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 Teapot Dome scandal, Watergate, The Iran Contra affair and Monica Lewinsky are just a few (and I truly mean a few) stains that haunt the history and legacy of this great country and its leaders. Our founding fathers held those who serve the people to a much higher standard than your average neighbor who votes for them. But they also showed the limits of their faith by creating a separation of powers designed to disrupt the trampling of liberty and provide consequence for any abuse of their...
Utility bills misleading Cloquet’s water and sewer rates increased this past month. The city included an explanation for the rate increase, and I think they are misleading us. The note said: “Prior to 2018, the City had not increased water rates since 2010 and sewer rates since 2014.” Unless you think about it closely, you’d think rates hadn’t increased in at least five years. But it actually says that rates increased just last year. Water and sewer went up just last August. I had to read it several times before I realized they were trying to t...
The Cloquet city council didn't meet this week, but that doesn't mean city business ground to a halt. In fact, Mayor Roger Maki said he and Cloquet city administrator Aaron Reeves are taking steps toward a new study of the Cloquet police department. As with the study done in 2014, the idea is to have experts and people from outside the department analyze its strengths and weaknesses, internal structure and more. "It's been five years and with everything that's been going on, we agreed it's a...
The same attorney hired to investigate allegations against former Cloquet police chief Steve Stracek nearly two years ago has been hired by the city to conduct an inquiry into current complaints against city administrator Aaron Reeves and human resources director James Barclay. Neither Reeves nor Barclay is being suspended while the investigation is ongoing. Reeves said Michelle Soldo, of Soldo Consulting Group, will conduct the investigations. Cloquet mayor Roger Maki confirmed that it was his...
Now, the City of Cloquet is investigating a sitting city councilor. It’s investigating the city administrator and the human resources director. It’s investigating a police officer, and maybe more. All this is related to complaints filed by a former police chief, who has alleged unfair, unethical, and maybe illegal conduct by city officials, including the police. The former police chief waited to file his complaints until now, because he did not believe the former city council would treat the issues fairly. In the past election, four new cit...
Cloquet city councilors took the first steps Tuesday toward an outside investigation of complaints filed by former Cloquet police chief Wade Lamirande. Lamirande emailed Cloquet city officials, councilors and local media a list of complaints about Cloquet city councilor Steve Langley and current police chief Jeff Palmer on Feb. 6; he also included allegations against city administrator Aaron Reeves and human resources director James Barclay within the complaints. After going in and out of closed...
The fallout from a former Cloquet Police Department officer's untruths continued last week when an imprisoned man walked free after charges he pleaded guilty to were dismissed in Carlton County District Court Friday. All charges stemming from a December 2016 case of second-degree assault against Clarence Manuel Lozoya Jr. were dismissed after the Carlton County attorney's office determined that former CPD officer Scott Beckman - who lied under oath on an unrelated search warrant application in...
After two years of attempting to get results through official channels, former Cloquet police chief Wade Lamirande finally just decided to let the world know of his concerns. Early last week, Lamirande dropped a series of complaints on city councilors, the mayor, city staff and media, detailing eight issues each with Cloquet City councilor Steve Langley and Cloquet police chief Jeff Palmer. The Pine Knot News explored the allegations against Langley for this story, utilizing records of the...
Animal control garnered the most attention at the Feb. 6 Cloquet City Council meeting, as councilors got an update on future plans for strays and runaway animals from city administrator Aaron Reeves, then heard from citizens too. Reeves recapped a joint meeting of 11 different city, county and township officials held Jan. 29 at Cloquet City Hall. Noting that the old Friends of Animals humane society building has supposedly been sold, Reeves told councilors that estimated costs for a new animal...
Former Cloquet Police Chief Wade Lamirande wants the new city council to prove it will not be sweeping complaints about city officials under the proverbial carpet at City Hall. Lamirande emailed Cloquet city officials, councilors and local media a litany of complaints about the current police chief and a city councilor earlier this week. A Cloquet native, Lamirande retired in 2014 after 24 years with the Cloquet Police Department. In his email, Lamirande detailed eight different complaints...
Longtime animal advocate Diane Parkhurst cringed when she heard about the cat frozen to a Cloquet sidewalk earlier this month. But she is heartened by citizen actions that allowed the cat to survive, thanks to "lost and found" groups on social media getting word around. That's what the city and county are relying on these days when it comes to lost and stray pets after the Friends of Animals Humane Society ceased operations in Cloquet last summer. Since then, there has been plenty of community f...
Transparency. Every single candidate for City Council in last fall’s election mentioned “transparency” as a major issue in Cloquet city politics. That’s why we cheered when new members of the council, at their first meeting, asked that the opaque glaze covering the doors to the council chambers be removed. And sure enough, the glaze has been removed. The glaze appeared more than a year ago, not long after the first closed meeting regarding former Cloquet Police Chief Steve Stracek. Such closed-door sessions are completely appropriate when the c...
In addition to local newspapers, political junkies in Cloquet frequently sought another avenue for the latest candidate comments in advance of last fall's election: CAT-7 TV. The local community access television channel - which broadcasts on Channel 7 for Mediacom subscribers and YouTube for those who don't use cable TV - had a starring role in election coverage, from broadcasts of Cloquet City Council meetings, to candidate forums, to the local political talk show "Harry's Gang," which hosted...
Cloquet City Councilors got mixed news about money Tuesday night - and in some cases the bad news came on the flip side of the coin. Take the Cloquet Public Library, for example, and the happy news that it was offered a $784,000 library expansion grant from State of Minnesota, not quite the $1 million the city asked for. On the flip side is the fact that the grant is a matching one, so the city or some other agency must fund the other part of the estimated $2 million project. The previous...
This is the cold, hard truth - changes are coming to Cloquet's Northwoods Credit Union Arena and the neighboring Pine Valley hockey arena, no matter what. The Cloquet ice hockey arenas are looking at a future that includes renovations to the tune of close to $3 million, City Administrator Aaron Reeves told the new Cloquet City Council at its first work session meeting Jan. 3. At the same meeting, he recommended the council consider taking over ownership of the arena from the Cloquet Area Hockey...
The Cloquet City Council opened its new year with a much more diverse membership than it did following the last election. Instead of an all-male council, the new council includes two female and four male councilors along with Mayor Roger Maki. At age 29, Ward 3 Councilor Dakota Koski brings a more youthful voice to the council while Ward 2 Councilor Sheila Lamb may be the first Native American city councilor, as Lamb claims both Cherokee and Ojibway heritage. But it's all about unity, not...
The Cloquet Public Library got good news as 2018 drew to a close: The library was selected for a $784,000 Library Construction grant from the Minnesota Department of Education. Library director Beth Sorenson said she was pleased that the MDE “considered our project beneficial to the citizens of Cloquet.” Although the grant is not for the entire $1 million requested by the library, it is still a huge step toward an expanded library. Funding is contingent upon various clarifications and neg...
Mother Nature refused to let longtime Cloquet street and parks maintenance supervisor Les Peterson coast into retirement. Rather, she dumped more than 15 inches of snow on the city in less than a week. As a result, Peterson was out plowing alleyways in Cloquet Monday morning, his last day with the city after 18 years. Not a shy guy, Peterson was both behind the scenes and played a public role in creating and promoting some of the activities in the city parks. From designing a hay bale maze for...
By now, everyone who cares has found out that Cloquet police officer Scott Beckman has lost his job, something that could have happened two years ago. Instead, in a council meeting in August 2016, Mayor Dave Hallback and councilors Jeff Rock and Steve Langley voted not to fire Beckman after he falsified a search warrant application. Imagine how many hours were spent investigating the criminal cases that now have been dismissed by the county attorney’s office because of Beckman’s involvement, and how much taxpayer money has been wasted now becau...
Former Cloquet police officer Scott Beckman may not work as a cop for the City of Cloquet anymore, but he will technically remain “on leave” and collect a monthly paycheck of $4,500 through Sept. 30, 2019, according to the details of a separation and release agreement approved by the Cloquet City Council Dec. 18. That adds up to $40,500 before taxes. The agreement states that Beckman, the Teamsters union and the City of Cloquet mutually feel “it is in the best interests … that Scott Beckman...
Following a closed Cloquet City Council meeting Tuesday, Cloquet Police Officer Scott Beckman will no longer work for the city - although he will technically remain "on leave" and collecting a paycheck until September 2019 - and scores of cases he worked on in the past are being reviewed. According to the Carlton County Attorney's office, at least 18 cases Beckman was involved in have been dismissed. In at least one case, charges were dismissed after the defendant pleaded guilty. Assistant...
Man dies after truck falls on him A 59-year-old Carlton man died Sunday as the result of an accident when he was working outside on a vehicle. Sheriff Kelly Lake said the 911 call came in at about 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16. Lake said two deputies arrived before the ambulance and were able to jack up the truck and pull Jeffrey Scott Ryan from underneath the vehicle. The deputies tried to revive him, then emergency medical personnel also tried lifesaving procedures when they arrived, but he was eventually pronounced dead at the scene. Services are...
At the final Cloquet City Council meeting for the year and before heading into closed session, city officials and fellow councilors said goodbye to outgoing Mayor Dave Hallback along with council members Dave Bjerkness, Jeff Rock and Barb Wyman. All four ran for re-election but were defeated either in the primary or general election. As one of the final business items of the year, the council voted 4-3 (Bjerkness, Roger Maki and Kerry Kolodge dissenting) to approve a tentative settlement with...
Following a closed Cloquet City Council meeting Tuesday, Cloquet Police Officer Scott Beckman will no longer work for the city - although he will technically remain "on leave" and collecting a paycheck until September 2019 - and scores of cases he worked on in the past are being reviewed. According to the Carlton County Attorney's office, at least 18 cases Beckman was involved in have been dismissed. In at least one case, charges were dismissed after the defendant pleaded guilty. Assistant...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners are considering a rather novel use for the current Cloquet City Council Chambers, once the city employees move down the street and the current building becomes county property. “Let us see if Sixth District Chief Judge [Sally] Tarnowski would be open to having a courtroom established in the purchased current Cloquet City Hall boardroom,” said Commissioner Dick Brenner, chair of the Committee of the Whole (COW) at the Dec. 4 COW meeting. “We, as a County Board, are having pressure from our Sixth Judic...
