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 1349 - 1373 of 4092
Snow days may soon be a thing of the past in Esko. Esko school board members approved the district’s eLearning day policy — basically having school online instead of canceling classes for a snow day — as presented by superintendent Aaron Fischer during the Jan. 9 meeting. eLearning days will be communicated to parents and students at least two hours prior to normal start time. Teachers will share assignments virtually or will have sent home assignments prior to the eLearning day. Internet accommodations will be made for families that do not h...
Minnesotans facing mental health crises can now dial or text 988 to connect to Lifeline support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The 988 code will serve as a universal entry point, so callers can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help regardless of where they live. People can also dial 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. People should call 911 if they suspect a drug overdose or need immediate medical help The change is part of a nationwide effort to transition the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline...
Declaring he would follow through on a pledge to make Minnesota an attractive place to raise a family, Gov. Tim Walz announced a key slice of his 2023 budget Tuesday with major spending increases for education, child care and per-child tax credits. "Our budget will ensure that the opportunities are there to make every single school the very best in the nation and every child to succeed for generations to come," Walz said as he announced the plan at Adams Spanish Immersion School in St. Paul.... 
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A camper fire at Knife Island Campground on Saturday left a mother and her 2-year-old daughter homeless. According to a news release from the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, the 911 call came in just before 5 p.m. Jan. 14 from the campground at 234 W. Highway 61, in Thomson Township. Firefighters from the Esko, Carlton and Wrenshall fire departments responded and found a pull-behind camper on fire at a campsite in the campground. The woman and child were inside the camper when the fire started, but were able to get out. Both were evaluated b...
The 2022 Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) Awards Committee selected Carlton County commissioner Dick Brenner as one of three recipients of the AMC Outstanding Service Award. Established in 1985, this award is presented to individuals who have exhibited exceptional leadership, participation and service to Minnesota counties and the Association. Brenner has served as a Carlton County commissioner for over 30 years, with two years remaining on his current term, and is the longest-serving commissioner over the 152-year existence of the...
The inaugural Northland Hackathon in April 2022 exposed students from 20 Minnesota high schools to aspects of computer science that included building apps, writing code and exploring opportunities in tech. That focus was important because, according to a 2022 report by the Code.org Advocacy Coalition (https://advocacy.code.org/stateofcs), Minnesota finished in last place when it came to the percentage of public high schools offering computer science courses. This year, organizers are taking addi...
There is a lot of snow out there this winter. How much? It depends on where you are. While Duluth is breaking - or on the cusp of - all kinds of snowfall records for December and the season, areas in Carlton County are not quite setting records. But the snowfall we've had is far above normal. In Cloquet, the average snowfall in December is about 16 inches. Last month, there was nearly 30 inches of snow recorded in the city. That is the highest of area measurements. A recording 3 miles northeast...
Twelve years ago, the death of a bat during a logging operation in Carlton County would not have caused much of a stir. Today - after white-nose syndrome has decimated bat populations here by as much as 90 percent - the death of one bat could impact the health of the entire population. "Prior to white-nose, if a bat was injured, it was one of thousands. It didn't make a big dent in the population," said Carlton County land commissioner Greg Bernu. "We want to make sure we don't accidently take...
A house about 10 miles northeast of Cloquet was deemed a total loss Wednesday morning, Jan. 11. The St. Louis Sheriff’s Office reported that a call came in just after 8 a.m. and multiple area fire departments were dispatched to 4425 Solway Road in Solway Township. The office said a homeowner, the only resident at the home, called 911 after returning home and observing smoke coming from the residence and a fire in a bathroom. Fire departments from Solway Township, Grand Lake Township, Industrial Township, Canosia Township, Proctor, H...
The number of home radon tests completed during real estate sales in 2022 was down 39 percent from 2020, even though home sales did not decline, a new analysis from the Minnesota Department of Health showed last week. Reduced testing means fewer home buyers are identifying and reducing this cancer-causing hazard. The health department analyzed professional radon testing data for 2020 to 2022 and found that in 2022 there were 19,976 real estate tests reported by professionals, which was lower than the 32,537 tests reported in 2020. The...
An 83-year-old Palisade, Minnesota man was killed Tuesday after his pickup lost control on Minnesota Highway 210 and was struck by a box truck. Gary Lynn Rognrud was traveling east in a Chevy Silverado when the crash with the westbound truck occurred in Aitkin County’s Jevne Township, near 257th Avenue, a Minnesota State Patrol news release said. The crash was reported at around 9 a.m. Rognrud was taken to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, where he died. The driver of the work truck, 53-year-old Robert Carl Hannahs, of Nis...
The Thomson Township Board of Supervisors appointed David Sunnarborg to fill the vacancy on the board at its meeting Jan. 5, following more than four months of an empty seat and controversy surrounding the original appointment process. Sunnarborg’s appointment by the board followed his resignation in mid-December in order to allow the board to reset its appointment process. The Minnesota Department of Administration ruled in December that the board violated open meeting law in September during the process which led to Sunnarborg being a...
After receiving a single proposal to redevelop the 103-year-old Hotel Solem in downtown Cloquet, the city’s economic development authority is pumping the brakes on the future of the condemned property. “We’re putting it on hold for now,” said Holly Hansen, community development director. Requests to redevelop the three-story building that was formerly Mexico Lindo were due late last year. One developer offered a proposal and another toured the site while offering to wait and see, Hansen said. Hansen declined to get into specifics about the sea...
The newly constituted Wrenshall school board went straight to the heavy lifting this week, bracing for the end of its superintendent’s career, while posing the idea of sharing a top administrator with neighboring Carlton. In a letter sent to the Carlton school board this week, the Wrenshall board asked if there was interest in sharing administration, a school nurse, and grounds and maintenance staff. Last year, the districts agreed to consolidate all sports and afterschool programs beginning this spring. The letter comes as the Wrenshall b...
The man responsible for one of Carlton County’s most heinous crimes died in prison this week. Donald Blom, 73, passed away on Tuesday at a state correctional facility in Oak Park Heights, where he was serving a life sentence for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of Katie Poirier, 19, of Barnum. “It was one of those cases that will be with me forever,” Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake said Wednesday. “What that family has gone through is just unimaginable.” Poirier had been working alone when she encountered Blom, a serial offender, who forced Poi...
Gov. Tim Walz kicked off his second term last week saying he wants to make Minnesota “the best state in the country for kids to live” and promising “the largest investment in public education in our state’s history.” Walz made specific mention of prioritizing universal school meals and making mental health help more accessible for young people. Last year’s attempts to pass education legislation floundered amid political disagreements between the DFL-controlled House and the Republican-led Senate. So did other proposals on health care, taxes... Website
Unlike the U.S. House of Representatives, it took only three votes and less than an hour Monday for the Cloquet school board to elect its new leader. Nate Sandman and Gary Huard were both nominated for the spot previously occupied by Ted Lammi, who was not reelected to the school board in November. The first two votes were a tie, with Melissa Juntunen, Huard and Sarah Plante Buhs voting for Huard, while Dave Battaglia, Sandman and Ken Scarbrough voted for Sandman. With Sandman already filling the role of acting board chair, the board then moved...
Bright blue skies, fresh snow and crisp sunshine of the weekend gave way to choking fog and haze across much of Minnesota on Monday and Tuesday and into Wednesday before another snow squall hit as a cold front passed through the state. The fog was evident along Interstate 35 in Carlton County, and Duluth was shrouded for three days. What’s behind this sudden turn to poor air quality that has prompted an alert from state officials through Wednesday — and left many Minnesotans with coughs, irritated eyes and burning throats? It’s the calm, quiet... Website
The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a break-in at the Esko post office on Tuesday. A sign on the window noted the post office was closed for the day, citing an “ongoing investigation.” Lt. Dan Danielson and members of four squad vehicles from the Sheriff’s Office were on the scene late Tuesday morning. They were shuttling boxes in and out of the office, and speaking with residents arriving to find the office closed. The sheriff’s office received a call early in the morning T...
A lost or abandoned Siberian husky spotted by numerous people in Scanlon throughout December finally has a new home. The stray dog was trapped and rescued Dec. 26 by volunteers, and now resides in a temporary foster home for huskies in the Twin Cities area. The dog, first dubbed "Pete" for the way it was spotted around Trapper Pete's Steakhouse and Saloon, then "Petey" once her gender was discovered, has now been given the name Violet. "I felt bad for her," said Cindy Peterson, owner of Trapper...
A chapter in the history of two small-town basketball programs will draw to a close next week. But when it comes to the annual "Jug" games between the boys and girls teams at Carlton and Wrenshall, the question that arises is to what extent the history of the games has even been written. There are few definitives when it comes to the origin of a jug being the centerpiece of rivalries that go back generations. Those facts come from the jugs themselves, which have written on them the past scores a...
Commissioner Susan Zmyslony was sworn in as the new commissioner from District 4 of Carlton County this week, representing the southeast portion of the county, including Carlton, Barnum, Wrenshall, Mahtowa and Holyoke. Judge Rebekka Stumme officiated over the ceremonies Tuesday, which also included the swearing in of re-elected District 2 Commissioner Marv Bodie, County Attorney Lauri Ketola and Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake. The annual county board organizational meeting saw District 1...
Applications are now being accepted for a new grant program to support Minnesotans purchasing their first farms. The Down Payment Assistance Grant program is managed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and offers dollar-for-dollar matching up to $15,000 for qualified small-farmers to purchase farmland. The MDA’s Rural Finance Authority (RFA) is awarding this funding in a first come, first served application process that opened Jan. 4. The Minnesota Legislature appropriated $500,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 for these grants. Farmers m...
The state’s federal legislators are weighing in on recurrent mail delays being experienced by residents throughout northeastern Minnesota. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Pete Stauber both addressed the topic last week. “During the past weeks, I have heard from many of you from all around the Northland about major disruptions in mail delivery,” said Stauber, R-Hermantown, in a Facebook post. “In some areas, people haven’t received mail in three weeks.” Klobuchar, a Democrat, wrote U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Dec. 31, urging him to do e...
Fresh from his oath of office, Rep. Jeff Dotseth promised on Tuesday to represent all of his constituents during the newly opened session of the Minnesota State Legislature "It's an honor to represent the people of our district at the Capitol," said Dotseth, R-Kettle River, in a news release. "I thank my constituents for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility and will do my level best to represent all the people of our district. It was a heartfelt swearing-in ceremony - humbling...
