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It was surprising to not see University of Minnesota Gopher coaches P.J. Fleck and Ben Johnson pushing their way through the Esko gymnasium doors at the Jan. 12 boys basketball game. After all, Esko's Koi Perich (football) and Cherry's Isaac Asuma (basketball) are two of the most heralded 2024 Gopher recruits in their respective sports and they were playing each other in a clash of northeastern Minnesota powerhouse teams. Cherry prevailed over Esko, turning a close game at halftime into a...
What do Minnesota farmers do in the wintertime? Aside from livestock chores, machinery repair, record analysis, next-season planning, and a little more family time, they can improve their knowledge and networks by attending conferences. When meat and poultry farmer Mark Thell, chair of the Carlton County Chapter of the Minnesota Farmers Union, fell ill last week, I was asked to attend the 21st annual Minnesota Organic Conference Jan. 11-12 in St. Cloud. The event drew over 300 hundred...
Bonnie Mae Edin, 83, of Spokane, Washington, and formerly of Cloquet, passed away Jan. 9, 2024. She was born on April 16, 1940, to Arthur and Hilma (Sipola) Swanson in Cloquet, where she grew up and graduated from high school in 1958. She worked at the Northwest Paper Company, helped run Rog's Galley, a successful drive-in restaurant in Esko, and retired from Carlton County Health and Adult Services in 1999, after almost 20 years of service. Bonnie was a very outgoing and caring person who...
A suspected double murder/suicide at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet Monday resulted in the death of a Cloquet woman and two male hotel guests, one of the men the killer. The shooting forced the evacuation of the hotel and nearby businesses and a community lockdown as authorities searched for a suspect. That search ended in the hotel parking lot, where the suspected shooter was found dead with evidence suggesting a self-inflicted gunshot wound. By midweek, investigators still had no information on...
Ready or not, it’s time to start thinking about voting in what amounts to an election-heavy year. Next Friday, Jan. 19, marks the start of absentee voting for the state’s presidential nomination primary on March 5 — the first of three important election dates in 2024. Absentee voting begins 46 days before an election day. Subsequent election dates include the Aug. 13 primary and the general election on Nov. 5. Voters residing in Carlton County may cast in-person absentee ballots at the courthouse in Carlton (301 Walnut Ave., Room 205) from...
A dispute involving a boxcutter between two students at Barnum schools Tuesday led to a short lockdown and an arrest of a 14-year-old girl. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office reported that it received a call from the district just after 9 a.m. about a student attacking a classmate with a knife. A 16-year-old boy suffered a slight slash wound to his chest. When deputies arrived, school staff had subdued the 14-year-old girl and were taking care of the boy. The victim was brought to Mercy Hospital in a private car and is “expected to make a ful...
Carlton school board filled its leadership positions at its organizational meeting Monday. Julianne Emerson was re-elected to her position as chair. This will be her fourth consecutive year in the role. To date, she has served on the board 11 years total, leaving in 2018 and returning in 2020 as a write-in candidate. Over her previous terms starting in 2010, she served as chair for six years. Salaries for board members were renewed without change. Board members receive $1,000 a year plus $40 a meeting. Based on the tentative schedule, a member...
Residents of Carlton County are eligible to apply for dislocated worker funding. This funding can be life-changing for people who have been laid off from a job and need a way to recover lost wages and benefits, according to JET, which serves adults, dislocated workers, public assistance recipients, and youth ages 14. Applicants must have been on Unemployment Insurance sometime in the past year to be considered. Funding can be used to assist with training and job search expenses such as help paying tuition for a 2-year degree or the last two...
There's a new game, and a lot of craft beer, in town. The 218 TapHouse opened for business on Wednesday, Dec. 27, in the business complex that includes Premiere Theatres on South Highway 33 in Cloquet. Southgate Family Pizza previously operated in the space that is now home to 218 TapHouse. "We had a very successful first week," said bar manager Dane Levinski. "Opening day was on a Wednesday and our seating was full with a good standing room crowd. Our weekends have been very popular." "The...
It's hard to believe, but Noah Parker has been the CEO of a thriving Highway 5, Carlton County seasonal business for 10 years ... after all, he's only 23. "I was 13 and asked my dad if he could give me money to go and see a movie," Parker said. "He told me, 'all the money you need is out here in the yard in the grass.' I didn't know what he meant." His dad then told him that he'd have to work hard, but could make plenty of spending money by picking and selling nightcrawlers to prospective...
Recycle your Christmas tree Carlton County residents are encouraged to recycle Christmas trees during Treecycling, a free program with drop-off locations throughout the region. Christmas trees, like yard waste, are banned from landfills in Minnesota. Remove all ornaments, tinsel, lights, tree stands and tree bags before bringing trees in. Here are the locations: • SAPPI Fine Paper (gatehouse entrance), Avenue B in Cloquet through Jan. 31. • Moose Lake Compost and Recycling Site, 2-6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturda...
The Carlton County land department took to social media last week to celebrate expansion of its trail network and partnerships with local “hook and bullet” clubs that proved invaluable to making it happen. “This partnership led to 11 miles of non-motorized recreation trails being established and reopened after suffering from winter storm damage,” the land department wrote on Facebook, showcasing pristine-looking hunter-walking and hiking trails outside Wrenshall and Moose Lake. The newest...
Barring an emergency, there will be no New Year's baby at Cloquet's Community Memorial Hospital this year. The three delivery suites - with private baths and whirlpools, forest views and aromatherapy patches - sit empty. "We've got a pause on it right now," said Rick Breuer, CEO of the independent nonprofit hospital. It is not a permanent change at this point, but it was necessary due to low staffing levels, Breuer said of the decision made last summer. "As much as I hate to blame anything on...
It was a December like no other in Carlton County, not even the strange one in 1877-78 that augured a remarkable winter into the spring. In short, history was made as the region and the state had its warmest December. This comes after history was made last season in high snowfall totals. Cloquet saw temperatures average nearly 10 degrees warmer than normal last month at 25.1 degrees at the Cloquet Forestry Center. Recordings were higher at the Fond du Lac Reservation weather station (29.2) and...
Over $9.5 million in new state grants will help aging Minnesotans stay in their homes longer through services such as caregiver support, housekeeping, retrofitting to prevent falls and other assistance. Research shows that people are happier and have better health outcomes when they can live in their homes longer, rather than moving into institutionalized care such as nursing homes. Projects funded in the Minnesota Department of Human Services include Volunteer Services of Carlton County with $192,000. The grant will help rebuild programs...
A giant warehouse that will one day support the medical supply needs for more than 100 Essentia Health facilities has transformed the Esko Industrial Park over the past several months. Hidden from Highway 61 - where the park entrance is located - the dark rectangular building looms large to those driving past on Interstate 35. It represents a $36 million investment by the regional health care system. According to Essentia spokesperson Tony Matt, the building structure is complete. Contractors...
Essentia Health isn't the only health care provider currently in the process of constructing a warehouse in Carlton County. While not nearly as sprawling as the 163,000-square-foot hospital warehouse in Esko, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is building a warehouse at the corner of Airport and Jolicouer roads. The 100-by-60-foot warehouse will serve the Band's nearby Min No Aya Win Human Services Center, and its assorted clinics, which provide medical, dental, behavioral health,...
The Carlton County board ushered in the new year with its annual meeting and changing of leadership in the chair position. Last year's chair, Dick Brenner, nominated Susan Zmyslony to succeed him and she earned a unanimous vote Tuesday at the Transportation Building in Carlton. "Thank you; I appreciate it," said a humbled Zmyslony before immediately turning to the agenda. Zmyslony had mentioned Brenner during the final meeting of last year, Dec. 26. "I'd like to take this opportunity, Dick, to...
A Carlton County man who was sentenced last month for shooting his ailing wife died by suicide two days later in a Minnesota prison. Judge Amy Lukasavitz had sentenced 67-year-old Raymond Arthur Julian to 25 ½ years in prison — the guideline sentence — after an emotional sentencing hearing at the Carlton County Courthouse Dec. 18. (Find that story in the Dec. 22 issue of the Pine Knot News.) Aaron Swanum, Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson, confirmed that Julian entered Minn...
Reviewing the recent home mailing from the Cloquet Educational Foundation, I recalled an exceptional environmental learning experience with my son at Wolf Ridge Center in Finland, Minnesota. It was around Thanksgiving 2000. Fifth-graders from Cloquet took a bus to the center to experience being outside and hiking, looking at the stars, feeding birds, the infamous “ropes” obstacle course, staying overnight, and interacting with other students and parents. I was a parent chaperone. Wolf Ridge is...
Years ago, the United Way of Carlton County was in a bit of a pickle. Potlatch had just been sold to Sappi; there were layoffs and uncertainty, and the annual United Way campaign was in jeopardy. A significant amount of the money raised each year was from the good people at Potlatch, and that year the donations were way down from previous years. Thankfully, they’ve rebounded since, but that year things were tough. Of course, the community was hurting too, and organizations and people who r...
Once again, Zion Lutheran Church hosted the annual Christmas community dinner in Cloquet, bringing joy and an assortment of appetizers, meatballs, ham, mashed potatoes and more to hundreds of folks. It was a church tradition for nearly 25 years, but the Carlton County Disabled American Veterans have been running the show since 2021. Working the meal is a regular volunteer gig for many veterans and their family members, including Tammy Nephew - unofficial charcuterie and dessert table commander...
Cloquet police have lifted the shelter-in-place order issued in response to a shooting at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet. Law enforcement officials confirmed three people died, including one person they believe was the shooter. Cloquet police issued an online warning to residents of Big Lake Road and Highway 33 area just after 7 p.m. Monday to remain home, lock doors and shelter in place as there was an active shooter incident in progress with the suspect still at large. For several hours Monday,...
After responding to a shooting, then issuing and later lifting an order to shelter-in-place, the Cloquet Police Department confirmed that a man killed two people at the Super 8 in Cloquet before taking his own life. According to a Cloquet Police Department news release, an employee of the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet called 911 at approximately 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, to report they'd found another hotel employee who looked like she'd been attacked. Cloquet police responded and found a...
Three people from three different cities were killed Monday in a suspected double murder/suicide at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet that forced the evacuation of the hotel and a community lockdown as authorities searched for a suspect. That search ended on hotel property, where the suspected shooter was found dead with evidence suggesting a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police continue to search for a motive. "Last night was a very difficult night for our community," said Cloquet Police Chief Derek...