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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According to an email from Cloquet schools superintendent Michael Cary, the district is eying Jan. 4 for the Cloquet school district to begin to evaluate its ability to return elementary students to classrooms. This follows new recommendations from the state which allows and even encourages school districts to return elementary students (not secondary) to full in-person instruction, even when county case rates remain elevated, beginning on Jan. 18. If districts choose to return students to in-person or hybrid learning, the implementation must...
The good news for the Carlton school district is that there were no surprises and things stayed pretty much the same as years before in the annual audit released Monday night. That’s also the bad news as the district continues to face rising costs associated with more students living within the district choosing to go to school somewhere else. The district is not getting “economies of scale,” reported Matt Mayer from BerganKDV, which performed the audit. He was reporting at the final regular meeting of the school board for the year. In 2016,...
Prekindergarten through second-grade students in the Esko school district will return to in-person learning effective Jan. 19, following both the recommendation of Gov. Tim Walz and a unanimous vote by the Esko school board Monday night. The governor — a teacher for more than 20 years — announced last week that the state’s Safe Learning Plan had been updated to allow every elementary school across the state to return to in-person learning effective Jan. 18, as long as they can implement addit...
The Thomson Town board came through bigtime for Esko Community Education during its meeting Thursday, Dec. 17. These are tough times for the organization, which is part of the Esko school district. Community Ed has suffered financially from the pandemic — which restricted classes and activities, resulting in reduced revenue — and asked for funds from the town’s recreation fund. After agreeing to donate $2,000 to Community Ed as it has for years, along with an additional $2,000 to sponsor Esko...
The Cloquet Police Department held its fourth annual Stuff the Squad Dec. 16 outside the Cloquet L&M Fleet Supply and Walmart stores, where people were invited to fill the squad cars with new, unwrapped toys, games, or sporting equipment for the Cloquet Area Salvation Army Toy Drive. Pictured at the L&M store Saturday are CPD officers Laci Silgjord and K-9 Vader, Trevor Kaldor, Ryan Lunda, Dave O'Connor, Larry Sherk and James Demko. O'Connor said between the two stores, the CPD collected five...
Through the contributions of Lake Country Power’s participating members, the Operation Round Up trust board recently approved $53,497 in assistance to various community programs during its quarterly meeting. The cooperative’s trust board reviewed and considered 40 grant applications and distributed funds to 38 projects and programs this past quarter. Since the program’s inception in October 2004, more than $2.5 million has been distributed to community-based projects and programs. Carlton County recipients included the Cloquet Educa...
To thank the men and women who are building Line 3 and the communities all across the right of way, Enbridge purchased more than 3,600 gift cards from northern Minnesota restaurants, totaling more than $90,000. “We wanted to find a way to give back to the communities and businesses in northern Minnesota who we know have experienced significant economic strain due to the pandemic, while also thanking the construction crews who are building the Line 3 Replacement Project,” says Lorraine Little, director of Community Engagement. “Purchasing these...
The Lake Country Power rural electric co-op expects to award college scholarships valued at $4,000 each to more than 30 high school students in 2021. Scholarship recipients can qualify for up to $4,000 over four years to help pay for college or technical school. Scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters, and students must maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or higher. They must have a full-time enrollment status at a technical school, community college or university. The online application process opens Jan. 1 and ends Jan. 31....
Not too many locals can say they make most of their yearly income from Christmas sales. I make mine harvesting and selling spruce tips from the swamps here in Carlton and other surrounding counties. It's hard work, and it's changed over the years, but I love it. I am - like others who go into the swamps - a "swamp rat." When I was a kid in the 1950s, there were truckloads of black swamp spruce Christmas trees shipped to the South. My uncle, Ray Koivisto, hired men from the Automba area and 10,00...
A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed on the Fond du Lac Reservation early Monday morning. According to a press release from the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, deputies and officers from the Fond du Lac police department responded to a call at 1:19 a.m. Monday, Dec. 28, reporting that someone was shot. When officers arrived at the rural St. Louis County home on the 3600 block of Giiniw Road, they found a deceased 16-year-old male outside. Initial investigation found the deceased was shot...
At the end of 2020 - a year that many would like to forget - Cloquet will lose a long-standing and beloved business when Pete & Sons service station closes. It's been the best year in recent memory for the 52-year-old business, said John Fink, standing inside the garage at the full-service gas and repair station on the eastern end of Cloquet Avenue. John and Jerry Fink are the "sons" on the sign. The brothers have been working at the service station since they were youngsters. Jerry's been there...
The Carlton school board this week firmed up its position when it comes to the current standoff with the Wrenshall board and possible consolidation between the two neighboring districts. On Monday, the Carlton board agreed in a committee of the whole discussion that it would vote at its regular meeting Monday on the question of debt sharing should a consolidation take place. Should the board vote to not share debt among all taxpayers in a new district, consolidation could be off the table. At least half of the six-member board indicated Monday...
Minnesota lawmakers passed new Covid-19 assistance legislation for Minnesota workers and businesses Monday night in a special session, and Governor Tim Walz signed the package into law on Wednesday. The small business relief package includes a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits for workers and grants for businesses most impacted by the pandemic. "The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unthinkable economic pain for our small businesses and the workers who staff bars, restaurants, and so many...
Along with the surge in Covid-19 numbers, comes another surge in local giving. For a second time, an anonymous donor has given $4,000 to the Family Tradition restaurant in Cloquet, with the idea of helping both the restaurant and the community. Kenny Heehn, who helps his father-in-law run, John Johnson, run the family owned business, said the donor really liked how the restaurant used the money to feed everyone from first providers to Outreach Center clients last April and May, so they decided to donate another $4,000. “This time we asked peopl...
Cloquet’s local ice skating and hockey rinks are being prepped at Pine Valley, Pinehurst Park, Athletic Park, Sunnyside and the skating ribbon on Dunlap Island. The rink at Pine Valley is ready to go already, after volunteers from the Cloquet Area Hockey Association redid the rink this summer. “Our staff started flooding the other rinks Monday,” said Caleb Peterson, public works director for the city of Cloquet, explaining that the other rinks are a work in progress and will likely be ready for skating by Monday. “It typically takes about a...
A Cloquet police officer was sentenced in Carlton County Court Monday after admitting he crashed his vehicle and fled the scene this summer, while under the influence of alcohol. Andrew Michael Murry, 34, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired, with an alcohol concentration .08 within two hours. He was placed on one year of supervised probation Monday by Carlton County Sixth District Judge Rebekka Stumme, who stayed a 90-day jail sentence and imposed a $1,000 highway patrol fine in the case. Murray represented...
A suggestion to move the only Cloquet polling location on the Fond du Lac Reservation got shut down quickly during Tuesday night’s Cloquet City Council meeting. Reservation Business Committee (RBC) Chairman Kevin Dupuis, Jr. spoke out against the possible closure during the public comments portion of the meeting, and again when the council began discussing staff proposals for polling places in 2021. On the table was a change of polling place for Ward 2 from the Garfield School gymnasium to the Cloquet Public Library addition — which passed — an...
Native American women and girls are far more likely than other Minnesota residents to be victims of homicide, go missing or experience others forms of violence, according to a task force established last year to address the crisis. American Indian women and girls make up less than 1 percent of the state’s population, yet they accounted for 8 percent of all women and girls slain in Minnesota from 2010 through 2018, according to state data included in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force report. The report released Tuesday n...
It’s the time of year when local governments are approving budgets for the coming year, and tax levies to go with them. Here’s a roundup of levies passed in the past week: Cloquet School District The Cloquet School Board members approved a 2.15-percent levy increase for taxes paid in 2021 following the truth-in-taxation hearing held Monday, Dec. 14. The increase brings the total local tax levy to $7,136,281, an increase of $149,993 over last year. That’s a smaller increase than most recent years, said district finance director Candace Nelis...
Governor Tim Walz said elementary schools could return to in-person classes on Jan. 18, regardless of county Covid case rates, as long as they adopt a number of strategies to contain the spread of the coronavirus, including a testing program for all staff who interact with students. But it’s still up to individual school districts to decide if the conditions are right, bearing in mind the greater need for younger children to have in-person instruction. On Monday Cloquet superintendent Michael C...
The holidays are fast approaching and gift buying is in full swing, but don't forget your local businesses as you search for that perfect gift for someone on your list. There is a wealth of unique gifts available right in this area, as well as friendly familiar faces in the businesses who are eager to help you make a selection. During this year of pandemic, it is doubly important to support local businesses and organizations, especially during the holiday shopping season. They are having a...
There are more ways than Amazon and huge national chains to do your Christmas shopping online. The Pine Knot News is offering a free online "Shop Locally" service to all area businesses and shoppers. Just head to www.pineknotnews.com and click on the Shop Locally button to see what local businesses have to offer. A wide range of businesses are participating: each one has its own page, complete with photos, shopping and contact information, and a map to help customers find them. Offerings...
A pandemic Christmas means that many shows typically being put on in the region and statewide are now online affairs. From the Pine Knot News and Minnesota Public Radio News, here is a list of seasonal shows you can catch online this year. The ghost story • In Cloquet, County Seat Theater has a performance of "A Christmas Carol," available via on-demand video Dec. 23-25. The "ticket" price is $9.99 for single view, $14.99 for family view, and the link is good for 24 hours. To book a viewing, g...
Kingdom Builders Ministries will have a toy giveaway at Common Ground Coffee Bar and Deli from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. For toys, enter through the metal side door on Broadway. If toys are left, the giveaway will continue Monday, and then Tuesday. Call 218-499-8030 with questions. New and gently used toys available to help families have a wonderful Christmas. All toys are free. Social distancing guidelines and masks will be observed. There will be a bake sale of Christmas Cookies in the coffee shop at the same time Saturday. Enter main doors...
Santa Claus may come just once a year, but Ms. Christmas lives in Cloquet year-round. Paula Maki, aka Ms. Christmas, founded her own nonprofit to give gifts and a little Christmas caring to people in adult foster homes, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Maki solicits donations of gift items from local and national companies (see photo below) which she passes on in December. Although it's been a challenging year for Maki healthwise, she still gave presents to residents of numerous...
