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 3620 - 3644 of 3909
Almost three years after it was dismantled, and moved brick by brick from Cloquet to Pennsylvania, the R.W. Lindholm House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is open for business. The R.W. Lindholm House — known as Mäntylä, Finnish for “under the pines” — was commissioned by the same family that built Cloquet’s Wright-designed gas station. In 2016, Peter and Julene McKinney donated the home and much of the Wright-designed furnishings to the nonprofit group Usonian Preservation, with the intention of relocating it to Polymath Park in Acme, Penn. The...
And then there were six. Over the course of a nearly three-hour working session Monday, Carlton School Board members narrowed down a list of possible long-term options for the school district from 10 to six. After a couple months of long meetings with little progress, it was a Herculean achievement. To start, Carlton board chair LaRae Lehto presented the board with strict rules of engagement, asking that each board member take turns and share his or her top four or five options with minimal...
According to city administrator Aaron Reeves, Cloquet Police Chief Jeff Palmer was placed on "voluntary paid leave" effective April 16. Reeves said he could not elaborate on Palmer's absence, but said it wasn't a result of the investigation of former police chief Wade Lamirande's complaints about Palmer. Palmer has been cleared of all eight allegations contained in that complaint, according to Reeves and to a redacted copy of the investigative report shared last week by Teamsters Union 320 -...
After several studies and countless meetings, the Carlton county board of commissioners voted to proceed with final plans for a new jail construction. The size of the jail, the total cost of the project, the location of the building, and the means of funding it are still to be determined. The vote of 4-1 (commissioner Tom Proulx voting “nay”) came after a presentation by sheriff Kelly Lake, BKV Group architect/consultant Bruce Schwartzman, county attorney Lauri Ketola, county deputy Paul Coughlin and county coordinator Dennis Genereau. Lak...
Cloquet school board members voted unanimously for life skills over computer programming during their regular meeting Monday. At issue was a proposal by Cloquet Middle School principal Tom Brenner to replace the eighth-grade Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) coursework with computer programming. Brenner explained that with longtime FCS teacher Mary Jane Lundberg retiring, he wanted to make some changes before they hired a new teacher or teachers. He proposed keeping the seventh-grade cooking...
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa purchased the 43-room AmericInn hotel at 1716 Highway 201 in Carlton, for $2.85 million from REETI, LLC on March 8, according to Carlton County records. According to Carlton County assessor Kyle Holmes, the Band now owns several properties along that section of Highway 210, including the Royal Pines Inn, the former Spirits gas station/restaurant and the Dons Dens property. All were purchased in separate sales over the past few years. The Fond du Lac band did not have any comment on the property...
A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer has died in the line of duty following an incident Friday, April 19 on Cross Lake in Pine City. CO Eugene Wynn, who patrolled the Pine City station, and a deputy with the Pine County sheriff’s office were responding to a report of possibly a body in the water. The two officers launched Wynn’s boat and motored away from shore. Within a minute, both were thrown from the boat into the water. Rescuers were able to rescue the deputy, who was treated and released from the hospital, but...
Cloquet Middle School will soon be sporting some spectacular new signs featuring Ojibwe-style art by all 220 sixth-graders, along with words in both English and Ojibwe. CMS sixth-graders recently worked with local artist Sarah Agaton Howes to understand Ojibwe floral designs, research plants and Ojibwe words, and finally to create a digital plant drawing using the Brushes App. Even the sixth-graders who aren't currently in art participated. "We stole them from their gym and music classes and wor...
Thomas Peacock will be appearing at the Cloquet Public Library Wednesday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. to present his newest book, "The Forever Sky." The book is about the love between grandparents and grandchildren, grief and the Ojibwe cosmos. Thomas Peacock is a retired UMD professor and member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Anishinaabe Ojibwe. He has written many books about Ojibwe traditions and knowledge such as "Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look in All Directions." He is also the co-author...
Document Spring 2019 Earth Day Safari participants were greeted by spring rain and 42-degree temperatures at Jay Cooke State Park, Monday morning, April 22. Students from Wrenshall and Moose Lake high schools came together with community members to document the arrival of spring with photography, citizen science and iNaturalist technology for Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community's project Document Spring. Document Spring project manager Glenn Swanson described Document Spring 2019 as an "art...
Just off the alley behind his home in Cloquet's Pinehurst neighborhood, John Babineau placed another log on the already blazing inferno beneath his maple syrup boiling pan. It was a sunny afternoon in late March, and Babineau's first "boil" of the season. As he brought the contents of the 50-gallon pan to a steady, rolling froth, the wind switched directions, causing Babineau's small gathering of extended family members to hastily rearrange their chairs to escape the thick smoke. "I'm trying to...
According to city administrator Aaron Reeves, Cloquet police chief Jeff Palmer was placed on “voluntary paid leave” effective Tuesday, April 16. Reeves said he could not elaborate on Palmer’s absence, but said it was unrelated to any investigation of Palmer. “Because of the nature of this matter the City cannot provide any further comment at this time,” Reeves wrote in an email to the Pine Knot News. Palmer was appointed interim chief of police when the council placed former police chief Ste...
A remorseful Cloquet man pleaded guilty to shaking, squeezing and dropping his infant daughter, telling the court Monday that he "snapped" in a moment of mental weakness and hates himself for it. Orion Harrison Sinclair Verbist, 25, pleaded guilty in Sixth District Carlton County Court to felony assault in the first degree, causing great bodily harm, without any kind of plea deal from the prosecution. Verbist had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge in early March, and his attorneys had...
Cloquet city councilors voted unanimously Tuesday to exonerate two city employees — city administrator Aaron Reeves and human resources director James Barclay – on Tuesday, following investigations of allegations made by former Cloquet police chief Wade Lamirande. Lamirande emailed Cloquet city officials, councilors and local media a list of approximately eight complaints each about Cloquet city councilor Steve Langley and current police chief Jeff Palmer on Feb. 6; he also included one all...
"Mom, come home. A tree just fell on our house." That would be my son, Jack, calling me at work. The big old spruce tree in our front yard had finally yielded to the hours of wind last Thursday, April 11, and toppled over from the roots up, barely missing his bedroom. In precise meteorological terms, National Weather Service Duluth meteorologist Mike Stewart called Thursday's combination of heavy snow and wind "brutal." Stewart said the Cloquet area saw sustained high winds most of the day with...
Milt Hagen said the county’s half-percent sales tax — which is solely dedicated to county road upgrades — has made an enormous impact on the state of Carlton County roads. “I have been working for the county transportation department for 28 years,” said the assistant county engineer at the April 2 Carlton County Committee of the Whole meeting. “There is more than five times more construction in the last four years than I saw in all the rest of the 24 years working here.” Net revenue for dedicated road projects from the sales tax fund to date...
The Wrenshall school board on Monday night passed a resolution to not renew a contract for a probationary elementary school teacher. The move was discussed the week earlier at the committee of the whole meeting as a way to erase a $43,313 deficit in the planned budget for next year. “I don’t like it,” board member Janaki Fisher-Merritt said at the time, “but it isn’t devastating to class size.” The cut means that a class of 30 students will have one teacher instead of two this year, which elicited groans from some in the audience at the meet...
Duluth prosecutor Rebekka Stumme has been appointed by Governor Walz as Carlton County’s newest judge, replacing Judge Leslie Beiers, who moved to Duluth after Judge Munger’s retirement in January. Stumme worked as a law clerk and a public defender in Carlton County at the beginning of her career, before joining the St. Louis County Attorney’s office. The seat has been vacant for several months, straining Carlton County courts. Her appointment means Carlton County will have a second judge chambered here again, along with Judge Robert Macau...
Although National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is Saturday, April 27, people don’t have to wait to dispose of unused medications safely. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet. National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is a day aimed at reminding people of the importance of safely disposing of unused and expired medications. I...
Acting on the recommendation of Chancellor Devinder Malhotra, the Board of Trustees of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities recognized three retired presidents with the title of President Emeritus, including Larry Anderson, who retired from his role of president of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College last year. Anderson served as interim president or president of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College from 2008 until his retirement in 2018. "President Anderson began an important conv...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has published the seventh edition of its literary and arts anthology, "The Thunderbird Review." The journal features writing and art submitted by students from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and residents of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin communities. The Thunderbird Review anthology provides an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in writing, editing, and publishing at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community...
According to a press release from Carlton County board of commissioners chair Dick Brenner, as of April 12 the Great Lakes Gas Transmission 2019 and Enbridge Pipelines Southern Lights Line Pollution Control Exemption 2018 cases have been finalized and refunds due are settled. These follow settlements with four other utility entities doing business in Carlton County. The Great Lakes refund due is between $120,000-130,000 and the Enbridge exemption for 2018 refunds is $70,125. The impact will be shared by the county, affected townships, affected...
Spirits were high as the Carlton school board meeting kicked off Monday, as parents and staff, along with students from both Carlton and Wrenshall, packed into the high school library for a meeting expected to bring a decision on whether or not to co-op with Wrenshall for football beginning this fall. In the end, there was no definitive decision in Carlton. Minutes before the Carlton meeting started, the Wrenshall school board approved moving ahead with the cooperative agreement. There was...
Members who visited the brand new Members Cooperative Credit Union branch on opening day Monday gave the new facility rave reviews. "It looks very nice," said Angela Weisz. "Very warm and inviting." Don Christensen said it was "stunning." "It's got a real modern flair," the Cloquet Natural Foods owner said of the open plan building, as he sat with a personal banker in one of the partially open offices that line the south side of the building. MCCU closed its 14th Street building at the end of...
For the third year in a row, Carlton High School theater is partnering with the County Seat Theater as they present their production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" Friday through Sunday. It's a partnership that works for both the community theater and the school where County Seat Theater got its start. The County Seat Theater operated out of the school for 13 years," said general Manager Joel Soukkala, a Carlton grad. "We now get the opportunity to return the favor for these high school students." "A...
