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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The Carlton school board will have a special meeting Monday to accept the resignation of middle school and high school principal Barry Wolff. Accepting the resignation would be retroactive to Feb. 3, when Wolff submitted it following his conviction on a driving while impaired charge Jan. 31 in Sherburne County court. Wolff was arrested and jailed in that county near St. Cloud in late December. He was charged and convicted on a misdemeanor, fourth-degree DWI. Wolff was named the principal last fall, replacing Barry Fischer, who took a job the...
Moose Lake Superintendent Robert Indihar announced that he will retire at the end of the school year, after 22 years with the school district. According to a story in the Moose Lake Star Gazette, Indihar thanked the board for their support over his time with the district, noting that Moose Lake has been a great place to raise a family and retire from. Indihar led the school district through the aftermath of the 2016 floods of the school at its former location, several referendum votes and ultimately the construction of the new school on the...
With income tax season now open, the Minnesota Department of Revenue announced that over 200 sites will be offering free tax assistance for those filing income tax and property tax refund returns. Most sites are open through April 15. Carlton County sites include the following: • Cloquet Public Library, Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Appointments are preferred, call 218-499-8105. • Moose Lake Community Building, Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., by appointment only. Call 218-485-8225. • Lakes and Pines Moose Lake, Tuesdays 3-7 p.m., by appoi...
Cloquet citizen Tim Krohn was on hand again Tuesday to accept another donation for the extension of the Pine Valley mountain bike trail. The donor this time was Minnesota Power. Chris Rousseau, Carlton grad and Minnesota Power manager of renewable operations, was there with a giant check for $2,500 for the trail. Cloquet Public Works director Caleb Peterson explained to the council that the original budget for the trail extension was $125,000. Krohn and other Pine Valley volunteers first...
The 2020 voting season starts Tuesday in Cloquet with a special election for the Ward 3 City Council seat vacated by Dakota Koski in July. Candidates Uriah Wilkinson and Chris Swanson are asking voters to elect them for a term effective through Dec. 31, 2022. Find out more about each candidate in the Q&A section below. The election is for residents of Ward 3 only, which lies between Highway 33 and 14th Street, and Doddridge Avenue and the St. Louis River in Cloquet. Polls will be open from 7...
The Carlton County Republican Party invited a self-described refugee resettlement expert to conduct a meeting from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, according to organizer Bill Dian of Wrenshall. Dian said Ron Branstner, who has homes in Palm Springs, California and Eden Valley, Minnesota will conduct the meeting to inform Carlton County Republican members and the general public of his research on the refugee issue in America. “I’ve been studying this...
The Pine Knot News was recently recognized as among the very best newspapers in the state by the Minnesota Newspaper Association at its annual Better Newspaper Contest. Hundreds of papers from across the state, large and small, compete in a variety of categories from news to sports to advertising excellence. The Pine Knot won an unprecedented 15 awards just a year into its existence. The contest was judged by newspaper professionals in Indiana, part of MNA's rotating list of judges from midwest...
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over the age of 50. It is estimated that more than 2 million people have been diagnosed with macular degeneration nationwide. During the month of February, the American Optometric Association educates the public on facts about age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. AMD occurs when there are changes to the macula, a small portion of the retina that is located on the inside back layer of the eye. The loss of...
I have to say it has been a great winter. There’s been plenty of snow and overall the temperature has been very agreeable. I am still expecting some cold blasts to come. With this mind, I thought it would be good to talk about cold-weather injuries. Excessive cold plays a role in most of the natural-weather-related deaths in the United States. There are certainly groups at higher risk. Older adults, homeless and intoxicated individuals, and outdoor enthusiasts are at higher risk out in the cold....
Minnesota climatology records show that January was the cloudiest on record since recorded observations started in 1963. With the gloomy weather it can be hard to stay motivated. Luckily, our community has some options for you. The city of Wrenshall created and maintains a free outdoor ice rink located just behind the post office and bus garage. It is lit by lights hanging in the pine trees that stay on until around 9 p.m. There is a warming house and bench for folks to put on skates and rest....
As I sit down to type this week's news, it's a balmy 40 degrees in Wright. Just think, one year ago, it was 30 to 40 below zero with a wind chill of minus 50 degrees. It was on Jan. 30, the coldest day of 2019, that our local restaurant, Minetties, caught fire and burned to the ground. What a difference a year makes. We are still hoping a café can open in Wright in the future. Congratulations to Julie Peterson, a board member at Moose Lake schools the past 29 years, for receiving the Board...
Winter blues got you down? Take a little break and come to the Carlton Winterfest celebration Saturday, Feb. 8. Most of the activities will be held at the Four Seasons Sports Complex and Event Center and sponsored by the Carlton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Carlton Area Lions. Some of the activities will include a 10-hole mini golf gourse, the chili cook-off with registration at 1 p.m., open skating and hockey in the arena, and the Carlton firefighters’ bingo starting at 7 p.m. in the Carlto...
The results are in and an overwhelming number of people who filled out a recent survey support the Carlton and Wrenshall school districts creating a consolidated district. Across the board, in age categories and among those who have children in the district and those who don't, 80 percent of respondents want consolidation. The results were released Tuesday night at a special meeting of the school boards with a representative from School Perceptions, a company that has performed more than 10,000...
The votes are counted! Ward 3 voters chose Chris Swanson as their City Councilor Tuesday, Feb. 11. Swanson garnered 84 votes to 14 for Uriah Wilkinson. Read more in this week’s Pine Knot News....
When Alex LaPlante's third leg of the John Beargrease 120 sled dog race started, things went suddenly and dramatically wrong: Her sled tipped over right as the dogs were taking off after the countdown for the final leg of the race Monday from Finland to the Trestle Inn. "I got dragged out of view of the checkpoint, hanging on to my snow hook," LaPlante said. "At first I thought I lost the team ... I lost my grip on the handlebars, but suddenly my left arm went taut and I realized I still had the...
After the yearly review by the state corrections inspector earlier this month, the Carlton County jail is looking at a forced retirement. The final report following the Jan. 9 inspection of the jail and its daily operations included plans to recommend to the commissioner of corrections that a future "sunset authorization" be made for the facility. Senior detention facility inspector Sarah Johnson noted in her findings that "it is the intent of the Department of Corrections to continue to work...
Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this week. Feb. 1 1840 Thomas B. Walker is born in Xenia, Ohio. He arrived in St. Paul in 1862 and found a job as a timber cruiser in northern Minnesota. He would later serve as an engineer in creating the St. Paul & Duluth rail line that runs through Carlton County. He made his fortune in timber land holdings and would plan and develop the Walker Art Gallery that later became the Walker Art Center. He would also play an instrumental role in the creation of the Minneapolis Public Library. He died in...
Two years ago, some serious waves crashed in on recycling circles: China would no longer accept our reclaimed materials, especially plastics. It established what was labeled an all-out halt on incoming foreign waste, leaving many frantic. News stories echoed the point about high rates of contaminated recycled material that make it a challenge to fashion raw-grade material from it and raises financial barriers. Today, you likely are still recycling or have the option to. It hasn’t vanished, b...
Wrenshall and Carlton school district officials continue to prepare for a possible consolidation vote this year. Last Friday, the two superintendents and board members met with local legislators to kick off what is hoped to be a successful lobbying effort when the Minnesota Legislature opens Feb. 11. That’s the same day the districts will release the results of a survey put out last month to ask residents and parents of students about their support for a consolidated district and the costs associated with it to shore up district campuses. R...
The County Seat Theater Company's season opener is "Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs as Performed by Professor TJ Barker's Troupe of Theatricals." Thw master of ceremonies, Professor TJ Barker, and his troupe of traveling theatricals have just arrived at the theater to begin a performance of their spectacular production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" when they realize something is amiss. Not only has the orchestra not arrived, but also five of the hilarious O'Hanlon brothers have been...
The special election for the Ward 3 Cloquet City Council seat is fast approaching. Polls will be open at the new Cloquet City Hall, 101 14th Street, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. The Ward 3 Council term will expire Dec. 31, 2022. The special election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Dakota Koski. Koski was elected to the Ward 3 seat in November 2018, took office in January 2019 and stepped down in July 2019 after purchasing and moving to a house outside of Ward 3. By...
Carlton County department members and the Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District earned statewide recognition recently for efforts on culverts the past several years. The Carlton County Department of Transportation team received the County Conservation Award from the Association of Minnesota Counties at its annual meeting in December. It was for right-sized culvert replacement practices. The approach focuses on sizing pipes to site-specific stream characteristics to avoid high-energy...
A Cloquet man who allegedly shot and killed his friend after a night of drinking in November appeared in St. Louis County Sixth District Court Thursday, Jan. 16. Thomas Allen Micklewright, 44, faces charges of second-degree felony murder, without intent, in the shooting of James Arthur Couture. Judge Shaun Floerke rescheduled the Jan. 16 omnibus hearing to April 6, because the prosecution is still waiting for DNA test results and other follow up. According to the criminal complaint, officers from the Fond du Lac Police Department and St. Louis...
The new White Pines Apartment building in Cloquet is now full, according to Debra Shaff, executive director for the Cloquet/Carlton Housing & Redevelopment Authority, who said the building was full on Dec. 27. Created in response to a 2014 housing study that showed a serious shortage of housing in Cloquet/Scanlon, particularly for lower income levels, the 35-unit building focuses on affordable housing for people who have some income, but can’t afford a market rate apartment. Rates are determined according to a tenant’s income. Adjacent to the...
The U.S. Census Bureau is ramping up its national recruiting efforts to hire up to 500,000 temporary, part-time census takers for the 2020 Census in communities across the country to reach its goal of more than 2 million applicants. Census takers are critical for their communities during the 2020 Census — going door to door to collect responses from households who have not responded online, by phone or by mail. The positions offer competitive pay, flexible hours, paid training, and weekly paychecks. To determine the pay rate in a specific a...
