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 U.S. is on the brink of a government shutdown due to a handful of right wing extremists who are holding the country hostage. These extremists, all Republicans and ironically known as the Freedom Caucus, claim they will not vote to approve the 2024 federal budget due to their opposition to the growing federal debt. Really? According to the Associated Press, a shutdown would furlough millions of federal employees, leave active military without pay, disrupt air travel and cut off vital safety net services. It would definitely affect some of...
After local police raided the office of the Marion County Record in Kansas and the home of its owners, creating a national outcry that was entirely justified, the question was asked in newspaper offices around the country, and sometimes in their pages: “Could this happen here?” It’s more likely in some places than others, depending on the nature of the paper, the town, its leaders and the police. In the Record’s case, the accountability journalism that publisher Eric Meyer practiced and taught in Milwaukee hasn’t gone down well with some powe...
We here at the Pine Knot News hear from readers every day about how they cherish a local newspaper that covers what’s going on right here in Carlton County. We never take those sentiments lightly and pride ourselves on offering a newspaper in print and online that puts the community first. It includes having an office here and being on the ground every day exploring what’s happening in your own backyard. Newspapers are important. And you, dear readers, are not alone. As we celebrate National Newspaper Week Oct. 1-7, digest these recent fin...
A solemn but dubious audience of students heard it. “Newspapers are dead. In 10 years, they’ll be gone altogether.” We’ve all heard the grim assessment. But it didn’t come this year, when corporate greed downsized far too many newsrooms. It didn’t come 15 years ago, when social media began to cocoon us into echo chambers that let us hear only what we believe. It didn’t come 30 years ago, at the dawn of the Internet letting us browse multiple sources of information. It didn’t come 45 years ago, when cable news channels began giving us talki...
Farmers in Carlton County and across the state face an environmental threat that could affect their business and lead to a loss of livelihood. At a recent meeting of the Carlton County chapter of the Minnesota Farmers Union, local farmer and agricultural scientist Joshua Stamper warned that discovery of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as "forever chemicals" or PFAs, found in soil or farm products, including dairy, meats, fruits, vegetables, and forage, can lead to disastrous...
The Cloquet Public Library is a City of Cloquet department and is funded by the tax dollars of our community members. We currently have 13 library staff members running the library. We are also supported by many more people behind the scenes, including the people who make up the Friends of the Cloquet Public Library. The Friends of the Library supports many areas, including coordinating library book sales, assisting library staff with shelving books, taking care of the outdoor garden areas,...
School kids seem to always create a language of their own, mostly, I assume, so they can communicate with each other without their parents knowing what they are talking about. But when a kid goes to the effort to learn German, he just may have an ulterior motive. In this case, that motive was to be able to join Cloquet high school German teacher Cara Jago, known as "Frau Yago" to her students, on her biannual trip to Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany for three weeks, immersing themselves with...
For those trying to get a foothold of understanding on the issues that have arisen over a new law regarding use of restraint by police officers hired by Minnesota schools, good luck. Whether it is mere posturing or naked politics that are muddying the waters, the losers in this debate are students at the schools and the parents who want to be sure everyone at school is safe when it comes to conflicts. We did a lot of searching for information on the exact issue that has some police departments pulling officers out of schools because they say...
They’re called “homes” for a reason. It’s where we live. Eat. Sleep. It’s where we keep our most precious possessions; it’s where we raise our kids. No one wants to leave their homes. Even after a wonderful, relaxing vacation, what do people always say? “It was a great vacation, but it’s good to be home.” I know I do. When I meet with older clients about estate planning, one of their biggest concerns is how they can stay at home as long as possible. It’s not just old people. Other seniors feel...
We want to give a heap of thanks to Rob and Lori Nelson and everyone else at Nelson Funeral Care. Every time there is a parade, we get to sit in comfortable seats, have donuts, coffee, juice and water. Cloquet is the only town in the area that does this for parades. Carole and Mick Balow, Carlton...
Since matter cannot be created or destroyed, it follows that the same earthly deposit of gold, from which Cleopatra’s boat was built, as she sailed the warm, breezy, mosquito-thick Nile with Marc Antony — no wait, Julius Caesar (Cleopatra got around!) — approximately 47 years before Jesus of Nazareth was born — is the same stuff in Olga Korbut’s Olympic gold medal from 1972 and the wedding ring I gave my wife in 1988 and again in 2009 and the same stuff my dad gave my mom in 1962 and the same...
Hidden away in Cloquet lies an absolute gem. My parents, Lyle and Alda Twite, spent their last years at Sunnyside Health Care Center. Many of my friends have struggled to find acceptable care for their aging parents, often moving them from facility to facility after being displeased with the care. I have had the opposite experience. I have seen nurses, nurse’s aides, and housekeepers come in and absolutely love my parents. They loved them like I did. My dad passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic, and we lost my mom in August. Every time I’d l...
On Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 12, a group of 20 students, parents, staff and volunteers gathered on the Wrenshall school grounds to complete the installation of dozens of native flowering plants and trees that will beautify the landscape, attract pollinators, and show learners the food web of plants, trees, insects, and birds. The three-hour event included an overview of the project, a presentation on phenology, work details, and a community meal. A 300-square-foot plot on the south side of the...
It’s been a long and challenging summer in our part of Carlton County. So little rain, so many detours on Highway 210. Not even one swim in a lake! We’ve made up for it with home improvements. These include installing a badly needed new septic system in a new location. That meant lots of oak and poplar to harvest and lots of good thigh and upper body work for the physique! Throwing the smaller lengths like javelins into the surrounding woods. Piling chain-sawed logs in two-foot lengths into the...
Before last session even began, we knew our nursing homes were overwhelmed with a massive crisis: 15 percent of nursing homes statewide had exhausted their financial reserves, and 10 percent were considering closure. Outside of the Twin Cities area, those numbers were much worse: 17 percent of the homes had no financial reserve and 12 percent were considering closure. With about 350 nursing homes in the state, that put 60 nursing homes without reserves, and 41 considering closure. This crisis was created from the combination of raging...
The Lahaina destruction on the Hawaiian island of Maui definitely is a catastrophe. The loss of lives, livelihoods, homes, and irreplaceable ancient relics from early inhabitants of the islands is a tragedy, no question about it. Yet, our area of northern Minnesota has its own fire tragedy that impacts our lives even after 105 years have passed. Up to this day, it is the largest natural disaster in Minnesota history, with some 1,500 square miles destroyed by fire in a region encompassing 8,400...
One of the best experiences I had running for office last year was traveling throughout Carlton County, meeting people in their homes and discussing politics. It’s true that a few people were annoyed by a stranger knocking on their door, unannounced, canvassing for votes, but a surprising number of people in our community were welcoming and accepting, even when they didn’t share my political leanings. But even more enlightening was seeing how well we live, overall, in Carlton County. No dou...
As someone who works across Minnesota helping communities harness the benefits of clean energy, I am thoroughly impressed by northeast Minnesota community clean energy efforts. The region is home to various meaningful clean energy related projects. Among others, projects led by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa come to mind. The Fond du Lac Band has constructed an award-winning resource management building, a 1-megawatt solar field, a biomass district heat system, Tesla 8 vehicle charging stations, a Forest Carbon Sequestration...
I’m writing in regards to the crew that work for the city of Cloquet. Yesterday, they came to South Oak Street and cut down a huge dead pine tree. I sat and watched as the tree was cut down, and was amazed at the strength the man had as he cut limb after limb, and threw them into the truck box. And then cut piece after piece of the trunk and pushed them off into the truck. They all had a part in removing the tree. And did an excellent job cleaning up. What an improvement they made. Too often we hear of the bad that goes on. I just want to s...
September is here. This means harvest fests, cooler weather and the beginning of school. As I begin my final year at the University of Minnesota Duluth, I will be leaving my internship at the Pine Knot News. It has been an incredible experience, with so many learning opportunities. I was fortunate that I got to attend many fun events as a part of my work here. It was so much fun to be recognized as a member of the Pine Knot, and occasionally people would mention that they had read something I had written. My favorite part was reading the paper...
Thumbs down to preconditions on consolidation discussions with Wrenshall by the Carlton school board. It’s not really a good faith negotiation if the precondition limits the options to one plan. Carlton officials stipulated that a joint school needs to be at South Terrace, where the city’s elementary school is currently located. The school board members say it makes no sense to have two buildings, referring to previous consolidation discussions that included starting a high school in Wrenshall and elementary school in Carlton in existing bui...
I heard Ricard Puumala passed away last week. The funeral is tomorrow and I'm planning to go, out of deep respect for my old friend. Doc Puumala seemed old when I met him, back in 1999 when I first got to town. He was 30 years older than me. He was filling up his truck at the same time I was getting gas, and he struck up a conversation that seemed, to me, a bit odd. He was insinuating he carried dead bodies around in his truck. Well, he didn't actually insinuate it, he outright said he needed...
There was Cloquet, smack dab in the middle of breaking news last week. It happens too often these days, this list of "deadliest wildfires" in the wake of so many current-day versions. And so it was on the island of Maui on Aug. 8. A wildfire in paradise seems so oddly out of place. We've grown used to fires in the mainland west, but on the Hawaiian Islands? Definitely not on anyone's radar. While the scenes and stories coming from Hawaii are otherworldly to many, we here in the north country...
When Esko kids want safer crosswalks, they get safer crosswalks, even if it means they have to make some noise to get it done. There’s a wide, paved trail running from the high school to the playing fields a half-mile away that passes the town’s only public park, Northridge Park. But kids need to cross busy Canosia Road to get to the park, and it’s dangerous. Until recently, the crosswalk was marked only with faded stripes on the road and a lone “Crosswalk” sign, partially obscured by overgrown...
I get it that it never ends until it ends. Until I do. I get it that it never mends until it mends. And that it never will. And, I get it that life includes sorrow. As it always has. And, I get it that mine ain’t special. As no one’s is. Still, the narcissist in me wants the planet to bow to my individual misery and worship at the altar of my living loves. And to raise the specter of my unliving loves, like the Holy Ghosts they are, not make believe. And when I drive down the freeway and that so...
