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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On a beautiful Saturday morning, hundreds of Minnesota's top high school cross country runners raced across the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad golf course as part of the Minnesota State High School Cross Country Meet. With the temperature in the 50s, it was the perfect day for running and spectators, said Carlton/Wrenshall coach Brenda Knudsen. But the rolling hills of the course created some challenges. "There were not a lot of PRs (personal records) with all those hills. It's not a fast f...
A bicyclist was struck on Highway 45 early Tuesday morning. According to a Minnesota State Patrol report, the driver of a Ford Focus was traveling southbound on Highway 45 and struck the cyclist in the roadway about one mile south of Interstate 35 at approximately 4:44 a.m. Tuesday. The cyclist, 34-year-old Michael Lawrence Benson of Wrenshall, was transported with non-life threatening injuries to Essentia Health in Duluth, according to the MSP incident report. He was not wearing a helmet. The driver of the Focus, Wrenshall’s 60-year-old D...
Whether the Carlton school district consolidates with Barnum or Wrenshall, taxpayers in Carlton face higher taxes, say a pair of financial reports acquired by the newspaper. Last week’s revelation that Carlton and Barnum officials were considering consolidation between school districts included reference to a pair of financial impact reports conducted for Carlton by a Roseville, Minnesota financial advisor of public institutions. The Pine Knot received what were similar 13-page reports generated this year from Ehlers Public Finance Advisors, d...
Wednesday, Oct. 23 Volleyball 7AAA Princeton 3 Cloquet 1 7AA Barnum 3 Moose Lake/Willow River 1 Esko 3 Pine City 0 7A Floodwood 3 Fond du Lac Ojibwe 0 Cherry 3 Carlton/Wrenshall 0 South Ridge 3 Silver Bay 0 Thursday, Oct. 24 Girls soccer Class AA State quarterfinal Esko 1 St. Cloud Cathedral 0 Friday, Oct. 25 Volleyball 7A South Ridge 3 Cromwell-Wright 1 7AA Rush City 3 Barnum 0 Esko 3 Mora 0 Saturday, Oct. 26 Football Section 5 9-player Cromwell-Wright 25 Ogilvie 0 Section 7AA Mesabi East 22 Barnum 14 Moose Lake/WR 47 International Falls 6...
It can be difficult to know just what might inspire a teenager these days, but Brenda Knudsen may have found something in October. The trails on Pincushion Mountain offer spectacular views of the harbor at Grand Marais and the expanse of Lake Superior. As Knudsen prepared her Carlton/Wrenshall girls cross country teams for the Oct. 10 Polar League Conference meet on those trails, she told them she'd jump into the lake if they won. "It was freezing," the coach said this week, looking back on a...
Despite finishing in the middle of the pack in last year's Section 7AA cross country meet, Cloquet boys team coach Chandra Allen had an inkling that things could only get better for the Lumberjacks. They were losing just one senior to graduation. "We knew after last season," she said of the 2024 prospects. The hunch was indeed correct, as this year's team won the section meet in Hibbing on Oct. 24. The team will now travel to St. Paul Saturday for the Minnesota State High School Class AA Cross...
Section volleyball entered the semifinal round Wednesday night with Esko and South Ridge the only two remaining local teams in action. Section 7AA Esko was set to play Crosby-Ironton in the 7AA semifinals Wednesday night after picking up a pair of wins in the past week. On Oct. 23, No. 2 Esko opened with a 3-0 win over Pine City. "It was nice to get that first match win out of the way," said Esko coach Pete Stasiuk. "We played well, we didn't make a whole lot of errors and we generally played a...
With all of Carlton County's precincts reported by 11:25 p.m. Tuesday, the 2024 local election brought some interesting results. The results won't be official until after they are canvassed, but changes are rare after reporting. Here are a few of the highlights: The mayor's race in Wrenshall is tied. Incumbent Gary Butala and challenger Jeff Bloom each have exactly 143 votes each. Two incumbent Carlton School Board members - Julianne Emerson and Eryn Szymczak - are out. Ryan Leonzal, an...
Three of Carlton County's rural school districts were rocked by unexpected developments Monday. Members of the Barnum and Carlton school boards learned their administrators were proposing consolidation talks, while Wrenshall officials were surprised to find their partner in ongoing consolidation talks - Carlton - seemed to be abandoning them for another district. The news sparked anger, dismay and curiosity, along with a healthy dose of skepticism. Carlton school board member Ryan Leonzal was...
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development recently announced its latest round of broadband development grants, which will distribute over $50 million in grants to support 26 projects around the state next year. The $2,127,530 in projects to be completed by Consolidated Telephone Company and will bring broadband access to portions of the City of Wrenshall and City of Carlton and portions of Silver Brook, Blackhoof, and Twin Lakes townships....
Come the Nov. 5 general election, voters in Wrenshall will be saying hello to three new school board members. Barring a successful write-in campaign, the new faces will be the three candidates on the ballot - Jon Beck, Ashley Laveau and Erin Riley. The trio has gotten to know one another, and agreed to put all of their names onto one campaign sign. "Three open seats for three people," Riley said, "we figured we'd save resources." "We've all kind of talked and feel like we can work well...
This is a list of candidates that area voters can expect on their ballot now until Election Day, Nov. 5. State Representative District 11A (elect 1) Jeff A. Dotseth, Republican Pete Radosevich, DFL Judge Sixth District (elect 1) Gunnar B. Johnson Shawn Reed County Commissioner District 1 (elect 1) Sarah Buhs Caleb Dunlap District 3 (elect 1) Tom Proulx District 5 (elect 1) Alex French Dan Reed Soil and Water Superivisor District 1 (elect 1) Michelle Boyechko Barbara Dahl District 4 (elect 1) Gary Peterson District 5 (elect 1) Bruce Heikes...
With the surprise entry of Barnum into the Carlton School Board consolidation talks this week and the uproar that followed, it would seem that consolidation really is on the ballot in Carlton on Nov. 5. While there is no formal question for voters, there is a clear choice between the five candidates for Carlton School Board in terms of whether or not they support continuing consolidation talks with Wrenshall. Board members pretty much staked out their positions during Monday’s Carlton School Board meeting. Chairwoman and candidate Julianne E...
My campaign sign was stolen last week. I had driven into Duluth to get the sign and I had to use my pick up as it was a fairly large sign. I placed it in a spot that was out of the way but in a spot where people could see it. It was not improperly placed on the road right-of-way. It was my land and my sign so I thought that I should be able to express my preference for the candidate of my choice without any concerns. Somebody else presumably with a difference of opinion from mine thought something other than I did. I wonder what that person...
I would like to endorse and recommend Ben Nilsen, Ryan Leonzal and Dan Solarz for Carlton school board. Our current board has done a good job of brainstorming, thinking outside the box and implementing new ideas in an attempt to increase enrollment. There are great things happening at the high school and elementary, but we need students to increase revenue. I feel consolidation with Wrenshall is the best option and the current board members have been unable to make any progress with this. The fact that the four-day school week was passed in...
Wednesday, Oct. 16 Football Moose Lake/Willow River 40 Greenway/N-K 0 North Branch 68 Cloquet 6 Esko 13 Pine City 9 Barnum 55 South Ridge 7 Cromwell-Wright 54 Carlton/Wrenshall 0 Thursday, Oct. 17 Volleyball Bemidji 3 Esko 1 Tuesday, Oct. 22 Football 7AAAA Denfeld 28 Cloquet 20 7AAA Esko 22 Hibbing 6 7AA Barnum 45 Hinckley-Finlayson 14 Moose Lake/Willow River 48 Greenway/N-K 28 7A Chisholm 14 South Ridge 12 Section 5 nine-player Cromwell-Wright 48 McGregor 8 Nevis 52 Carlton/Wrenshall 8 Wednesday, Oct. 23 volleyball 7AAA Princeton 3 Cloquet 1...
It’s section playoff time for local volleyball teams and things are about to get awfully interesting. What follows is a breakdown of local teams and who and when they will be playing. Look for more information on volleyball playoffs in next week’s Pine Knot News. Section 7A Four local teams will all be vying for a place in the Section 7A championship game, but all of those teams will have a tough road ahead. No. 8 seeded Fond du Lac Ojibwe gets the tough job of opening up against No. 1 see...
Playoff football began Tuesday as a number of area teams tried to punch their ticket into the second round of sections. Class AAAA Cloquet made a valiant comeback against Duluth Denfeld in Duluth, falling short 28-20 on Tuesday. Denfeld came in as the No. 3 seed with a record of 5-3, while the Lumberjacks were the No. 6 seed with a record of 2-6. The two teams met in early October with the Hunters coming away with a 16-point win. Against Denfeld, the 'Jacks had the tall task of trying to slow...
Fall is here and with it comes chill winds, scuttling leaves and so many things to do. It's not sugar plum fairies that dance through my head, but dreams of corn mazes, pumpkin carving, walks through the woods and creative ways to spend those chilly days together. Each year our family makes a trip out to the Ru-Ridge Corn Maze between Carlton and Wrenshall for an afternoon of delights. Though we have yet to brave the late-night activities such as the Flash Light Fridays, we make sure to take adv...
When Jen Schultz won the first of her four House terms at Minnesota’s Capitol in 2014, she joined a stable of Democratic legislators from the area and the 8th Congressional District was in the party’s hands, too — albeit by a very narrow margin. A decade later, it’s a far different picture. Outside of her home base in Duluth, Republicans hold sway in much of northeastern Minnesota. And the 8th District has elected a Republican in U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber in three consecutive elections. Schultz, who left the Legislature after the 2022 session... 
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A bicyclist was struck on Highway 45 early Tuesday morning. According to a Minnesota State Patrol report, the driver of a Ford Focus was traveling southbound on Highway 45 and struck the cyclist in the roadway about one mile south of Interstate 35 at approximately 4:44 a.m. Tuesday. The cyclist, 34-year-old Michael Lawrence Benson of Wrenshall, was transported with non-life threatening injuries to Essentia Health in Duluth, according to the MSP incident report. He was not wearing a helmet. The driver of the Focus, Wrenshall’s 60-year-old D...
A week after a board training session on school board rights and responsibilities, Carlton school board chair Julianne Emerson expressed regret for suggesting at an earlier meeting that some board members talk more than others. “One of those people is me,” she admitted during Tuesday’s work session. “This is by far and away the best group of people that I’ve had to work with,” she added while expressing the desire for participation from all board members. Having thus cleared the air, the Carlton Board discussed plans for a self evaluation...
STATE REPRESENTATIVE District 11A (elect 1) Jeff A. Dotseth Republican Pete Radosevich Democratic- Farmer-Labor JUDICIAL CANDIDATES 6th District (elect 1) Gunnar B. Johnson, Shawn Reed, Duluth COUNTY COMMISSIONER District 1 (elect 1) Sarah Buhs Caleb Dunlap District 5 (elect 1) Dan Reed Alex French SOIL AND WATER SUPERVISOR District 1 (elect 1) Michelle Boyechko Barbara Dahl District 4 (elect 1) Gary Peterson District 5 (elect 1) Bruce Heikes Roger Hurd CITY CANDIDATES BARNUM City Council (elect 2) Darrel Berry James Calhoun CARLTON Mayor...
Carlton County is experiencing a steady flow of early voters and absentee ballots in advance of the Nov. 5 general election. “Since early voting started Sept. 20, we’ve been getting 50 to 100 voters each day,” said county auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt. “The mail-in ballots are rolling in, too — 150 to 200 by mail every day.” Early voting is taking place at the auditor/treasurer’s office on the second floor of the Carlton County Historic Courthouse (Room 205). Also called “in-person absentee voting,” early voting is available for all...
Gary Butala (I) Briefly summarize your personal background and qualifications. My name is Gary Butala. I have lived in Wrenshall for 25 years. I've been involved with city politics since 2006. I have held the positions of City Councilor and Mayor. I know how city government works. What made you decide to run for mayor this year? I decided to run again (as incumbent) because the city has projects that need to be finished – things that will benefit all residents of the city. What do you think are the top two issues facing your city and how would...
