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
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 484
The final investigative report of the deadly Jan. 8 shooting at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet revealed new information, including that the shooter had subcontracted with the city of Cloquet and recently relapsed into drug use. It also expanded information already released. Shooter Nicholas Elliot Lenius, 32, appeared to be having mental health problems and did not know his two victims: Cloquet resident and Super 8 employee Shelby Trettel, 22, and Patrick Jeffrey Roers, a 35-year-old Deer River...
The regular Cloquet City Council meeting scheduled for March 19 has been canceled, due to a lack of agenda items, said city administrator Tim Peterson. The next regularly scheduled council meeting is set for April 2 at 6 p.m....
It’s been nearly nine years, but two more blocks of Eighth Street — from Prospect to Sahlman Avenue — are getting a much-needed overhaul this summer. Cloquet city councilors unanimously approved the reconstruction of the pothole-ridden street, along with replacing water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer infrastructure at a total estimated cost of $1.5 million. Construction is expected to begin in May or June and be completed in September. The majority of the costs will be paid through state aid dollars, which come with requirements that set t...
Marc Allen Jacob Owen Raihala, 93, passed away Tuesday, February 27, 2024. He was born December 13, 1930 to M.W. "Bill" Raihala and Lillian (Isojoki) Raihala of Floodwood. He married Marion Delores Lahti on May 24, 1952 and together they ran a successful tax service business for more than 40 years. Marc served in the Korean War and remained active in Cloquet's VFW Post 3979 for five decades, serving in numerous positions including Honor Guard. He served on the Cloquet Parks Commission and...
After the Cloquet Area Fire District opened its February meeting with a moment of silence for fallen first responders in Burnsville, CAFD board members unanimously accepted a donation of 12 bulletproof vests from the Dead on Arms shooting range and firearms store. Assistant fire chief Corey Larson said acquiring the new Safe Life Defense vests fulfills a key objective of a crew safety system. The district has been working with the Cloquet Police Department over the past two years to maximize...
The Cloquet city council laid the groundwork for a number of new or ongoing initiatives Tuesday, including plans for future transportation and housing projects. Councilors and Mayor Roger Maki unanimously passed a resolution supporting the “multimodal” use of Highway 33 between Big Lake Road and Cloquet Avenue, with a letter outlining the city’s viewpoint shared with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. MnDOT is looking at rebuilding that stretch of the state highway in 2028 and held a public information meeting in Cloquet on Feb. 1. The...
THUMBS UP to the Moose Lake city council for its unpopular but fiscally responsible decision to contract with Carlton County for its law enforcement needs. The months-long saga ended last week, in what many considered disappointing fashion, with a 3-2 vote. Choosing the Sheriff's Office to provide four deputies and a part-time clerk to cover the city meant dissolving the city's long-standing police force. But the force had dwindled to one, a result of disgruntled officers resigning and early...
Close to 100 people gathered Tuesday to talk about the future of a place they all love, the Cloquet Forestry Center. Although University of Minnesota representatives presented the transfer of the Cloquet Forestry Center to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa as a mostly done deal - with only the details left to be negotiated - that didn't stop people from sharing their opinions on the proposal. And that was the intent, said Karen Diver, former Fond du Lac tribal chairwoman and now...
I hope everyone had a happy Valentine’s Day. As I recall, in Miss Otteson’s first-grade classroom we would get a brown paper lunch bag to decorate with hearts, construction paper and artwork to hang on our desks or in a special place in the classroom. On Valentine’s Day my classmates and I would put a card in each of the bags. Most of the cards were purchased at the local Ben Franklin Store in Cloquet, and addressed to each classmate. Toward the end of the day, each class in the Garfield Eleme...
Cloquet City Councilors know where the Wood City Riders stand on potential plans for Minnesota Highway 33, after an hour-long presentation by club president Chris Rokke. They appeared to agree with Rokke on at least one point: that any highway modifications need to include some kind of multi-use trail or trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, ATVs and snowmobiles on the west side of the highway, particularly between Perkins and Pinehurst Park, where a steep hill leaves little space for anyone...
Following the Cloquet City Council meeting Tuesday, a few of us were standing around talking about the Highway 33 public meeting last week. And one of the complaints — among many — was the lack of public notice about the meeting. How are we supposed to know, one person asked. “We had it in the newspaper,” I told her. She doesn’t get the paper. Granted, we didn’t run a giant story, but the notice was there on Page 3 of the Jan. 26 issue, with all the details a person would need to attend the...
While a statewide task force examines challenges facing emergency medical services in rural Minnesota, the Cloquet Area Fire District's status as a special taxing district - with its ability to levy taxes over a broad area - is being looked at as a model. But its reliance on property taxes and ambulance billing with the absence of local government aid affects necessities such as building maintenance and staffing. CAFD officials are hoping the state legislature will come through with a more balan...
City of Moose Lake staffers set out 100 chairs in city council chambers Wednesday for a public hearing on policing, and each one was needed to hold the crowd. On tap: deciding whether to keep the city's police department intact, or disband it and contract with the Carlton County Sheriff's Office to provide the city's law enforcement. "When you start taking anything away from the city, you're not going to get it back again," said Doug Probst, whose sentiment was shared throughout the hearing....
The currently condemned Hotel Solem building in downtown Cloquet could become 18 market-rate apartments, if plans by a pair of structural engineers click into place. The three-story building at 915 Cloquet Ave. was constructed after the 1918 Fires decimated Cloquet, with the first section going up in 1919 and an addition in 1923. The city gained possession of the former Mexico Lindo building in 2022, citing public safety issues to condemn the building and using eminent domain statutes to take...
At the final meeting of 2023, Cloquet City Council members prepared for 2024. They selected the Pine Knot News as the city’s official newspaper, approved standing rules and selected at-large councilor Lara Wilkinson as the acting mayor again, to take over when mayor Roger Maki is absent. The council also set updated fees and charges. Taking a look ahead at the time when the Cloquet police department gets its new body cameras, they set the fee for public data requests regarding camera footage as payment for actual expenses incurred. Public W...
Soon the rest of Minnesota can find out what Cloquet residents already know: Pine Valley is special. City officials learned last week that Cloquet's Pine Valley Recreation Area - home to ski jumps and woodland trails for skiing, walking and mountain biking - was designated a regionally significant park. That means the woodland park will be included on various statewide maps and online resources. More importantly, it makes the park eligible for Minnesota Legacy funds, statewide sales tax dollars...
As the days grow shorter, the Santa's Home for the Holidays celebration spread light and cheer last weekend. There were multiple Santa appearances, magic, meals, shopping, a parade, hot drinks, fireworks, s'mores and more fun spanning three days and multiple venues across the city of Cloquet. The new "Pet photos with Santa" saw a good turnout, with only one overexcited doggie accident, no cat fights and one well-behaved hedgehog. The annual Churchill Holiday Expo raised more than $10,000 for...
Cloquet city councilors and mayor Roger Maki approved a smaller budget Tuesday than they expected three months ago. That means the levy increase for property taxes will also be smaller than reflected in recent estimates, with a 2.85-percent levy increase versus 4.53 percent. One local business owner spoke during the Truth in Taxation hearing that preceded the vote. Jim Kuklis, who owns Trails Edge subdivision - consisting of two-family townhomes available for rent by residents over the age of 55...
The issue of using outside social workers received a second vote in a month at Monday's Carlton County board meeting, where one commissioner continued to vote "no." Commissioner Tom Proulx was the lone dissenting vote in the board's 4-1 approval to use case management services from TLC of Duluth to help address a surge in cases involving people on elderly and disability waivers. Unlike at the meeting Nov. 14, when Proulx conducted an in-depth inquiry of county staff and administration and told...
A small pocket of Cloquet homeowners and Diamond Willow Assisted Living residents can rest easier now, knowing the Cloquet City council voted against rezoning nearby property from residential to highway/commercial. Councilors voted 5-1 Tuesday to deny a request by local business owner Ken Maki to change the city’s comprehensive plan as well as rezone residential property in order to allow him to construct a large building — to hold two dump trucks and a shop for his business — on land next to his home. Maki had been running his trucks from his...
A Carlton County board meeting flared hot Tuesday, when commissioner Tom Proulx and county staff squared off over the use of contracted social work. Despite a 4-1 vote affirming the use of contracted social workers to address a surge in disability services and long-term elder care cases, the preceding debate stirred tensions at a time of union contract negotiations. Proulx first squared off with public health and human services director David Lee over the issue. “What would happen if we said no?” asked Proulx. “I would have to come back and a...
A local business owner, his neighbors and the city of Cloquet have at least two more weeks to try to find a solution that would “make more people happy.” Cloquet City councilors voted Tuesday to table a request from business owner Ken Maki to give Maki time to explore other options. The request came because Maki would like to construct an office/shop for his business, on land near his home south of North Road and Sunnyside Lane. In order to do that, he’s asking the city to change its comprehensive plan for that property from moder...
Cloquet City councilors will likely vote on a business owner’s request to change zoning and land use at Tuesday’s meeting. Ken Maki would like to construct an office/shop for his business, on land near his home south of North Road and Sunnyside Lane. In order to do that, he’s asking the city to change the Comprehensive Plan for that property from moderate- to high-density residential, and then rezone the property from single family residential to regional commercial. The land in question is surrounded by mixed properties, with some singl...
In a letter last month to the neighboring city of Carlton, the city of Wrenshall declined to support the Carlton ambulance service as it moves toward adding two full-time positions to a historically volunteer staff. “After much thought and deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that it would not be fiscally responsible for us to burden our residents with a levy increase of 10 percent to cover your requested contribution of $9,537.13,” said the letter, signed by Wrenshall Mayor Gary Butala. To date, Wrenshall is the only jurisdiction in...
The Cloquet Area Fire District asked the city of Cloquet for a share of its public safety windfall from the state, and got a caring but firm “no” in response. Councilors and Mayor Roger Maki voted 6-1 Tuesday to deny the request for $165,000 of the $556,397 in one-time public safety aid dollars allocated by the state legislature in its most recent session. The vote wasn’t as bad as it seemed, Fire Chief Jesse Buhs said. He said the denial wasn’t bad for the fire district, at least long-te...
