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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The Duluth City Council passed an emergency ordinance Monday night requiring masks in many indoor public spaces, joining a growing list of Minnesota cities that have passed similar measures to try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Duluth’s requirement, which went into effect immediately, applies to “spaces of public accommodation,” including retail stores, restaurants, churches, government buildings, skywalks and buses. It provides several exemptions, including for children under 10, people who are unable to wear face cover...
For the first time since mid-March, outsiders will be allowed into Minnesota’s long-term care homes to visit residents. The Minnesota Department of Health put out new guidance Friday that allows residents to designate an “essential caregiver” to visit them inside their residence and to have physical contact with them. The guidance indicates those caregivers would likely be a family member, friend, volunteer or “other, close outside caregivers” who had provided regular support to the resident before — or during — the pandemic. The designated ca...
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Carlton County reached 88 on Wednesday, July 8, an increase of five cases in a week, versus an increase of five cases over the previous three weeks. There have been no reported deaths in Carlton County attributed to COVID-19 yet. In nearby St. Louis County, total confirmed cases sat at 198 with 16 deaths as of July 8. While the state's original predictions of a peak in July did not come true (yet) because of early measures, state officials warn that...
Matt Mikus and Britta Greene MPR News Gov. Tim Walz told reporters last week that a statewide order requiring all people to wear masks while in public was "on the table" as Minnesota officials weigh next steps to slow the spread of COVID-19. That led to a fresh round of questions about masks, the research on how they help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and where they're required currently. Q Where is the proof that masks actually prevent the spread of the virus? I have a health condition that...
Sara Porter MPR News Summer has arrived in Minnesota. At the same time, the state has been relaxing some of the regulations that were in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 - meaning family picnics, patio drinks, pool parties and other summer staples are back on the table, so long as you follow the rules set out by health officials. Those rules are still extremely important. The Health Department recently reported a cluster of cases in the Mankato area traced to people gathering in...
-CMH Raiter Clinic has a mobile testing site in the parking lot from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, but a doctor’s order is necessary before testing. Call 218-879-1271 to talk to a doctor. They will also accept orders from doctors outside CMH. The CMH Nurse Hotline is also available 24/7 at 218-499-6799 for advice. -FDL Human Services has a mobile testing site by appointment only at Min No Aya Win Human Services Center. Testing will be limited to those who are experiencing symptoms and who have had a telehealth visit with their Fond du L...
Peter Cox / MPR News For the first time in months, many Minnesotans in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are being allowed to see visitors face-to-face — at least, with masks on. The Minnesota Department of Health says facilities may now offer outdoor visits and through open windows. Coronavirus infections have led to the deaths of more than 1,000 Minnesotans living closer together in those facilities where many have vulnerable health issues. Staff have also fallen ill amid the C...
Hospitals get back to normal Cloquet’s Community Memorial Hospital is open for all health care needs, hospital officials said in a press release, noting that extensive precautions have been taken to minimize any risk of COVID-19, including screening all individuals coming into the hospital or CMH Raiter Clinic. Other actions helping to raise the level of safety include the wearing of masks by staff and public, staggered appointments for office visits or procedures, seating arrangements in waiting areas to accommodate social distancing, and s...
When Gail Van Guilder made her first face mask, she was thinking of the potential danger the coronavirus posed to her family and herself. Now, more than a thousand masks later, her effort to supply masks to anyone in need has become a story of service, sacrifice and friendship. When pandemic restrictions hit in mid-March, Van Guilder got out her sewing machine and cleaned the dust off. She figures she hadn't used it in five years. "I was just gonna make some for the grandkids and (husband...
Nearly three months after shutting down, Black Bear Casino reopened to the public Monday. It was a wonderful feeling, said general manager Dan LaPrairie. "The vast majority of our Players Club members are local people. We know them," said LaPrairie. "We consider this community our family, so we had some of our team members up on the second-floor balcony, cheering and welcoming everybody." Signs proclaiming "Welcome Back Friends!" decorate the front doors of the Black Bear Casino Resort, along...
The United States Department of Agriculture has payment details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program that will help agricultural producers recoup partial losses due to the economic repercussions of COVID-19. Commodities covered include specialty crops, corn, soybeans, hard red spring wheat, dairy, hogs, beef, wool, and other commodities experiencing a 5-percent price decline due to coronavirus. For the Carlton County area, the primary commodities covered in this financial assistance program are beef, dairy and hogs. The USDA is accepting...
COVID-19 testing in Carlton County: • CMH Raiter Clinic has a mobile testing site in the parking lot from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, but a doctor’s order is necessary before testing. Call 218-879-1271 to talk to a doctor. They will also accept orders from doctors outside CMH. The CMH Nurse Hotline is also available 24/7 at 218-499-6799 for advice. • FDL Human Services has a mobile testing site by appointment only at Min No Aya Win Human Services Center. Testing will be limited to those who are experiencing symptoms and who have had a...
With salons opening this month, "pandemic hair" should soon be a distant memory - if you can get an appointment. Stylist Sheryl Davis reopened Sheryl's Golden Shears in Carlton on June 1 with close to 130 people on a waiting list. "So many waited until June 1 to call, so those people won't be able to come in until July or even after," Davis said. Many stylists said the same. After three months of waiting, they're now booked solid for weeks. "Before opening, I sent out a form to my clients,...
Appropriately, the first day folks could eat or drink inside their favorite Carlton County establishment was chilly, with intermittent showers. "It feels nice to be back inside somewhere that's not your home," said Christian Madson, after enjoying a lunch break at Carlton's Streetcar Kitchen & Pub with coworkers Joe Deppa and Austin Carter. "It's really nice," Deppa added. The process of slowly reopening the state after more than two months of a pandemic stay-at-home order continued this week....
In this pandemic, artists are among the most financially vulnerable. At the last full Census count, 65 percent of writers, 57 percent of visual artists, 41 percent of musicians and singers, and 36 percent of performing artists reported being self-employed. For decades, economists' research has revealed that artists' incomes are far lower than that of other workers with comparable levels of education. Arrowhead Regional Arts Council's executive director Drew Digby reports that artists in our...
Every March, Linda Luomala and her garage sale buddies usually host a sale at The Jack bar in downtown Cloquet. Except this year. Their March sale got bumped by the coronavirus and the governor's order to shut down nonessential businesses, including bars. They finally rescheduled for June 20, three months later. On the bright side, the delay gave them more time to weed through their possessions, and now they can hold their sale inside or outside the Cloquet Avenue bar, depending on the weather....
A Fond du Lac band member living in Minneapolis has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a press release from the Reservation Business Committee. The Fond du Lac Human Services division is working with the Minnesota Department of Health, which is conducting the contact tracing investigation, to ensure that all individuals in close contact are notified and tested. FDL Human Services director Samuel Moose said the band’s clinic and emergency personnel have been preparing for this since January, when their public health emergency p...
The Minnesota Department of Health put the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Carlton at 78 as of Wednesday, June 10. That number includes all cases since the coronavirus reached the county and includes confirmed cases at the Moose Lake prison, which has consistently made up more than half the total cases in the county. Cases at the prison have declined steeply in recent weeks, however. Statewide, Minnesota counted a total of 28,869 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases out of 369,795 tests as of Wednesday. Of those confirmed cases, 427 are...
It may seem like dental offices were already among the most sanitary of services, but the COVID-19 pandemic has Cloquet dentist Kraig Gunelson dressing like someone from a top secret government laboratory. To stay safe and follow recommended guidelines, Gunelson and his hygienists wear N95 masks covered with surgical masks, covered by face shields, plus safety glasses. "They're respirator masks, so we won't be breathing out onto our patients, or breathing in (air or spray from the patients) and...
Are you worried about exposure to the coronavirus after attending a protest or even just going to a crowded store? Here's the latest COVID-19 advice from the Minnesota Department of Health and CDC Q&A I was involved in protesting, a large gathering such as a vigil, or a neighborhood cleanup event - do I need to get tested? If you start to feel sick, get tested right away. If you are not feeling sick, we recommend you go in for a COVID-19 test as soon as possible, but no later than 5-7 days...
Not being able to get a hug from family members is the hardest part of living in a senior care facility during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. "The residents with dementia don't understand," said Natalie Zeleznikar, owner of Diamond Willow Assisted Living. "The families are frustrated. They are doing window visits, but it is not the same." Federal and state government guidelines have directed residential care facilities to restrict visitors - including family and...
Inside this week's Pine Knot News is a the second of two special Class of 2020 graduations sections, filled with 12 pages of photos and best wishes for Esko, Carlton, Wrenshall, Cromwell-Wright, Fond du Lac Ojibwe School and Cloquet Area Alternative Education students. Purchase your copy of this week's Pine Knot News at area Kwik Trip stores, Super One, B&B Market, Fond du Lac Gas and Grocery, Walgreens, Walmart, the Spur Station in Carlton and the Wrenshall General Store or our office at 122...
It wasn't exactly "business as usual" in Carlton County Monday. Still, shoppers could choose from a wider variety of businesses, after the latest stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Tim Walz expired Monday, replaced by an order allowing nonessential retail businesses to open at 50-percent capacity provided they have a coronavirus safety plan. In Cloquet, those plans ran the gamut from basic sanitizing to three-step plans for customers. John and Joanne Buskala say they're following New York Gov. An...
The Minnesota Department of Health put the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Carlton at 70 as of Wednesday, May 20, up from 65 a week ago. As has been the case from the beginning, more than half of the positive cases are in the Moose Lake prison. There are 39 inmates who have tested positive at the prison — the MDH counts those — and 31 who are presumed positive, meaning they were not tested but they have been exposed to someone who did test positive and have developed symptoms. Four tests are still pending at the Moose Lake facility, and...
The Fond du Lac human services department announced Tuesday that the Min No Aya Win Clinic was going to stop offering the Abbott ID NOW point-of-care tests for COVID-19, which provided results within 20 minutes, because of concerns about the accuracy of the tests. The tests may return false negative results, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration press release from May 14. The clinic will continue to offer the second test, which goes through the Mayo Clinic and provides results within 1-5 days. According to the official Fond du Lac...
