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 Wrenshall school board agreed in a special meeting Wednesday to survey community members before posting the district’s open superintendent position. “I don’t think we can rush this,” board member Misty Bergman said. “We don’t even know what we’re looking for.” Superintendent Kim Belcastro announced her retirement in January after 11 years in the job. She and the board agreed to keep her on part-time through the end of the school year to maintain leadership in the school and administer to the business of the school. Belcastro and s...
A one-time Cloquet resident was convicted of second-degree intentional murder last week in Minneapolis. Cody Logan Fohrenkam, 30, was found guilty Thursday, Jan. 26, of shooting and killing 15-year-old Deshaun Hill Jr., a student and athlete at Minneapolis North Community High School. The shooting occurred after the two happened to pass each other on the sidewalk - Hill wearing a walking boot on one foot, Fohrenkam searching for the person who punched him four times and stole his phone at a conv...
Cloquet Area Fire District board members started the new year by taking care of official business: selecting the Pine Knot News as the district’s official newspaper, and Frank Yetka as its official attorney. The board also elected officers for 2023. Leadership of the CAFD board will remain the same, with Brevator Township representative Linda Way serving as board chair, Fond du Lac Band rep Bruce Blacketter serving as vice chair and Scanlon rep Marshall Johnson serving as treasurer. Fire chief Jesse Buhs thanked the board members for their s...
Until her sudden passing in November, Stephanie Hammitt had made herself into an indispensable figure at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. At the time of her death from cancer on Nov. 14 at age 60, the president of the college was prioritizing enrollment, student success and an updated strategic plan. But she led in other ways, too — ways which make her absence more profound. Hammitt fostered connection with an open-door policy. Each day and every week, many people would pop in to t...
A set of ordinances presented to Thomson Township residents last week has people talking, and not all of them are in favor of more government control over their properties. At issue are two proposed resolutions that would require a shared maintenance agreement and minimum design standards for private shared driveways and roads in the township. The proposals would ensure safe and adequate access for public safety and to permit future upgrading, proponents on the board say. More than 40 residents...
Residents of Cloquet’s Aspen Arms apartments were alarmed last week when a large number of law enforcement officials parked in front of and behind the building, entering and remaining inside for a significant period of time, more than one resident told the Pine Knot News. In the end, police arrested James Thomas Tuttle on suspicion of possessing and disseminating child pornography. The 31-year-old was living with his mother in the 74-unit public housing building run by the Cloquet/Carlton Housing & Redevelopment Agency. According to the c...
Mother to three kids under age 6, Cloquet's Billie Thompson had a unique routine among mushers when she and her dogs reached the first checkpoint during this year's mid-distance Beargrease 120. "I took care of the dogs first, getting them fed and bedded. Then my next priority was to nurse him," she said of baby Camden, now five months old. Having a strong support team - mom and dad, Betsy and Charlin Diver, and husband, Cameron - helps. So does a great kennel partner/mentor in Rock Creek's Richa...
Due to the extreme cold temperatures, Cloquet schools will start two hours late Friday, Feb. 3. According to the National Weather Service, there will be dangerously cold wind chills as low as 45 below zero in Carlton County until noon CST Friday. The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes. Precautions: Avoid outside activities if possible. When outside, make sure you wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves....
'There's a lot of nice stuff there' In 30 years of auctioneering and conducting estate sales, Steven Wesely has never gone to a second weekend for a sale. Until this weekend. "This is by far the most unique place I've had," Wesely said of the sprawling property at 3698 Bayview Dr., overlooking Little Hanging Horn Lake between Barnum and Moose Lake. Hundreds of guests visited the estate sale last weekend and, when Wesely talked about the sale on Monday, he was preparing to put out another wave...
With a state budget surplus of more than $17 billion, Carlton County leaders are again looking to the state legislature for help funding the new justice center, despite voter approval in November of a half-cent sales tax for the next 30 years. The county had requested $22 million in state bonding money for the combined jail and courts facility during the 2022 legislative session, but the divided legislature failed to pass a bonding bill. Now, because construction has already started, the justice center project no longer qualifies for bonding...
The Board of Directors of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District welcomes Jack Ezell as the elected Carlton County representative. The seat was previously filled by Ruth Janke who dedicated 13 years of service to WLSSD and its environmental mission. Ezell had a 43-year career with WLSSD and now joins the board after 4 years in retirement. WLSSD is governed by a nine-member citizen board. Four members are appointed by the city of Duluth, three by the city of Cloquet, one is elected by the Carlton County cities and townships within the...
Voters in the Cromwell-Wright school district will go to the polls Feb. 14 with a chance to weigh a series of school improvements, costing $6.45 million and including updates to the second gym and improved safety infrastructure. Voting for the referendum will take place from 1-8 p.m., at the Sno-Gophers Club building at 1247 Highway 73 near city hall. Mail and absentee options will be more limited than a general election. "This building is, conservatively, about a $40 million asset,"...
After January 27, it will be official: the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team will move to Class A hockey starting next season for at least two years, a move that 90 percent of parents in the hockey program supported when polled by the school district earlier this year. "Cloquet has played up since the state went to a two-class system, and even when there was a Tier 1 and Tier 2 system in the early '90s," Cloquet High School activities director Paul Riess said after Monday's Cloquet School...
A Barnum man is facing charges after police found him passed out in a parked car earlier this month. Roger Petersen Jr., 35, was charged Friday, Jan. 20, in Sixth District Court in Carlton County with felony first-degree drug possession along with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. Bail was set at $75,000 bond or $7,500 cash. According to the criminal complaint, a Fond du Lac tribal police officer was at a gas station on Minnesota Highway 210 on Jan. 18 when a staff member told him she had observed a vehicle parked and running next to the...
The Thomson Township board of supervisors had a short agenda for its meeting Jan. 19. The board rescheduled a public hearing to set rates for sewer service in order to allow time to work out the details for changes to commercial businesses in the township. The meeting will now be held at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 16, before the board’s regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. According to the public hearing notice online, the proposed rate changes per month are as follows: • One-family dwelling used for residential purposes: from $35 to $40 • Multi-family dwell...
The Food for Thought tasting event returned to the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College last week after a Covid hiatus. More than 200 people enjoyed samples of signature food and beverages from a dozen local vendors and raised more than $22,000 for FDLTCC student scholarships. The crowd voted to award the Golden Spoon to Route 61 out of Moose Lake for their ribs and tasty deconstructed cheesecake. The Silver Spoon award went to Room at the Table catering for their fantastic assortment of...
A Cloquet man who was charged in October for having 1,200 fentanyl pills in his possession is facing new drug charges. James Daniel Randa, 19, and Kaydance Marie Barrett, 18, were charged with felony second-degree drug sale and fifth-degree drug possession in Sixth District Court in Carlton County after Black Bear Casino surveillance staff observed possible drug use activity in the parking lot earlier this month. Fond du Lac police responded to a call Jan. 9 from security and observed video of people in two vehicles handling and smoking an...
An e-book project coordinated by Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College was recently awarded the 2022 Minnesota Author Project award in the Communities Create category. To celebrate the win, the college is inviting the community to a reception and reading starting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7. The e-book, “Bringing Joy: A Local Literary Welcome” is an anthology of writing and art inspired by the work of former United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Muscogee) and created by local writers and artists. Harjo made a virtual visit to the Northland in 202...
Arctic cold and dangerous wind chills continue through the week. A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect tonight along the International Border for wind chills of -25F to -35F. According to the National Weather Service in Duluth, the coldest period this week is expected to be Thursday night into Friday morning, when widespread wind chills of -35F and colder are possible across the Northland, with wind chills of -40F to -50F over the MN Arrowhead. Look for a weekend warmup. Recent Changes - Wind Chill Advisory issued for all of the Northland tonight...
A suspect in the burglary this month at the Esko post office was arrested Jan. 12 in Anoka County. The arrest came as a trail of evidence was located by investigators, indicating that the suspect was involved in a string of burglaries in the region. Steven Russell Macdonald, 37, of Willow River, is alleged to have been burglarizing and shoplifting seemingly at will across several days earlier this month, according to a criminal complaint filed in Sixth District Court in Carlton. Macdonald is...
After close to five months without representation, Cloquet's Ward 3 voters have a new city councilor. Iris Keller was selected Tuesday by unanimous council vote, following interviews with her and fellow candidate Pete Erickson. Both candidates ran write-in campaigns this fall, after previous Ward 3 councilor Chris Swanson moved outside of his ward last summer. The move came after the election filing period, however, so Swanson's name could not be removed from the ballot. Despite news stories,...
With nearly 50 inches of snow recorded so far this winter, it's no surprise Cloquet residents feel like the streets are not up to their usual standards. Waits have been longer, and the piles of snow at corners and in parking lots (and everywhere else) are much higher. While people know there's been a lot of snow, many are still frustrated. Jeremy Johnson, who lives on the 300 block of 21st Street in Cloquet, told the Cloquet City Council Tuesday that he and his neighbors feel like second-class...
A Cloquet man accused of manslaughter resulting from a fight pleaded guilty Friday in Sixth District Court in Carlton. Joel Jay Ammesmaki, 59, was charged with first-degree manslaughter in September 2021 for “causing the death of another while committing assault in the fifth degree with such force and violence” that death or great harm was “reasonably foreseeable.” It was not alleged that he intended to murder his victim, just that he punched him so hard that death was a possible outcome. Under the terms of a plea agreement last week, the cha...
Deeper cooperation between Wrenshall and Carlton schools was on the table Tuesday — and the Carlton school board promptly swept it off. The board members dismissed a letter from the Wrenshall board seeking greater collaboration, declining to move beyond the full sports and activities cooperative that’s already set to begin this spring. “We need to focus on Carlton,” board member Tim Hagenah said. “Wrenshall needs to work on their issues.” Hagenah described how the Jan. 9 letter, made public at this month’s Wrenshall board meeting, caug...
Cloquet High School head football coach Jeff Ojanen pleaded guilty Jan. 13 to a single fourth-degree misdemeanor count of driving while impaired related to his arrest last month. Ojanen, 39, was arrested by Cloquet police early in the morning on Dec. 23, and was subsequently charged in Sixth District Court in Carlton with a pair of misdemeanors related to DWI. In his plea agreement, Ojanen admitted to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10, which is over the legal limit of 0.08. Ojanen declined to comment when reached by the newspaper, and...
