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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Three weekends ago, Cody Sheik was at a friend's wedding on Duluth's Park Point, sipping champagne on the Lake Superior beach, when he spotted something unusual in the normally crystal clear water. "It was definitely a bloom,” he recalled. “It’s indescribable. Chalk-green, when it should be nice and clear." Sheik would know. He’s a microbiologist at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory who studies blue-green algae blooms. He snapped some pictures, but he didn't have a... 
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By Yasmine Askari / MinnPost Minnesotans are just now emerging from a week that some have described as "apocalyptic." When northern winds brought in gray skies full of pollution from Canadian wildfires, a drought and recurring high temperatures had already been plaguing most of the state. Lee Frelich, the director of forest ecology at the University of Minnesota, says the last time Minnesota experienced a summer so extreme was 1988. "That was pretty much like this summer that we're having right... Website
At least one person died after a vehicle went off an Interstate 35 bridge near Scanlon and ended up in the St. Louis River. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the crash happened at 12:03 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10. First responders donned water rescue gear to reach the vehicle, which was mostly submerged but partly visible in the water underneath the bridge. Killed in the crash was the female passenger, Barbara Jean Kimber, age 78, of Carlton. The driver of the 2004 Ford Explorer, an...
While Cloquet finance director Nancy Klassen painted a mostly positive picture of the city’s financial position last week, one number in particular stood out: a $3.2 million actuarially determined increase in the city’s long-term public safety expense, to cover ongoing and future insurance benefits for former police officers on disability. The issue is complicated because it involves actions by both the State of Minnesota and the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) which resulted in t...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners on Monday voted unanimously to build the proposed jail and justice center next to the Carlton County Transportation Building. Requested by Twin Lakes Township official Diane Felde-Finke, a motion by commissioner Dick Brenner in support for the “green site” passed with no discussion or dissent. The 20-acre site is just northeast of the current Transportation Building along old Highway 61 in Twin Lakes Township. Engineers and architects have projected that the site is relatively level, sandy, and doe...
The Chub Lake Park swimming beach is closed until further notice. E. coli levels are high, according to a Carlton County press release from last week. Water contact is not recommended....
To help ensure public safety and protect natural resources, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is expanding burning restrictions. Effective 12:01 a.m., July 27, areas within state jurisdiction in Aitkin, Becker, Benton, Carlton, Clearwater, Mahnomen and Stearns counties are included in burning restrictions already in place for the eastern portion of Roseau County and all of Beltrami, Cass, Cook, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Lake, Morrison, St. Louis, Todd and Wadena counties. The state will not issue...
The Superior City Council voted July 20 to support the transfer of burial lands on Wisconsin Point to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. According to a story by Wisconsin Public Radio, the strip of land was once home to a vibrant Ojibwe community and represents the end of the Ojibwe migration story. At least seven generations were laid to rest at a cemetery on Wisconsin point. In 1918 nearly 200 graves were removed (and reburied at St. Francis Cemetery), followed by living tribal members several years later forced off by U.S....
Despite some recent rains, things are still pretty dry in these parts. So dry that firefighters were called to Athletic Park Monday afternoon for two grass fires: one on the outfield of the baseball field, the other next to the playground. Cloquet Area Fire District crews quickly extinguished the fires with assistance from the Cloquet DNR. There were no injuries, but CAFD officials would like to remind people of the abnormally dry conditions. "An unintentional spark in these conditions could be...
It's not only big-city police departments that are using embedded social workers. Thanks to a state grant, a social worker from the Human Development Center is working with four law enforcement agencies here: the Cloquet, Fond du Lac and Moose Lake police departments, along with the Carlton County Sheriff's Office. Troy Homstad has been working out of an office at the Cloquet Police Department since April. Cloquet Sgt. Nate Cook said he loves having Homstad along when he is called to situations...
Work on the new Carlton County budget for 2022 has started, with each department making presentations for their needs during the next budget cycle during the county board meeting Monday. Increased health insurance and employee salaries are again a focus with more than 400 on the county payroll. Historically, county program budgets that can have fund balances at the end of the budget year have been used to cushion the need to keep the property tax increase low for the coming year. The county land department and the county recorder’s office, f...
Atkins Northland Funeral Home may have new owners, but don't expect any big changes, said Bob Atkins, who officially sold the business in May. "Very little will change with the ownership transition," Atkins told the Pine Knot News this week. "The business names will stay the same and our employees will still be here with the goal of continuing to provide exceptional service while growing the business." The new owners are Foundation Partners Group, a privately held funeral services company with...
Public-record filings are indicating that there may be another shakeup in the direction of Cloquet’s only new car dealership, and its one-time owners have filed for bankruptcy. June filings with the Minnesota Secretary of State office shows that Cloquet Auto Center has renewed the various assumed names attached to Cloquet’s Ford and Chrysler dealership. What’s new is that the Cloquet Auto Center name was renewed in May with an address associated with Duluth-based car dealership group Evergreen, which owns dealerships in the Twin Ports and a...
Minnesota's air quality has been exceptional for all the wrong reasons this week. On Thursday, an air quality monitor in Brainerd recorded the highest particulate reading ever recorded in the state, since the monitors were installed about 20 years ago. "And then a couple hours later, that smoke moved down to St. Cloud, and we broke that record in a matter of hours — at like 422 micrograms,” said Nick Witcraft, an air quality forecaster for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). “That was quite impressive to see." And those two recor... Website
This summer’s drought is painted in the yellow of parched grass and fields, and the cracked brown and grey mud of a riverbed far more exposed than usual. The St. Louis River is still running, but it’s the lowest Minnesota Power’s Chris Rousseau has seen since around 2005. “Right now we’re about 7 feet below what we consider a normal-high pond,” Rousseau said of the Thomson Reservoir, where the water has receded substantially, leaving beaches of drying mud and docks that serve no boats. Only...
Superintendent John Engstrom read his prepared statement. After a pause that encapsulated the import of his words, Carlton school board member Sue Karp said “well stated.” Three other board members agreed. “Our hearts are in a K-12,” Karp later said. The lament in the school library during one of those typical short July meetings was palpable. Engstrom had just laid out a future for the district that didn’t include educating students in grades 9-12. He announced that talks with Cloquet to release Carlton students to its high school had reach...
This year is the inaugural year for the Munger Mission. The Munger Mission was started by Jolene Steffens, owner of Carlton Bike Rental & Repair. The idea behind the mission is to spur people to get out and bike the Willard Munger Bike Trail. The mission is pretty simple and is a "do it at your own pace" type of challenge. Riders can either use their own bikes or rent through Carlton Bike Rental & Repair. Renting a bike for the mission would cost $35. Other rental options are two hours at $14...
Got a home sewer line that repeatedly backs up from roots? The City of Cloquet is offering a grant program for homeowners who need to upgrade or repair leaky or decaying lateral sewer lines running from the home to main sewer lines. The grants are part of a program to reduce the problems of clean water inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system, which can overwhelm the system during heavy rain events and cause overflows of untreated sewer water. The program offers financial assistance of 80 percent of costs up to $4,000 for the...
The Cloquet Broadband Committee is asking residents and businesses to take a broadband survey to determine internet needs for the area. Visit www.goctc.com/cloquet to take the survey and find the link to a speed test or go here: mnruralbroadbandcoalition.com/speedtest. The western municipal city limits of Cloquet are not included in the survey because the FDL Reservation will be rolling out their broadband fiber to the home network connections which will be open to ALL residents within the FDL Reservation territory, not just Band members. The...
Motorists will encounter a lane closure on northbound Interstate 35 bridge crossing Moose Horn River, south of Barnum for the next 1-2 weeks while maintenance crews repair issues found during maintenance painting performed earlier in the week. MnDOT will be conducting environmental borings for soil and groundwater sampling near the intersection of Minnesota Highway 210 and Minnesota 73 in Cromwell next week. Motorists should expect narrow lanes and lane closures which may cause difficult turning movements, especially with large vehicles and...
As one sales tax nears its halfway point, the city of Cloquet is banking on residents approving a new one in November 2022 that would pay for improvements to the hockey arenas and Pine Valley park. It’s been almost nine years since the city’s first sales tax was passed, with 63 percent of voters approving the half-cent tax. Collection of monies for that sales tax will sunset after raising either $16.5 million or 30 years, whichever comes first. Finance director Nancy Klassen said Tuesday the city collected $1.1 million from sales tax funds in...
The information is in. Architects and engineers have told Carlton County that moving the new justice center, consisting of the jail and courtrooms, to the “green site” located northeast of the transportation building on Old Highway 61 will save sitework costs of $3.5 to $3.9 million. The current courthouse parking lot is plagued with costly remedies: not enough space, bedrock outcroppings, wetland areas, a sewer line, and lack of staging area for a major construction project. The green site is aptly named for the evergreen forest that cov...
New broadband options will be available to Thomson Township residents in the coming months, according to the Thomson Township board of supervisors. Residents of Thomson Township came to the board meeting July 15, suggesting that the board explore giving residents the option of underground cabling for their internet. Board members said they appreciated the suggestions, since reliable fast internet access is an issue that the township has struggled with historically. The board then used the time to inform the public of new broadband options that...
A state court on Monday sent a key air emissions permit for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine back to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for further consideration and additional findings. The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the MPCA did not adequately explain its reasons for granting the permit, after environmental groups and the Fond Du Lac tribe alleged that PolyMet was engaging in so-called “sham permitting” by planning a much larger mine than what it applied for. It’s a setback for what would be the state’s first copper-... Website
The 56th Wrong Days is now on record as being one of the best ever. The Friday night steak fry, pie social, O-G-N-I-B, Minnesota Sings and fireworks were very successful, along with all the activities Saturday and Sunday. Thank you, thank you to all who participated, donated or helped in any way. The cash drawings for the buttons went to Tim Dahl, $100, Kieriahna Goodin, $50 and Jim Walli, $25. More than 400 button tickets were sold. There are still a few 2021 WD buttons available; please let...
