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 1294 - 1318 of 3909
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College will soon be offering a four-year degree targeting those in pursuit of a career in elementary education. Announced this month, the move makes it the first two-year college in Minnesota approved to offer a bachelor's degree. Classes will officially begin for the first round of future educators in January. The new program is also the first in the state accredited by education boards to incorporate Indigenous cultural values and learning approaches into the... Full story
The Thomson Township Board of Supervisors approved terms of a new law enforcement contract with the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, extending services provided to the township for another three years. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office assigns a deputy to work exclusively in the township. According to Chief Deputy Dan Danielson, who attended the board’s meeting Oct. 20 to answer questions about the new contract, the assignment allows the deputy to form a relationship with the community, get to know businesses, and work alongside the schoo...
In a rundown of the annual audit, the Cloquet school board got mixed news on the budget and the best rating from the auditing firm BerganKDV. Revenues for the last fiscal year were slightly higher than expected, at $36,935,439 versus $36,762,596, a difference of $172,843. However, the general fund account showed expenditures of $1.3 million, $1 million more than the predicted budget deficit of $284,000. But that doesn’t mean the district was in the red by roughly $1.3 million. BerganKDV manager Dustin Opatz explained the bulk of the extra e...
A call from a concerned citizen last month led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Cloquet man, after police officers allegedly found more than 1,200 fentanyl pills in the BMW car he was driving. James Daniel Randa was charged with aggravated first-degree controlled substance crime with a firearm and first-degree drug possession, both felonies, in Carlton County Court earlier this month. Randa was also charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, a gross misdemeanor. Carlton County attorney Lauri Ketola said field testing showed the presence of... Full story
A 16-year-old Superior boy pleaded guilty Tuesday, Oct. 25, to second-degree felony assault, after firing shots at a carful of people during a July incident in Pinehurst Park in Cloquet. Appearing before Judge Amy Lukasavitz in District Court in Carlton, the boy admitted to firing a 9-millimeter handgun 12 times at the car. The incident was preceded by an argument and foot chase involving two other juvenile males in the park late in the evening July 2. The males fled after the assailant brandished the gun. Two women driving by picked up the...
An omnibus hearing for homicide suspect Raymond Arthur Julian was delayed until December on Tuesday, because there are a number of “computer-type devices” still out for analysis with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. “Given the number of devices and general timeline, it’s still going to take some time,” said assistant county attorney Jeffrey Boucher. “We have asked that it be expedited given the serious nature of this case, but it’s not yet complete.” Julian has been in the Carlton County jail since he was arrested in December 202...
Carlton County officials announced this week that 14th Street in Cloquet would reopen Thursday, Oct. 27. All legs of the new roundabout at the intersection of Washington Avenue and 14th Street are open.... Full story
The hoax bomb and shooting calls concerning Cloquet and Esko schools as well as Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College made national news this week, when WIRED magazine published a story taking a deep dive into the who, what and why of the fake “swatting” calls that disrupted the school day twice in Cloquet and sent Esko students home this year. Locally, Cloquet police chief Derek Randall was interviewed for the story, as were Cloquet school officials Michael Cary and Hayley Kachinske. Find the story at www.wired.com/story... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
Thanks to a reader, we’ve got a deeper understanding of Cloquet’s sales tax ballot question. Or, questions, rather. The city of Cloquet is seeking a half-percent increase to its sales tax in order to fund roughly $8 million worth of projects at Pine Valley recreation area and the city’s adjacent indoor hockey rinks, the Barn and Northwoods Credit Union Arena. But early and absentee voters, like the reader, Dan Unulock of Cloquet, have noticed the ballot doesn’t restrict the sales tax increase to one question. Instead, it’s split into two quest... Full story
Local and regional developers have until the end of November to submit proposals that will determine the future of the condemned Hotel Solem building. Located in downtown Cloquet, the 103-year-old building was condemned earlier this year and taken over by the city. The city issued its request for proposals earlier this week, and already it's received attention, with community development director Holly Hansen lining up the first tour of what she hopes will be many more. "(Monday), I outreached...
While historical markers dot the heart of Cloquet, replete with photos and historical narratives of places such as the old city hall, the train depot and Pinehurst Park, a large part of the area’s history was overlooked when those markers were installed years ago. The history of the Native American tribes who lived here — some long before any European explorers arrived — is conspicuously absent. City officials hope to change that with help from a diverse group of area residents and the guidance of a consultant, thanks to a $50,000 grant from th...
The seven candidates running to fill three open Esko school board seats in the Nov. 8 midterm election spoke directly to community members at a candidate forum event earlier this month. The Oct. 11 event was hosted and moderated by Esko’s Parents in Education group and had a successful turnout for the group’s first attempt at a candidate forum. The Esko school theater was nearly filled with parents, teachers and community members. The incumbent candidates, Margaret Sunnarborg and Todd Rengo, along with the five other candidates seeking election... Full story
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Department of Natural Resources and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa announced an enforcement action this week against Enbridge Energy for water quality violations during Line 3 pipeline construction. Those include accidental releases of drilling mud at a dozen locations, and two other aquifer breaches at LaSalle Creek in Hubbard County and near the Fond du Lac Reservation. They also include discharges of stormwater from construction... 
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Assigned by the local diocese's bishop to Queen of Peace Catholic Church 15 months ago, the Rev. Nick Nelson praised his fortune. "For me, who thinks beauty, who thinks the physical appearance of the church, especially inside, is so important, I was really grateful to be here," Father Nelson said. "I would struggle at some of the more modern churches, to be honest. They're less sacred." Inside Queen of Peace's ornate nave, where parishioners gather for worship, a person can feel small... Full story
Carlton County Public Health and Human Services director Dave Lee got approval to restructure the working relationship between staff at the Moose Lake and Cloquet PHHS offices at the Carlton County board of commissioners meeting Monday, Oct. 10. The Moose Lake office will be closed on Fridays starting soon. None of the Moose Lake staff will lose their jobs. The goal is to handle cases according to types of issues rather than based on where a client lives to improve service and give client service a location of choice. Clients will still be... Full story
Voters in Cloquet will see two sales tax proposals on their ballots during early voting and the midterm general election Nov. 8. Carlton County voters will have to pay attention, too, because they're part of half of this. The ballot questions both ask voters to raise the existing sales tax by 0.5% - half-a-penny per dollar to raise $8 million in project funds for the city of Cloquet, and another half-penny countywide to fund the $66 million Carlton County Justice Center already under... Full story
At least half of the mini golf mystery proffered in the Sept. 30 issue of the Pine Knot News has been solved - its origin story - but the mystery of where (and by whom) the historic mini golf set was taken remains unknown. Readers may recall that a Cloquet "landmark" mini golf set was set up for the West End Flourish event Sept. 24, after an employee of Lyn's Auto Body found it in a dumpster behind the U.S. Bank building a couple weeks before. The homemade set consisted of six mini golf holes,... Full story
An amicable gathering last week brought together most of the Wrenshall school board candidates in a public forum for the first time. As it concluded, the six candidates in attendance expressed pride in the school, and appreciation for one another. It stood in contrast to the tumult which has mired the board throughout the past year. But in subtler ways it also further illuminated the chasm between four relative newcomers and incumbents Deb Washenesky and Jack Eudy, along with board appointee... Full story
An observant police officer and a likely DNA match led to the arrest of a 43-year-old Cloquet man last week on suspicion of trying to strangle a woman in her home this summer. Cloquet detectives and officers arrested Brendan Gareth Smith Friday afternoon after an extensive investigation of a home invasion June 7. Smith appeared in Sixth District Carlton County Court Monday, Oct. 10, charged with first-degree burglary and third-degree assault, both felonies. He was granted a public defender and bond was set at $250,000. According to the... Full story
A request to allow the local industrial landfill to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week for two specific customers was approved by the Cloquet planning commission Tuesday. The motion passed by a 3-1 vote, with new commissioner Michelle Wick the only “no” vote. Wick lives near the SKB Environmental landfill in the neighborhood near Hilltop Park, and had suggested the commission table the request so she could have time to do some research. The vote is an advisory one: the final decision rests with the Cloquet city council. City pla... Full story
Blackhoof Township residents have collected nearly 100 local signatures on a petition opposing a new “green” cemetery advertising its services on land in the township. Residents again attended Tuesday’s county board meeting, this time to object to the approximately 20-acre cemetery, Loving Earth Memorial Gardens, being established adjacent to eight relatively new homes. The cemetery caters to clientele wishing to be buried naturally without embalming or cremation. Matt Connell originally bought the land but does not live here. The issue has p... Full story
The Esko school district is planning a few projects that will give students and the greater community an opportunity to stay active year-round. The Esko school board has been working on plans for a new fitness center over the last few months, something that was identified near the top of the list on the district's 10-year facilities plan. The board shared some initial plans for the new fitness center at the meeting Monday, Oct. 10. In a presentation given by ICS, the district's building project... Full story
The Thomson Township board of supervisors is continuing to seek improvements for the township’s sewer system in order to prevent future emergency repairs, like the one in late July 2022 on Highway 61 in front of the Esko school. At their meeting Thursday, Oct. 6, the board approved a project, to be completed by July 1, 2023, that will update sewer lines in the area surrounding where the emergency repairs were done in summer of 2022, to prevent a similar situation again. Township engineer Joe Jurewicz recommended the township work with Visu S... Full story
