilty verdict in the case. In January 2023, Cody Fohrenkam, a former Calrton County resident was found guilty of fatally shooting 15-year-old North High School student Deshaun Hill in 2022. Fohrenkam was sentenced to more than 38 years in prison. In an appeal of the jury’s verdict, Fohrenkam argued that he was unconstitutionally detained for an interrogation early in the investigation of the case. P...
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is planning to treat six areas in Carlton County and one area in St. Louis County to manage spongy moth infestations detected in those areas last fall. Officials plan to conduct the first of two rounds of aerial management activities the week of June 10, a news release said. The exact date and time of aerial management activities are heavily dependent on weather conditions and insect development. For the most up-to-date information on these activities, cit...
The Brule-St. Croix Chapter of the North Country Trail Association celebrated on June 1 the completion of the new State Line Trailhead and new segment southeast of Wrenshall off the Military Road. Speakers, a ribbon cutting, and guided hikes marked the occasion. U.S. Senator Tina Smith was there to help cut the ribbon, along with Carlton County land commissioner Mark Westphal, former land commissioner Greg Bernu, Superior Hiking Trail Association executive director Lisa Luokkala, and leaders...
Oh, glorious summer in Minnesota, we hail thee. Sunny days with blue skies and so much green. Summer rains. Pinehurst Park will soon be brightly lit at night with summer softball leagues, and the swimming pond is full and opens its doors next week. Whitewater rafting has plenty of water to ride in the St. Louis River, which is high and impressive, but not threatening (yet). The drought is no more in Carlton County and most of the state, a happy change. The farmers market is open again, mini golf opens soon and folks are firing up their grills...
Thank you, Mike Creger, for the excellent article about Cloquet native William Dupont in the May 24 edition of the Pine Knot News. It is the perfect reminder of what Memorial Day is all about. It is a very somber and poignant article that touches on the experience that way too many families across America have experienced when a loved one dies in warfare. You did a great job of introducing readers to the person behind the statistic. I was especially keen while reading the article because my paternal great-uncle from Itasca County was a B-17...
