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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Reader Dana Malkovich has sent us another gorgeous fall color shot from Jay Cooke State Park. He took it on Tuesday, which held some significance for him aside from the harvest moon. "Today is the last full day of summer in this year. Tomorrow afternoon the equinox occurs. Autumn is my favorite time of year. Ours, too. And that's why we seek reader photo contributions depicting the vibrancy of the season as winter peeks around the corner. Send your shots to news@PineKnotNews....
It's fall, and the Pine Knot is continuing the tradition of asking readers to send in their best fall color photos. It is expected to be a short season this year, with abnormally dry conditions. But it will be interesting and different. And remember, fall color can be found anywhere, as editor Jana Peterson found at the Cloquet Forestry Center last week, at right. Send in your snaps to [email protected]. Place the words "fall color" in the subject line so we don't miss your email. Cloquet...
Dan Gunderson MPR News The St. Louis County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on cervid farms. Those are farms that raise primarily deer and elk in captivity. There are 257 cervid farms in Minnesota and 172 that raise captive white-tailed deer, according to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. Those farms have played a role in the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Minnesota, including a case in Beltrami County earlier this year that marked the northernmost spread of the disease in the...
Over the last year and a half, 2021 Cloquet grad Josh Sanders has discovered a new and unique hobby. With time on his hands due to distance learning during the pandemic, the athletic Sanders began "highpointing" northern Minnesota counties as a way to find new areas to hike and run, and get outside. Sanders explained that highpointing is going to the highest natural point in a given area, whether it be a county, state, country, or any point of prominence. His hobby brings with it goals and...
A doorbell video shows a mama bear walking up the front sidewalk, searching for something, probably food, then walking away. That she didn't find anything is good, said wildlife biologist Cheron Ferland, who has been following the growing number of "bear sighting" posts on the Cloquet Neighbors Facebook page. The photos usually show a mama bear (that is evidently still nursing) and one or two of her cubs, or simply share the latest. "Mama and cubs were on Selmser last night between 18th and...
Wildflowers were on grand display last week at the home of Sandy and Betsy Dugan south of Wrenshall. The Dugan place has the barn that has been the center of the Free Range Film Festival for nearly 20 years. After canceling last year during the pandemic, the festival, usually run in June, returned last weekend. If you think the gardens around the house are something, Sandy Dugan said, just wait until the strip of land across Carlton County Road 4 gets going. It also has been planted in...
Skunks have been on the move recently - as evidenced by a rise in those killed by vehicles on area roads - likely due to typical food shortages brought on by the dry summer and the fact that young skunks are leaving their mothers and wandering until they locate new territories. Photographer and Pine Knot News subscriber Mike Farmer said he saw this skunk when he was driving down a rural road in the region. "It appeared to have just gotten out of the water and was being harassed by horse flies....
Visitors to the Superior National Forest, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Area, will need to store food properly to help protect wild bears and humans. This food storage order is the result of increases in human-bear interactions with negative outcomes. Superior National Forest wildlife biologist Cheron Ferland said a new bear action plan implemented this year, easing how bear sightings can be reported, has likely led to more eyewitness sightings "but this by itself doesn't a...
The abnormally dry- to drought conditions occurring across Minnesota are creating challenging conditions for people trying to get their boats into or out of the water at public boat launches, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. When water levels drop during extended dry periods, the concrete ramps at boat launches may no longer reach all the way into the water and hazards such as prop-wash holes can become more problematic. Prop-wash holes are caused by “power loading” the boat onto the trailer instead of using the pre...
Soapbox please. I am about to preach my annual sermon on water safety. Thousands of times, I have gushed with pride while spouting off about the abundance of water recreation that our great state offers. As “Fanfare for the Common Man” plays inside my head, I think of all Minnesotans, rural, urban, wealthy and not wealthy, having access to water recreation. From the daring surfers in Lake Superior, to the tiny toddlers enjoying a sprinkler run, we have access to that magic mixture of hyd...
Photographer Mark Cline found these lady slippers recently a couple of miles west of Minnesota Highway on the Superior Hiking Trail in Jay Cooke State Park. “I think that location is pretty well known as a great site for these beautiful wildflowers,” he said. Cline says this shot is made from several composites “stacked” from multiple exposures with progressive focus points to bring out every detail....
Elk could soon be roaming Carlton County again, as a result of a longtime effort by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Last week, the Band submitted a proposal to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to expand the state's elk numbers and range by moving 100-150 elk from existing herds in northwest Minnesota to the area of the Fond du Lac Reservation and Fond du Lac State Forest in Carlton and southern St. Louis counties. Elk are native to Minnesota, with historic numbers...
I surely love a fun ride in a fast motorboat, but people-powered paddling is my favorite way to explore from the water. Some of my fondest memories on the water are from a canoe or kayak point of view. The quiet of a people-powered boat allows paddlers to explore in stealth mode and enjoy nature when it is most unsuspecting. Our scenic corner of the world includes a big menu of waters from which to select for paddling fun. We have rivers that are slow and calm, and ones that are fast and...
The Cloquet Community Garden has plots available for Summer 2021! Plots are $20 each and scholarships are available if needed. Call 218-879-8404 or email [email protected] for more information. The garden is located at Zion Lutheran Church at 1000 Washington Ave. Water and tools are provided at the garden free of charge....
And just like that, 11,600 tree seedlings were scattered across Carlton County. The giant tree giveaway late last week was organized to honor the Pine Knot's status as the most outstanding weekly newspaper in the state and Sappi's many awards for being one of the most sustainable pulp and paper mills in the world. It was also a way of giving back to the world, as both companies need trees to keep their businesses going. With the help of Sappi, which paid for the seedlings, and Upper Lakes...
There's a new club in town that's rolling right along. "We're a local mountain bike club and our goal is advocacy for singletrack and multi-use trails in Cloquet and the surrounding area," said Brendon Menze, president of the Cloquet Singletrackers. "It's a way to bring the local bike community together." So why the emphasis on singletrack trails? Menze summed it up in two words: "They're fun." "Singletrack trails are basically a path for bikes through the woods," described Menze. "They are...
I haven't been to the far corners of the earth, but I have visited exotic landscapes right here in the northeast corner of Minnesota. Peat bogs abound in our region and they provide an unusual and intriguing adventure for the curious. The recipe for a peat bog starts with a glacier moving slowly across the land. Our quadrant of the state has been glaciated many times, with the last glacier retreating about 11,000 years ago. As the final huge ice mass inched its way across the land, it scoured...
Fishing opener is this Saturday, May 15. That means the start of fishing for walleye, bass, northern pike and trout in lakes, plus the kickoff of the summer tourism season. As you prepare to hit the water for Saturday’s fishing opener, it’s vital to keep in mind that in many places the water temperature remains dangerously cold. Please be aware of this and plan accordingly. The law requires anyone younger than 10 to wear a life jacket when boating, but the DNR urges everyone to wear a life jacket when they’re on or near water. This is espec...
Take a Mom Fishing Weekend — when Minnesota-resident moms can fish without purchasing a license — is this weekend, May 8-9. Most years, under Minnesota law, the fishing opener and Take a Mom Fishing Weekend fall on the same weekend, but not this year. Per state law, the 2021 fishing opener is Saturday, May 15. Although the walleye season won’t be open for the 2021 Take a Mom Fishing Weekend, fishing is open for several other species, including crappie, sunfish, and under-appreciated fish such as buffalo, sucker, bullhead or sheep...
The risk of wildfire has moved into the northern part of the state, so the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently added Carlton, Cook and Lake counties to the burn restriction list effective immediately. The state will not issue burning permits for brush or yard waste in these counties until the restrictions are lifted. “People may not perceive how easily fires can accidentally get out of control when it’s dry outside,” said Casey McCoy, DNR fire prevention supervisor. “By restricting burning during our peak wildfire season, we’ve s...
The National Weather Service ingests data everyday from 900 automated stations in the United States. Since we are such a large nation, that's just not enough info for weather forecasting and climate calculation. NWS is also bolstered by 10,000 volunteer observers in the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program. Started in 1890, the program gathers info from farms, urban and suburban areas, National Parks and even seashores and mountaintops. There are observers in every state and...
Saturday morning, daffodils awoke with a snowy bonnet as spring suffered a setback. Photographer and retired doctor Dana Malkovich is hopeful, though. “As with many setbacks, we square our shoulders and soldier on, as warmer weather will surely follow, and the daffodils will not come to any lasting harm from a little snow,” he wrote....
Gypsy moths are ranked among America’s most destructive tree pests. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is hosting two virtual meetings on May 5 to share information with residents about gypsy moth treatments proposed for Northeast Minnesota. The MDA monitors for gypsy moth each year, watching for start-up infestations. When an infestation is found, the department conducts aerial treatments using an organic insecticide and targets the infestation before it can spread. Three t...
Growing up in an inner-ring Minneapolis suburb, we didn't think much of bees. We saw few, perhaps because my dad, along with other neighbors, zapped the dandelions every spring with an awful-smelling liquid he targeted from a tank. Years later, as we walked back along the Cloquet River after a highwater spring canoe trip, I asked him why nothing was growing along the roadway. "Sprayed with DDT," he answered, and went on to tell me about Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring." Bees sting. They were our...
Last week the Wrenshall kindergarten class did some great worm rescuing after so many got displaced by the rainy weather. The students read books about the life cycle of a worm, learned the names of their body parts and were able to study them up close with magnifying glasses. The common earthworm has some surprises that might not be obvious given their bland beige exterior. They have five hearts and can live for up to 10 years. The myth that you can cut a worm up and it will turn into two, is...
