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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Carlton superintendent Donita Stepan created a stir last week, when she announced April 3 to school district staff that a plan was being drafted that would move Carlton schools to a four-day school week as soon as next year. On Monday, during the first of three hastily scheduled public hearings announced Thursday, Stepan reflected for the school board on what she told teachers and staff. "I understand this is quick and I understand this isn't normally how we would do business, to move this...
The Cloquet school district is poised to cut 24 mostly teaching positions at a special meeting Friday, April 12, responding to lost revenue and evidence of declining enrollment. Superintendent Michael Cary outlined the cuts during the school board’s committee of the whole meeting Monday. None of the cuts are tenured teachers, and the nonrenewals will amount to roughly $1.6 million in savings. The district was responding to the end of what Cary called “soft funds” — grant-related state and federal dollars mostly from the sunsetting of pandemi...
News that the Biden administration finalized strict limits on certain "forever chemicals" in drinking water didn't come as a surprise to the city of Cloquet Wednesday. The new rule that will require utilities to reduce PFAS - or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances - in drinking water to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. PFAS have been under discussion for the past decade or two in Minnesota, in large part because Minnesota-based company 3M is and has been one of the...
The Lakehead Chapter of the Minnesota Finnish American Historical Society will hold its Spring Meeting at at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18 at Kenwood Lutheran Church in Duluth. There will be a public program at 6 p.m., Dr. Paul Niemisto, professor emeritus of St. Olaf College, will discuss a new FinnFest publication, Finnish Heritage Hymnbook. It is a collection of hymns and songs in Finnish and English, and many hymns also in Swedish. The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will...
Esko superintendent Aaron Fischer summarized progress on the new fitness center at the district’s athletic complex Monday at the monthly school board meeting. The weightlifting and other machines should be coming in May, and the furniture should follow shortly after. “We’re right on the budget we have set, hopefully a little bit better actually,” he said. Fischer plans to have an open house and grand opening in June. Nathan Norton of ICS and Sal Bagley of Wold Architects & Engineers present...
Carlton County Animal Rescue volunteers, the city of Cloquet and its police department, and a handful of pet-loving local organizations are partnering to host a microchip clinic. The clinic will take place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 13 at Veterans Park in Cloquet. Carlton County residents must provide proof of residency at the event and will receive free microchips for pets. Non-residents can still bring their cats and dogs for microchipping for a $20 fee. Carlton County Animal Rescue is a non-profit group formed to find homes for stray and...
Esko superintendent Aaron Fischer told the school board Monday that he was cautiously optimistic the district would not have to face any retrenchment as a proposed budget for 2025 is being formulated. "Our forecast showed that we were going to be projecting to be OK, so we are moving forward without any cuts," he said. The number of students is the backbone of state funding and, unlike neighboring school districts, Esko has experienced a steady enrollment even with an overall decline in...
What started out as a promise to a best friend has evolved into a program for veterans living with trauma. Mike Waldron is the founder of 23rd Veteran, which he started in 2016. Waldron was born and raised in the Twin Cities and now makes his home in Esko. He served in the Marine Corps infantry and started combat in 2003 in Iraq. His best friend, Lance Thompson, who served with him, died from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. Ten...
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources continues open burning restrictions of vegetative debris, as warm and dry weather spreads throughout the state, including Carlton, Pine, southern St. Louis and many other counties across the state. The DNR will not issue permits for the open burning of brush or yard waste in these counties until restrictions are lifted. “Wildfire danger is especially high in spring because dormant or dead vegetation from the previous year has dried out and there is no snow protection,” said Karen Harrison, DNR wil...
Esko High School Quarter 3, 2023-24 Honor Roll Students with GPA between 3.650 and 4.0 points Will Abrahamson Bella Abrahamson Emma Adkins Simone Anderson Parker Anderson Joshua Antonutti Jayden Ausland Lucye Backstrom Emmett Bailey Aaron Bailey Ellahna Barnes Joel Barta Ellynor Barta Lucy Barta Alena Beare Ashlynn Beare Josef Bednar William Beisang Harper Benedix Jaxon Benedix Cambrie Berger Wyatt Bergstedt Gino Bertogliat Wyatt Blotti Genevieve Bohlman Emmeline Bohlman Leah Borden Isabella Bowman Marisa Brabec Ahna Brekke Addison Bucsko...
Barnum Schools Quarter 3, 2023-24 A Honor Roll GPA of 3.667 or above with no grades lower than B- Grade 7 Owen Bailey Andrae Davis Morgan DeCaigny Rachel Dinger Avery Graftaas Landon Hosmer Hailey Ikola Lindy LeDoux Clover Moerke Ella Nyquist Kamryn Pearsall Tyler Schatz Carli Stevens Addison Webb LeeRoy Wyatt Grade 8 Olivia Bigelow James Budge Julia Campbell Julian Class Braylon Collelo Jack Collins Brady Ferguson Piper Genereau Jaxson Halverson Ethan Heaslip Mia Hurst Ingrid Lund Isabella McCall DeAhnna Nordstrom Joseph Paulson Grace Pettit P...
Carlton County joined a chorus of county-based officials from across the state Tuesday, calling on the state department of revenue to pump the brakes on proposed changes to tax collections on utility companies. “Currently these types of properties are responsible for nearly 20 percent of all taxes paid in the county,” board chair Susan Zmyslony wrote in a letter to the Minnesota Department of Revenue. “So it is a great concern to us as to how any changes could affect our county.” The state legislature directed the department in 2021 to review...
A report of a person behaving erratically led to an extended water emergency yesterday. The caller told the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office that a man appeared to be having a mental health emergency on the bike trail in Moose Lake Township just after 4:20 p.m. Thursday, April 11, according to a news release. Deputies and a conservation officer with the Minnesota DNR responded and attempted to speak with a 32-year-old Moose Lake man. The man was uncooperative and walked into the woods and the nearby Moose Horn River. The male swam up the r...
Pine Valley Recreation Area received an unexpected boost this week - and it wasn't from the late-season snowstorm. During the Cloquet city council meeting Tuesday, longtime city parks commissioner Tom Urbanski shared news of a $1 million commitment for construction of a new multipurpose chalet at the popular Cloquet park. The donation comes from a family with deep ties to Cloquet and neighboring communities. "I am happy to inform you of my intent to donate funds for the planning and...
Members of the Kavanaugh village gathered at the Streetcar last week to watch Carlton's own Jeopardy champion, Sam Kavanaugh, in another tournament. The hometown hero didn't disappoint, keeping fans guessing to the very end of the high-stakes trivia show. It wasn't that Sam answered the final question correctly: no one did. Rather, he wagered less than Monica Thieu did, who was beating him by $3,800. The end result saw her score drop to $7,599 while Kavanaugh's dropped to $7,600. A dollar's diff...
The new owners of the Hotel Solem building in downtown Cloquet can begin pulling building permits now, after the Cloquet City Council unanimously passed a slew of resolutions that will help fund its transformation into modern apartments. They also got a blessing from David Guckenberg, the grandson of Hans and Lucy Solem, who built the new hotel at 915 Cloquet Ave. more than 100 years ago. "A lot of memories in that hotel," said Guckenberg, briefly addressing the council at the start of the...
Carlton County Animal Rescue volunteers, the city of Cloquet and its police department and a handful of pet-loving local organizations are partnering to host a microchip clinic. The clinic will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 13 at Veterans Park in Cloquet. Carlton County residents must provide proof of residency at the event to receive free microchips for pets. Non-residents can still bring their cats and dogs for microchipping for a $20 fee. Leslie Pedro, the animal rescue group’s interim president, said it is “heartwarming and unifying to...
The search continues for Peter Michael Martin. The 31-year-old Fond du Lac Band member was last seen and heard from March 8. He is described as approximately 5-foot-10, 185 pounds with dark brown eyes. He has a small scar on his forehead and a number of tattoos across his left and right arms, shoulders and chest. On Monday, April 1, the Fond du Lac Band activated a full Emergency Operations Center process, requiring resources from all divisions across the tribal nation to support the search and rescue efforts for Martin. This allows search effo...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College will host the 2024 Peace Officer and Criminal Justice Expo from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 17 in the Lester Jack Briggs Cultural Center. The event is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided. The expo is designed to provide information about the wide range of career opportunities in the criminal justice field. More than 45 prospective employers representing police, sheriff, conservation officers and the state patrol will be in attendance to recruit prospective employees and provide...
A $42,000 Safe Routes to School boost grant is bringing eight bicycle fix-it stations to locations in Cloquet and the Fond du Lac Reservation, along with dual-language signs and a community mural by an indigenous artist to be selected. The fix-it stations will be located at the three FDL community centers, the FDL Ojibwe school, Big Lake Road trail, Washington Elementary, Pinehurst Park and the Cloquet Public Library. The dual-language signs are intended to increase awareness for walking and bicycling that incorporates indigenous arts and...
A five-year plan for roughly 64 miles worth of paving and other road and bridge projects was outlined to the Carlton County board on Tuesday. The tentative list of projects presented to the committee of the whole included only a half-mile of roadway reconstruction work this summer, on 22nd Street from Washington to Prospect avenues in Cloquet, along with a number of repavement projects moving forward. The longest stretch, 9 miles of County Road 6 to Barnum, is scheduled for 2028 and will...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College will host the 2024 Peace Officer and Criminal Justice Expo from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 17 in the Lester Jack Briggs Cultural Center. The event is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided. The expo is designed to provide information about the wide range of career opportunities in the criminal justice field. More than 45 prospective employers representing police, sheriff, conservation officers and the state patrol will be in attendance to recruit prospective employees and provide...
A $42,000 Safe Routes to School boost grant is bringing eight bicycle fix-it stations to locations in Cloquet and the Fond du Lac Reservation, along with dual-language signs and a community mural by an indigenous artist to be selected. The fix-it stations will be located at the three FDL community centers, the FDL Ojibwe school, Big Lake Road trail, Washington Elementary, Pinehurst Park and the Cloquet Public Library. The dual-language signs are intended to increase awareness for walking and bicycling that incorporates indigenous arts and...
The Carlton Area Lions Club has been serving the Carlton County area for 50 years strong, growing and serving. It is one of 49,000 Lions clubs around the world, and its members reside in all corners of Carlton County. They give their time and energy to create a positive impact here and around the globe. The club is over 25 members strong. Members spend much of their time raising funds to help support several causes. Fundraisers include their monthly Burger Night at the Carlton VFW, raffles, plant sales and more. Their next Burger Night is...
The National Weather Service in Duluth is hosting free in-person and online Skywarn Spotter training classes in the region this spring. Skywarn is a cooperative effort between the NWS, local emergency management, and residents who volunteer to attend free classes and send weather reports to the NWS. Volunteers who commit to attending serve a vital need for the NWS by monitoring and reporting severe weather conditions. The reports help the NWS deliver accurate and timely severe weather warnings. No weather background is necessary to attend a...
