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 2728 - 2752 of 3909
A petition duel continued this week on the website Change.org considering the use of the nickname "Eskomos" for the Esko school district. Both begun by students at Esko High School, one petition says a name change should be considered while the other says to leave the name alone. It joins a chorus of debate in a time of great social upheaval and awareness. This month, the Canadian Football League team in Edmonton announced it would stop using its Eskimos nickname. Earlier this year, the company...
There's been at least one unexpected side effect of coronavirus in the city of Cloquet and nationwide: new single-family housing projects are already significantly higher than last year's total. Cloquet Community Development director Holly Hansen said the increase was somewhat unexpected but a welcome surprise. She credits the low interest rates for at least part of the boom. "We scratch our heads sometimes," Hansen told the Pine Knot last week. "We know there's a Covid recession going on right...
Minneapolis Public Schools students will not go back to school in a traditional manner this fall, instead starting out the school year virtually. District officials announced their plan to resume full distance learning at a board meeting Tuesday. A final vote is set to take place in August. The decision comes ahead of a delayed statewide announcement that Gov. Tim Walz was expected to make Thursday. By comparision, many schools in more rural areas, like in Carlton County, are considering plans that would combine distance learning days with...
Members of the Cloquet Combined Honor Guard stood on an overpass over Interstate 35 in Cloquet Friday, July 24 as the body of a Korean War veteran from Superior was being brought home after his remains were identified. After 70 years, Francis Rochon was laid to rest at Summit Cemetery in Foxboro. Wisconsin governor Tony Evers announced Friday that U.S. and state flags would be flown at half-staff on Saturday. According to the governor's office, Army Cpl. Francis J. Rochon of Superior was buried...
A 4-year-old girl driving an ATV was injured Thursday, July 23 after being hit by a pickup on Stenman Road in Esko, just south of Interstate 35. According to the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, dispatch received a 911 call at 1:39 p.m. Thursday about a girl hit by a northbound pickup at 45 Stenman Road as she came from a driveway on a child-sized ATV and entered the roadway. Carlton County deputies, Esko and Cloquet Area Fire District responders were dispatched to the scene along with the Minnesota State Patrol. A report states a Chevrolet p...
The Cloquet Area Chamber of Commerce is expecting a shipment of 12,000 disposable masks from the state this week and expects to distribute them to northern Carlton County businesses to help customers comply with the recent order for Minnesotans to wear masks in indoor public settings. There is no charge to businesses to receive the masks, which will be distributed in lots of 100. Distribution will take place at the chamber office. The expected pick-up day is Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those who want masks should email the chamber...
Emily Tracy and her family are trying to change the rules around chickens in Cloquet city limits. She has written a petition and it is circulating the internet and gaining traction in the community. The petition explains the many blessings chickens can bring to a home, while still expressing an urge to change the current ordinance allowing farm animals on large lots only in certain parts of the city. "When it comes to the benefits, well, they are endless," Tracy said. She has had her chickens...
Trail rider groups and local homeowners concerned about noise from disrespectful ATV and dirt bike enthusiasts who literally roar onto the access road of the Moose Lake Old Soo Line pit mostly approved of the ordinance passed unanimously by the Carlton County board on Monday. About 15 people came to give their input on the issue. Eric Senarighi of the Carlton County Riders ATV club addressed the board, offering to pay for a portable decibel reader to check machines that have loud mufflers....
Being a victim of or witness to a crime is something we all hope to avoid. But should that situation befall the residents of Carlton County, it is reassuring to know there is an individual working in the Victim/Witness Services Division who will offer support and guidance throughout the judicial process. John Parenteau, the most recent person to hold this position stepped into the job in January. Parenteau carries a wealth of experience to this office, having spent 28 years as sheriff’s d...
My husband, Bob, came home last week after six weeks away. He reached his physical and occupational therapy goals and was ready to be discharged. He will now be doing therapy at home as the nurses and therapists will be coming to the house. He thanks everyone for the many, many cards of encouragement. It is great to have him home again. Now, I will be home for a week before my knee replacement surgery, which is scheduled for Aug. 5, but I’m not holding my breath, as it has been postponed t...
A new store is doing its best to fill the gap left by the departure of the popular Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores in Cloquet. The Highway 45 Thrift Store opened in June. The for-profit store, owned by Gregg Wait and Jill Rousseau, has been in the works for a while. "We've been trying to open for two years," Rousseau said. Wait and Rousseau had been known for running auctions that past decade. "We have a place on Carlton Avenue and that's originally where [Jill] wanted to start the sto...
As of Tuesday, July 21, the Carlton County auditor’s office had mailed a total of 5,293 ballots for the Aug. 11 primary election, with 1,606 absentee and 3,687 mail ballots going out. It’s a huge jump compared to past elections, in both categories. For the 2016 primary, there were a total of 139 absentee ballots requested, and 1,758 mail ballots. For the 2018 primary, there were 418 absentee ballots requested, and 2,186 mail ballots. As the coronavirus continues to threaten the health of people locally and across the country, county acting aud...
The Minnesota Department of Corrections will close its two smallest prisons - Willow River and Togo - because of a budgetary crisis, the DOC announced Monday. The move comes after the legislature adjourned from the recent special session without action on the agency's supplemental budget request. The Department of Corrections faces a budget deficiency of approximately $14 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. The combined annual budget for Togo and Willow River is approximately $11...
As a pandemic summer heats up meteorologically, so has the national rhetoric around how school districts will start classes in August and September. Normally sleepy and short meetings of school boards across Carlton County have become hours-long discussions on what school days will look like in the fall. Committees of staff have formed and ramped up planning in the past few weeks as an announcement is expected Monday from state leaders on how things will proceed. While Covid-19 cases in...
The Carlton school board decided on Monday to go it alone on a $3,000 study that would determine what district residents would pay in taxes if a consolidation with Wrenshall should ever come to fruition. The financial impact study would pinpoint how taxes would be affected for residents in both districts as they put fund balances and debts together. It’s something Carlton and Wrenshall board members have said should have been done in the process of providing information to residents about the consolidation. On Monday, Carlton members said g...
Saying that a man she once had a relationship with told her “paybacks are a bitch,” a woman told a Cloquet police officer this past weekend that she was held against her will for 34 hours and repeatedly raped and assaulted by a Scanlon man. Dennis Michael St. John Jr. was arrested Sunday and charged Tuesday with six felony charges after the alleged victim reported a horrific series of events that began at Black Bear Resort Casino late Friday night. According to the complaint filed in Minnesota Sixth District Court in Carlton, the alleged vic...
The City of Carlton has added playground equipment to the Northern Pacific Junction bike shelter area, much to the delight of monkey bar users Winston and Berkeley Leno, ages 6 and 7. Last year the Barnum school district was getting new playground equipment and put out a request to other communities to see if there was interest in the old equipment. Carlton wrote a letter in response stating how it would use the playground and where it would be located. The request was granted and the company...
Due to staff vacation time, the Pine Knot office at 122 Avenue C in Cloquet will not be open the next two Fridays, July 31 and Aug. 7. We will be checking voicemail at 218-878-9332 and emails. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] with any questions....
FDLTCC releases spring dean’s list Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet announced that 149 students attending the college during spring semester achieved high academic standing and earned dean’s list honors. Requirements for the list include maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher while completing 12 or more course credits during the semester. A total of 1,358 full-time and part-time students were enrolled at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College this past spring. The following students from the region earned dean’s list honor...
Crew members from "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" spent part of two days this week at Gordy's Hi-Hat in Cloquet. They filmed customers, staff and four generations of the Lundquist family over that time period, doing close-up interviews and even flying a drone over the landmark Cloquet restaurant, which celebrates 60 years this season. The last time the well-known Food Network show visited the Hi-Hat was 10 years ago, when show host Guy Fieri came to town to sample the Northland's favorite burger j...
The 55th annual Wrong Days in Wright took place last weekend with a somewhat scaled back list of events. The events were not as well attended as in the past, but at least folks got a chance to get together in a safe and socially distanced way. Friday night’s fireworks concluded just as the storm’s fireworks began. There was a lot of thunder and lightning, then the rain came down in torrents for a few minutes, along with some pretty strong winds. I had an emergency bag packed just in case I had...
In the six years since a housing study showed a need for lots of new housing in Cloquet and Scanlon, there's been what amounts to an apartment building boom. That was the goal, said Cloquet Community Development director Holly Hansen. Seeing how many housing units the two cities needed - 260 rentals, 240 owned units - caught people's attention. And things started happening. "It stimulated major conversation with lots of boards like the EDAs (economic development agencies, city councils, Carlton...
Former Carlton County attorney Thom Pertler is facing possible disciplinary action regarding unprofessional conduct during his tenure with the county. Susan Humiston, the director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, filed a petition for disciplinary action with the Minnesota Supreme Court on July 6. The complaint centers around Pertler's failure to follow through with duties to disclose all exculpatory evidence (favorable to defendants), specifically by not disclosing miscon-...
Effective Wednesday, Black Bear Casino Resort is 100-percent smoke-free inside the building. Guests may still smoke outside. General manager Dan LaPrairie said the Reservation Business Council made the decision to go smoke-free on Tuesday and he implemented the policy within hours. It was something LaPrairie had been thinking about for a long time before he took the recommendation to the RBC. "When I first took over I recognized that times were changing when it came to smokers and nonsmokers,"...
Lengthy discussion, followed by two attempts to vote for a Carlton County mask policy, ended with no clear choice for a majority of the Carlton County Board of Commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday, July 14. “I believe the board should set an example supporting the wearing of masks in public,” explained commissioner Dick Brenner. “The safety of our employees is our responsibility and all visitors to a county facility should wear a mask if social distancing is not possible.” To this point, each department head has set mask and social...
