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 1998 - 2022 of 3909
Minnesota regulators have ordered Enbridge to pay up to $3.32 million for allegedly violating state environmental law by piercing a groundwater aquifer during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline. Last Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued a restoration order and administrative penalty order against the Canadian-based company over the breach, which the agency says occurred in late January near the Clearbrook Terminal in Clearwater County. The breach resulted in millions of gallons of groundwater flowing out of the...
Cloquet Public Library staff literally kicked off Saturday's community celebration by demonstrating how they have survived construction, Covid and Covid, Part 2: by dancing in their chairs to "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in front of a roomful of people. On a more serious note, library director Beth Sorenson praised the community for its support, and for creating a building that is not only better for us, "but for our children and our grandchildren." Although the more than $2 million...
A man was in grave condition after being hit by a vehicle while crossing Doddridge Avenue near Eighth Street in Cloquet on Thursday, Sept. 16. Cloquet Police responded to the accident just after 8 p.m. Thursday along with staff from the Cloquet Area Fire District. The man was transported to an area hospital. CPD commander Dave O’Connor said they didn’t have an update on the condition of the pedestrian, whose name has not been released. Police interviewed witnesses at the scene and have not pursued any charges against the driver, O’Connor said...
At a short regular meeting Monday, the Cloquet city council officially adopted a 2022 budget and a proposed levy increase of $109,400, or 3.49 percent. The levy can’t go up from that percentage when the levy is set in December. A public hearing on the budget and levy will be held at the Dec. 7 regular meeting. Running the numbers in the future will be new finance director Katie Bloom. She was approved by the board this week after the city’s first choice, Joshua Bailey, decided to keep his auditing job with the city of Duluth. Longtime finance...
A Cloquet man faces manslaughter charges following a fight in his apartment. Joel Jay Ammesmaki, 58, was charged with first-degree manslaughter Thursday in Sixth District Carlton County Court 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.” Officers from the Cloquet and Fond du Lac police departments responded to a 9-1-1 call at around 2 a.m. Sept. 14 reporting an unwanted person...
A district judge on Monday denied a change of venue and dismissal of counts against a Cloquet man accused in the murder of a pregnant woman and her child. Sheldon James Thompson, who is accused of killing Jackie Defoe, her unborn child and her 20-month-old son, faces two charges of murder in the first degree each for the deaths of Jackie Ann Defoe and her son Kevin Lee Shabaiash Jr., and one charge of murder in the first degree of an unborn child, premeditated. In the order filed Monday, Judge Jill Eichenwald, denied his attorney’s request t...
Following the approval of a revised snowmobile trail through the township at its last meeting - and subsequent complaints - the Thomson Township board invited people to discuss the action at the regular board meeting Sept. 16. Although the board already granted permission for a preliminary trail, residents were invited to give their input so that the board and the snowmobile club could answer questions and address concerns. Wood City Riders president Chris Rokke gave a presentation to the more t...
Students and community members turned out for Monday’s Carlton School Board meeting, and most of them had the future of the high school on their mind. Out of nearly 20 people there, seven spoke, all of them against the idea of a tuition agreement with the Cloquet school district. Such an agreement would guarantee that Carlton students in grades 9-12 could enroll in the larger district — at a cost to the Carlton district — if and when Carlton closes its high school. The current long-range plan fo...
Get ready to laugh at the County Seat Theater Company's fall season opener, the comedy "Beer for Breakfast," which begins its run at the Encore Performing Arts Center starting tonight, Friday, Sept. 24. Cast members Sean Biskey, Jeff Anderson and Jeff Ross portray a group of middle-aged buddies who reunite for a "guys' weekend" in a snowed-in cabin to eat chili, drink beer and relive the good old days. These guys are out to prove they've still got it, so they are going to party like it's 1979....
There has been plenty of activity at Cloquet High School this week with homecoming events. Today, the homecoming court took part in fun and games as part of a pep fest before the football game. A king and queen will be crowned at halftime. The court includes, from left to right, front row: Katie Turner, Emerson Rock, Olivia Macaulay, Lydia Stone, Dana Jones, Olivia Jameson, Ilei Benson, Addie Loeb, Rylee Burkhart, Amelia Allen; back row: Carson Essler, Cale Prosen, Jack Liang, Reese Turnbull,...
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is hosting a virtual public meeting at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28 to discuss work along northbound Interstate 35 at Barnum in 2022. The project may include a detour due to closure of the northbound exit ramp into town. The meeting will include a presentation and time for questions. More information and a link to the virtual meeting can be found on the project webpage at www.dot.state.mn.us/d1/projects/i35-barnum/index.html. For those unable to watch the meeting live, a recording will be posted on the webpage...
The Cloquet and Fond du Lac police departments are investigating what they term a "suspicious death" earlier this week. Meanwhile, a 58-year-old man was arrested Tuesday and in custody in Carlton County jail on possible charges of manslaughter in the first degree, while committing a gross misdemeanor with violence. Officers from both departments responded to a 9-1-1 call at approximately 2:09 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, reporting an unwanted person in an apartment inside the Fond du Lac Veterans...
A petition to rescind a school board appointment in Wrenshall has been turned in to the school district office. Superintendent Kim Belcastro reported at the regular school board meeting Monday night that the petition had 200 signatures on it. If all of the signatures are valid, it would be well above the required signatures required by state statute, which set the amount at 5 percent of eligible voters in a district, or, in Wrenshall, 168 people. The petition will now be reviewed by the district’s head of elections, Beth Peterson. If enough s...
A Cloquet man escaped from the Northeast Regional Corrections Center in Saginaw Friday evening, Sept. 10, and was missing for more than 11 hours before being located the next morning by St. Louis County deputies. Branden Russell King had been sentenced for domestic assault convictions. County deputies found him in Hermantown early Saturday morning after an off-duty police officer spotted him....
Students from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and others got an in-depth look at wild rice and how to harvest it Saturday at the annual Manoomin demonstration camp at Leeman Lake. The lessons learned included "how to sustainably harvest, or knock, the rice without breaking the stems to drying, parching, and winnowing the rice to get the final product that ends up at our dining room table," said Courtney Kowalczak, director of the Environmental Institute at the college. "Each step is a...
The trial for a Scanlon man accused of criminal sexual conduct “with heinous elements” and a kidnapping was canceled for this week and reset for January. Dennis Michael St. John Jr., 54, was arrested in July 2020, after being accused of holding a woman against her will and raping her repeatedly, forcing drugs on her and threatening to kill her. According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim ran into St. John at the Black Bear Casino Resort on July 17 and they left about 11 p.m. to go to his home. She told police she had been in a previ...
The Northland Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is helping northeast Minnesota businesses learn about and apply for Main Street Covid Relief grants. The DEED portal to apply will open Sept. 20 and close Sept. 29. Applicants who qualify and are selected will receive grants between $10,000 and $25,000 depending on the number of full-time employees on staff. Grants may be used for working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility bills and other similar exp...
Continued favorable weather has lessened wildfire risk for much of northern Minnesota. In response, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is removing fire restrictions in 14 counties. Only Cook and Lake counties are still under Class III burning restrictions, meaning no campfires except attended fires at a home, cabin, campground or resort in those two counties. According to DNR acting wildfire prevention supervisor Allissa Reynolds, the change reflects “reduced wildfire risks for much of the north, while also recognizing that w...
Just under $7 million is available from the federal American Rescue Plan Act for coping with the effects of the pandemic for Carlton County residents and entities. Economic development director Mary Finnegan, addressing the Carlton County board on Monday, announced that half of the money allotted to the county has already come in and the rest is scheduled to arrive in another year. Passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in March, the $1.9 trillion package delivered direct payments to many Americans but also provided $350 billion in...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College will debut the Ruth A. Myers Lecture Series in the Sciences and Humanities with a free virtual presentation by Robin Wall Kimmerer at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22. During the event, Robin Wall Kimmerer will discuss, “What Does the Earth Ask of Us?” We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth, and yet, we are tied to institutions that relentlessly ask, “What more can we take?” To register for the free event, visit fdltcc.edu/ruth-a-myers-lecture-series. Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorat...
“Screenagers, Next Chapter,” a movie about teenagers, anxiety, depression and screen time, will air for free in person and online for up to 300 local residents in October, courtesy of the Carlton County Collaborative, Cloquet School District, Cloquet Eagles Club, United way and the Cloquet Public Library. High stress, anxiety and depression are experienced by millions of young people. The movie follows physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston as she discovers solutions for improved adolescent well-being in the digital age. The live showing sta...
It's not unusual to see visitors to Cloquet snapping photos of the world's only working Frank Lloyd Wright-designed gas station and its cantilevered roof at the corner of Minnesota Highway 33 and Cloquet Avenue. When they're done, they might head east and stop by the historical society or downtown Cloquet to eat or shop. More often than not, they simply hop into their cars and continue their journey north on Hwy. 33 or back to Interstate 35. Rarely do guests realize a significant part of the...
Things are growing at Fond du Lac's farm Gitigaaning, or place of the gardens, and it's not just vegetables. Health. Knowledge. Buildings. Resources. Confidence. Food security. Friendships. Community. Of course, there are plenty of vegetables growing there, nurtured by individual growers on their own small lots: corn, beans, melon, sunflowers, pumpkins, zucchini, sweetgrass, borage, peppers, tobacco, ground cherries, squash, kale, broccoli, cauliflower; the list goes on. It's all part of the...
A Cloquet man faces manslaughter charges following a fight in his apartment. Joel Ammesmaki, 58, was charged with first-degree manslaughter Thursday in Sixth District Carlton County Court, “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.” Officers from the Cloquet and Fond du Lac police departments responded to a 9-1-1 call at approximately 2:09 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, reporting an unwa...
The strangest rain cloud scuttled from the northwest to southeast across northern Carlton County Wednesday night. A narrow squall poured rain, cuffed by ragged and then bloomy cloud formations. Then, on both sides, clear sky. Arching through all of it was a clear, full rainbow, large enough to cover the entire city of Wrenshall and its environs. Under the bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet was the school, where about 50 people ended up gathering for a school board meeting. To say matters surrounding the board lately...
