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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Carlton County's emergency management director isn't yet willing to concede the county dodged a bullet with the spring flooding this year. He's worried about what Mother Nature could bring next. "I'm always worried about the weather," Marlyn Halvorson said, chuckling. "Snow, cold weather, rain, all those things play into it." Water levels in the St. Louis River rose dramatically late last week, going from 10 feet in Scanlon at 4 p.m. Thursday to more than 13 feet only 24 hours later, thanks to...
The fire station in Scanlon will be eliminated as part of a new long-term plan for the Cloquet Area Fire District. Fire District chief Jesse Buhs is aiming for a financially leaner fire district in the coming years. He and other staff spent the past year coming up with a plan to make the district more financially sustainable, build reserves and ultimately save taxpayer dollars, Buhs said. Board members approved the changes unanimously Wednesday at their monthly meeting, with CAFD chairwoman...
Firefighters responded to a home on one of Cloquet's shortest streets after a resident smelled smoke around 9 p.m. Saturday, April 8. The response was quick and damage was minimal, thanks to the early notification by the resident, said Cloquet Area Fire District battalion chief Jason Maki. Police arrived first at the home on 6 ½ Street and doused the flames with a fire extinguisher. Cloquet Area Fire District firefighters extinguished the fire a second time when it flared back up. Due to...
It's that time of year again, and those volunteers that make Carlton County a safer place to live by providing emergency medical services throughout the year were recognized at the Carlton County board meeting on March 14. Moose Lake Fire District chief Steve Trenhaile presented the awards to each of the recipients. Trenhaile has spearheaded the EMS and fire department training in Moose Lake. Erik Bergstedt was honored as "Person of the Year" for EMS. Bergstedt is an emergency department nurse...
A quick and aggressive response by firefighters saved the storefronts at the Bergquist complex last week, but the large warehouses in the back are likely a complete loss. Cloquet Area Fire District Chief Jesse Buhs said the stores were connected to the warehouses by two breezeways. Both Bergquist Imports and Erbert & Gerbert's sandwich shop sustained smoke damage, but the fire didn't spread to the front. Erbert & Gerbert's owner Al Kurtz used Facebook to thank fire suppression efforts, saying...
No one was hurt Saturday when the pilot of an experimental light sport aircraft made an emergency landing on the ice-covered Big Lake Saturday afternoon. The Carlton County Sheriff's Office described the aircraft as a "home-built fixed-wing aircraft" in a news release, explaining that the landing was planned after pilot Rich Mattson realized one of the landing gear wheels had broken off when he departed from Fish Lake in Fredenberg Township in St. Louis County. After originally planning to land...
A fire at the site of Bergquist Imports along the Minnesota Highway 33 frontage road in Cloquet drew a large response Wednesday afternoon as smoke poured from the back of the complex of buildings. Steady smoke curled from the back, carrying across the four lanes of Highway 33 and blowing south. Firefighters with axes and steel wrecking bars were entering at the back of the complex, disappearing into thick smoke. "I'm a little shocked," said Barry Bergquist, who owns three buildings on the site,...
Now seven weeks into the Minnesota legislative session, here are some highlights taken from weekly email updates provided by District 11A State Rep. Jeff Dotseth, R-Silver Township. Local issues Dotseth was chief author on bills advocating for legislation to appropriate funding to improve Highway 73 south of Cromwell, as well as a Cloquet Area Fire District request for $10 million in state funding toward a new ambulance and fire district facility. He also signed onto a bill to help farmers...
Carlton County will receive more than $700,000 in state disaster relief following the winter storm Dec. 12-16 which coated the region with heavy snow, breaking tree limbs and crippling power infrastructure for days. Carlton County gathered details from townships and jurisdictions throughout the county and submitted for $979,360 in costs associated with cleanup and repair. The National Weather Service referred to the storm as a “blue” blizzard becasue of the high water content in the snow tha...
A Saginaw man died after a snowmobile accident last Friday night, Feb. 10. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said first responders were dispatched just before 11 p.m. to a trail in Floodwood Township. Leroy Warner, 67, was reportedly not breathing. “Despite lifesaving efforts by friends, deputies and medical personnel … he was pronounced deceased,” the sheriff’s office reported. Warner’s obituary can be found on Page 18 of today’s Pine Knot News. In it, family said he died “having fun with his wife and close friends, doing what he loved....
A small one-person aircraft made an emergency landing on the ice-covered Big Lake Saturday afternoon after losing part of its landing gear. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The Carlton County Sheriff's Office described the aircraft as a "home built fixed wing aircraft" in a news release, explaining that the landing was planned after the pilot realized one of the plane's two front wheels had been lost when he departed from Fish Lake in Fredenberg Township (St. Louis County). After originally...
A fire at the site of Bergquist Imports along the Minnesota Highway 33 frontage road in Cloquet drew a large response Wednesday afternoon as smoke poured from the back of the complex of buildings. Steady smoke curled from the back, carrying across the four lanes of Highway 33 and blowing south. Firefighters with axes and steel wrecking bars were entering at the back of the complex, disappearing into thick smoke. "I'm a little shocked," said Barry Bergquist, who owns three buildings on the site,...
Bolstering Carlton ambulance service, costs pitched to townships A proposal to create two full-time positions atop the city of Carlton's all-volunteer ambulance service was met with optimism by officials from surrounding townships Jan. 25. "You did a professional job here tonight," Silver Brook Township board chair Duane Laveau said. "You probably sold Silver Brook Township just by the professionalism here tonight." The proposal to beef up ambulance service came in front of more than 40 local...
Cloquet Area Fire District board members started the new year by taking care of official business: selecting the Pine Knot News as the district’s official newspaper, and Frank Yetka as its official attorney. The board also elected officers for 2023. Leadership of the CAFD board will remain the same, with Brevator Township representative Linda Way serving as board chair, Fond du Lac Band rep Bruce Blacketter serving as vice chair and Scanlon rep Marshall Johnson serving as treasurer. Fire chief Jesse Buhs thanked the board members for their s...
After January 27, it will be official: the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team will move to Class A hockey starting next season for at least two years, a move that 90 percent of parents in the hockey program supported when polled by the school district earlier this year. "Cloquet has played up since the state went to a two-class system, and even when there was a Tier 1 and Tier 2 system in the early '90s," Cloquet High School activities director Paul Riess said after Monday's Cloquet School...
Once again, the Pine Knot News reached out to elected officials and other area leaders to solicit their New Year’s wishes and/or predictions, with the request that they share their thoughts on things within their own sphere of influence in 75 words or fewer. To find out what they said, read on. Carlton County District 1 Commissioner and chairman Dick Brenner I’m really hopeful for 2023 and I hope our economy turns around. In the county, the big thing moving forward is getting closer to the completion of the new Justice Center. And we’re going...
As 2022 came to a close, Rep. Mike Sundin left the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul one last time on Wednesday. But not before the Esko Democrat cleared out his office after 10 years as a representative for District 11A. "I'm going back to help Mary Murphy pack up, and that's going to be tough," Sundin said of his fellow DFL lawmaker and longtime friend. "I'll be helping her vacate an office she's held for 46 years. But it's a changing of the guard." It's been that kind of year throughout...
What a difference a year makes. Last December, nearly two dozen upset Thomson Township residents attended the Cloquet Area Fire District truth-in-taxation hearing, many of them to address the board about a more than 300-percent increase in their proposed ambulance taxes. This month’s fire district truth-in-taxation hearing saw only four audience members, with only one — former CAFD board member Eric Rish — from Thomson Township. While Rish used the Dec. 8 meeting to ask several questions about how other communities supplement coverage of ambul...
A fire in rural Cloquet has left North State Services garbage haulers - often referred to as "the one with the pink bins" - scrambling, but determined. "We take it day by day," said Lynnette Hansen, who owns the company alongside her husband, Gerald. "We're trying to do the best we can. We're trying to service our customers. We're not concentrating on anything else but our customers right now." The fire to the company's shop and garage at 7018 Maple Grove Road started at 10 p.m. Dec. 21, and...
About 20 Carlton County residents came to the Truth in Taxation hearing on Tuesday to voice fears of losing their homes under heavy increases in local property taxes. An Eagle Lake summer resident testified she had a 23 percent increase for taxes payable for fiscal year 2023 although she and her husband lived there only 47 percent of the time. Jim Jankowski lives on a small farm in rural Esko where he had milked cows in the past. The farm has been in his family for more than 100 years. The 80-year-old took the podium. “I have worked hard in m...
Fire crews with the Cloquet Area Fire District had a busy 30-hour window last week, dealing with three fire calls starting at 5 p.m. Thursday and ending with a third at 11 p.m. Friday. The most serious fire call came in at about 3:30 on Friday, Dec. 2. Occupants of a home on the 100 block of Third Street reported there was a fire on the second floor. They heard smoke alarms and exited the house, but four cats remained inside. Fire crews rescued the cats, and all were deemed in good condition. A woman who was in the home went to the hospital to...
Two property owners addressed the Cloquet City Council on Tuesday about substantial property tax increases. Marty Hill said he was still suffering from sticker shock after seeing his taxes climb by 25 percent from this year to next, without any renovations to his property. “You hear about how we have to tighten our belts. I hope the city is doing that too,” said Hill. “It would be nice to give us a little bit of relief.” Scott Brander shared his estimated 2023 tax statement — and the 36.2 percent tax increase it contained — with city admini...
The many huddled paradegoers along Cloquet Avenue last Saturday evening came for the annual Santa’s Home for the Holidays finale of fireworks. But they also collectively told a story about Cloquet. It’s one of a community rich in its expressions of kindness and good cheer. Consider Bob and Julie Noffsinger, who years ago rescued a wooden sleigh from a junkheap, then used it to become fixtures in the parade as Santa and Mrs. Claus. When they couldn’t pull up the tail-end of the parade this year, fellow veteran John Prouty and his wife, LoraLee,...
Authorities are expected to cite a former renter with a kennel violation following a garage fire in Scanlon responsible for the loss of seven dogs Nov. 18. The former renter at 1208 28th Ave. will face a misdemeanor charge and fine for disobeying Scanlon ordinance requiring a license for private or commercial kennels. The Pine Knot does not generally name a person until they've been charged. "Through her own admission she knows she needed a permit," Cloquet police chief Derek Randall said. "She...
Seven dogs died late Friday, Nov. 18, when a garage they were kept in caught fire in Scanlon. The fire occurred at 1208 28th St. Firefighters began arriving within a few minutes of being paged at 9:10 p.m. Friday. They found a "heavy, well-developed fire" in the garage, said Cloquet Area Fire District chief Jesse Buhs, who confirmed the deaths of the dogs. "It had progressed to the point where there were no survivable conditions within the building," Buhs said. "It tugs at people's heartstrings...
