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
Sorted by date Results 1057 - 1081 of 4092
Having come through the crucible of making cuts and adopting a budget for the new school year, the Wrenshall School Board began tackling a host of open positions at its meeting in Holyoke on Monday. Currently, due to retirements, resignations and roughly $320,000 in budget cuts, the district is without a licensed boiler operator, lead custodian, head cook, school nurse, information technology specialist and a business manager in charge of the district’s budgeting. The board approved the hiring of a lead bus driver at the meeting. The d...
Work should begin on the Esko fitness center next week. The project is behind schedule by more than a fortnight, school board members heard Monday night. The permitting process was the first snag to overcome, according to John Erickson and Ian Bradshaw of DSGW Architects. They indicated the state took longer than expected to sign off on its portion, adding that the application was made in March, which allowed an extra three weeks for a study that usually takes 45 days. “The state plan review just got completed last week,” Erickson said. Loc...
If you blink your eyes, you might miss it. I know I did, many times. Traveling west on Minnesota Highway 210, it's just past the Sawyer Store, about three miles on the left. A few years ago, the wild turkeys were thick in this area. Unfortunately, I hit one with my car, twisting my side mirror. I pulled to the side of the road to check out the damage and it was then that I saw the sign advertising "Bedding Plants," "Greenhouse," and, even better yet, "Sale." My wife, dog, and I were in no rush...
Our Teen Services librarian, Justin Dinger, first hosted Space Camp in 2019. He saw a solicitation from NASA seeking sites to host summer classes for middle- and high school students. As a kid, Justin’s dream was to become an astronaut. He states that his math skills are not the best, so he settled for the second-best job in the world as a librarian. That first year, Justin traveled to Ohio for training and to meet some of the scientists and engineers working on real-world NASA projects. This y...
The highway is now closed between Cromwell Lake and Island Lake, and should be finished by July 26. There is a detour to the north and the south, so watch for signs. Work on the box culverts on Woodbury Lake and the one over the river in Wright will then start on July 31 and last for 31 days. Remember, the 58th annual Wrong Days in Wright starts today, July 14, with the steak fry, pie sale, St. John’s rummage sale, and O-G-N-I-B (“bingo” spelled backwards). The parade is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday,...
The next Finnish Luncheon is at noon on Wednesday, July 19 at the Kettle River Senior Center. National Night Out in Kettle River is Tuesday, Aug. 1 at the Kettle River Senior Center. The fun begins with supper of hamburgers and hot dogs from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The police and fire department will have things for the kids. There may even be rides on the firetruck. So, mark your calendars and come out and visit with neighbors and friends. Tickets for the American Legion rifle drawing are available from Legion members. The drawing is Friday, Nov....
With July Fourth behind them, many Carlton County communities now turn toward their own unique celebrations of summer. Those festivals launch this weekend with Moose Lake celebrating Agate Days Saturday and Sunday, July 15-16, plus three days of Wrong Days in Wright kicking off today. Agate Days Saturday is the big day in Moose Lake, and the Clark-Olsen Agate Stampede at 3 p.m. is always a treat. People of all ages line up on both sides of Elm Avenue and wait for two dump trucks to drive two blocks while dropping all kinds of rocks and gravel,...
It was the Cloquet Fourth of July redemption tour, after being diminished by the pandemic, then kicked in the knees by Mother Nature last year. No more, said the people, in spite of a little afternoon rain. They came out in droves. Runners and walkers headed to Pinehurst Park for the Sawdust 5K and then a 1-mile race down the parade route. People of all ages lined Cloquet Avenue for the annual July Fourth parade, several rows deep in places, kids with bags and buckets ready to be filled with...
Born in western Cloquet, Vern Simula wants to return to his home county when it's his time to go. He's already made a burial shroud and developed an advanced funeral directive on how he wants to be buried. Until recently, the 90-year-old living in Morris, Minnesota, had chosen a proposed green burial cemetery in Blackhoof Township, near Barnum, where wary residents and local and state lawmakers have cooperated to put a halt to the cemetery's progress. "I want a simple, traditional burial," said...
The Carlton County Historical Society shared this fascinating picture of the Fourth of July parade in Cloquet in 1905, which includes the old Pine Knot newspaper office. With the St. Louis River highlands in the background, we can assume this photo is looking north. Or is it west? The mystery is where exactly is this? Is it the road into Dunlap Island? Arch Street? We looked for old Pine Knot addresses but came up empty for 1905. Where do you think this is – a toughie given the fire that o...
Joe and Amanda Lambert grew up on farms less than a mile apart in rural Mahtowa. In 2010, the couple bought part of Amanda's family farm as a place to live. In 2015, they bought Joe's grandparents' farmstead near Barnum and started their own chapter in a long farming history: Happy Critters Farm, focussed on producing sustainable food for the local economy. This year, the farm and family has been honored by the University of Minnesota and Carlton County Extension office in the "Farm Family Recog...
Nominations are open for the 2023 Outstanding Senior Citizen awards, which are given annually to both a man and a woman age 70 or older. Nomination forms are available online at www.co.carlton.mn.us and ask for details of what the person has done for others in your organization or community after reaching age of 60. Feel free to discuss the application with the nominee to collect the requested volunteer activity information. Send the information to the Barnum Area Senior Citizens, 3794 Main St., Barnum MN 55707, by July 14. If you have any...
The Wrenshall School Board approved a $4.95 million budget for the 2023-24 school year during a special meeting June 26. Coupled with expected revenues of $5 million, the budget comes with a surplus of $48,272, and follows $312,000 in cuts earlier this year in anticipation of an ongoing shortfall if cuts weren’t made. The board had sought to build a $100,000 surplus, and could still get there given a higher enrollment. “It’s looking pretty good,” board chair Nicole Krisak told the Pine Knot. The budget was based on enrollment of 325 student...
Construction work on Highway 210 east of Cromwell at Island Lake began July 5. This work will require a full closure of Highway 210. The passenger vehicle detour route will take Carlton County Road 120 to Carlton County Road 123 to Highway 73. A truck detour will take I-35 to Carlton County Road 4 to Highway 73. A detour map can be found on the project website here: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/d1/projects/hwy210-boxculvertsreplacements/index.html. Once work is complete at this location, work will move west on Highway 210 for another full...
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources lifted burning restrictions in Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis counties, effective July 3. Recent rain has reduced, although not eliminated, wildfire risk in northeast Minnesota. This action lifts restrictions on fireworks ignited on any public or private land outside city limits, campfires and burning permits for brush or yard waste....
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is awarding grants totaling $66.9 million to 30 projects in the eighth year of the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant program and pilot round of the Low-Density Broadband Grant Program. It includes improving connectivity in Carlton County, a news release said. A last-mile project serving 503 households and businesses in the townships of Barnum, Eagle Lake, Lakeview and Moose Lake will provide fiber-to-the-home. A grant of $1.27 million will be matched with local funds....
Jim and Colleen Myhre purchased what was then 29 Pines golf course just before Labor Day 2020, renamed it Rugged Spruce and - though Jim had just retired - life got very busy. The purchase wouldn't have happened without timing and a certain inspirational phrase, said Jim, who had just retired. The saying came from a story a friend told Jim about hiring someone to cut down a tree right next to his house. "The professional eyed up the tree and agreed that it was going to be a tricky fall," Myhre...
A state grant is bringing free movies in the park to the city of Cloquet, starting Friday, with "Inside Out," a Pixar film about Riley, a happy, hockey-loving 11-year-old Midwestern girl whose world is turned upside-down when she and her parents move to San Francisco. It's the kind of movie lots of kids around here could probably relate to. "I think the messaging about expressing your feelings is really important, and something maybe we all need to do: learn to express ourselves," said Amy Louhe...
Esko High School Quarter 4 Honor Roll GPA between 3.650 and 4.0 Bella Abrahamson Will Abrahamson Emma Adkins Ashley Aker Parker Anderson Joshua Antonutti Lucye Backstrom Ellahna Barnes Ellynor Barta Joel Barta Lucy Barta Alena Beare Harper Benedix Aspen Berg Cadence Berger Cairin Berger Cuinn Berger Wyatt Bergstedt Genevieve Bohlman Leah Borden Ahna Brekke Addison Bucsko Priya Carey Jordyn Carpenter Samuel Cheslak Ayden Chopskie Jordan Chopskie Megan Chopskie Ty Christensen Stefan Ciuca Liberty Clifford Aoife Cook James Cornell Paul Cornell...
Six area students were each awarded $1,000 scholarships from Cloquet's Community Memorial Hospital Auxiliary for their pursuit of an education in healthcare. The awardees, in the back, from left, are Dana Jones, Bradley Untiedt, Spencer Strand, Jessica Pagelkopf, Andrew Kosloski and Erica Kosloski. In the front are scholarship committee members Rosemary Tobin, Phyllis Ducey and Barb DeLovely....
We’re lucky to have an abundance of clean fresh water to drink, bathe, cook and wash with here in Carlton County, but it’s not something to take for granted. While the majority of folks in the county get their water from municipal water sources, a large portion of the population gets the water they use every day from their own private wells. As long as the water doesn’t smell or taste funny, or isn’t an odd color, you might not think anything of it. It’s important that you have the resources to protect your drinking water from contamina...
A Wrenshall-area farm with roughly 50 horses and cows is under investigation again, following renewed reports of animals being underfed and lacking care. The spotlight on the farm returned Monday at the Carlton County board meeting in Cloquet, where concerned residents reported harrowing details, and both the county attorney's office and a statewide nonprofit humane society reported ongoing investigations into the farm. "I've been watching these horses and cows on this property since 2019 and...
We had to look twice at this 1898 ad from the old Pine Knot newspaper. Cream? Didn't they mean "scream"? We saw this phrase in several other newspapers from the era so we assume it was a thing back in the day, mostly regarding an upcoming patriotic event like Fourth of July. Is "cream" another term for the cry of an eagle? We couldn't find any modern day references to the term, thus the mystery. This was, indeed, a big Fourth of July for Cloquet and communities across the country as the...
Add "college classroom" to the list of activities at Cloquet's Pine Valley Recreation Area, known for its ski jumping, Nordic skiing, mountain biking, hiking, trail running, snowshoeing, hockey games, picnics and social gatherings. University of Minnesota students completing the Forest Ecosystem Management and Conservation track within the Forest and Natural Resource Management major are required to attend an advanced session held during the spring term at the university's Cloquet Forestry...
The former executive director of the Cloquet/Carlton Housing & Redevelopment Authority was fired on May 12 for a long list of reasons outlined in a letter its board gave her that day. In the letter, board members declared that the “serious nature” of its concerns left it “no recourse but to terminate” her employment after more than 16 years there. The Pine Knot News obtained the letter to Debra Shaff from an attorney representing the HRA after the newspaper made a request for information regarding her dismissal under the Minnesota’s data practi...
