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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A man who fired a gun at a Fond du Lac funeral last year pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court. Shelby Gene Boswell, 29, of Hugo, Minn. was accused of shooting and injuring another man in the back of the head at a funeral ceremony Oct. 18, 2019 in the Head Start gymnasium on the Fond du Lac Reservation. Carlton County attorney Lauri Ketola said her office originally considered an attempted murder charge for Boswell, but the investigation didn’t support that. The weapons charge in U.S. D...
On a computer screen in Wrenshall last Saturday, the fate of the first champion of the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association was being decided. The president of the association and Wrenshall resident, Valerie Coit, was toggling through her Zoom screen gallery to keep a close eye on the more than 100 teams and individuals competing from 11 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. when the final heat ended. Coit's attention to detail paid off as a few of the contestants were within seconds of each other's time. "Some of the...
Cloquet High School has seen its first known case of Covid-19. School officials sent out an email Saturday to families and staff, letting people know they were notified by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) of a lab confirmed case of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) in a member of the Cloquet High School community with exposure date of Tuesday 9/29/20. Following is the rest of the email: "We have worked with the MDH to identify those who had close contact with the case and have communicated with them individually. The risk of exposure for...
The Cloquet skatepark is the latest vandalism location in the city after it was spray-painted with messages last weekend. It is one of many places - including businesses and bridges - found to be filled with graffiti the past two weeks, many of them with what appears to be the word "junk." Cloquet patrol commander Dan O'Connor said police are investigating the property damage and working on development of a suspect and are looking for more information from the public. The police department...
The Level 3 sex offender notification for Rory Northrup that ran on Page 3 of the Sept. 11 issue of Pine Knot News said that Northrup would be living on Sunnyside Drive. After that issue of the newspaper went to press, the Cloquet police department updated its information regarding Northrup and stated that he is homeless. That meant the previously published information was inaccurate. Additional information may be found at the Minnesota Department of Corrections Public Registrant Search, at https://coms.doc.state.mn.us/publicregistrantsearch...
After a slowdown last week, positive COVID-19 cases in Carlton County increased rapidly over the past week, rising from 219 total cases on Sept. 16 to 246 on Wednesday, Sept. 23. That’s a jump of 27 in a week, versus nine the week before. The rise is reflected in statewide numbers too. The state reported 690 positive cases Wednesday, bringing the total to 92,100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota so far. More than 200,000 people in the U.S. have died from Covid-19. In Minnesota, 1,985 people have died. Carlton County has still only r...
Carlton County will hold a drive-through flu vaccine clinic for the entire family from 12-6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Carlton County Transportation Building. No fees will be collected at the clinic. The vaccine will be available as a standard flu shot, flu-mist for ages 2-49, high-dose for age 65-plus and egg-free for age 4 and older. All attendees are required to wear masks. Entry to the Transportation Building parking lot will be through the south entrance off County Road 61....
Finding ways to create better internet connectivity was front and center during the Thomson Township Board of Supervisors meeting last week, along with determining how to spend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money received from the federal government. Problems with virtual attendance at township meetings — which often cut out during transmission — brought internet issues to the forefront as a way to spend the $20,000 in funds. “Most of it has been on the internet improvements we are making here [in the town...
Economic Development Administration chief of staff Dana Gartzke touts the public and private partnership that is bringing a substantial investment and future jobs to the Cloquet Airport. Gartzke traveled from Washington to Minnesota and Carlton County Friday morning to announce a $1.2 million grant to establish an aeronautics workforce training center at the Cloquet Airport. Combined with $291,718 of state and $14,464 in county funds, the money will pay for a new training center and hangar at...
Suicide remains a top public health concern in Minnesota. “Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in Minnesota and tenth nationally,” said North East Minnesota Suicide Prevention Coordinator Ali Randall. The coronavirus pandemic could be pushing emotions higher than ever before. “I think the pandemic is shedding a good light on the importance of mental professionals in our community and the importance of suicide prevention,” said Randall. “Whether you’re a coach or a supervisor at your employment no matter where you are everyone plays a r...
The 2020 Bridge to Health Survey will be wrapping up soon, and anyone who received a survey in the mail is asked to fill it in and return it as quickly as possible so that their answers can be counted. A second copy of the survey will be sent out to all of the original recipients who haven’t responded in case they have misplaced it. The Bridge to Health Survey has been conducted every five years since 1995....
The Minnesota Department of Health opened a pilot saliva testing site on Wednesday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. The testing site will be the first of its kind in Minnesota, offering free saliva tests to any Minnesotan who believes they need to be tested. The pilot opening will give state and local health officials a chance to see what kind of demand to expect for the additional saliva test sites in coming weeks. The state plans to open as many as nine more sites across the state like the one planned for the DECC. “The Duluth E...
First there was one. Now there are seven cases of Covid-19 at the Esko schools, and nearly three dozen students were quarantined as of last week. The Esko school board held a special online meeting Wednesday, Sept. 16 to approve new hires and discuss Covid-19 information. During that meeting, superintendent Aaron Fischer told board members the school had five cases of Covid-19, and 35 students in quarantine. As of Tuesday, Sept. 22 the number of positive cases had grown to seven, with two at...
This was a surprisingly difficult growing season for a lot of our crops on the Food Farm. It was dry early in the growing season, then the first real rain we got was full of hail. This fall has started off dry as well, exacerbated by a failed irrigation pump. But one vegetable that has done exceeding well is something of a historic one to the area — cabbage. The cabbage and potato farms of Wrenshall used to be the main suppliers for Duluth and Superior and beyond. Boxcars were loaded with the c...
As the crew muscled yet another railroad car off the stern of the ship and into the murky depths of Lake Michigan, Capt. Peter Kilty of the Pere Marquette 18 may have breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a tumultuous few hours out in the middle of the lake early on the morning of Sept. 9, 1910 - 110 years ago. The ship, carrying about 60 passengers and crew, and close to 30 rail cars from Ludington, Michigan to Milwaukee, started taking on water faster than its pumps could handle, and Kilty qu...
Former Carlton County Attorney Thom Pertler was disbarred Thursday, Sept. 10 by the Minnesota Supreme Court for professional misconduct because he failed to disclose known police misconduct when he was in office. Pertler was Carlton County Attorney January 2005 through December 2018, quitting after he lost a re-election bid. The Supreme Court's decision came after the director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility filed a misconduct petition against Pertler July 6. That office is...
A Hermantown woman was sentenced to five years in prison this week after pleading guilty to third-degree murder for selling methamphetamine to a Moose Lake woman who died afterward. Dawn Marie Clemons, 41, apologized to Leah Michele Olsen’s family for taking away their mother, daughter and sister, and told the court she will forever regret her actions of Aug. 5, 2018. “I wish more than anything that I would have been stronger enough to not contribute to Leah’s relapse,” Clemons said, through tears. “Because of my actions, my friend lost her lif...
As political campaigns increase their efforts toward the Nov. 3 election, it’s important to know and follow the state laws regarding placement of signs off of state property and only on land where the landowner has agreed to its placement. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is reminding people that the placement of campaign and other advertising signage on any highway right-of-way is not allowed under state law. All state, county, city and township roads and highways fall under the same state law. Highway right-of-ways include d...
Former Carlton teacher and girls basketball coach Robert Kent Pioro appeared in Carlton County District Court Wednesday afternoon for an omnibus hearing, which is the next step in the criminal process. Pioro, though his attorney Mikkel Long, entered a plea of Not Guilty and waived any contested omnibus issues. He asked the matter be set for an intermediate settlement conference, which Judge Robert Macauley set for Nov. 9. Pioro, 52, was charged July 2 in Carlton County Sixth District Court with three counts of criminal sexual conduct in the thi...
The Sons of Norway rescheduled a free performance by the Sutter Brothers for this weekend. Bring your own chair and find a good spot outside the Oldenburg House in Carlton 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19....
Carlton County will hold a drive-through flu vaccine clinic 12-6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Carlton County Transportation Building. No fees will be collected at the clinic. Bring your insurance card for billing. There will be vaccines available at no charge for children 18 and younger who don’t have insurance or whose insurance doesn’t cover vaccines. The vaccine will be available as a standard flu shot, flu-mist for ages 2-49, high-dose for age 65-plus and egg-free for age 4 and older. All att...
Both the Carlton Area Lions Club and the state of Minnesota are celebrating 30 years of the Adopt a Highway program this year. The Lions Club is one of 475 groups that have been with the Minnesota Department of Transportation program every year of its existence. Lions member Ron Haupt has been there from the start. "I don't agree with people that throw garbage out the window, it looks terrible," he said, adding that he and his wife will pick up along the trail when they go for a walk as well....
Reports to the school boards at Carlton and Wrenshall this week showed that the two small districts had relatively drama-free starts to the year despite intense pressure due to Covid-19 pandemic protocols. In Wrenshall, the major hitch remains the continuing construction project to improve the heating and air conditioning in the elementary portion of the K-12 building. It is expected that the project will wrap up by early November. Superintendent Kim Belcastro reported to the board that enrollment is slightly down from past years, at 367...
Cloquet city councilors approved the city’s preliminary budget and property tax levy for 2021 on Tuesday night, setting the maximum levy increase at 4 percent, for a total levy of $3,164,750. The council can choose to levy for less than that amount in December, but they cannot increase the levy. Property owners will probably not see an equivalent increase to their Cloquet property taxes, however, because the city has had a 5.12 percent increase in taxable market value, as new homes and commercia...
The city of Cloquet will not open three of the city’s four warming houses this winter due to pandemic health considerations. However, all four outdoor ice skating facilities — at Sunnyside (Churchill), Pinehurst, Athletic and Dunlap Island parks — will still open. Cloquet city councilors approved a decision by city staff and the Parks Commission to not open warming houses at Sunnyside and Athletic parks because they’re too small, and Pinehurst because it was too far away from the rink and rar...
