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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During Cloquet's taxation and budget hearing on Dec. 3, frustrated resident Shannon Kesner asked city councilors to think outside the box rather than raising taxes, sharing that her property taxes have gone up over $1,200 a year since she purchased her home in 2020. "I know there's all kinds of funding sources out there," she said. "I implore you and others to take a look at all the different opportunities and see if something can help this." There's good news for Kesner and other residents:...
The Carlton County Disabled American Veterans and its supporters are inviting everyone to enjoy a free Christmas dinner on Christmas Day Wednesday. No military service required, just a hungry belly and a heart for community. The annual Christmas meal will be served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 25 at Zion Lutheran Church at 1000 Washington Ave. in Cloquet. The menu features a wide array of appetizers, salad, dessert, meatballs, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, beverages and lots of company.... Full story
What's it like to be a young farmer in Minnesota? For starters, there's an expanding variety of farms and they're being passed down to young people who supplement their agrarian passions with off-farm jobs. It's a challenge as hard as ever before, but it's not insurmountable. "Many have other jobs, where farming is not their full-time job," said Brainerd-based University of Minnesota extension officer Nathan Hulinsky. "They need help knowing how to borrow money to run their business and how to...
Cloquet school board members interviewed six people who applied to fill a soon-to-be vacant school board seat. Board member Sarah Plante-Buhs ran for and was elected to the Carlton County Board of Commissioners. She will take her county board seat and vacate her school board seat in early January. The school board will announce its choice Jan. 6 The six candidates — Ted Lammi, Jason Loons, Brendon McKeon, Robert Peacock, Nate Sandman and Shaun Williams — applied to serve the last two years of Buhs’ term. Only Sandman and Lammi have prior exper...
Take your time reading this week's issue, because the Pine Knot News office will be closed the week between Christmas and New Year. We will not produce a paper next week, and look forward to time with family and friends. Obituaries and breaking news will be published online at pineknotnews.com during Christmas week. Email [email protected] or text Jana at 218-213-1231 with anything that simply can't wait. Feel free to share fun or beautiful winter photos for possible publication in the new...
The city of Cloquet's holiday light display is up, outlining scenes of winter and holiday fun around Spafford Park campground, located on Dunlap Island next to the voyageur statue, who is now wearing his XXL Santa hat. It's an excellent place to cruise with a carload of kids or maybe just a mug of hot chocolate as you drive around the area looking at all the homes and businesses lit up for the season. The Butkiewicz Family Farm is another excellent destination in southern Carlton County. The...
Carlton County residents are encouraged to recycle Christmas trees during Treecycling, a free program with dropoff runs through Friday, Jan. 31. Christmas trees, like yard waste, are banned from landfills in Minnesota. Trees contain valuable resources that can be reclaimed through recycling. Collected trees will be ground up and composted by the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, saving landfill space while safely managing invasive species that may have been brought in on trees from outside of our region. Remove all ornaments, tinsel,...
"My first thought is: We don't deserve an incredible community like this. But then I take a deep breath and realize we are so so grateful to have such an incredible unit of friends, family, and community behind us who see us and love us. And we are eternally grateful." Those were the words to the community from Emily Boulanger this past week. Her temporary home, a bus converted into a camper, was gutted Thursday night by a fire on property in rural Cloquet that she and fiancee Liam May own. An...
Property owners in the Esko school district should see a half-percent increase in next year’s school tax levy, after school board members on Dec. 9 approved the tax levy at $2,365,346, an increase of only $11,681 over last year. Also during the Dec. 9 meeting, board members held a public hearing regarding a proposal to sell a maximum of $895,000 in general obligation tax abatement bonds to pay for a new parking lot and other parking lot improvements in the district. The new parking lot will be constructed on a former residential lot at 25 L...
The Carlton school board approved a levy for 2025 that reduces school taxes by about 4 percent. In the same meeting, there was troubling news about facilities, and mixed news about finances. Before the regular meeting Monday, Carlton schools held this year’s Truth in Taxation hearing, which presents a detailed picture of next year’s taxation and allows for public comment. Jennifer Smith from Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium told the board and the public that the district would see a reduction in the levy totalling $1,135,540.76. “That is...
A story in last week’s Pine Knot, “County explains 3% tax increase,” raised the eyebrows of Carlton County assessor Kyle Holmes. “Market values are independent from taxes and vice versa,” he said, correcting a passage in the Pine Knot report that suggested the factors were intertwined. “Rising property values and rising taxes are not intertwined, and should be kept separate,” he said. Levy increases are a function of spending, he said. Holmes attended the Dec. 11 Truth in Taxation hearing, at which the county heard from audience members and pre...
Christmas is almost here. I'm wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's this time of year that we take the time to reminisce about the past and our favorite Christmas memories. We celebrated Christmas as I was growing up on Christmas Eve. My dad would take us to town in Cromwell or Wright to get us out of the house while my mother made all the last-minute preparations for the evening. Dad would take us to the Co-op store in Wright, and we would look around at all the...
Two familiar faces are among the six candidates set to interview for a spot on Cloquet's school board later this month. Cloquet public schools leaders on Monday, Dec. 9, agreed to interview Brendon McKeon, Robert Peacock, Nate Sandman, Jason Loons, Shaun Williams and Ted Lammi next week. Each hopes to replace Sarah Buhs, a board member who resigned effective in January after she was elected to the Carlton County board of commissioners in November. The current board members agreed to meet... Full story
Greg White describes himself as a father, husband, firefighter, outdoorsman and mental health advocate. Now the Cloquet Area Fire District firefighter can add the title of "champ" to the list, after being crowned winner of the 'Stache Salt moustache competition and title of "2024 Saltiest 'Stache of the Year" last week. Sponsored by 'Stache Salt, the monthlong online competition included a number of judges challenges to get to the Top 10. From that point, it was a popularity contest, with the to...
Nearly 50 Thomson Township residents crowded into the town hall Thursday, Dec. 5, worried the board of supervisors was going to address the long-delayed private roads and shared driveway resolutions. In the end, board chairwoman Ruth Janke addressed the issue only once — at the start of the meeting — and that was to tell residents they were misled by a social media post. The controversial resolutions were not on the agenda and wouldn’t be discussed. An update to the township’s road policy and engineering guidelines that was on the agenda under...
A man was rescued and later charged with driving while intoxicated Monday after his vehicle was submerged in the St. Louis River in Scanlon. A 35-year-old man from Ironwood, Michigan was arrested by the Cloquet Police after being medically cleared from the local hospital. At 10:30 p.m. Monday, first responders were dispatched to a vehicle that went into the river off River Gate Avenue, past the River Inn and Minnesota Whitewater Rafting businesses, CAFD battalion chief Jason Maki said in a...
The city of Carlton was expected to adopt a 4.01-percent levy increase following its Truth in Taxation hearing Dec. 4. The taxable levy on the city’s $1.81 million budget for 2025 rose to $516,367, up from $496,457 in 2024, accounting for the 4-percent increase. The city council met Dec. 5 for a special meeting aimed at finalizing the numbers prior to this week’s hearing. “We went through it line by line to see where we can make changes and save money,” mayor Mike Soderstrom said following the Dec. 5 meeting. “People can ask themselve...
The Cloquet Area Fire District’s 2025 budget has climbed and its proposed levy, which garnered three “no” votes from board members in September, remains unchanged. The district board presented this information at its annual truth-in-taxation meeting at which two residents participated Dec. 5. The state-mandated meeting allows for public comment ahead of levy approval. The total that could be levied on the combined fire and ambulance service areas at the board’s upcoming Dec. 18 meeting is $4,334,394. The amount individual residents pay may dif...
Only three members of the public spoke at Wednesday’s Truth in Taxation hearing conducted by the Carlton County board and administration. While small in number, the three speakers seemed to carry the concerns of a broad swath of citizens. Namely, why do taxes keep going up? “If I don’t have enough money, I don’t go to my employer with a levy,” said Cody Gilbert, 43, of Moose Lake, who reported his property taxes have doubled in the seven years since he’s owned his home. Gilbert was comparing how the levy on property owners is used to balance ju...
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is accepting snowplow names for the agency’s fifth “Name a Snowplow” contest. Past winners have included names like Taylor Drift, Plowy McPlowFace, and The Big Leplowski. MnDOT encourages people to submit their most witty, unique and Minnesota or winter-themed snowplow name ideas through the agency’s website. Submissions will be accepted through noon on Friday, Dec. 20. MnDOT has a few basic rules: • Each person may only submit only one name. • Submissions are limited to no more than 30 characters...
Starting this upcoming tax filing season, renters eligible for a property tax refund will now claim the new Renter’s Credit on their Minnesota Individual Income Tax return. To claim the Renter’s Credit, renters must file a state income tax return (Form M1). For most renters claiming a property tax refund, this means they will no longer file a separate Property Tax Refund return and will not receive a separate refund later in the year. The Renter’s Credit will be part of their income tax refund amount, be applied to the amount owed on their...
At their working session Monday night, the Carlton school board acknowledged and formed a response to a letter from Wrenshall asking for continued discussion of a possible merger. The letter from Wrenshall, dated Nov. 12, had only one sentence which contained 15 words: “We are ready to meet to discuss consolidation between Wrenshall and Carlton when you are.” It was signed by all six members of the Wrenshall school board. Board member Sue Karp, who has two years left to go on her term, thought the superintendents needed to be involved in any...
With no comment from the public or school board members, a 2025 levy increase was approved in Wrenshall Tuesday in a Truth in Taxation hearing before the regular school board meeting. Superintendent Jeff Pesta called the budgeting in the district the past four years a solid path for the district. Next year’s levy is “staying close to home,” he said, and the better news is that the district’s fund balance is increasing: $506,000 in 2023 to $800,000 in 2024, Pesta said. Better financial shape means the district can look for ways to improve...
At the end of harvest, when "All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin," farmers gather to compare notes before their attention is captured by the holidays. Traditionally, the two largest Minnesota organizations, Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) and Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF), hold their annual conventions in Minneapolis on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Each assembly hears reports, welcomes guest speakers, and votes for delegates to their national affiliates....
Esko Schools Quarter 1, 2024 Honor Roll Emma Adkins Aania Ahsan Adisyn Anderson Lillee Ankarlo Joshua Antonutti Emmett Bailey Aaron Bailey Roman Barnes Ellynor Barta Lucy Barta Brooklyn Battaglia Ashlynn Beare Josef Bednar William Beisang Gavin Belich Remington Bender Jaxon Benedix Harper Benedix Aviana Bergstrand Elin Besonen Isabella Bowman Marisa Brabec Ahna Brekke Annabella Brodin Quinn Bryant Braeden Caple Merik Carey Priya Carey Charlie Carlson Owen Cawcutt Amelia Cebelinski Joseph Cekalla Samuel Cheslak Ayden Chopskie Brynn Christensen... Full story
