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 2161 - 2185 of 4091
Since taking over as interim, and then appointed, police chief two years ago, Cloquet police chief Derek Randall has been slowly building the police department back up to full strength, after a flood of retirements and disability claims reduced the department by close to 30 percent in 2019. On Tuesday, the department held a public celebration of sorts, swearing in every officer hired since the pandemic began. There were seven of them, which brings the department just shy of its budgeted total...
The lost chickens of Carlton County have been found. And they’ve been adopted. This week, for the second time in a month, people exploring the woods off Carlton County Road 4 between Interstate 35 and Hay Lake — along the border of Blackhoof and Twin Lakes townships — discovered more than 100 chickens roaming wild. And for the second time since Sept. 12, a call to action on social media has raised outrage and compassion as people have taken the birds in. It isn’t difficult to ascertain where t...
Three years ago, a stranger from New Jersey wanted to buy B&B Market, but Kim Lind turned him down. "Whatever I wanted he would have paid, but I couldn't do it," she said. "Because I still have to live here. You have to be involved in the community." Just over a month ago, however, Kim and John Lind signed the sale papers for their beloved store at 506 Big Lake Road. They had a buyer they believed in. And maybe because - after 33 years of running around like crazy, a pandemic and three young...
It’s official. After more than two years of studies and debate, the Carlton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to build a new justice center north of the current transportation building. The justice center will house both the jail and courtrooms with space for support staff — including administration, the county attorney’s office and sheriff’s office — at a possible cost of more than $70 million. On Monday, the board approved a working plan for the Justice Center site south of the Carlton Junction on Old Hwy 61, permissio...
A crowd of about 75 people traveled from western Carlton County to a public hearing at the county board meeting Monday on whether to close or keep open the county’s satellite garage in Kettle River. County engineer Jin-Yeene Neumann gave a short presentation at the beginning of the hearing at the Transportation Building in Carlton, explaining that it not only costs an extra $15,000 to run but also is a safety issue because it is a one-man shop. Neumann said the transportation department wants to move the grader and a pickup to the new county g...
The Cloquet school board on Monday voted to approve a preliminary levy for next year at the maximum level as budget numbers are still being worked out. The district will set a final 2022 tax rate at a meeting following a “truth in taxation” meeting allowing for public input. As required by law, the meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Dec. 13. In Minnesota, taxing districts must adopt proposed property tax levies for the next year and certify that amount to the county auditor on or before Sep. 30....
As many as six people have expressed interest in a once-again open seat on the Wrenshall school board. After a verified petition was submitted to the district to rescind a board appointment made in August, the board needed to make a plan for another appointment. Its original appointee, Bill Dian, is not eligible. More than 200 people were verified on the petition that asked for a more public appointment process after Michelle Blanchard left the board to serve as the school principal. The sudden appointment of Dian, with no previous public...
A well-known polka music show from the past is returning to television. Starting Saturday, reruns of the Chmielewski Polka Show are coming to Antenna TV. Starting back in the 1970s, the family produced more than 1,800 television episodes through the years. Now polka lovers can enjoy some of those classic televised music shows once again. The show will be airing Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. and Sunday mornings at 8....
Enbridge announced this week that it has completed its Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement project across Minnesota. It expected to begin running tar sands oil from Edmonton to Superior today. The 1,097-mile-long pipeline has a thicker-walled pipe and Enbridge said the "completion ensures a safe, reliable supply of North American crude oil to U.S. refineries." "Line 3 was developed and executed with the most state-of-the-art approach to design, construction and environmental management," said...
Esko school board members rescinded their approval of a snowmobile trail route that would have crossed school property during their regular meeting Monday. The decision came because the route had changed and wasn’t what the board originally approved. Three board members attended the Thomson Township Board of Supervisors meeting Sept. 16, when Wood City Riders president Chris Rokke gave a presentation to the more than 60 people in attendance about the volunteer snowmobile club and the approved trail. Although the township board had already g...
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Cloquet area staff have moved from their former location on Highway 33 South to the Cloquet Business Park at 305 Business Park Drive. All telephone numbers for general inquiries and individual staff contacts will remain the same. Most DNR offices are providing in-person services, but may have limited hours depending on staff availability. Please contact the Cloquet office at 218-878-5640 for Forestry, or 218-878-5661 for Wildlife, before visiting to confirm the office is open. The former DNR Cloquet...
The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) Board of Directors approved its 2022 operating and capital budgets at its regular board meeting this week. The Sanitary Board approved a 4.11-percent increase in wastewater charges as WLSSD restores operating and capital budgets back to levels similar to 2020. “We have all been significantly affected by Covid-19,” said WLSSD executive director Marianne Bohren. “Our 2022 budget reflects resuming the infrastructure reliability projects we put on hold for 2021 with so much economic uncer...
This year, Minnesota’s 87 counties are the beneficiaries of $36.3 million in aid that helps support public lands and provide critical links within the state’s public recreation system. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources highlighted the payments as part of National Public Lands Day on Sept. 25. Carlton County received about $450,000 this year, just above the average of $417,000 for each county. Each year, the state’s Department of Revenue distributes annual payments for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), a property tax relief progr...
After a pandemic pause, the Cloquet schools Power Lunch program will be running this year, and volunteers are needed. Power Lunch matches students with community members to have lunch and read together. The commitment is one hour per week, and lunch is provided. There are different matches and lunch times available Monday through Thursday. Mondays and Tuesdays will be at Churchill, and Wednesday and Thursdays at Washington. The welcome luncheon will be held Oct. 4 for Churchill and Oct. 6 for Washington, and the program will run from Oct. 18...
• Bemidji State University recently announced several graduates from Cloquet: Trent Anderson (economics), Ryan Defoe, (master’s in business administration), Eric Lee (liberal studies), Autumn Mikula-Goodrich (psychology), Brena Mullen (wildlife biology), Erin Nygaard (nursing), and Allyson Rahkola (psychology). • Emily Johnson of Cloquet has been named to Southern New Hampshire University’s summer president’s list. Eligibility for the list requires an academic grade point average of 3.7-4.0....
Board members from Carlton and Cloquet School districts met for the first time Monday to continue discussions about a possible tuition agreement between the two schools. A tuition 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. Up to this point, only the two superintendents, business managers and the school board chair for each district have been talking. Both boa...
Pine Knot News Editor Jana Peterson found the sublety of fall color changes in the woods this past week at the Cloquet Forestry Center. All pictures great and small (in scope) are welcome to the Pine Knot inbox. Send yours today at [email protected]...
There was a time when every rural community had a special gathering place, a hall where people could hold dances, dinners and other community events. On Highway 27 west of Kettle River, there was - and still is - the Star Club. Incorporated in 1921, the Star Club was formed as a "gentlemen's club" for the area Polish settlers in Split Rock and continues to operate today. Built after the 1918 Fires that burned down the old log church previously used for social gatherings, next week the Star Club...
History repeated itself this week at Burger Shoes in Cloquet. After closing on the sale of the longtime local shoe store Tuesday evening, Carmen LaPlant celebrated her first day as the new owner on Wednesday, exactly 54 years after Ludwig Burger held his grand opening at 1609 Carlton Avenue. Ludwig's daughter, Maria Leyrer, took down the bell that hung over the front door of the store on Tuesday - as a new family heirloom - and enjoyed her first day of retirement. "It's home," she said. "I grew...
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...
