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 County board ushered in the new year with its annual meeting and changing of leadership in the chair position. Last year's chair, Dick Brenner, nominated Susan Zmyslony to succeed him and she earned a unanimous vote Tuesday at the Transportation Building in Carlton. "Thank you; I appreciate it," said a humbled Zmyslony before immediately turning to the agenda. Zmyslony had mentioned Brenner during the final meeting of last year, Dec. 26. "I'd like to take this opportunity, Dick, to...
A Carlton County man who was sentenced last month for shooting his ailing wife died by suicide two days later in a Minnesota prison. Judge Amy Lukasavitz had sentenced 67-year-old Raymond Arthur Julian to 25 ½ years in prison — the guideline sentence — after an emotional sentencing hearing at the Carlton County Courthouse Dec. 18. (Find that story in the Dec. 22 issue of the Pine Knot News.) Aaron Swanum, Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson, confirmed that Julian entered Minn...
When Dr. Kayla Ellison established Ellison Family Chiropractic in 2019, she wanted "Family" in the name for good reason: Patients of all ages, from infants to children to adults, receive care here based on their individual needs. "We love caring for patients of all ages in our clinic, and serve many families," said Dr. Ellison. "We provide diverse, individualized care to our patients, focusing on their unique needs." Located in the West End of Cloquet at the corner of Avenue C and Arch Street,...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College celebrated the associate degree nursing program graduating class from the fall 2023 during a pinning ceremony Dec. 20. It was the first fall pinning ceremony at FDLTCC since the nursing program started enrolling admissions during the spring of 2022. The intimate ceremony featured speeches from FDLTCC Nursing student James Friedman, and Karen Lilyquist, a member of the FDLTCC nursing faculty. Tami Matuszak, interim dean of nursing and health sciences,...
Cloquet police have lifted the shelter-in-place order issued in response to a shooting at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet. Law enforcement officials confirmed three people died, including one person they believe was the shooter. Cloquet police issued an online warning to residents of Big Lake Road and Highway 33 area just after 7 p.m. Monday to remain home, lock doors and shelter in place as there was an active shooter incident in progress with the suspect still at large. For several hours Monday,...
After responding to a shooting, then issuing and later lifting an order to shelter-in-place, the Cloquet Police Department confirmed that a man killed two people at the Super 8 in Cloquet before taking his own life. According to a Cloquet Police Department news release, an employee of the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet called 911 at approximately 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, to report they'd found another hotel employee who looked like she'd been attacked. Cloquet police responded and found a...
Three people from three different cities were killed Monday in a suspected double murder/suicide at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet that forced the evacuation of the hotel and a community lockdown as authorities searched for a suspect. That search ended on hotel property, where the suspected shooter was found dead with evidence suggesting a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police continue to search for a motive. "Last night was a very difficult night for our community," said Cloquet Police Chief Derek...
The Cloquet Police Department released the names of those involved in the shooting at the Super 8 Motel on Monday, Jan. 8. The 22-year-old hotel clerk has been identified as Shellby Marie Trettel of Cloquet. She was transported by ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth, where she succumbed to her injuries. The victim found located inside a vehicle in the parking lot of the motel has been identified as Patrick Jeffrey Roers, 35, of Deer River, Minnesota. The 32-year-old suspect in the shooting last night has been identified as Nicholas...
Pine Knot subscriber Billy Anderson shared his own piece of Christmas history: an original "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" book. Handed down to him by his grandmother, Claudia Johnson, the book was definitely read and loved over the years. The cute rhyming underdog (or is that under-reindeer?) story was written by Montgomery Ward advertising copywriter Robert Lewis May in 1939, because officials at the department store chain wanted to attract customers by giving away a free Christmas story....
For a minute, the demolition field outside of a home on Third Street in Cloquet made it appear as if an explosion had taken the porch clean off. Come to find, it was the work of Lagom Restoration, of Duluth. "We're going to restore it and sell it," said Josh MacInnes, one of the Lagom owners and three workers onsite at the small home located at 217 Third St. "We want to see good stuff happen in our communities. It needs some TLC, but it'll have a second life." Upon meeting earlier this month,...
Given the choice between watching his wife continue to suffer or ending her life, Raymond Julian told the courtroom that he chose to honor her request to die. He would do it again, given the same circumstances, the 67-year-old man stated. Emotions ran high during the sentencing hearing Monday, Dec. 18, held at the Carlton County Courthouse two years to the month after Tracy Julian's death. As with the murder that led to Raymond Julian's arrest, there was no easy choice, said Sixth District...
Run it up the flagpole: Minnesota will have a new flag with a shape that resembles — well, itself — along with an eight-point North Star and a single, light blue block to the other side. The State Emblems Redesign Commission on Tuesday finalized a flag design for Minnesota after months of work and more than 2,000 designs were submitted for their consideration. A pair of designers recommended that the panel keep a symmetrical Minnesota shape and limit colors to shades of white and blue, eliminati... 
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For much of the history of this country, rivers, lakes and waterways served as our sewers. That is until the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire for the 13th time in 1969. This prompted the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 and launched programs nationwide to clean up our surface waters. Under the direction of the Environmental Protection Agency, national standards regulating pollutants and the restoration and monitoring of all surface water began. However, as the understanding of water poll...
The Wrenshall school board approved a 2024 levy nearly identical to its previous figure, $1,513,112 — some $4,557 less than the current levy. Superintendent Jeff Pesta called it a “negligible reduction,” during Monday’s Truth in Taxation hearing conducted at the school. “It’s very small when you are considering it on a half-a-million dollars,” Pesta said. The district’s budget for 2024 is $6.5 million, made up of mostly per-pupil state aid funding, along with levy and federal dollars. No community members spoke during the hearing. A thir...
Carlton schools superintendent Donita Stepan plans to relinquish her role as elementary principal at South Terrace Elementary and focus solely on her superintendent duties. Stepan wears two hats now, part of an arrangement conceived earlier this year as a cost-saving measure. With Stepan holding two positions and high school/middle school principal Warren Peterson working part-time, savings to the district could be in the range of $85,000 to $90,000. As the mid-school year approaches, it has become apparent to Stepan that South Terrace needs...
Carlton County residents are encouraged to recycle Christmas trees during Treecycling, a free program with drop-off locations throughout the region. Christmas trees, like yard waste, are banned from landfills in Minnesota. Dispose of trees properly by bringing them to a Treecycling site. Remove all ornaments, tinsel, lights, tree stands and tree bags before bringing trees in. Here are the locations: -SAPPI Fine Paper (gatehouse entrance), Avenue B in Cloquet through Jan. 31. -Moose Lake Compost and Recycling Site, 2-6 p.m. Wednesday through F...
The Pine Knot News office will be closed the week of Christmas through New Year’s Day. We will not produce a paper that week, and encourage readers to take their time perusing the special North Pole News section in this week’s paper. Obituaries and breaking news will be published online at pineknotnews.com. Got news tips over the holidays? Call or text Jana at 218-213-1231. Email less urgent news tips to news@PineKnotNews....
More people phoned Carlton County to complain about tax increases than attended the Dec. 12 Truth in Taxation hearing. More than 30 people called the county to deliver messages about “unsustainable” increases, or to say, “you’re taxing us out of our home,” said auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt. Only about a half-dozen people spoke briefly during the hearing, and only one rose to the dais to plead his case. “This is the kind of increase that’s not treating our elderly population with respect or dignity,” said Jim Kuklis, who owns Trails Edg...
At the final meeting of 2023, Cloquet City Council members prepared for 2024. They selected the Pine Knot News as the city’s official newspaper, approved standing rules and selected at-large councilor Lara Wilkinson as the acting mayor again, to take over when mayor Roger Maki is absent. The council also set updated fees and charges. Taking a look ahead at the time when the Cloquet police department gets its new body cameras, they set the fee for public data requests regarding camera footage as payment for actual expenses incurred. Public W...
Property tax levies will increase in 2024 after the Cloquet Area Fire District board unanimously approved the tax and budget changes at Wednesday night’s meeting. The fire levy and ambulance levy will increase 2.99 percent and 2.83 percent, respectively. The $3.6 million the combined levies will generate, not including the $118,000 to be collected for servicing ambulance debt, is meant to absorb some of the impact of inflation. “As far as expenditures go, inflation has hit everything and everybody and every organization,” district fire chief...
The large Swedish dala horse that guarded Bergquist Imports since the 1970s has a new home in Cloquet: next to the Cloquet Chamber of Commerce sign off Highway 33, on the hill overlooking the St. Louis River. The horse was made for Bergquist Imports in the 1970s by Fast Fiberglass in Sparta, Wisconsin, according to Barry Bergquist. Barry and Vivian Bergquist donated the horse to the Chamber and Cloquet Constructors moved the horse from the Bergquist’s site on Thursday, Dec. 14. The storefront portion of the 75-year-old Bergquist business has b...
A new dawn for Carlton and Wrenshall schools appears closer than ever before, after Carlton school board members on Monday talked about moving ahead with consolidation. Carlton board members softened their position on a one-site-only plan Monday, agreeing to start with two facilities — a merged high school at Wrenshall and combined elementary at South Terrace in Carlton. The board left open a vision for construction of a combined one-site school down the line. News of Carlton’s willingness to proceed in earnest with consolidation was met pos...
Remote Carlton County land west of Cloquet will be used to hold wild elk during the establishment of a herd, beginning as soon as 2026, following a vote by the county board Tuesday. “They’re not asking for permission to bring elk here, they’re asking for us to sign a lease on a particular parcel,” commissioner Marv Bodie said, directing the board to stay on task during another meeting that featured a wide-ranging discussion on efforts by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Min...
Moose Lake residents will help decide whether to maintain the city’s police force or contract with the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office for the city’s policing needs. The city scheduled a public hearing at 6 p.m. Jan. 24, and will also solicit public opinion by sending out a mailer and polling residents on the topic. The hearing will take place at the city council chambers at 313 Elm Ave. “A city councilor requested a public hearing on the matter to gather community input,” city administrator Ellissa Owens said in a statement. “Consensu...
Speak now, Esko residents, or forever hold your peace. The Thomson Township board of supervisors wants to hear from you regarding future development of Northridge Park. Township residents have until Jan. 5 to respond to questions in an online survey that will guide the use and design decisions for the park. Residents and others can answer the 14-question survey, which asks citizens to prioritize park amenities such as picnic tables, pickleball courts, trees, a fishing dock, soccer fields, cross country skiing, open space and more. Respondents...
