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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Carlton and Wrenshall opened their respective high school girls basketball seasons last Thursday, Dec. 1 in Wrenshall with the Bulldogs coming away with a 58-30 win over the Wrens. "I was pretty happy with how we played," said Carlton coach Brian Hey. "I thought our defense played very well and we committed only eight total fouls in the game." The Bulldogs slowly pulled to a 30-17 halftime lead as Megan Matarelli led all scorers at the break with nine points. "We went into the game knowing we...
The title "Fairness for Farmers" captures the spirit of a movement that is gathering momentum in rural Minnesota and beyond. Small and medium farms, which characterize the agricultural landscape of Carlton County, can be found across the state. Families that farm for a living benefit from cooperating with each other, educating the public, and lobbying for reform. That is the mission of the Minnesota Farmers Union. With roots in the early 20th century, MFU today is making the state a leader in...
For decades, the two churches have stood across the street from one another: one Lutheran, the other Presbyterian. Each holding services every Sunday, plus weddings and funerals, Bible studies, baptisms and confirmation classes. Each seeing the number of people in the pews declining over the years. Now the two Carlton churches - Bethesda Lutheran and River's Edge Presbyterian - are taking action together to change that. They formed a partnership, starting in October, that leaves them with...
In debt by more than $300,000, Wrenshall schools administration and its school board are expected to begin three rounds of cuts in December. The first cuts will total $50,000, followed by further rounds of more substantial cuts in January and June. "We have to right-size the school district by the next budget for sure," superintendent Kim Belcastro said last week during the board's committee of the whole meeting. On Monday, the board unanimously approved borrowing $500,000 against future state...
Two years of turmoil left two-thirds of voters in Wrenshall School District precincts having seen enough. They swept out incumbents on the school board Tuesday, giving challengers a chance to stabilize declining enrollment and an operating deficit. “The people running the district are not doing their jobs,” said Dan Gallup, 48, outside of the Silverbrook Township polling center. “Hopefully, they can get it straightened out.” Pipeline technician Eric Ankrum, firefighter and current board appointee Ben Johnson, and wedding planner Mary Carlson...
Tucked into a corner of eastern Carlton, north of the Oldenburg House on Minnesota Highway 210 and south of the Thomson Reservoir, is a nondescript building that will soon fade into history. The Carlton pump station, which handles wastewater from the southeastern portion of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, will be replaced in the next year. Site preparation has already begun. The project mirrors one done to the northeast in Esko beginning in 2014, in another corner of a community,...
Reelected in a landslide Tuesday, Carlton County sheriff Kelly Lake expects to be around for the end of her term in 2026. "I made a promise to the voters of Carlton County and intend to keep that promise," said the 53-year-old Lake, who will reach retirement age during the middle of her next term. Voters agreed to extend Lake's 17-year run as sheriff, while at the same time overwhelmingly adopting a half-cent sales tax to pay for the $66 million Justice Center. Under construction on County Road...
Noah Foster ran the toughest race of his life - bleeding and in need of stitches - at Saturday's Class A Minnesota State Cross Country meet in Northfield. He was about 100 meters into the race and heading into the first turn when the mob of runners compacted and the Cromwell Wright senior felt someone step on his left foot. "His spike sliced open my shoe and the side of my foot," Foster said. "I felt it when it happened but I guess the adrenaline made the pain go away." The fact that his foot...
World War II veteran Dale Crocker has lived by the motto emblazoned on his Navy Seabees cap: "Can Do." The 97-year-old Cloquet man served his country during World War II and worked at the Johnson Company for 40 years before retiring and embarking on a second career as a bus driver for the next 32 years. He built the Kelly Avenue house he and his wife, Arlene, still live in, some 75 years ago, "pounding every nail in," he said. Crocker sat at his kitchen table Nov. 5 and recalled his World War...
Betty Jean Grover went home to her Lord and savior Jesus on Oct. 25, 2022, at 89 years of age. Betty was born to Edward and Alvina on Feb. 5, 1933, in Sisseton, North Dakota. She married Richard Grover of Wrenshall, and went on to have six children, Richard, Laurel, Barry, Randy, Robert and Tom. Betty had seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Betty graduated from Cloquet High School. She worked most of her life for the local phone company, where she made numerous lifelong friends....
A garage in Wrenshall Township burned to the ground in the early morning hours of Monday, Nov. 7. According to a news release from the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, a 911 call came in at 6:03 a.m. Monday, reporting a garage fire in the 3000 block of County Road 3. The caller reported a boat was on fire in the detached garage on the property. Upon arrival, law enforcement observed the garage was fully engulfed and multiple fire departments were already working at extinguishing the fire. The siding of the house sustained heat damage as a r...
The long months of campaigning are peaking now, with Election Day on Tuesday and both local and national candidates trying to reach people who have yet to vote. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8. There are polling locations in the cities of Cloquet, Carlton, Moose Lake, Scanlon, Wrenshall and Wright. Townships with polls include Atkinson, Automba, Barnum, Blackhoof, Eagle, Lakeview, Mahtowa, Moose Lake, Perch Lake, Silver, Silver Brook, Skelton, Thomson and Twin Lakes. Voters in Cloquet’s Ward 2 should head to the C...
After overturning a vote on $8.3 million in projects in March, the Barnum school board voted 4-3 to bond for $10.85 million on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Beth Dinger, Beth Schatz, Steph Ferrin and board chair Jessica Unkelhaeuser voted yes, while Paul Coughlin, Louie Bonneville and Jamie Fuglestad voted no. “We were trying to push for a referendum, but everyone voted against it,” Schatz said. “We’re in a bad spot. This will give us the money to start. We can pick the projects from there.” The projects for the elementary school are window replaceme...
When Chris Gustafson arrived at Wrenshall School, his predecessor teaching industrial arts had quit after the district cut the teaching position to barely more than half-time. "They realized if they were going to keep a shop teacher, they better offer a full-time position," Gustafson said, happy to have filled the job for the last 17 years. In that time, Gustafson has seen the pendulum swing back toward training students for careers which don't always require four-year college degrees. On...
Four fire departments responded to a house fire on Gault Road in Silver Brook Township on Monday, Oct. 31. The response kept the fire from spreading, but couldn't save the home. The homeowners were outside Monday morning when they observed smoke coming from the structure and called 911 at 9:24 a.m. Neighbors also called 911 a couple minutes later when they heard an explosion, telling the Pine Knot that there were high flames and lots of black smoke. The home was a total loss. The American Red...
It was hard to know who was more excited after the Section 7A girls cross country race last week: South Ridge champion Evelyn Brodeen, or her grandmother Lauri Brodeen. The proud grandma said she had found the perfect Bible verse for her granddaughter. "Hebrews 11:1 says 'Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,' so for the last two days I've been texting her, calling her, sending her pictures with that verse," she said. "Every time that she passed me on a corner, I would just...
Sectional volleyball play opened across the state of Minnesota last week. Up north the Section 7A tournament kicked things off at various locations Wednesday, Oct. 26, with larger schools joining the bid for a state tournament berth on Thursday, Oct. 27. Section 7A Floodwood received the No. 1 South seed and Ely gained the No. 1 North seed. Local teams included South Ridge, Carlton, Cromwell-Wright, Wrenshall and Barnum. The Bombers, the No. 7 seed, eliminated the Wrens, the No. 10 seed, in the...
With school colors of black and orange, it makes sense that Wrenshall should go all out for Halloween. The school's recently formed Partners in Education (PIE) group joined with Wrenshall Community Education to offer a family fun night Oct. 28 in the school commons area. School board member Misty Bergman provided totes full of decorations, including ghouls, goblins, and a healthy number of plastic rats. Karola Dalen spent the week leading up to the party coming up with signature spooks to...
It's been a spectacular Halloween season in 2022, with bright fall colors and pockets of warm weather. If you haven't explored the fall and fright-themed events and places yet, this weekend will be your final chance to get out before trick-or-treating Monday night. And looming winter. The weather should cooperate, with temperatures in the mid-50s through Halloween. Here is a list to get you going of events here and in the region: • Haunted Hawthorne in Cloquet is a free display with donations a...
Sectional volleyball action began Monday with No. 7 Barnum sweeping No. 10 Wrenshall in Section 7A south. It was a repeat of the matchup between the teams on Oct. 4, a 3-0 win for Barnum. Barnum came in with a record of 8-15 while the Wrens were 2-21. On Monday, the Bombers won by scores of 25-15, 25-13 and 25-9. Barnum moved on to the second round of the tournament and Wednesday night against No. 2 South Ridge. (The match wasn't complete by the time the Pine Knot went to press.) "All the girls...
There seems to be a cancer consuming the taxpaying residents within the Wrenshall school district. In this writer’s opinion, it’s been caused by the current superintendent: with three failed referendums at more than $10,000 apiece, $35,800 and counting in attorney fees and debt estimated at close to $300,000. On a yearly budget of $6 million, 82.5 percent goes to payroll and benefits, according to school board members. We seem to be top heavy on employees in a school of 352 students? I attended an Education Minnesota candidate forum in the sch...
Frederick Keith Little, 93, passed away in Cloquet on Oct. 23, 2022. Fred was born July 17, 1929, in Ferndale, Michigan, the first of four children born to Austin H. and A. Winnifred Halpenny Little. Fred believed in working and playing hard, putting time and effort into communities and causes he believed in, encouraging others to find their strengths, and in telling stories, even if the listener had already heard them a time or five before. Dad's stories typically were lengthy, so be warned...
Dorcas H. Johnson, 92, of Carlton, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, at Barnes Care in Esko. She was born Aug. 7, 1930, in Maple Plain, Minnesota, the daughter of Henry and Harriet (Lamson) Kaetterhenry. Her family moved to the Fleming area near Aitkin, where she attended the country school and later attended school in Aitkin, graduating in the Class of 1948. Dorcas married Eddie Johnson on June 11, 1949, at the Johnson home. They moved to Duluth where Eddie worked at US Steel and Dorcas...
A fire Friday afternoon left a downtown Carlton apartment building left a number of families without a home. The 911 call came in at roughly 3:41 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, reporting a structure fire at 218 Chestnut Ave. The caller reported an electrical fire and that smoke was coming from the second story of the multi-family apartment complex. Upon arrival, law enforcement noticed smoke coming from the apartment and primarily from an entry door of the complex. Multiple families were evacuated and...
Struggling financially and facing declining enrollments, the Carlton and Wrenshall schools agreed to bring together all junior high and high school sports earlier this week. The move to combine sports gained approval from both school boards, with only one dissenting vote among the two boards. “We need to give this opportunity to our athletes,” Wrenshall board member Ben Johnson said, explaining there are seasons in which, going alone, the schools would not have enough players to field teams. “We...
