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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Thursday, Dec. 26 Boys Basketball Deer River 81 Fond du Lac 47 Esko 69 East Central 37 Boys Hockey CEC 4 Luverne 1 Friday, Dec. 27 Boys Basketball Cloquet 82 Cromwell-Wright 48 Warroad 72 ML/WR 42 Proctor 51 Fond du Lac 50 South Ridge 63 Chisholm 62 Esko 74 Duluth Marshall 53 Girls Basketball Melrose 48 Carlton/Wrenshall 20 Hermantown 68 Esko 50 Cloquet 59 Mesabi East 43 Cromwell-Wright 63 Pine City 29 Boys Hockey St. Cloud 2 CEC 1 Girls Hockey Mankato East 5 MLA 1 Saturday, Dec. 28 Boys Hockey CEC 6 Mankato East 0 Girls Hockey Pine City 5 MLA...
The Moose Lake Area girls hockey team held a one-goal lead over Cloquet-Esko-Carlton entering the third period on Dec. 20. The Rebels were able to fight through penalties and CEC's push to tie the game by scoring two late empty-net goals for a 3-0 victory over the Lumberjacks. MLA grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 8:07 mark of the first period on a goal by Hallie Klavu with assists going to Sandra Ribich and Lily Ludwig. "The last time we played CEC, they got three goals in the first seven minutes of...
The 2024 version of the Wood City Classic boys basketball tournament was held last Friday and Saturday at Cloquet Middle School, and the venerable tournament did not disappoint local basketball fans. "It is always a good tournament and we love coming to play here," said Cromwell-Wright coach Bill Pocernich. "There's always good competition against good teams." The host Lumberjacks took on Pocernich's Cardinals in the opening game for both teams. Cloquet came out on top 82-48. "We started well...
The Wood City Classic girls basketball tournament is in the books, and both local teams went 1-1 in the tournament. Cloquet opened with a win over Mesabi East and then lost to Pine City, while Cromwell-Wright started with an easy win over Pine City, but then fell to Mesabi East in their second game. A year ago, Cloquet entered the tournament with an 8-0 record and looked to be the favorite in Section 7AAA, but Mesabi East put a stop to the win streak. That loss kickstarted a downward spiral for...
More than 400 people turned out for the annual community Christmas meal in Cloquet on Dec. 25. Carlton County Disabled American Veterans member and lead organizer Raffy Johnson said it’s important to keep the tradition going for him and for all the people who enjoy having their Christmas meal together, recalling the days that his late father, Dave, organized the meal with other Zion members. The meal has been served at the Cloquet church for more than 30 years. Johnson said volunteers help m...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
After nine seasons as the head coach of the Esko football team, Scott Arntson has decided to step down and focus on family, freeing up time in what is a very busy life. "I just felt this was the right time and situation for me to step aside," Arntson said. 'I have a granddaughter and another grandchild on the way. My granddaughter lives in Duluth, and I hardly saw her during the season, and the new one will be living in Wausau, so I know if I was the head coach I wouldn't be able to spend the...
Special Bulletin — We are hopefully having a white Christmas this year, and it certainly won’t be blue for area children. The North Pole News is pleased to announce that it has once again teamed with the staff at the Pine Knot News to deliver letters to Santa at the North Pole — on time, with room to spare. Santa has released statistics from his lists and it was reported that 99.99 percent of the children and pets in Carlton County made it on the nice list, making them eligible for speci...
Two familiar faces are among the six candidates set to interview for a spot on Cloquet's school board later this month. Cloquet public schools leaders on Monday, Dec. 9, agreed to interview Brendon McKeon, Robert Peacock, Nate Sandman, Jason Loons, Shaun Williams and Ted Lammi next week. Each hopes to replace Sarah Buhs, a board member who resigned effective in January after she was elected to the Carlton County board of commissioners in November. The current board members agreed to meet...
Greg White describes himself as a father, husband, firefighter, outdoorsman and mental health advocate. Now the Cloquet Area Fire District firefighter can add the title of "champ" to the list, after being crowned winner of the 'Stache Salt moustache competition and title of "2024 Saltiest 'Stache of the Year" last week. Sponsored by 'Stache Salt, the monthlong online competition included a number of judges challenges to get to the Top 10. From that point, it was a popularity contest, with the to...
