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 1051 - 1075 of 1413
Barbara Ann Cloud Little was born in Washington, D.C. in 1934, the second of four children born to Etienne L. and Dorothy Ball Cloud. She entered into the next realm on May 4, 2020, after living with metastatic breast cancer for several years, during which time she continued to manifest her usual grace. She did not lose this battle. Instead, she has passed the baton on to her family and friends to make this world a better place for others. Barbara was loved by many. Her giving and nurturing...
I recently ran across a quote from the writer and thinker Bell Hooks talking about the possibilities a classroom environment offers students: "The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created." In her book "Teaching to Transgress" she continues: "The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility." There has been a lot written about what impact the loss of a deliberate space for learning might mean for students. I teach at the college lev...
The announcement by Minnesota governor Tim Walz that distance learning would be extended for the rest of the school year was a gut punch to many area students. It hit seniors particularly hard. Members of the Class of 2020 who were hoping they'd spend the last few weeks of school with their classmates will continue to learn from home, mostly online, and see the majority of their friends only through various social media platforms and video classroom meetings. News that all spring high school spo...
Quite a few are suffering because of the order to stay at home and quarantine in place. So many, in fact, that it's hard to keep up with all the sympathy we have for those suffering. But right about now our hearts go out to high school seniors, who are being denied prom, spring sports, senior banquets and a normal graduation ceremony with all your classmates. High school seniors are a rare breed. By the time a student reaches 12th grade, they are no longer children, yet not quite adults either....
BARNUM Lazy Bear Grill Closed Rustic Diner Closed The Chickadee Coffeehouse & Deli 3691 Alan Syverson Drive 218-389-4444 Open for takeout Barnum Muni Open for takeout, off-sale 218-389-6811 CARLTON & WRENSHALL Brickyard Closed Bricks Pub & Grub 129 Broadway, Wrenshall 218-384-4267 Open for takeout and off-sale Elmwood Inn 2145 State Highway 61, Carlton 218-384-3488 Open for takeout Magnolia Café 206 Third Street, Carlton 218-499-5911 Open for window pickup Streetcar Kitchen & Pub 232 Chestnut Ave., Carlton 218-384-3333 Curbside pickup....
Last week, Gov. Tim Walz announced that schools will continue distance learning through the end of the school year. I wouldn’t normally use this column to air petty annoyances but I’ve noticed some terminology that I want to address. Schools are not “closed” for the year. While the physical buildings are inaccessible, the administrators, teachers, and students are working really hard to figure out how to make distance learning work as best it can. Parents and caregivers are putting in a lot of...
A few days before Gov. Walz's decision to keep Minnesota schools closed through the end of the year, I ran out to Wrenshall School to scan materials for my classes. The only person in the building, I walked the hallways and looked into several empty classrooms - desks, books, decorations, teaching materials, all packed away. The senior hallway that had only weeks before bustled with noisy students and slamming lockers now stood silent, locks removed and lockers cleaned out. Although it was...
The Pine Knot News contacted seniors in Cloquet, Esko, Wrenshall and Carlton this past week after they learned the state extended its order to keep students out of schools through the final month of the school year to guard against the spread of COVID-19. Cloquet senior Caleb Swanson, a writer for the Pine Knot News, collected most of the following comments from seniors, including his own. Cloquet Caleb Swanson High school is a funny thing. We get there, we learn, we grow, and we get attached...
Gwen Carman, superintendent of the Carlton school district, has resigned. In a letter to school board chairwoman LaRae Lehto dated April 14, Carman said she had accepted the superintendent position in the Lewiston-Altura school district in southeastern Minnesota. Her resignation will be effective June 30. Her new job begins with the start of the school calendar year on July 1. The Carlton school board voted to accept the resignation during its regular meeting Monday, which was held online. “We’re sad to see her go,” board chairwoman LaRae...
It was the stand of white pines that sold us this spring. We turned off the gravel road, stepped out of the car and you could hear it: The wind whistling through the pine needles. We were home. Or, we thought we were. The 40-acre parcel of land was just down the road from Cromwell and near where we now rent a farm. It had most of the things we were looking for - decent land, a few outbuildings, and a large buffer of woods and wetland. My partner could run her vegetable farm from here and I...
I set out to ask small businesses in Carlton County how they are faring under social distancing practices. I found amazing spirit, concerns, and accommodation on the part of employers, suppliers, customers, and workers. Among those deeply challenged are those working with food. It's not surprising that those engaged with growing, harvesting, processing, distributing, selling and preparing food face formidable challenges at present. Many café and restaurant owners have had to shutter their doors...
The arts have been an important refuge for folks during this global pandemic. For some it might be binge-watching a TV series or catching up on the bedstand stack of books, but in Wrenshall the community is getting creative with how they are taking in and producing a shared culture. Seniors in Jeanna Aldridge's class recreated famous works of art using only materials they had at home. Wrenshall's Tom Cawcutt Sr. has started a weekly live concert series from the comfort of his own home. Cawcutt...
Wrenshall A HONOR ROLL Joseph Bergman Liam Bruce Megan Carlson Lillian Eckdahl Sage Fernquist Hunter Holmes Kaylie Lammi Elliana Lattu Hannah Lattu Alex Murray Alexis Nelson Samantha Nyberg Andrew Olesen Jenna Rabold Abbie Resberg Jack Riley Zeke Rousseau-Sheff Magdalene Sowada Kaya Stark Kyra Stark Alexis Swanson Hailey Tauzell Randy Wimmer B HONOR ROLL Joshua Anderson Emma Andrews Connar Ankrum Patrick Ankrum Eli Beetcher Gavin Beetcher Taylor Bryce Corey Despot Easton Everett Brennen Fisher-Merritt Ashley Hart Natalya Kacer Wyatt Kelley...
Things are a "lot different" at Carlton County post offices these days. Different from normal times. Of course, these are pandemic times, and the people who sort and deliver mail are trying to practice social distancing just like everyone else. Carriers are wearing gloves and other protective gear. There are floor markings at the post office, reminding customers to keep their distance from one another. You'll see sneeze guards and hand sanitizer. And, as hard as it may be for both parties, now...
Nancy L. Shanda, 73, of Wrenshall passed away Thursday, April 9, 2020 at AmeriCare Lodges assisted living in Remer, Minnesota. Services are pending with Nelson Funeral Care of Cloquet....
I took the news of John Prine passing away last week a little hard. His music holds a special place in the mythology of the Food Farm. When telling the story of Jane and John founding the farm, we often turn to the lyrics to Prine’s “Spanish Pipedream.” “We blew up our TV, threw away our paper. Went to the country, built us a home.” They moved from Oregon to Holyoke in 1975 to start a farming community during the height of that decade’s back-to-the-land movement. Author and farmer Gene Logsdo...
Easter morning at dawn is the perfect time to write my long overdue column about Promised Land Farm eggs. The word Easter is thought to come from the German myth about Eostre, the goddess of the dawn. And eggs symbolize rebirth and renewal - new life bursting forth after a long winter - a perfect metaphor for the spring celebrations of Easter, Passover and Ramadan. Promised Land eggs are part of almost every breakfast here at Oldenburg House, with vegan guests wanting oatmeal being the rare...
Gwen Carman, superintendent of the Carlton school district, has resigned. In a letter to school board chairwoman LaRae Lehto dated April 14, Carman said she had accepted the superintendent position in the Lewiston-Altura school district in southeastern Minnesota. Her resignation will be effective June 30. Her new job begins with the start of the school calendar year on July 1. Carman had interviewed for at least three superintendent jobs in the past few months. She was a finalist in Minnesota districts in Mora and St. James. Carman will leave...
The Wrenshall School Board earlier this week approved bids for indoor air quality improvements at the school in Wrenshall. The board accepted the low bid of $4,158,000 from Max Gray Construction out of Hibbing to improve air quality in the older parts of the school. The board also accepted a bid of $436,922 from Mavo Systems out of Duluth for asbestos abatement. The board approved bonding for the work last year without a referendum from voters. Superintendent Kim Belcastro has said the work was too vital to wait for any improvements that might...
Some of the funniest memes I’ve seen lately have revolved around parents having to share in their children’s day-to-day education and learning. Nobody seems to be questioning the summer break that teachers take to plan and revise curriculum now that the classroom experience is taking place inside the home. This is Week 2 of online learning for Wrenshall schools and I reached out to Superintendent Kim Belcastro to hear how the transition is going. “You have to learn and adapt in these situa...
Despite a "stay at home" order from the governor in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 cases in the state, spring as we've always known it, does go on in Carlton County, like snow melt this week in Jay Cooke State Park, far right, as witnessed by Pine Knot News editor Jana Peterson. Above, Peterson found Father Justin Fish on Palm Sunday morning handing out palm fronds to those who drove by Queen of Peace Church. And, while not that many of us are driving a whole lot these days, gas prices...
As the coronavirus marches across the United States and Minnesota, officials have been telling the public to leave the N95 masks to healthcare providers on the front lines of the pandemic. For the rest of us, a homemade cloth mask - whether sewn from a pattern or a T-shirt cut and tied to fit - is better than nothing in the fight to stop the spread of the virus. Cloth masks can help prevent both the wearer from spreading disease - remember, a person might not even know they have COVID-19 in some...
A grand and hurried experiment in education began this week in Minnesota, as schools around the state implemented distance learning for K-12 students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers and administrators across Carlton County had two weeks to come up with a plan for distance learning, which is not necessarily the same thing as online learning - rather, it refers to learning away from school. In Cloquet, that meant lessons on paper for elementary school students (K-grade 4) -...
Thanks to all for playing Wrenshall trivia this week. I had a videoconference with Dale Wolf and he told me all the answers. I wrote them down while dehydrating apples and now they are either in the compost or at the bottom of the stack of papers that I cleared off my desk to make room for my son’s new “classroom.” So I called the next best resource, Jim Sheetz. Here are his responses: QWhat was the total number of brickyards running in Wrenshall during the peak time of that industry here?...
The order Wednesday by Minnesota governor Tim Walz that schools remain closed and transition to distance learning through May 4 didn't surprise many educators, since they were told to be ready for this moment on March 15. Not to worry, the Cloquet school district - like every other district in the county and the state - has a plan. "For elementary it's all paper and pencil via delivery or pickup," Cloquet superintendent Micheal Cary said. "For secondary, we'll go digital for as many students as...
