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 1545 - 1569 of 4092
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...
A 26-year-old Cloquet man was killed Monday, Aug. 29, succumbing to injuries sustained when the motorcycle he was driving crashed with an SUV. Hunter Thorman, of Cloquet, was pronounced dead sometime following the crash in Cloquet. The crash occurred at approximately 11:05 p.m. Monday, with the Cloquet Police Department responding to Carlton Avenue and 22nd Street, according to a CPD news release. Upon arrival, officers found a small red Honda CR-V and a motorcycle had been involved in a crash. Officers and Cloquet Area Fire District paramedics...
Remember the 500-year flash floods that ripped across the Northland 10 years ago, and the drought that had farmers and others praying for rain last summer? Cloquet city officials are hoping to make a plan for future climate change and they need help from the people who live here. City staff and the SEH consulting engineering firm are in the process of preparing an assessment of the stormwater infrastructure throughout Cloquet, something that was last done 40 years ago, according to assistant city engineer John Anderson. As part of the...
Following a closed meeting Wednesday that lasted three hours, the Wrenshall school board fired the school’s information technology director, Jaime Hopp, the Pine Knot News learned Thursday. Hopp had been the subject of a personnel investigation which began earlier this summer. The tech director was alleged to have profanely alluded to “killing” the district superintendent while in the staff lounge in June. Another district employee overheard the comment, which superintendent Kim Belcastro later reported to Carlton County authorities. Following...
Following a closed meeting Wednesday that lasted three hours, the Wrenshall school board fired the school’s information technology director, Jaime Hopp, the Pine Knot News learned Thursday. Hopp had been the subject of a personnel investigation which began earlier this summer. The tech director was alleged to have profanely alluded to “killing” the district superintendent while in the staff lounge in June. Another district employee overheard the comment, which superintendent Kim Belcastro later...
A federal judge last week dismissed the remaining claims in a $4 million civil lawsuit filed by a former Cloquet detective, but left open the door for continued action in state court. Scott Holman, a detective and K-9 officer who had worked for the Cloquet Police Department for 22 years, was fired by the city council in June 2019. Holman’s complaint claimed that the detective’s termination was the result of a Brady policy created by the Carlton County Attorney’s Office for “sanctioning” police officers without due process. The term “Brady” r...
Hawaii's loss was Cloquet's gain this summer, when a dog being trained as a backup accelerant detection K-9 for the island state became available in June. Cloquet Area Fire District battalion chief Jason Maki picked up Delta, a 2½-year-old golden retriever mix from the North Carolina training site in mid-June. "It's a long story, but she was one of two dogs that were slated to go to Hawaii after the police academy," Maki explained. "They do two dogs because Hawaii is super strict on...
After close to 10 months of musical chairs, the Cloquet Area Fire District staff and board members celebrated a slew of promotions and other moves that have the district almost on stable ground in terms of staffing. CAFD chief Jesse Buhs said in many cases, a promotion led to a vacancy that was filled and created more vacancies behind it. A case in point, Buhs was appointed interim chief in December and officially got the job in March. A new assistant fire chief position was created, and former...
Thomson township supervisor, Jason Paulson, gave some final statements to the board and the community at the Thomson board meeting Thursday, Aug. 18. Paulson had announced his resignation from the board, and his position on the Cloquet Area Fire District Board, at the board of supervisor’s first meeting in August. Paulson left the board with some closing remarks about his six years as a supervisor. He mostly focused on the fire district. “One thing I’ve learned in my six years is the value of our community’s first responders,” Paulson s...
Just over a century ago, a work crew dug up the remains of nearly 200 Ojibwe people from a burial ground at the end of Wisconsin Point, a long peninsula that juts out into Lake Superior across the water from Duluth. Among the exhumed was Chief Osaugie, who signed two major treaties with the U.S. government in the mid-1800s. The remains were reburied in 1919 in a mass grave at St. Francis Cemetery on the mainland in Superior. The bodies were moved to clear the way for an iron ore dock and other infrastructure that U.S. Steel wanted to build. But... 
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After workers spent the past few weeks clearing the site of the future justice center, Carlton County commissioners and other dignitaries gathered for a traditional groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon. County Board chairman Gary Peterson led the event. State Rep. Mary Murphy, DFL-Hermantown, who has served as a state rep for 46 years, was the only woman to turn a gold shovel. Murphy and retiring District 11 State Rep. Mike Sundin were instrumental in guiding legislation for the $2 million...
There were more questions than answers Wednesday, Aug. 24, when the Wrenshall school board agreed to discipline an employee during a specially called meeting. The meeting was planned to review results of a personnel investigation which began earlier this summer involving the school’s information technology director, Jaime Hopp, and superintendent Kim Belcastro. The board met in closed session for three hours. Afterward, it declined to name who it was disciplining. But since the disciplinary resolution voted on by the board authorized B...
Where there's smoke, there's fire ... except when it's electrical and firefighters turn the power off. That's what happened at Heather's Cafe in Cloquet Thursday, Aug. 18. Firefighters from the Cloquet Area Fire District spent hours at 1302 and 1304 Cloquet Avenue, after getting a call about smoke inside. Traffic down Cloquet Avenue was rerouted while they were there. Battalion chief Jason Maki said CAFD crews -- by cutting holes and using heat sensitive cameras -- eventually found wood smolderi...
The only local youth shelter will be closing its doors this fall. Located in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Cloquet, the Carlton Youth Shelter, run by Lutheran Social Services, will close by Oct. 1 and the county will utilize a different LSS shelter in Duluth. Carlton County Public Health and Human Services director Dave Lee said the main reason for the closure is low usage: the average number of children using the shelter has dropped to less than one person per day. Services for Carlton County families will now be provided at the new LSS...
After three months of work on 14th Street in Cloquet, city officials provided an update on the project on the city’s website, at cloquetmn.gov. Work on the roundabout curb, pavement and truck apron is complete, with sidewalk, lighting, pavement markings and signage set to be completed before school by Sept. 3. The roundabout will be open for east/west traffic by Sept. 3, as will Doddridge Avenue. However, work on 14th Street will continue in September and October. Storm sewer, sanitary sewer and water main installation is complete from W...
An inmate of the Northeast Regional Corrections Center in Grand Lake Township near Twig walked off the grounds around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, according to a news release from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. Zachary Daniel Mullen, 31, was missing for roughly four hours as deputies searched the area and sent alerts to surrounding agencies. Carlton County deputies located Mullen at about 11:25 p.m. and he has since been booked into the St. Louis County jail on a felony charge of escape from custody....
Former Minnesota Wilderness junior hockey coach Brendan Phelps won’t face charges after two men in an online video alleged that Phelps had traveled to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, for an intimate encounter with someone he believed was a 16-year-old male. Instead, when Phelps arrived, he found the men — private citizens, not police — with video cameras, one who claimed he had posed as the boy online. The 18-minute video was posted to YouTube in July by a group called Midwest Predator Catchers. While...
Cloquet police officers responded to a crash between a motorcycle and a Honda CR-V vehicle Monday night that one person did not survive. According to a news release, at approximately 11:05 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, the Cloquet Police Department responded to the crash at Carlton Avenue and 22nd Street in Cloquet. Upon arrival, officers found the small red sport-utility vehicle and a motorcycle that had been involved in the crash. The adult male motorcycle driver sustained significant injuries in the crash Officers and Cloquet Area Fire District...
For decades, Marcie Stolberg has kept the island next to her campground as sacred space, aware of the stories of long-ago Native American battles and tragedy. It was there, according to the 1937 novel, "Wawina: A Beautiful Story of an Indian Princess" by Chief Northwind (Joseph Northrup's pen name), that two stubborn chiefs refused to make peace, their children met a tragic end, and a huge battle took place. A walk around Knife Island today reveals mostly undisturbed greenery - trees,...
