A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 4721
Call them hiccups or hurdles, the consolidation efforts between the Carlton and Wrenshall school districts were bound to encounter them. But so soon in the process? A third meeting of the shared consolidation committee yielded an impasse on Tuesday, when the Wrenshall contingent pressed contract issues, while the Carlton contingent balked. "If that is where the line is drawn," Carlton board chair Julianne Emerson said, alluding to potential for a deal-breaker, "we can all have a really free...
A search was underway Wednesday morning on the Fond du Lac Reservation for a 31-year-old Native American man last seen and heard from on Friday. Peter Michael Martin is considered a missing person, according to a Fond du Lac Band news release. A search and rescue effort began at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, March 13, using police and volunteers combing the Mahnomen neighborhood. The search-and-rescue effort was being coordinated out of the Brookston Community Center at 8200 Belich Road in Cloquet.... Full story
He gave it the old college try. But, they say, when you take on the bull, you get the horns. Or, in social media circles, and toned down for a family newspaper: Mess around and find out. There may be a new old saw: Take on the Iron Range and its taconite money, and you get the tailings. Alas, Sen. Jason Rarick, Carlton County’s representative in the Minnesota Senate, was awash in all of these sentiments last month when he dared to change the way of life on the Iron Range. If you recall, Rarick penned a bill this session that would expand the ...
The large Section 7A boys basketball tournament reached a fever pitch Wednesday, with two of the remaining four teams hailing from Carlton County. One of those local teams was expected to be in the mix, while the other has shocked everyone but themselves. On March 7, the No. 1 seed out of the south, Carlton/Wrenshall, easily handled No. 8 south seed South Ridge to the tune of 85-55. "Overall, it was a good team win," said Raptors coach Shawn Filipiak. "We came out a little slow, but we started... Full story
Paul Holm of Cloquet received a $25 gift certificate from B&B Market this week after being spotted driving around with an "I Think Knot" bumper sticker on his vehicle. Paul is an active community member and visits the Pine Knot regularly to drop off video files of church services that appear on CAT-7 TV. Photo by Brady Slater / Pine Knot News...
Carlton County voters proved none too eager to decide presidential nominees earlier this week. Voters turned out for the presidential nomination primary Tuesday at a rate 10 percent lower than four years ago. Only 4,101 ballots were cast among 22,377 registered voters, or 18 percent, compared to a 28 percent turnout in 2020 on the way to the first go-round between Democrat incumbent President Joe Biden and Republican former president Donald Trump. "It has been a lower turnout for the...
The Cloquet Police Department and investigators of the deadly Jan. 8 shooting at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet have determined that the shooter was a stranger to his two victims, had methamphetamine in his system, and was likely having a "mental health episode" when he shot a front desk clerk inside the hotel, a guest in the parking lot, and then himself. The shooter, Nicholas Elliot Lenius, 32, contacted a work associate during the early evening incident and said he was "dealing with monsters,"...
Three University of Minnesota Duluth journalism students are getting a taste of the small-town newspaper world with the Pine Knot News this spring through a first-ever micro-internship experience. Chloe Farnsworth, Max Thibault and Maddie Gagnon all seniors, will participate in the program. Farnsworth and Thibault will work on the editorial side of the paper, while Gagnon - who is business manager at UMD's student-run news magazine The Bark and its website - will be working mostly with Pine... Full story
Wrenshall High School English teacher Ted Conover said students in his College in the Schools composition course were eager to add to local discourse. So they revised and shortened their long-form problem-solution essays on local issues into print-length editorials, and shared those with the Pine Knot News. Topics range from addressing issues in local schools, arts, athletics, all the way up to state funding and the Legislature — and we are sharing them with you. Enjoy these writings. The first batch appeared in last week’s Pine Knot The fig... Full story
Leilani Fonoti poured in 27 points Saturday afternoon to lead all scorers as the Lumberjacks got the monkey off their back against Grand Rapids, with a 74-60 win at Cloquet Middle School. Fonoti kept Cloquet alive in the first half as the 'Jacks struggled mightily from the floor, making only four field goals in the first half with three of those four coming within 5 feet of the basket. Cloquet's only other first-half field goal was by Quinn Danielson, who nailed a three-pointer. Fonoti hit two... Full story
Gerald M. "Jerry" Starkey, 91, passed away March 2, 2024, at New Perspective Senior Living in Cloquet, surrounded by family. He was born July 15, 1932, in St. James to Clement and Clara (Schmitt) Starkey. He married Betty (Lightfoot) Starkey on April 11, 1959. Jerry worked on the Great Northern Railroad from 1949 to 1950. In 1951, he sailed ore boats on all the Great Lakes except for Ontario. He served in the U.S. Air Force from February 1952 to December 1955. He particularly enjoyed working on... Full story
While the girls basketball playoffs are entering their final stages, the boys sectional tournaments finally kicked off this week. The Pine Knot News offers this overview of local boys basketball teams and the potential matchups over the next week. Section 7A South Ridge entered the tournament as the No. 8 south seed and had a play-in game on Monday against No. 9 seed Floodwood. The Panthers handled the Floodwood Polar Bears by a score of 71-30. The victory moves the Panthers into a second-round... Full story
In Carlton County, there are folks who harvest and process the sap that brings us the local flavor of delicious maple syrup, maple sugar, and maple candy we've come to expect each spring. This year - with the frogs already waking up because the weather is warmer heralding an early spring - the trees should be ready to tap. However, the trees are trying to bud in the warmer than usual weather. When asked whether climate change would affect maple syrup products this year, some people say it's... Full story
She just couldn't take it anymore. Life at home was not good. "The family dynamic was not safe," said Cat, a high school senior. Her friends could see it, a few encouraged her to move out. "They could see the decline in my mental health, how I was behaving, and even my overall appearance," said the high school senior. Cat did not share any details of her home life and the Pine Knot is not using her given name in order to preserve her privacy. "I just reached a point where my mental health... Full story
Wrenshall High School English teacher Ted Conover said students in his College in the Schools composition course were eager to add to local discourse. So they revised and shortened their long-form problem-solution essays on local issues into print-length editorials, and shared those with the Pine Knot News. Topics range from addressing issues in local schools, arts, athletics, all the way up to state funding and the Legislature — and we are sharing them with you this week and next. Enjoy these thought-provoking writings from Wrenshall. Book b... Full story
The Minnesota Wilderness dropped into fourth place in the eight-team Midwest Division last weekend, after losing a pair of home games to the Janesville Jets, 3-1 on Feb. 23 and 7-5 on Sunday. Five players scored for the Wilderness in the second game, including Alessandro Lurati, Nate Murray, Aiden Shrey, Peyton Nelson and Nash Jacobsma. Minnesota erased two Janesville leads during the high-scoring contest, but Janesville kept tacking on go-ahead goals, leading 6-4 after two periods. Not even a goalie change could alter Minnesota’s outcome as s... Full story
The Minnesota primary is March 5, so ballots need to arrive at the courthouse before that date. Remember, you can’t split your vote, and you need a witness to sign your ballot. Eagle Township residents can vote 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 5 at the Sno-Gophers club building in Cromwell. Lakeside Township votes 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the firehall in Wright. Beseman and Red Clover vote by mail-in ballot. Congratulations to Emaleigh Olesiak and Tanner Collman, who were awarded the AAA Award for S...
Court dispositions are public records submitted by the Sixth District Court in Carlton County. The Pine Knot News lists felony and gross misdemeanor convictions. OCT. 17, 2023 Anderson, Victoria Bernice, 32, Foxboro, Wisconsin, felony assault fourth degree, secure treatment facility, throw/transfer bodily fluid or feces. Fined $50. Samuelson, Darien Daniel, 30, Cloquet, gross misdemeanor nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images, intentionally disseminate images without consent. Adult supervised probation, two years. Fined $50....
CLASS A Floodwood vs Carlton/Wrenshall, 43-30 South Ridge vs Silver Bay, 87-61 - South Ridge will play Floodwood at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at Esko Cromwell-Wright 82, Fond du Lac 24 - Cromwell-Wright plays Hill City at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 2 at Esko CLASS AA Esko 92, International Falls 32 - Esko plays Proctor at 11 a.m. Saturday Moose Lake/Willow River 19, Mesabi East 58 CLASS AAA Cloquet vs Hibbing, 58-20 Cloquet (18 - 9) - Lelani Fonoti 6, Ava Carlson 10, Quinn Danielson 13, Carly Johnson 10, Riley Goranson 6, Kiley Issendorf 2.... Full story
Superintendent Donita Stepan asked the Carlton school board to downsize staff by more than four full-time positions, including three teachers, during Tuesday’s school board meeting. Included in the cuts were one full-time position at South Terrace Elementary and the band program at the middle school/highschool. Declining enrollments and the accompanying decrease in revenue from the state have driven the retrenchment. In her remarks on the issue, Stepan pointed to the unassigned general fund balance — which should be kept to at least 16 per...
Carlton County is short by up to 50 units of entry-level housing for new homebuyers, 350 units of affordable apartments, 60 units of workforce rentals and scores of units for seniors who desire to own, scale down or transition into settings such as assisted living. That was the stark tale told by a Comprehensive Housing Needs Analysis presented to the Carlton County board earlier this month. Presented by LOCi Consulting of St. Paul, the analysis left commissioners thankful for the information....
Once again, Cloquet sent the largest contingent of students to Saturday's regional science fair, held at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Fifteen middle school and four high school students from Cloquet competed, plus a number of students from other schools. Although overall numbers declined this year after a post-Covid jump last year, the overall projects were better, judges said. Most of the students will compete at the 2024 State Science and Engineering Fair March 22 at the St. Paul... Full story
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... Full story
I was mystified to read a revisionist history in the Pine Knot News op-ed article with local representatives offering a legislative session preview. Rep. Jeff Dotseth was actually taking credit for “delivering” $10 million for the Carlton County female offender and judicial facility. Carlton County taxpayers were supposed to receive $23 million, but Rep. Dotseth bungled the money, refusing to support the bill with the funding. Democrats had to ask Rep. Dave Lislegard from Aurora, not Dotseth, to sponsor the smaller amount primarily because our... Full story
Santina J. Laurienzo passed away Feb. 18, 2024, at the Solvay Hospice House in Duluth. Tina was born in Piminoro, Calabria, Italy, the oldest child of Joseph and Mary Grace (Daniele) Barbaro. In 1957, the family left Italy for the United States, where they settled in Hibbing. While working at Modern Shoe Repair in Hibbing, Tina caught the eye of one of the owner's sons, Mickey, who went out of his way to win her affection. They were married two years later in December of 1963, and went on to... Full story