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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Welcome to the final Pine Knot News issue of 2024. The paper will be closed next week, so staff can spend more time with friends and family. That means there will be a two-week gap until the publishing of the Jan. 3 editionbut we will be updating the website more frequently. Creating a newspaper every week is a labor of love for all of us at the Pine Knot News, but it’s labor all the same. We could use the breather, but not before we tell you how much we appreciate your readership and support. In the six years since we printed our first e...
Every December, our kitchen transforms into a holiday bakery. The countertop is crowded with bowls of flour, sugar, and spices, while cookie cutters clatter against the wooden table. It's a tradition as constant as Christmas itself: baking cookies with my mom and grandma. They're my memory makers, the women who taught me that cookies are more than just desserts, they're stories in sugar and dough. It always starts the same way. My grandma ties on her faded red apron, worn soft over years of...
Recently I was traveling through Cloquet for work and noticed that there is a quite large Ten Commandments tablet outside of the Cloquet fire station on Cloquet Avenue. Clearly, this is a violation of the First Amendment. In speaking with a local, they stated that the city council was informed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation to remove the Ten Commandments, yet they have clearly failed to do so. Being a lifetime resident of Minnesota (and longtime resident of the Duluth area), I’m surprised at the brazen action taken by the Cloquet c...
I swear I didn’t run for state representative just to get out of writing for the Pine Knot News this past year. In fact, I’m pleased Jana, the editor, asked me to start writing “Harry’s Gang” again. It’s nice to be back. It’s also nice to know that I was right. Just after the election, we heard the state is facing a possible budget deficit in two years of nearly $6 billion. That’s precisely the amount I had been advocating that we save from the $18 billion budget surplus of a couple years ago. A...
Congratulations to directors Jodi Hodgson and Joel Soukkala, and the entire cast and crew of County Seat Theater Company’s recent production of “A Goblins’ Christmas Carol.” For several years I have been meaning to attend a show at County Seat Theater, but it has never worked out. I was fortunate enough to be in the audience on Saturday, Dec. 7 and was very impressed with all elements of the show. The staging was smooth and seamless. The scenery, lighting, makeup, and costumes were very well done. It was also great to see the wide range o...
Here is our annual reminder on the importance of public notices in your local newspaper. As a hyper-local newspaper, the Pine Knot News is a lean and keen newspaper. There are no unnecessary additives or sweeteners in the product you enjoy each week. And that includes the back of the paper, often filled with public notices. These notices are the key to open government and an informed public. Yes, publishing them at a cost helps keep the lights on here at the office, but they also serve a...
With great winters come great responsibilities, and, as the snow whipped in this week, we are reminded of just what those responsibilities are. If you live in a city, check the overnight parking ordinances. In Cloquet, parking overnight on streets is prohibited. It doesn’t matter what the snow situation is. Keeping cars off the streets allows for faster plowing when the snow comes. Get your car in shape for the season. It’s easy to feel invincible on the road, that you might not ever get stuck out there on some dark, blustery night because you...
They’ve been doing it all along, and now they want to take an extra step and bring some vibrancy to Carlton and its environs. Emily and Glenn Swanson from the city’s historic Oldenburg House have hosted numerous arts events at the bed and breakfast — concerts featuring national and international artists, poets, and delightful events with a host of local artists like the Honey Bee Festival a few years ago. They’ve also worked on the West End Flourish, taking art to Cloquet’s historic district in an effort to bring some revitalization. Oldenburg...
Carlton County commissioner-elect Dan Reed is not losing time in his efforts to fulfill electoral promises. On Saturday, Nov. 23, Reed buttonholed Minnesota’s U.S. Senator Tina Smith at a conference in Minneapolis and secured a future meeting to discuss federal funding for long-delayed improvements in a stretch of Minnesota Highway 73 at mile markers 18, 19, and 24 in Kalevala and Eagle townships south of Cromwell. Reed was attending the annual convention of the Minnesota Farmers Union where Sen. Smith had just given brief remarks on the r...
Shop locally. It’s not a new concept, but with online shopping a mouse click away, it’s a message that bears repeating for old and new generations. Sure, it’s easy to find what you want online. And sometimes, that’s the only place a person living in northeastern Minnesota can find that special something. But there may be something equally or even more special lurking in a shop or business right here in Carlton County. Have you visited Sass Boutique yet? Abundant Baby? Or Shop on the Corner, home to multiple makers, artists and vintage collect...
Tuesday’s wet and windy weather blew many things around, including a piece of paper with handwriting on it. It went splat, flat onto the front window of the Pine Knot. Or perhaps we should say “hoofwriting.” Apparently, the notorious loose sheep, known by many as Brad, was making his way back to Carlton County after quite the odyssey. After so much adventure, it seems he felt obligated to get it all down for the record. He was first spotted up the North Shore in the Two Harbors area a few weeks...
Fred Rogers, from the beloved children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, once recalled how his mother comforted him during frightening times. “Look for the helpers,” she would say, reminding him of the people who, even in the worst situations, step up to help those in need. Many of those helpers recently returned home after restoring power in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, where entire towns were torn apart, homes were flooded, and millions faced the grueling uncertainty of days, even weeks, without power. For millions across...
The 7-year-old was obviously confused Wednesday morning. Her school voted for Harris, why didn't the country? "I want a woman president." She pondered her school chum who had voted for the other guy. "But we are still friends." She asked rhetorically if the votes at her school had counted in the wider world. "I know, you have to be 18." I wondered if what she was spouting post-election was precocious or just how yet another person in the world can get so inundated with politics in the current st...
It’s one of our favorite annual traditions, the Veterans Day Roll Call you’ll find starting on Page 9. We are honored to highlight our veterans each year, and especially love hearing new details about the extraordinary experiences they hold so dear. We hope you enjoy the section as much as we do. And if you’d like to honor vets in person, attend one of the events listed for Monday. A huge THUMBS UP to those who contribute to this section each year, and thanks to all veterans for your service. THUMBS UP to voter turnout in Carlton County. We re...
Museums are not just repositories of objects, they are living spaces that tell stories, bring people together, and create understanding." – Unknown We like to hold on to our history as evidenced by the local museums in Carlton County. Cloquet, Moose Lake, and Esko museums retain artifacts of our past to help us remember people who worked, played and formed the society and culture we enjoy today. The stories and insights we garner from a visit to the museum can improve our perspective on life a...
Please recognize, support and utilize an important and valued city asset: the Cloquet Public Library. The library has been acknowledged by the Minnesota Department of Education as providing well above the minimum level of support for 2025. Should a library fall below the state-certified level, Minnesota law requires removal of the city from State Library Services funding formulas. This would greatly reduce the breadth and depth of library services available to Cloquet city and area residents. It has been a few years since the Cloquet Public...
My first year in Congress, 1965, was a watershed year. Among many noteworthy pieces of legislation, that was the year we passed the law creating Medicare and Medicaid. And I remember something crucial about it: When the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Wilbur Mills, brought the legislation to the floor of the U.S. House, he said we needed to build bipartisan support. This wasn’t an obvious thing to ask. Many of us had been swept into office in the 1964 Democratic wave that a...
Have you read media headlines lately? There apparently has been a renaissance across Minnesota and the nation on the joy of sauna. It’s now “cool” to cleanse your body and spirit in a hot, Finnish-inspired sauna. Of course, many locals know that, for it has been tradition in Carlton County and northeastern Minnesota for more than 100 years. The Finns, when they immigrated to this region of the state, often started homesteads by building a sauna. I grew up in a house with no bathtub, just a sau...
With the surprise entry of Barnum into the Carlton School Board consolidation talks this week and the uproar that followed, it would seem that consolidation really is on the ballot in Carlton on Nov. 5. While there is no formal question for voters, there is a clear choice between the five candidates for Carlton School Board in terms of whether or not they support continuing consolidation talks with Wrenshall. Board members pretty much staked out their positions during Monday’s Carlton School Board meeting. Chairwoman and candidate Julianne E...
During one of my law enforcement ride-alongs, I heard an officer advise driver that “if you don’t want to give the State of Minnesota any more money, slow down.” This comment resonated with me. I surmise that most folks who speed and disregard other traffic controls are the “Law and Order” type. Yes, this includes local elected officials and legislators, who have blown right through controlled intersections. Since I became a school bus driver and returned to being an active first responder, my attention to driver behavior has increased...
My campaign sign was stolen last week. I had driven into Duluth to get the sign and I had to use my pick up as it was a fairly large sign. I placed it in a spot that was out of the way but in a spot where people could see it. It was not improperly placed on the road right-of-way. It was my land and my sign so I thought that I should be able to express my preference for the candidate of my choice without any concerns. Somebody else presumably with a difference of opinion from mine thought something other than I did. I wonder what that person...
Although a notice about the public accuracy test of voting equipment is published in the legal notices of the paper, I doubt that most people notice it. As a former election judge, I have done the testing myself in our township and I have had to ask people to come because rarely does anyone show up. For those who doubt the validity of an election, they should attend this testing and see for themselves how hard it would be to rig an election. It may be too late for this election since some of...
Two years ago Pete Radosevich and Jeff Dotseth participated in a debate. Pete gave a quality response providing background information and then explaining his answer. Dotseth didn’t seem to match such quality. Now it appears that Rep. Dotseth has chosen to not debate in Moose Lake, the only Carlton County candidate forum where the candidates would have sat in the same room. I wonder why. Does he not want to defend his performance in the state legislature? This might suggest it’s time for a change. If you have read Pete Radosevich’s colum...
“Use your words” is what my daughter would say to her infant son when he would act out. Good advice for politicians. We know them by their words and their deeds, private and public. Generally we don’t know the skinny on their deeds — the details of their votes or of their personal lives. They give us words about those. Or not. If the words are few or vague, they’re not leveling with us. I think it’s a mistake to consider politics a team sport, where you vote for your team, whether it’s right or wrong on the issues. But to vote on the issues, t...
I would like to endorse and recommend Ben Nilsen, Ryan Leonzal and Dan Solarz for Carlton school board. Our current board has done a good job of brainstorming, thinking outside the box and implementing new ideas in an attempt to increase enrollment. There are great things happening at the high school and elementary, but we need students to increase revenue. I feel consolidation with Wrenshall is the best option and the current board members have been unable to make any progress with this. The fact that the four-day school week was passed in...
