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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I treat Veterans Day, which is next Thursday, even more seriously than Memorial Day. That's because Memorial Day is a day for families to remember lost loved ones, but Veterans Day honors veterans directly, living or passed. To me, that makes next Thursday a pretty solemn day. We owe a lot to veterans, many of whom served our country's armed forces in both peacetime and during conflicts. And while quite a few veterans have seen combat, many veterans haven't seen any "action," as they call it,...
In the Oct. 15 Pine Knot there was an article about the criminal abuse of animals. Turning loose hundreds of chickens after they outlived their usefulness. They were starving, thirsty, eating each other. Why wouldn’t they? They don’t know how to fend for themselves. What was done in the past with their chickens? Law enforcement should take a good look at this animal abuse. Tony Sheda, Wrenshall Editor’s note: The Pine Knot News was able to talk to Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake about the incident we reported on in the Oct. 15 issue. She s...
It seems that a person can choose whatever version of the American flag they like these days. I drive by places and see all kinds of different flags with different-colored stripes, depending which group they support. It made me think: what would a journalist’s flag look like? Would it have the text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution written in the white stripes? The First Amendment is important, but it’s a lot to fit onto a flag: “Congress shall make no law respecting an estab...
I feel sorry for Mick Jagger. All that fame and fortune, but the poor guy never went to Esko to eat an Eskomo Pizza Pie. What kind of life can be considered fulfilling if he's never had a slice of pizza from my old business? Jagger does seem to get out and about when he's in the state, as he mentioned at his concert last weekend in Minneapolis that he ate a Juicy Lucy at both Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club, both in south Minneapolis; and quaffed a few beers at Grumpy's, a tavern in Nordeast owned b...
It’s not a done deal. That was the rally cry from Carlton school board members Monday night when it comes to the possible closure of the district’s high school and the continuing talks about a tuition agreement allowing ninth- through 12th-graders to attend school in Cloquet. The first refrain came from board member Tim Hagenah. He said he’s tired of hearing dribs and drabs from the public concerning the loss of the high school. If there is a preferred solution, which likely won’t be as financially healthful as the one on the table, he admits,...
Nothing sounds more like winter in the modern age than the roar of snowmobiles racing across town, engines revving, maybe a long line of enthusiasts following close behind. You just don’t hear that sound during any other season, really. But I can understand how some people are worried about snowmobiles roaring through their property at all hours of the day, if the proposed snowmobile trail in Esko and Thomson Township goes through. The proposal has caused some controversy, mostly by people w...
Although its roots are in mentoring, Cloquet's nonprofit REACH organization has been evolving to meet community needs from the beginning. A $920,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services is now speeding up that evolution. The grant money is specifically targeted at measures to reduce drug and alcohol use through positive community norms over the next five years. The goal is to come up with positive activities, people and ways students can spend their time other than using drugs...
My wife was in California for a week, so I turned on the TV and watched all the stuff I'd been hoarding - a sickening amount sports, including UFC - which isn't really allowed when she's around unless I wanna put up with incessant eye-rolling and her sleeping on her side facing the wall for three nights. Then I watched deliciously nauseating political and historical documentaries, including one on Caligula that everyone should eventually see. Or not. The spoiled narcissistic, hedonistic,...
Bill Grant Minnesota Community Action Partnership Results from the 2020 U.S. census are beginning to trickle out, and for those living in poverty, the news is decidedly mixed. On the one hand, congressional response to the Covid-19 pandemic has moved almost 3.5 million Americans above the poverty line. Yet, poverty rates for minority populations remained far higher than for whites. According to the Coalition on Human Needs, 19.5 percent of Blacks and 17 percent of Latinx in the Current Population Survey were below the poverty line compared to...
There’s nothing like a random four-day weekend for kids from school. Education Minnesota weekend is coming up next weekend and it’s a treat for students and for many parents, who take the opportunity to travel, visit friends and family, and do other holiday-type things without the burden of an actual holiday. It’s great. I know a handful of teachers. Not one of them, when asked, is planning to use the four-day weekend for anything other than “personal development.” None plan to attend Education...
Sometimes, everyday ordinary events give us a glimpse into the world we will see someday, and we’re generally happy with what we see. Case in point: recently, the Cloquet Middle school was inundated by an internet influence that encouraged students to vandalize the school bathrooms, record it, and place the video on TikTok, a video sharing website that’s popular among teens. It’s called a TikTok challenge, and it’s spread like wildfire across the United States, hitting Cloquet Middle School earlier this semester. CMS principal Tom Brenner...
There’s a pretty standard formula for fairy tales, it seems, where a beautiful princess finds a handsome prince who sweeps her off her feet, and they live happily ever after. The formula is so consistent, I had trouble following the movie “Frozen” the first 20 times I saw it. To be fair, I didn’t actually watch the movie 20 times, but it’s been on in the background as my daughter, Eleanor, watched it. I’d guess 20 times, but it could easily have been 100; Ellie loved the movie and watched it...
Some years ago, I reported on the success of Carlton and Aitkin counties in attracting new residents. University of Minnesota researchers found that for the period 2000-2010, these two counties gained more people than they lost to death or outmigration. Both counties were among the highest net gainers through net in-migration. Although many young people moved out of these counties after high school to find jobs elsewhere, substantial numbers of people aged 30 to 70 moved in, including families...
I am writing to acknowledge the positive reports I heard about how Cloquet middle and high schools recognized “Orange Shirt Day” on Sept. 30. I heard many staff wore orange shirts and there were some classes where they discussed the history of Indian boarding schools and their impact on people, then and now. It is encouraging to know that Cloquet school administrators are applying the Minnesota K-12 standards, to include authentic and meaningful learning opportunities for all about our shared histories in this place. The experiences of all tho...
The Cloquet Area Chamber of Commerce held its 68th annual meeting, banquet and awards ceremony this week, after skipping last year due to the pandemic, and it was fun to see area business leaders get together in one room again. We appreciate the local chamber, which has an active membership and stays involved in the community it serves. It’s involved in advocating for local businesses at the local levels and is responsible for such events as the annual Home Show and the fall craft fair, as well as many other events and services throughout the y...
The private audit in Arizona of the already audited vote tally was a predictable farce. It should surprise no one that nothing was uncovered. Even the report’s dubious insinuations were immediately debunked by the Maricopa County election officials (who are of the same party that paid for the audit, by the way). When I balance my checkbook monthly, I use a calculator and years of learning from my mistakes to make sure my records reconcile with the bank records. Once a year my accountant r...
It’s been a tough year for most of us. We lost many people, especially among our elderly populations. Many workers lost their jobs. Others had to show up, especially those in our health care centers, at considerable personal risk. Many businesses closed, laid off workers, and/or weathered a collapse in sales and earnings. As the ranks of laid-off workers expanded, many others chose to leave work to take care of preschoolers, school-aged kids or sick family members. Many of us have had to dip i...
Hooray, hooray to the staff of the Pine Knot News. Thanks to Ivan Hohnstadt, Jana Peterson and everyone else who helped organize the Sept. 25 West End Flourish event. They brought the sleepy west end of Cloquet alive, at least for a day. It was nice seeing people walk along the street to see what was going on and to visit the vendors along the way. So was stopping to see an old friend and give them a hug, handshake or elbow bump with a smile or a laugh. I would take a minute to look out my windows on Avenue C and Vine Street and see a crowd in...
Driving around town, you’ll find remnants of long-forgotten commercial activity in many neighborhoods, such as corner groceries and other stores that have evolved into residential space, as most commercial activity moved downtown or to the Minnesota Highway 33 corridor over the years. The West End of Cloquet is one of those sites. Once the thriving center of Cloquet, it held the City Hall, police station, and many of the most important businesses in town. The original town square was in the West End. So was the train station, and the t...
When a new lawyer gets into town, they’re often inundated with requests from local organizations, asking us to get involved and volunteer with their group. It’s a great way to quickly become a part of the community and to show some dedication to the people who will, eventually, become your clients. At least, that’s how it happened to me. When I started working at the Newby law firm in 1999, it wasn’t weeks before I had been “volunteered” for all sorts of local groups, from the Relay for Life to...
For the past several months, I have had the privilege of interviewing and writing about a few of the farmers in Carlton County. Summer is an extremely busy time for them, but they graciously sat down, answered my questions and shared their stories. I regret that I could not include every farmer in the county, but I believe that by informing readers about the lives of a few of them, understanding and appreciation will spread to all of those who work the land in our county. My main goal was to...
We applaud the family of the late Gordy Lundquist for inviting everyone to an ice cream social Sunday to celebrate the life of the legendary patriarch and founder of the famous drive-in that bears his name. When Gordy and his wife, Marilyn, started Gordy’s Hi-Hat restaurant in 1960, no one thought their summer-only, drive-in burger joint would put Cloquet on the map, but it did. Even after fast food chain restaurants suffocated most old-fashioned drive-ins, Gordy’s not only survived but thrived, attracting customers from near and far. A sim...
I learned Tom Skare passed away over Labor Day weekend. He was apparently in his law office on Cloquet Avenue across from the Holiday gas station, where he spent a lot of his time, and wasn’t heard from for two days. I had driven by his office that Saturday morning and thought maybe I should stop in. I hadn’t chatted with Tom for a few weeks and I was due a visit. I wish I had stopped in. Tom was an interesting character. I first met him when I was interviewing at the Newby law office back in...
Reading the wind is an art. The wind carries important messages in smells, sounds, debris and signs of change in the weather that let us know what is happening both near and far. If you have been outside in the past month, you have likely seen or smelled evidence of the forest fires to our north. These signs were big and pervasive, and easy to notice. The wind carries subtle messages also, if we listen closely. My birding partner Keith and I have been striving to improve our recognition of bird...
In light of the one-year anniversary of Anthony L. Makela III's tragic death, we wanted to share with the world how much he meant to those around him. Tony passed away in a single-vehicle accident on Sept. 13, 2020. He worked as a counselor at Northwood Children Services. Beyond that, he was the assistant coach for men's soccer at Lake Superior College and Proctor High School. We played under Tony when he was head coach for the Cloquet U18 spring soccer team in 2019. Tony's enthusiasm and approa...
