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 1344 - 1368 of 3909
News that the police department secured a $110,000 grant to pay for a DWI enforcement officer came as welcome relief to Cloquet city officials Tuesday. Not only will it bring an increased focus on driving-while-impaired arrests and education, police chief Derek Randall said they will fill the position with a current officer, so city funds allocated to pay that salary and benefits will be freed up for other uses. That could mean purchasing police body cameras — which were discussed, but didn’t make the budget — or replacing the department’s stun...
Superintendent John Engstrom confirmed Monday that the Carlton school district will proceed with further talks with Wrenshall on sharing sports and other after-school activities. Engstrom noted that both district boards have passed an agreement to split costs evenly. After Carlton approved the agreement earlier this summer, the Wrenshall board unanimously approved an agreement this month. “My recommendation is that the subcommittee gets back together and talks about when the agreement should officially take effect, and if there are some c...
A Culver man was killed Wednesday, Sept. 14, as the result of a workplace incident at the Northland Constructors gravel pit in Industrial Township. According to a news release from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, Brad Lewis Wojtysiak, 40, was found dead just before 3 p.m. Sept. 14 in what appeared to be an industrial accident at the gravel pit near Highway 33 and Sunset Lake Drive. An employee at Northland Constructors, Wojtysiak was working on a large piece of equipment. Although there were other workers in the general area, he was a...
AT&T customers and FirstNet subscribers in Wrenshall got a boost in wireless connectivity recently, with the addition of a new cell tower near the intersection of Military Road and Veterans Evergreen Memorial Drive. The update is expected to help customers get the most out of their mobile devices, AT&T said in a news release this month. “From connecting family and loved ones to helping first responders during a crisis, AT&T is committed to our Minnesota communities,” said Paul Weirtz, president of AT&T Minnesota. “We consistently work to provi...
The Wrenshall school board’s stamina for conflict proved unyielding Monday, when its regular monthly meeting devolved into bickering and generated new insights into ongoing turmoil. Board member Nicole Krisak revealed that board members looked into superintendent Kim Belcastro’s work emails, fishing for information without informing the superintendent or having a specific reason to do so. “We looked into her emails,” Krisak said. “She didn’t know that. We had no right to do it. We still did it.” It was a surprising revelation from a meetin...
Finding a balance between funding streams and paying school district staff adequate wages in a time of inflationary pressures is challenging, Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary told school board members Monday. The Cloquet public school district received a 2-percent increase in state funding equating to roughly $300,000. The money will be used to give staff members throughout the district a raise. The district has already settled contracts with its secretaries and principals, but they’re still negotiating with paraprofessionals and c...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners approved $20,000 for an evaluation of the Restorative Justice program, currently used as a tool for some offenders under the jurisdiction of the local District Court system. This is one of several steps the County Board is taking to see which county services should be funded and which should not. The Restorative Justice program is not mandated or funded by the state of Minnesota. The local program was started in 2008. Simply put, the Restorative Justice program helps an offender own what the person...
Thomson Township officials hosted a sewer rates presentation Thursday, Sept. 8, to allow the township engineer Joe Jurewicz to explain why he is recommending an increase in rates for upcoming years. When Jurewicz and the Thomson Township board of supervisors began public discussion about raising sewer rates earlier this summer, the prospect was met with questions from the community about why there was a need for a price hike. Jurewicz and the board offered the sewer rates presentation to the public to give them an opportunity to see the work th...
At their first meeting of the new school year, the Esko school board heard good news from district administrators. Principals Greg Hexum and Brian Harker told the board Monday, Sept. 12 that there is excitement in the building like never before. With a handful of new teachers, and classrooms being somewhat back to normal after the height of the pandemic, students arrived eager to learn. Superintendent Aaron Fisher said enrollment numbers have remained similar to last year, despite the predicted reduction in numbers this year. All told, 1,265 Es...
Outside the wastewater treatment plant in the Iron Range town of Aurora, a small trailer could hold clues to solving a big environmental problem facing northern Minnesota — how to protect wild rice from sulfate, a pollutant released by iron ore mines, wastewater treatment plants and other industries. Mei Cai, an environmental engineer with the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota Duluth, points to a series of tanks where a chemical called barium chloride reacts with dissolved sulfate in the water to form p... 
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A study of the Minnesota Highway 33 corridor through Cloquet is being conducted to help create a transportation plan in the area, said a Minnesota Department of Transportation news release. The Arrowhead Regional Development Commission and MnDOT are studying the state highway, in part, by gaining public feedback through a virtual open house available through Sept. 30. “The goal of the transportation plan is to look at pedestrian and bicycle safety along Highway 33 in Cloquet and develop a long-range plan and vision for potential system i...
County Road 1 in Carlton will be closed between the Streetcar Kitchen & Pub and Red Dog Drive-Thru for approximately two weeks starting Monday, Sept. 19. Douglas Road will be the detour route....
If you have an interest in plants and gardening and would enjoy sharing your interest with others, apply to become a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener volunteer. Applications are open for the Carlton County Extension Master Gardener program now until Oct. 31. Individuals selected for the program begin an internship that starts with the Master Gardener core course training in January 2023. The course is taught online through the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Instructors are University of Minnesota Extension...
Carlton County Public Health is hosting a FREE Childhood Vaccine Clinic • WHO: Children in grades K-12 who need vaccinations to meet school requirements • WHEN: Thursday, September 22, 2022 • TIME: Appointments available between 3:00-5:30 PM • WHERE: Carlton County Community Services Building- 14 North 11th Street Cloquet, MN 55720. • COST: No Cost. Insurance information will be collected and billed if the child is insured; NO CHARGE if the child is uninsured or if insurance doesn’t cover the cost of vaccines. • Parent/Guardian MUST complete th...
A Culver man was killed Wednesday, Sept. 14, as the result of a work-place incident at the Northland Constructors gravel pit in Industrial Township. According to a news release from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, Brad Lewis Wojtysiak, 40, was found dead just before 3 p.m., Sept. 14 in what appeared to be an industrial accident at the gravel pit near Highway 33 and Sunset Lake Drive. An employee at Northland Constructors, Wojtysiak was working on a large piece of equipment. Though there were other workers in the general area, he was a...
There's a saying that goes around Sappi: folks who've worked in the boiler room for 40 years think the paper mill makes steam. It's an insightful joke about the processes within the mill which require heating chilled Lake Superior water to meet the needs of pulp and paper-making. It's also one that's taken on renewed meaning at a time the mill is striving to reduce its energy usage and water consumption. "Back in the late 1960s, we used over 40 million gallons of water per day," said...
Cloquet city councilors unanimously voted for a preliminary 2023 levy increase of 6.5 percent Tuesday, following advice of staff to build a little "wiggle room" into the budget. Ward 2 councilor Sheila Lamb made the motion, stressing that the goal was to lower the levy increase to 5.95 percent by the time the city budget and levy are formally adopted in December. City administrator Tim Peterson recommended the "wiggle room" and higher increase, noting that the council can choose to decrease the...
Carlton County officials blamed a national inflation rate of more than 8 percent this year for putting pressure on the county’s upcoming 2023 budget. On Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole forwarded a preliminary 6.9-percent levy increase for board action by the end of the month. Minnesota statutes call for a preliminary levy to be adopted in September in preparation for a final levy decision in December. Historically, the final number can come in lower, but it cannot be higher than the figure set in September. What are the forces putting p...
The Cloquet Area Alternative Education Programs, a small alternative school for grades 6-12 which draws from 12 school districts, made a list of 371 schools that will receive extra support by the state department of education last week. The program’s four-year graduation rate was below 67 percent for all students, triggering the extra support. Located in Cloquet’s Garfield School, the school ironically reported its highest percentage of graduates last year at 59.4 percent. According to the state’s Minnesota Report Card for CAAEP, the school had...
The superintendent's introduction of a formal complaint form for use going forward opened the floodgates at Wrenshall Schools on Wednesday. Meeting during the committee of the whole, board members praised a new complaint form, designed to go to the superintendent, or board chair should the complaint address the superintendent. Complaints can come from students, parents, employees or community members. "We need to be transparent about where to go," board member Nicole Krisak said. Superintendent...
Approximately 90,000 Minnesotans will continue to save money on MinnesotaCare premiums through the end of 2025, thanks to the federal Inflation Reduction Act signed last month by President Biden. As part of the landmark law, MinnesotaCare premiums will remain at reduced levels for an additional three years, helping workers and families maintain their access to affordable health care. MinnesotaCare covers people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to purchase other health insurance. Until January 2026, people with incomes...
The city of Cloquet will host a mountain bike race featuring as many as 600 youth participants later this month. But such a large race coming so close to the ski season at Pine Valley has the local ski club concerned. "We know it's a multi-use park," Cloquet Ski Club representative Ken Ripp said. "But let's not ruin one sport for another." The Minnesota Cycling Association's race series for sixth- through 12th-graders is coming to the Pine Valley Recreation Center on Sept. 24-25. "At this point...
• The spelling of Cheryl Ankrum’s name was incorrect in the Aug. 26 story, “Wrenshall disciplines someone, but who?” on Page 7. • The caption for the Anderson family was out of order in last week’s century farm story on Page 21, “Cromwell farm earns prestigious century label.” Family members as pictured, from left, were Joan, Guy and LeeAnn Anderson. • The Aug. 26 Cloquet Educational Foundation golf tournament brief on Page 16 listed last year’s winner by mistake. In reality, Team “Uptown Funk” took home the 2022 tournament trophy. Capt...
A panel of court-appointed condemnation officials agreed with an $8,000 appraisal for Hotel Solem on Thursday, Aug. 25. The approval opened the door for the city of Cloquet to proceed with plans to redevelop the deteriorating 103-year-old building on the corner of Cloquet Avenue and 10th Street. "We believe we have established that is the actual value of the property that was taken and the amount that should be due to the owners," city attorney William Helwig said near the conclusion of the...
The Cloquet Area Fire District is seeking a board member from Thomson or Twin Lakes townships to fill the seat vacated by Jason Paulson when he resigned from the Thomson Township and CAFD boards earlier this month. CAFD chief Jesse Buhs said an applicant must reside in either Thomson or Twin Lakes townships in the area the CAFD covers for ambulance service. “The easiest way to determine that is if they see us on their tax statement,” he said. The term would run through 2024; it is a volunteer position. Anyone interested in applying should con...
