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 soonest consolidation between Carlton and Wrenshall schools would become official is the 2025-26 school year. That was the timeline shared during a Jan. 18 meeting of the Wrenshall school board. Specifically, consolidation could take place July 1, 2025 — the start of the calendar year for schools across Minnesota. “Barring any emergency circumstances, that’s the earliest you could legally consolidate,” said Wrenshall superintendent Jeff Pesta. “You’re at the point now where … the next step is a commitment from the boards, which would b...
The Carlton County board on Tuesday unanimously adopted a housing trust fund, following a public hearing and presentation by Mary Finnegan, executive director of Carlton County Economic Development. The trust fund will be used to offer loans and grants for low-income homebuyers. No residents or other speakers addressed the board during the hearing. “So, basically what the housing trust fund is being established for is workforce housing,” Finnegan said. “Workforce housing can best be described as housing for all those people who are provi...
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, Feb. 1, to focus on Highway 33 intersections at Carlton Avenue and Cloquet Avenue. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Cloquet Public Library, 320 14th St. MnDOT has a project planned in 2028 along the Highway 33 corridor from the Big Lake Road/Doddridge Avenue intersection to the St. Louis River bridge. The meeting Feb. 1 will talk specifically about the Carlton Avenue and Cloquet Avenue intersections. MnDOT is proposing alternatives at the intersections and... Full story
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Enbridge are moving forward with the planned removal of deactivated sections of Line 3 and Line 4 from the Fond du Lac Reservation beginning this month. The project removes deactivated sections of pipe and restores the land to its natural state, making it more accessible to tribal members. Native-owned union contractor Gordon Construction is leading the work along with a team largely made up of Native and tribally owned subcontractors. Enbridge said in a news release that it expects removal...
Twin Lakes Township is offering grant money for up to 10 township low- and moderate-income homeowners for home improvements. The homes must be owner-occupied homes in the target area of Twin Lakes Township. Grant funds are loaned to individual property owners for 10 years, at which time, if the property is still owned and occupied by the original borrower, the funds are forgiven and considered a grant. The grant can pay up to 90 percent, or a maximum of $25,000 towards improvements. The remaining 10 percent of the total project cost is the...
President Joe Biden was expected to visit Superior Thursday to tout the $1.06 in federal funding marked for the replacement of the Blatnik Bridge, a major connector between Duluth and Superior. Officials announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Transportation had awarded the funding. The federal funding prompted a flurry of celebratory messages from other elected officials, including Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, whose district includes Duluth. In a statement issued Monday morning, Stauber said he “long fought for these funds.” Democra...
Schultz is angling for a rematch in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, which stretches from areas just north of the Twin Cities area all the way to the Canadian border. Schultz lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber by 15 points in 2022. But in kicking off a new campaign Tuesday, Schultz said this time will be different because she entered earlier than last time. She said she will have more time to visit with residents across the expansive district. She also pointed to her bipartisan work at Minnesota’s Capitol, where she rep...
More than 50 people turned out for the Barnum school board meeting Tuesday, the majority in a show of support for school bus drivers. The crowd came as the board considered contracting with a private company for transportation services. It's something the district began exploring last summer, when it was down to three bus drivers. It takes eight to drive all the Barnum routes. By the start of the school year, there were four. Now, the district is up to six with the potential return of a...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is starting its own teaching press, which it’s calling Animikii Mazina’iganan: Thunderbird Press. The press aims to publish innovative, culturally significant, high-quality works in English or Anishinaabemowin. The first publication, “Fur Trade Nation,” by renowned artist Carl Gawboy, will be released this spring. “After more than a decade of publishing The Thunderbird Review, our annual literary journal, it’s time to see what more we can do for our com...
Cloquet School Board members accepted an anonymous donation from “Fans of Cloquet Tennis” during Monday’s meeting. The donation of nearly $21,000 is to be used to buy bleachers for the new high school tennis courts. The board also accepted 24 Cloquet Educational grants totalling $28,400. Board members also approved a new three-year contract for schools superintendent Michael Cary, including a raise of 4.61 percent (equal to the Education Minnesota union increases), to bring his salary to just over $166,000 next school year. The board will... Full story
The shock and mystery around the deadly shootings in Cloquet on Jan. 8 remain, but, this week, for friends and family of the two victims, there was time for reflection, thanks and celebration of the lives lost. Tim Trettel, the father of 22-year-old Shellby Trettel, who was killed that evening as she worked at the Super 8 hotel, traveled to Grand Rapids with family members Tuesday. He was there to attend the funeral for Patrick Roers, the 35-year-old hotel guest who was also killed in the... Full story
The currently condemned Hotel Solem building in downtown Cloquet could become 18 market-rate apartments, if plans by a pair of structural engineers click into place. The three-story building at 915 Cloquet Ave. was constructed after the 1918 Fires decimated Cloquet, with the first section going up in 1919 and an addition in 1923. The city gained possession of the former Mexico Lindo building in 2022, citing public safety issues to condemn the building and using eminent domain statutes to take...
Picture a surgery room. A neurosurgeon is performing surgery on the patient's spine. But only after a state-of-the-art X-ray machine does a 360-degree scan of the patient - creating an interactive picture, or template of the person's spine that allows the surgeon to see precisely where his surgical tools are going inside the patient's back. "It's like GPS for the spine," neurosurgeon Dr. Matthew Davies explained, pointing to a large screen that shows the spine model on the table before him and... Full story
The Carlton school board received the results of the annual audit on Monday night and learned that this year’s deficit is lower than expected. Janel Bitzan of the accounting firm BerganKDV outlined the results via remote video presentation. “The amended budget called for a decrease [in the general fund] of $463,000. The actual was a decrease of about $65,000. So about $397,000 better than you anticipated the fund balance to come out,” she said. Why the big disparity between the anticipated and actual? Mostly it was federal dollars coming into...
Last week, the Carlton County’s office dismissed two first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges previously filed against Chad Arnold Connor. The reason listed was “prosecutorial discretion.” When contacted, Carlton County Attorney Lauri Ketola declined to discuss Connor’s case specifically. She did, however, talk about the challenge of prosecuting cases that revolve around conduct from years before. “It can be difficult to prove,” said Ketola, who has made prosecuting sexual abuse a priority. She noted that her office doesn’t file charges... Full story
Those who didn’t get a text message or email announcing the “shelter in place” order in Cloquet on Jan. 8 might want to register with the Cloquet Police Department’s Nixle service. Nixle was created for local law enforcement, designed to notify the public of community updates, public advisories and emergency alerts. To sign up for notifications and alerts using the Nixle messaging system, text the city’s zip code (55720) to 888777 and follow the prompts, or follow the link: https://l... Full story
Friday, Jan. 19 is the last day to take advantage of the Wall of Wine and raffle from noon to 7 p.m. at Cold One Liquor in Cloquet. For a donation of $20, guests select a random bottle of wine and an envelope containing a gift card ranging in value from $10 to $100 donated from an area business. The event is first come, first served, with payment by cash or check only. Raffle tickets are also available. All proceeds go toward supporting Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College student scholarships....
The Cloquet Educational Foundation’s biggest fundraiser is coming up fast. There is a limited number of tickets available for the 22nd annual Blue Jean Ball on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Black Bear Casino Resort. Tickets are $50 per seat and support educational grants in Cloquet. Social hour begins at 5 p.m., with dinner, auctions and games to follow. Contact Jody Acers at 218-879-3806 or [email protected] for tickets or for more information....
The Essentia Health-Moose Lake hospital has been re-designated as an acute stroke-ready hospital by the Minnesota Department of Health. The re-designation means the hospital has stringent protocols, collaborations, testing and education and partnerships in place to help achieve the best possible outcome for patients who suffer this potentially deadly health event. The designation is good for three years. “We are prepared to care for stroke patients 24/7 and are committed to providing high-quality care to patients undergoing this serious a...
CreativEdge opened in downtown Carlton in 2017 when Jessie Waldorf, with the support of her husband, Joe, jumped from being employed as a full-time graphic artist for more than 15 years to beginning an adventure as a business owner. After starting out as a design studio, CreativEdge has evolved into a full-service print shop offering graphic design, print services, apparel decorating, promotional products and creative workshops. With her knowledge and experience in the design and printing... Full story
A suspected double murder/suicide at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet Monday resulted in the death of a Cloquet woman and two male hotel guests, one of the men the killer. The shooting forced the evacuation of the hotel and nearby businesses and a community lockdown as authorities searched for a suspect. That search ended in the hotel parking lot, where the suspected shooter was found dead with evidence suggesting a self-inflicted gunshot wound. By midweek, investigators still had no information on... Full story
"To know Shellby was to love Shellby," said Lizzie Strickland of Shellby Trettel, the 22-year-old Cloquet woman who died Monday after being shot during a shift as a clerk at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet. Police are still trying to find out if there was a motive behind the shootings, and if Trettel was targeted. Her friends and family want people to remember Trettel for the person she was, not as just a tragic statistic. "I think everybody should see her smile, and her laugh and how she was. Who... Full story
A dispute involving a boxcutter between two students at Barnum schools Tuesday led to a short lockdown and an arrest of a 14-year-old girl. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office reported that it received a call from the district just after 9 a.m. about a student attacking a classmate with a knife. A 16-year-old boy suffered a slight slash wound to his chest. When deputies arrived, school staff had subdued the 14-year-old girl and were taking care of the boy. The victim was brought to Mercy Hospital in a private car and is “expected to make a ful...
Carlton school board filled its leadership positions at its organizational meeting Monday. Julianne Emerson was re-elected to her position as chair. This will be her fourth consecutive year in the role. To date, she has served on the board 11 years total, leaving in 2018 and returning in 2020 as a write-in candidate. Over her previous terms starting in 2010, she served as chair for six years. Salaries for board members were renewed without change. Board members receive $1,000 a year plus $40 a meeting. Based on the tentative schedule, a member...
Of all the unwelcome house guests you may ever host, few are as nasty as radon. The colorless, odorless gas occurs naturally in Minnesota soils and is found at elevated levels in nearly 40 percent of all homes in the state. It also is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. In fact, each year this unwelcome house guest kills more than 21,000 people across the country. While there are cheap and easy ways to test for radon, many people are unaware of the risks and may not be getting the help they need to be safe. Fortunately, the... Full story
