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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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,...
Editor's note: Find the fair schedule below this story. This weekend people from the greater Carlton County area will gather in Barnum to celebrate the 131st Carlton County fair. Last year saw a record 40,000 people attend the fair after Covid-19 shut down the annual gathering in 2020. The Carlton County event continues to be one of the largest county fairs in the region. Fair manager Lindsey Larson said phone inquiries are up and she anticipates the number of entries for needlework, canning,...
A pole building burned in Skelton Township, outside Barnum, on Saturday, Aug. 13. A passerby reported the fire on the 4400 block of County Road 6 at 11:46 p.m. Responding emergency personnel found nobody injured, but a pole building that was a total loss along with its contents, a Carlton County Sheriff’s Office news release said. Barnum, Moose Lake and Kettle River fire departments responded to the fire, along with sheriff’s deputies and Essentia Health-Moose Lake paramedics. Deputies learned the homeowner had been using a wood stove in the...
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 this week. 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 s...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College welcomed Indigenous-serving educators from across the world over the past week, hosting the annual gathering of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium. Guests and local residents danced together at a drum and dance exhibition Saturday, and the fun continued Monday with canoe races and Baaga'adowewin (traditional stick lacrosse) on Tuesday. In addition to bringing people together, the free events helped illustrate the significance of t...
The Wrenshall school board will convene for a special meeting Aug. 24 to hear results of an investigation into possible misconduct by the school’s information technology director. The board will gather at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the school to learn what Edina-based Red Cedar Consulting found out during days of interviews related to a comment made by technology director Jaime Hopp. Hopp is alleged to have profanely alluded to “killing” the district superintendent while in the staff lounge in June. Another district employee overheard the threa...
Cloquet city councilors and Mayor Roger Maki voted unanimously Tuesday to uphold the city’s subdivision ordinance requiring sidewalks in any new subdivisions, despite a planning commission recommendation to the contrary. City planner/zoning administrator Al Cottingham told councilors that the three members of the planning commission recommended approval of a variance from the subdivision code for developer James Kuklis for phase 2 of his Trails Edge subdivision, to be located southwest of Trail Drive and 18th Street. The proposed plat shows 13...
The Carlton-Wrenshall Raptors football program won’t take the field for varsity action this season. It’s a victim of not having enough players despite the cooperative agreement between schools in the eastern half of the county. The schools will try to rebuild the football program by participating in the junior varsity and junior high levels. The possible expansion of a sports and activities co-op between Carlton and Wrenshall came to a halt this month, after the Wrenshall school board balked at the 13-page agreement approved by Carlton. “Th...
A quiet summer for the Esko Public Schools has allowed administrators and school board members to move forward with plans for a few school improvement projects that will begin construction during the 2022-23 school year. The Esko school board approved the district’s contract with Minneapolis-based ICS, the construction company the district has used in the past, for the construction of a new fitness center and to complete the new water treatment system. Superintendent Aaron Fisher said these p...
Cloquet will, once again, be the place to go to celebrate Labor Day. After a pandemic hiatus, the Oldtimers Banquet will return on Sunday, Sept. 4 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Four Seasons Event Center in Carlton. The parade will return, marching down Cloquet Avenue at 11 a.m., Monday, Sept. 5, followed by children’s activities and food trucks at Veterans Park until 4 p.m. The Northeastern Hotel, Saloon and Grille will host its annual Labor Day car show. They’re hoping for better weather and a better turnout than July Fourth brought. Labor Day...
I am looking forward to attending the Finnish luncheon Tuesday, Sept. 20, at noon at the Kettle River senior center and seeing what we will have then — maybe another reading on the area’s history. This is always a great time to visit with friends we see only once a month. The last Finnish luncheon for the season will be Oct. 18. When I was young, my next-door neighbor had an ice box. The iceman would bring her blocks of ice every day. During the hot summer days, all the neighborhood kids would anxiously wait for him to stop in front of our hou...
I was fortunate enough to attend the memorial service for former pastor Ed Nieman at Faith Lutheran Church in Coon Rapids Friday, Aug. 12. The service was beautiful, the church even more beautiful. Ed and Gayle’s daughters, Jenifer and Rhea, presented a PowerPoint tribute highlighting their years with their dad as children and his many volunteer projects during his years in the ministry and after retiring. What a wonderful husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, pastor, and friend to so m...
High school students from across the state were invited to present food security research findings and participate in the Minnesota Youth Institute on May 16, an educational program hosted by the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and the World Food Prize Foundation. Barnum students Jasmine Akurgo, Brenan Class, Samuel Collier, Henry Dammer, Brooke Doran, Amri Gilbertson, Kailey Halverson, Hudson Kasberg, Rayna Klejeski, Lacie O’Leary, Reese Miletich, Max Moors, Joe Peterson, Lilly Pettit, Kay...
University of Arizona Franny Slater of Cloquet graduated summa cum laude this past spring from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in business economics. Wichita State University Taylor Roen of Esko graduated magna cum laude from Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Elizabeth Joy Risacher of Wright, graduated from South Dakota State following the spring 2022 semester. Bemidji State University The following local students earned degrees from Bemidji State University during the 2021-2022 school year. Fr...
Another tumultuous week within the Wrenshall School District saw a school board member formally apologizing to one group of people, while offending another, and teachers and administrators confronting the board about the impact of its behavior. "As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and co-advisor of our (gender-sexualities alliance) club, I can no longer remain quiet as our leadership ignores human and students' rights," said the school's media specialist Chloe Swanson during the board meeting...
With Ma & Pa Kettle Days on Saturday and the Carlton County Fair starting next week, the summer celebrations are far from over. But it is beginning to wane a bit after a mad flurry of festivals, so seize the moment. Head to Kettle River tomorrow for a taste of small town togetherness, on display as local organizations and businesses set up down main drag in a sort of “standstill parade meets farmers market” event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Expect everything from shopping to politicians to resources. The pie social starts at noon, bingo st...
This week's History Mystery isn't exactly a mystery, but we would love to get more information about this giant piece of history, all 5,000 pounds of it. Cloquet resident Bill Stolberg stopped by the office in July, shortly after inviting the city of Cloquet to move the massive millstone that had been sitting in his yard for about 45 years. Stolberg believes the millstone was likely used by Northwest Paper Company to grind the pulp to get the fiber out in the early 1900s. Stolberg fished the mas...
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa unveiled its new $8 million addiction recovery center in Cloquet earlier this month to a throng of well-wishers, adding a new era of residential treatment to the reservation. Tagwii Recovery Center celebrated its grand opening Friday, Aug. 5, with a ceremony highlighted by a drum circle, speakers, tours and a luncheon. "This building has been a huge dream for many years," said Jenn DuPuis, associate director of Fond du Lac Human Services. "Hopes...
A 17-year-old Kettle River boy was killed last weekend after the Jeep he was driving crossed the centerline and collided with another vehicle. Sebastien Jakob Blondo was traveling east on Minnesota Highway 210 outside Aitkin when the crash occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, a Minnesota State Patrol news release said. The driver of the other vehicle, Curtis Dean Watson, 75, of Aitkin was taken by helicopter to St. Cloud Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The hospital declined to provide a condition report on Watson, citing...
