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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Wrenshall school board members voted unanimously Tuesday to write and deliver a letter to the Carlton school board posthaste, indicating Wrenshall's desire to continue with consolidation talks after news broke last month that the Carlton superintendent and board chair had initiated merger talks with Barnum. Short and to the point, the letter adopted by the board stated: Dear Carlton School Board. We are ready to meet to discuss consolidation between Wrenshall and Carlton when you are. Raptors... Full story
Carlton Schools superintendent Donita Stepan delivered a side-by-side comparison of the two consolidation options facing the district on Tuesday night, with a strong push to pivot to Barnum. It was the first time the board met since Stepan and Carlton chairwoman Julianne Emerson dropped the bombshell that they had initiated talks with Barnum about consolidation. Stepan began by stating that the merger talks with Wrenshall were stalled. "We've been trying to consolidate with Wrenshall for over...
Like any other extracurricular activity, science fair offers kids the chance to take their talents as far as they can go. A handful of Cloquet kids have done exactly that over the past six months, advancing to statewide, national and international competitions to share their research and compete for even bigger awards. The following is a roundup of competitions and the students who got there. International Science and Engineering Fair Cloquet High School senior Grace Lavan and junior Johanna Ber...
The School Nurse Organization of Minnesota has named Sarah Ellena, Cloquet school district nurse, as its 2024 "School Nurse of the Year." The award annually recognizes one licensed school nurse in the state for "excellence in nursing practice and leadership." Ellena's career after graduating from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth includes experience in long-term care, pediatric and pediatric intensive care, public health and volunteer services, as well as nursing services in Carlton and... Full story
After years of looking for a more economical way to distribute the school paper, Esko school board members approved a move to a digital-only newspaper starting in January. That means community members will no longer receive a paper copy of the Esko's Corner paper produced and distributed by Esko Community Education. The move is expected to save the school district thousands in printing and postage costs. Esko isn't the only local school making the move: Wrenshall switched to a digital paper effe...
The Wrenshall school board is in the process of formalizing a policy for community use of school facilities. The policy received a first reading at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. Superintendent Jeff Pesta said that because it’s a new policy the board can conduct as many readings as it takes to get it right. “We want community feedback on this,” board chair Mary Carlson said. Depending on the category, users of the school could be charged fees. The six-page policy proposal prioritizes non-fee based use of the facility for pre-K through 12th gr...
Dakota Tireman of Esko graduated with honors from Milwaukee School of Engineering this past spring with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. • • • Cloquet’s Madolyn Beckfield (nursing and health sciences) and Lexis Gerard (psychology) graduated this past spring from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. • • • University of Minnesota in Minneapolis included the following students from the area on its spring dean’s list. Carlton: Ashley Aker, Isaac Konu Cloquet: Cameron Borner, Alex Despot, Mario Genereau, Michael Kayser,... Full story
The first returns on the popularity of the new four-day week at Carlton schools showed only a slight dip in enrollment. It amounted to good news for a district entering a new era by not having classes on Fridays. Early childhood to 12th grade saw the student count reach 304, according to superintendent Donita Stepan, compared to 317 on a report generated by the school in March. “We lost some, we gained some,” Stepan said. “We budgeted for 295 and are at 304. We are optimistic that the numbers will keep rising as the year progresses.” Nearby...
Of the 27 Carlton County 4-H members with demonstrations and exhibits at the Minnesota State Fair that began in August, 19 purple or blue ribbons were brought home by the time the fair ended on Labor Day. Purple is the top award, for entries deemed to have "met and far exceed the average standards established for that particular class. The exhibit or workmanship is outstanding with minimal flaws." Here is a rundown on the Carlton County participants who won purple ribbons: • Laura Rubesh of C...
The Wrenshall school board converged Monday on Holyoke, where board members watched a sudden downpour and a whistling train outside, and were met by Wrenshall mayor Gary Butala. Butala agreed with the board that the city and school district ought to examine how to share snowplowing duties in the winter as well as fuel costs and access, already located on school district property. “We would like to share if we could with the school,” Butala said, inviting board member Eric Ankrum, head of the school’s building and grounds committee, to the J... Full story
Carlton schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 12 Luukas Korpela Gavin LeBrasseur Megan Matarelli Tiffany Meade Abigail Mitchell Sam Ojibway Keanna Simula Gibson Reed Brody Vernon Harlee Ziebol Grade 11 Cody Shaw Gavin Gibson Lauryn Hilton Jackson Korpela Kayla Radtke Julia Peterson Amy Schoch Ariadna Rovira Sanchez Grade 10 Karysa Brown Alexis Coy Sophia Schmidt Nadia Tessier Grade 9 Harley Erickson Lydia Kiehl Brielle Simula Teagen Tessier Grade 8 Jaylah Crane Jack Gibson Jorgen Herman Gabriella Loucks Cooper Miller Selah... Full story
Brady Slater [email protected] A pair of major projects took over the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College campus this spring and summer. One, the renovation of the commons area, is ongoing, while the other wrapped up earlier this month. As part of the Forest Stewardship Project, the college underwent a significant tree-thinning effort, dubbed a selective harvest. Built on the remnant timber plantation, the college’s tree thinning effort sought to improve fire safety and ... Full story
Esko schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Hailey Hansen Nora Kachinske Jacion Owens Avani Perez Millie Seymour Lucye Backstrom Cairin Berger Keaira Coleman Jamis Halverson Madilyn Hawkinson Aubrey Micken Joshua Synnott Evan Watsick Ethan Gamache Trevor Leach Gabriel Dusek Jaster Johnson Leah Borden Philip Furcht Amber Lawry Cole Luense Sovay Nick Layla Whiting Blake Behrendt Kiya Marino Evelyn Peterson Neela Stuermer Colton Dewey Hank Backstrom Owen OConnor Carter Osvold Baizlee Ritchie Aiden Tingum Annabelle Sunnarborg Jaxon... Full story
Wrenshall schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Connar Ankrum Kiara Ankrum Drew Bartczak Soyure Beetcher Vera Brown Willow Cash Gabriel Cass Lila Dalen Mason Goetz Annabelle House Angel Hughes Taylor Hulgan Brysen Jessup Jack Johnson Julieauna Johnson Natalya Kacer Kendal Kot Elliana Lattu Ryan Mattson Tyler Mills Alexis Nelson Andrew Olesen Isaias Padilla Teyah Parent Isabella Parmeter Camden Peterson Owen Resberg Isabel Riley Jack Riley Molly Sheda Jeshua Sjodin Faith Solomon Jasper Stamper Birk Stensaas Alexis Swanson Samuel Thul... Full story
Carlton business manager Angela Lind said busing costs are too high, and driving a deficit for the next school year. At their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, the Carlton school board approved a budget for the 2024-25 school year that showed a deficit of $102,380, with $6,206,726 in estimated revenues, and $6,309,106 in estimated expenses. "The revenues we receive for transportation do not ... come close to our expenses," Lind said. "There's a $192,000 deficit in transportation."...
Children in Wrenshall Community Education’s Wrens Club program are learning about plants and pollination this summer. In mid-June, the Wrenshall Parents in Education group engaged the kids in a daylong activity that included hearing a hands-on presentation by a retired biologist, transplanting a native pollinator-friendly plant to take home, weeding a garden at the school, crafting a solar-powered night light with bee decorations, and visiting a nearby farm that relies critically on natural poll...
Cromwell-Wright School Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 12 Elliott Anderson Jillian Anderson Avery Birman Anaka Burton Tanner Collman Brandon Dickey Gracie Foley Aurora Gervais Wyatt Goranson Kyra Granholm Mya Gronner Maxwell Hanni Andrew Kachinske Macie Lind Emaleigh Olesiak Karina Olesiak Josie Suhonen Grace Swenson Pawel Swiatkiewicz Grade 11 Isabella Anderson Siiena Anderson Brady Dahl Bryanna Foster Jack Irving Tucker Korpi Emerson Lind Emily Lindman Nevaeh Manninen Dylan Nyberg Titus Swartout Grade 10 Justine Anderson... Full story
The Wrenshall school board meeting Monday featured one of the more enthusiastic votes a board can give. Each of the five members exclaimed their affirmative vote to extend the contract for part-time superintendent Jeff Pesta. In doing so, the members lightly razzed the administrator about his loquacious manner — getting their money’s worth as far as the number of words he uses, they said. But thorough, detailed explanations were necessary to help get the district out of a $300,000-plus deficit last year. In accomplishing that, as well as ini...
An impasse between the Carlton and Wrenshall school boards is threatening consolidation efforts by the districts. The Carlton school board reached a consensus at its working session Monday to not have further discussion with Wrenshall until August at the earliest. An email later this week between superintendents - obtained by the Pine Knot News through a public records request - confirmed the Carlton position. "(B)ecause sending letters back and forth to each other doesn't seem to be getting us...
Cloquet High School Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 9 Olivia Aldridge Ella Anderson Olivia Battaglia Ava Belgarde Carley Bjerkness Devin Cary Halie Chartier Jayten Clark Franklin Cossey Kayla Covington Noah Cunningham Hailee Defoe Joseph Dillon Daisie Gustafson Amaija Halli Eli Heehn Averie Hoffmann Lovissa Hughes Kyra Kramer Emma Lamere Isaiah Langer Jordan Linder Theresa Loisel Makenzie Lynch Rana Majerle Brendan Malloy Matthew Mangan Cecelia Moench Tenique Moose Cadence Niemi Jacob Parks Adalynn Pecore Aubrey Perrault Ariel... Full story
Two artists in residency, Michelle Defoe and Moira Villiard, worked with Cloquet students to create two murals — one at Cloquet High School and one at Cloquet Middle School — over the past few months. Cloquet High School art teacher Julie Deters was thrilled with the residency and the final high school mural — a round mural that utilized three-dimensional cutouts of Ojibwe florals and pollinators, framing the northern lights as they dance across blue waters. The murals reflect the natural world...
Barnum Schools Second semester honor rolls. A Honor Roll Grade 7 Owen Bailey Macy Berg Jacob Bernhardson Morgan DeCaigny Rachel Dinger Avery Graftaas Hailey Ikola Moses Jurek Braxton Laveau Lindy LeDoux Clover Moerke Kamryn Pearsall Tyler Schatz Aiden Seboe Carli Stevens Addison Webb LeeRoy Wyatt Grade 8 Olivia Bigelow James Budge Julia Campbell Logan Charboneau Julian Class Braylon Collelo Brady Ferguson Piper Genereau Jaxson Halverson Ethan Heaslip Mia Hurst Alyssa Isham Kohltan Johnson Abigail Lahmayer Ingrid Lund Isabella McCall DeAhnna... Full story
During a break in consolidation committee meetings, Carlton and Wrenshall school boards have continued to negotiate via written communications. The most recent letter came from the Carlton board May 14 in response to Wrenshall’s April 8 proposal to move the consolidation’s start date to July 2026. The Wrenshall board had pushed the date back from 2025 after learning the Carlton superintendent Donita Stepan’s contract runs through the 2025-26 school year. Wrenshall had previously stipulated it did not want any long-term contracts spilling over...
A chance to celebrate roughly $7 million in improvements to the Cromwell-Wright School brought out students and community members Monday. Cromwell graduates Tracey Goranson, 62, Pauly Granholm, 65, and the Koivistos - Ken, 77, and Sue, 74 - gathered on the edge of the student body, bright blue skies overhead. "It's exciting to see the progress," Goranson said. "It's been a long time coming," Granholm added. "I've been looking forward to this, to see the expressions of the kids," Ken Koivisto...
The Carlton school board, fresh from sending a four-day school week proposal to the state for approval, returned to the issue of consolidation with Wrenshall. At Monday’s working session, superintendent Donita Stepan was directed to answer a Wrenshall letter which proposed consolidation in summer 2026, instead of an initial consideration of July 1, 2025. Wrenshall’s correspondence was positive in tone, promising that Wrenshall would “lean into all sharing opportunities,” although declaring their board members had agreed with each other that the...
