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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After closing the USG plant in Cloquet for a deep cleaning following three employee-confirmed cases of COVID-19 there, USG spokesperson Kaitlyn Henderson said the company has two additional confirmed cases here. "In both cases, the employees had already been away from the plant for several days," she said. In each case, operations at the plant were temporarily suspended so it could be thoroughly cleaned. "We restarted operations after the cleaning and are currently operating like normal,"...
As the number of tests given increases across the state, so do the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Minnesota Department of Health reported 65 positive cases in Carlton County as of Wednesday, May 13, an increase of four from a week ago. Of those 65 cases, at least 36 are from the Moose Lake prison, an increase of one confirmed case since last week. Testing at the local Department of Corrections facilities is up, with 111 inmates tested in Moose Lake. Of those 36 were confirmed positive, 73 confirmed negative. Another 31 are presumed...
We have heard several disheartening stories from staff members at the Moose Lake and Willow River prisons about the fear and stigma they face after doing their day’s work since the COVID-19 outbreaks. We are writing to thank the men and women in the Department of Corrections for their work each day. A crisis has the unique ability to focus our hearts and minds on what is most important — family, friends, shelter, safety. During the workday, dedicated corrections officers often find themselves in dangerous situations ensuring safety and sec...
On May 5, Gov. Tim Walz signed an Executive Order allowing elective surgeries, and Community Memorial Hospital is already back in business. The order allowed hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and medical, dental and veterinary clinics to resume many procedures previously on hold, upon establishing criteria determining which procedures should proceed during the COVID-19 pandemic and providing a plan to maintain a safe environment for facility staff, patients, and visitors. “Minnesota has ma...
Written by MPR News Dan Kraker, Nancy Yang, Brian Bakst and Nina Moini Gov. Tim Walz is loosening social distancing restrictions that he put in place at the end of March to slow the spread of COVID-19. The "Stay Safe Minnesota" order replaces his stay-at-home order, which expires May 18. Under the new order, retail businesses will be allowed to reopen with limited capacity and group gatherings of 10 or fewer people, including at places of worship, will be permitted once again. Restrictions on...
Are they open? In this time of social distancing and myriad governor’s orders, don’t you wish there was a place to find out — or to communicate — which businesses in Carlton County are open, and which ones are not? There is. Our small staff can’t possibly cover everything, but the Open or Knot app on our website is an easy way for the community to “crowdsource’’ and consolidate this useful information in one convenient reputable place: www.pineknotnews.com. It’s free. Free for business owners and organizations to upload their own up-to-date in...
DONATE TO COVID-19 LOCAL RELIEF FUND The United Way of Carlton County created an emergency fund called the COVID-19 Local Relief Fund. The purpose of this fund is to provide immediate support for Carlton County residents who need basic everyday survival items by sending grocery cards through the mail to local families who request help. The COVID-19 Local Relief Fund is open and accepting donations. To donate, text UWCARLTON to 41444 or visit the website. Send grocery cards to United Way of Carlton County, PO Box 250, Cloquet MN 55720. DONATE...
Sharon Oyat is from Uganda and previously worked as a newspaper intern in Cloquet and has many close ties in Carlton County and Minnesota. She writes an occasional column for the Pine Knot News and shared what the worldwide pandemic looks like in her country We are Africans. We have summer year-round. We eat healthful foods - ash is an ingredient in some of our delicacies. We are herbalists. This "corona thing" affects only the European countries. They are in winter now, it's very cold....
Mobile testing for COVID-19 has arrived in Cloquet in true Northland style: a fish house. "Technically it's a fish house with no holes," said phlebotomist Alicia Rock with a chuckle Tuesday morning. A nearby walker cracked: "They're not catching much there." That's the goal. Detect, but don't catch. Rock and nurse Kasie Sundeen work in full personal protective equipment - gloves, isolation gowns, goggles plus full face shields and half-face respirators - as they travel between vehicles and their...
Increrased testing across the state is sending the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases higher while it gives health officials a better idea of where the spread is occuring. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Health reported that the total number of positive tests in the state had reached 8,579. The total number of deaths in the state was at 485, with 391 of those residing in long term care or assisted living facilities. In Carlton County, the number of confirmed cases reached 61 on Wednesday as reported by MDH, which reports numbers from...
After reporting that the Cloquet USG plant had one person test positive for COVID-19 on April 24, the company announced Wednesday that it had two additional confirmed cases of the disease. The company found out this week and suspended operations at the plant. “USG has shut down temporarily to do a thorough cleaning and a disinfections crew was called in,” said USG spokesperson Kaitlyn Henderson, adding that they expect to reopen within a few days. The cleaning will be done in accordance with recommendations from the World Health Org...
Cloquet city councilors tried to find a balance between keeping people safe on the one hand, and allowing them to have fun outside at city parks on the other during Tuesday’s online council meeting. In the end, they chose safety in a time of pandemic, acknowledging that it is almost impossible to actually police the parks and ticket people who aren’t complying with orders to remain socially distanced while exercising outdoors. Councilors voted 4-3 to close the Pinehurst Park basketball cou...
Gov. Tim Walz extended his stay-at-home order through May 18 last week, at the same time making changes that will allow some additional retail stores and other businesses to offer curbside pickup of purchases. Walz estimated his order will put up to 30,000 Minnesotans back to work. Restaurants and bars, as well as salons, barbershops and gyms are still prevented from offering inside services. Also last week, Walz gave the green light to allowing factory and office workers who don’t have customer-facing jobs back into their work spaces, with c...
Barnum superintendent Mike McNulty felt chilled the afternoon of April 1 after leaving his office at Barnum High School and returning to his rented cabin near Sand Lake. "I felt like I was coming down with a cold," he said in a telephone interview this week. "I took a hot shower to warm up." But he felt better the next morning and went back to his office. "I didn't have a temperature but, within hours, I alternated between feelings of being chilled and feeling hot," he said. "I got out of the of...
After finding out that an employee in the USG plant in Cloquet tested positive for COVID-19, USG took immediate action, according to USG spokesperson Kaitlyn Henderson. USG temporarily suspended the department where the employee was working to allow for thorough cleaning in accordance with recommendations from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control. In addition, USG, reported, it has been regularly cleaning common areas with increased frequency and is also completing an additional disinfecting of common areas where the...
The more you look, the more you find. In a little over a week since the Minnesota Department of Corrections began testing more prisoners at its facilities in Moose Lake and Willow River, the numbers of confirmed cases climbed from a total of 29 on April 22 to 78 a week later. At Moose Lake, where COVID-19 infections first appeared, confirmed cases went from 14 on April 22 to 33 a week later, on Wednesday, April 29. Over the same timeframe in Willow River confirmed cases went from 15 to 45. An...
For the first time in recent county board action, commissioner Mark Thell voted “no” to approve a road construction project funded through the half-percent sales tax after a presentation by county highway engineer JinYeene Neumann at the Carlton county commissioners meeting Monday, April 27. The project under discussion was the upgrade of the St. Louis River Road between Highway 33 and CSAH 1, awarded to Ulland Bros for $1,054,622, which came in 17.2 percent under the engineering estimate. It is one of two roads left from the original list fro...
The COVID 19 pandemic is a threat to the entire world population. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, is "novel," or not seen before. The implication is that an individual human's immune system has no natural immunity, aka antibodies, to attack and defeat the rampage to, at the minimum, the respiratory system. The scientific community is working on a vaccine to provide immunity. Until then, when an infected human sheds the virus onto another human, the virus it will proceed...
The B&B Market donation drive in Cloquet keeps on going. John and Kim Lind announced this week that they have received more than $70,000 from people to go toward packages of food for those who are struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic response. The Linds estimate they have helped out more than 3,500 people in the region. The couple got a boost a few weeks ago when friend Mark Osvold of Pine River Sales donated an enclosed trailer to help with deliveries the couple was making with...
Community Memorial Hospital continues to need cloth facemasks, homemade or storebought. Drop off inside the front doors of the hospital in a bin clearly marked for facemasks. These masks help everyone as we try to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (middle photo) CMH and Sunnyside Health Care Center are also accepting donations of the following items: gloves (latex-free only), gowns (disposable), surgical and clinical masks, N95 respirators, face shields, Tyvek suits, powered air-purifying...
Symptoms According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported — ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19: • Cough • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Or at least two of these symptoms: • Fever • Chills • Repeated shaking with chills • Muscle pain • Headache • Sore throat • New...
The current pandemic response in Minnesota calls for people staying at home as much as possible to avoid spreading COVID-19. But orders from Gov. Tim Walz do allow for outside activities. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has some rules of the road when heading outdoors at this time. Can I still go outside? Executive Order 20-33 allows people to be outdoors, engaging in activities such as walking, running, and fishing and hunting. Minnesotans can continue to enjoy parks and other public recreation lands. We urge outdoor enthusiasts...
In a May 1 letter to the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Duluth, Father James B. Bissonette, diocesan administrator, announced that the temporary measures the diocese had already adopted to protect against the spread of COVID-19 have been extended through May 18. The measures, which include suspension of public Mass and cancellation of gatherings of more than 10 people, had previously been extended through May 4. Under these measures, priests continue to celebrate Masses without a congregation, confession and pastoral care of the sick...
On a day that saw Minnesota deaths due to COVID-19 jump to 179 - the largest increase yet - and confirmed numbers of infected rise to a total of 2,721 statewide, the state prisons in Moose Lake and Willow River also saw a startling increase as more inmates are being tested in both Minnesota Department of Corrections facilities. The number of patients tested at Moose Lake almost doubled, jumping from 24 to 45, with 14 confirmed positive, 12 confirmed negative and 19 test results pending. At Willo...
Reflecting what all Minnesotans are seeing in their local economies during the COVID-19 “stay at home” orders, the jobless numbers that are coming out are startling and historic. And they are rising by the scores daily in counties across the state. Carlton County had 3,171 people file for unemployment insurance March 16 through April 20. That is 17.4 percent of the available workforce. Nearby counties in the northeastern had similar numbers: • St. Louis: 18.6 percent. • Pine: 19.2 percent. • Lake: 20.2 percent. • Aitkin: 17 percent. Th...
