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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Members of the Kavanaugh village gathered at the Streetcar last week to watch Carlton's own Jeopardy champion, Sam Kavanaugh, in another tournament. The hometown hero didn't disappoint, keeping fans guessing to the very end of the high-stakes trivia show. It wasn't that Sam answered the final question correctly: no one did. Rather, he wagered less than Monica Thieu did, who was beating him by $3,800. The end result saw her score drop to $7,599 while Kavanaugh's dropped to $7,600. A dollar's diff...
Cloquet's Aidan Ripp is a 2024 national champion four times over, winning every Nordic ski race he competed in last week during the U.S. Collegiate Skiing Nationals championships. Held March 5-9 at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, New York, more than 150 Nordic skiers from colleges around the country competed in four events across five days. From the opening race, Ripp set a pace that was unmatched by anyone in the USCSA, winning the opening 7.5-kilometer skate race by over 44 seconds, and...
Three Cloquet skiers took Leap Day to a whole new level, hurling themselves off a 64-meter ski jump in Anchorage, Alaska Thursday, Feb. 29 as part of the 2024 ski jumping and Nordic combined Junior Nationals championships. Joel Linden and brothers Isaiah and Simon Langer competed in Nordic combined, a discipline which combines ski jumping and Nordic skiing. All three learned the sport through the Cloquet Ski Club, which makes its home at Pine Valley Recreation Area. Having ski jumps and such an...
Despite a bad winter for practice and competition, three Cloquet ski jumpers are headed to Alaska next week to compete in the 2024 ski jumping and Nordic combined Junior National Championships. Isaiah Langer, 14, Simon Langer, 12, and Joel Linden, 14, all qualified to compete in Nordic combined in the 16-and-younger-age group, a sport that combines ski jumping and Nordic skiing. The competition in Anchorage Feb. 27 to March 2 will be Isaiah's second Junior Nationals. Last year's event was actual...
When Cloquet High School was racking up Minnesota state ski titles, the Quinn brothers were key to the early wins. Identical twins Dave and Don Quinn graduated in 1966. They, and their coaches, Joe Nowak, Mike Marciniak and John Luomala, were part of a very successful Lumberjacks program. But this column is less about their impressive high school achievements than what Dave and Don went on to accomplish, including a one-two finish in the second American Birkebeiner race in 1974. Held in Cable...
Scottie Kevin Hecker was born on March 4, 1962, to Douglas and Margaret (Evenson) Hecker in Cloquet. During his childhood he lived in Blackhoof Valley and enjoyed playing basketball. Scottie graduated from Barnum High School in 1980. Following graduation, he worked as an operator at Chemstar in Carlton. In 1981, Scottie met the love of his life, Tammy Porter, at the Mahtowa Tavern. They were united in marriage on July 31, 1993, in Wisconsin Dells. They lived in the Twin Cities for 20 years and...
Wendy Kaye Twomey (née Rodd) passed away peacefully on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Wendy was preceded in death by her beloved parents, George and Arlene. Wendy is survived by her siblings, Randy (Connie), Tayna, Kerry (Roni), Timm (Nancy), Scott and Kipp. Wendy is also survived by her children, Christina Jungbauer (Mike), Kyle Kiminski (Erin), Connor Twomey and Patrick Twomey. She is also survived by three grandchildren whom she adored, Carolyn, Kameron and Kyleigh. Wendy was born on Sept, 24,...
The gentle breeze was swirling at 7 miles per hour from a north-northwest direction. It was sunny, and a beautiful Groundhog Day, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Earlier in the day, Punxsutawney Phil had predicted an early spring. Being retired from full-time employment, I have the luxury of taking afternoon walks, sometimes with my bride or others, at various regional locations. On this particular day, since there was hardly any snow, I was walking the 2.5K loop at Cloquet's Pine Valley Ski Area and...
Russell Leonard Berglund, 77, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 in his home with family by his side after a lengthy journey with Alzheimer's disease. Russ was born Aug. 18, 1946, to Leonard and Cora (Lund). He grew up on his family's farm in Brevator Township, where he developed his love for gardening and farm equipment. After graduating from Albrook High school in 1964, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserves, where he spent two years of active duty in the Vietnam War on the USS Valley...
Friday, Jan. 26 Girls Hockey CEC vs Chisago Lakes, 7 Boys Hockey CEC at Bemidji, 7 Boys Basketball Barnum vs Two Harbors, 7:15 Carlton/Wrenshall vs Hill City, 7:15 Cromwell-Wright at McGregor, 7:15 Esko at ML/WR, 7:15 Wrestling CEC at Mora, 5 Saturday, Jan. 27 Girls Hockey MLA at Kasson- Mantorville, 3 Boys Hockey MLA at Wadena, 2 Girls Basketball Cloquet vs North Branch, 1 ML/WR at Ely, 2:30 Boys Basketball CEC at South St. Paul, 10 Barnum vs Two Harbors, 7:15 Esko vs Breck at Chanhassen, 4 Skiing CEC Nordic at Ely, Hidden Valley, 9:30...
Darrell Charles "Butch" Swanson, 74, of Barnum passed away with family by his side on Jan. 12, 2024, in Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth. Butch joined the U.S. Air Force right out of high school and served his country for four years, including a tour in Vietnam. Butch enjoyed many activities, including golfing, bowling, deer hunting, fishing, and volunteering to keep the lawn manicured at the Blackhoof Valley Community Center. He was an avid sports enthusiast and loved the...
A suspected double murder/suicide at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet Monday resulted in the death of a Cloquet woman and two male hotel guests, one of the men the killer. The shooting forced the evacuation of the hotel and nearby businesses and a community lockdown as authorities searched for a suspect. That search ended in the hotel parking lot, where the suspected shooter was found dead with evidence suggesting a self-inflicted gunshot wound. By midweek, investigators still had no information on...
For Cloquet's Julie Samuelson, even climbing a volcano in Guatemala can feel like home. "It got pretty serious, dealing with elevation and when the weather turned to crud," she said. "It was kind of like getting socked in by Lake Superior with the icky winds and fog." Samuelson, 56, was in South America last month, alongside 17 other kidney donors. They were there to summit three volcanoes across seven days as part of the second One Kidney Climb. The first, in 2022, saw a team of 20 living donor...
Pine Knot News subscriber and two-time state ski jumping champion (1966, 1967) Rick Nelson stopped in recently with an obscure item for show and tell. It was a Northwest Paper Company notebook, complete with one of the company's iconic Canadian Mountie paintings, this one showing a mountie on horseback sharing what appears to be a wanted poster with three men working outside. While Northwest Paper notebooks are fairly rare these days - as the company was a precursor to both Potlatch and Sappi -...
It was a December like no other in Carlton County, not even the strange one in 1877-78 that augured a remarkable winter into the spring. In short, history was made as the region and the state had its warmest December. This comes after history was made last season in high snowfall totals. Cloquet saw temperatures average nearly 10 degrees warmer than normal last month at 25.1 degrees at the Cloquet Forestry Center. Recordings were higher at the Fond du Lac Reservation weather station (29.2) and...
The third weekend of December saw green grass and puddles at Pine Valley, where pine trees loom above a network of trails. There was no sign of the usual ski jumping and Nordic skiing that keep the city's woodland park hopping in the winter months. To find the skiers, one had to travel 12 miles to Duluth's Spirit Mountain, where they can make snow. More than 200 high school skiers from area schools were skiing quarter-mile loops next to the Grand Avenue Nordic Center on Thursday, Dec. 14. They...
With the holidays on the near horizon, so too is the long-standing tradition of holiday sports tournaments between Christmas and New Years. Hockey and basketball take center stage over the break, but there are also scattered wrestling meets and a few ski meets — weather permitting — during the break. Following are some of the holiday highlights: Hockey The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team will open play in the Heritage Holiday Classic in Duluth against Apple Valley at 11:30 a.m. Wed...
The Pine Knot News Facebook page is the only place we allow comments on stories, which often provide insight or lead to other stories. Or just bring joy because the story is appreciated or advanced the community good. And then there are the times that people cross the line and start calling names. If we see those, we get rid of them without debate. Like this comment from Stephen Peterson: “Keep our original state flag, you thin-skinned morons.” How did that comment add anything to the conversation? Happily, rudeness didn’t rule the day. There 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...
Girls Hockey Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Tuesday, Dec. 5 at Two Harbors, 7 Thursday, Dec. 7 vs Hibbing, 7 Tuesday, Dec. 12 vs Duluth Northern Stars at Duluth Heritage, 7 Friday, Dec. 15 at Sartell, 7:15 Tuesday, Dec. 19 vs Proctor/ Hermantown, 7 Thursday, Dec. 21 vs Pine City, 7 Friday, Jan. 5 at Osseo, 7 Saturday, Jan. 6 at South Saint Paul, 1 Tuesday, Jan. 9 at Superior, 7 Thursday, Jan. 11 vs Duluth Northern Stars, 7 Saturday, Jan. 13 at Isanti, 8:15 Tuesday, Jan. 16 at Hibbing, 7 Thursday, Jan. 18 vs Northern Lakes Coop, 7 Tuesday, Jan. 23 at...
Prospective cross country skiers and ski jumpers ages 3-18 are invited to join the Cloquet Ski Club, which is based out of the Pine Valley park in Cloquet. Ski jumpers practice Tuesday and Thursday evenings, while cross country skiers meet every Sunday afternoon, weather permitting. Register online at https://tinyurl.com/cnsc2024 asap, then pick up equipment next week. Returning club members pickup is 6-9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27. Pickup for new (or returning members who missed Monday) is 6-8 p.m. Nov. 28, 29 or Dec. 12. Find out more on Facebook...
Last year, the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boy's hockey team finished with an impressive 16-9-1 record, but fell well short of the state hockey tournament. This season, the Lumberjacks come in with a roster loaded with talent. On top of that, for the first time in school history, the 'Jacks will be playing in Class A instead of playing up into Class AA. "We have high expectations," said head coach Shea Walters. "We know Section 7A has always gone through Hermantown, and we know that they are going to...
Two days after his previously unbeaten football team was eliminated by Annandale, 14-7, at a state quarterfinal game in Brainerd, Esko head coach Scott Arntson remained puzzled. "It just seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong in that game," Arntson told the Pine Knot on Monday. He'd watched a tape of the game twice, replaying how the team lost key players to injury, including its star Koi Perich, and let control of the game tilt in a second half that produced no first downs for...
This really happened ... On a bright, azure-sky Christmas day, 2003, my wife and I corralled the kids and the dog and strode out into the snowy landscape to find a good place to take a Christmas card photo. We'd fallen into the tradition of featuring just the kids in our annual photos because either Blythe or I would have to take the photo. And having just one parent in the photo would give the wrong impression. Eventually, we ended up at Spafford Park after unsuccessful attempts at Pinehurst,...
A poem by Patrick Stevens September Here lies the harvest fast piled rough with all we can stuff our chipmunk cheeks puffed and bulging or squirrels or ants or bees with their combs. I relish the ripeness of September just after the rot sets in; when last apples drop, deer come at night to feast on our fallen bounty; leaf edges brown here, then there, the maples, sweet and red, drip to the ground drowned in morning dew. In evening I see a thousand varied birds fowl big, fowl small flocking...
