Pine Knot News - A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

For the next two months, the Pine Knot Gallery is showing Adam Swanson's paintings. When I first saw his work, I was struck by his blends of color, as in his "You Are the Water," depicting two... Full story

On June 28 the Cromwell Area Community Club hosted its fourth annual midsummer steak fry, silent auction and variety show. It was a lovely evening. Some people remained well past the events, enjoying...

I like films that stretch me. Bring me to new places and cultures, present surprising solutions to daunting problems. Films that make me think, films that avoid violence, films that explore love and...

Moving beyond high school to a lifetime of work is not easy. In high school, most things are dished up for you. You have some choice over subjects you study. You may have worked part-time, and you...

In late May, Emily Swanson of Carlton’s Oldenburg House and I journeyed to Jackson, Miss., for a week of deep and lively conversations on how arts and culture transform our communities. Hundreds...

In the years I lived in cities, I was rarely invited to a high school graduation party. Now living fulltime in Cromwell, friends and neighbors are making up for that. After Cromwell-Wright's...

This past fall, cross-country skiers performing trail maintenance in Carlton County's Fond du Lac State Forest came upon a mess. Loggers earlier in the year had obliterated our sturdy ski trail...

Teaching K-12 art is a continually creative act. You must imagine projects for kids of various ages, acquire materials on a tight budget, and help as many as 30 kids per classroom fashion distinctive...

"April is the cruelest month," T. S. Elliot penned in his masterpiece, "Four Quartets." When I moved back to Minnesota in 1999, my brother warned me that November, March and April were the worst for...

In this, the second Cash Blackbear mystery, Marcie Rendon serves up her Native woman protagonist's experiences as an older student in a largely white college. In probing the sudden disappearance of a...

It's not that easy to learn another language when you are well past your schooling. For five years, I've watched my husband, Rod Walli, learn Finnish, his parents' first language. Motivated by the...

The Pine Knot is delighted to be exhibiting Dr. Lloyd Backus' watercolors in our downtown Cloquet gallery through April. I recently sat down with Lloyd, surrounded by his paintings. Lloyd was family...

It's been many years since I've been surrounded by students in their daytime setting, the high school. And I've only sporadically accompanied singers on the piano. In high school, I'd play the...

Early this year, we had problematic elections in State Senate District 11. In Carlton County alone, 400 voters’ ballots mailed to the courthouse were not received by the primary election deadline....

Claims that Central American refugees are coming northward seeking jobs, not sanctuary, are misleading. Those refugees face political, economic, religious, and criminal terror that drives them,...

Here’s a predicament that touches most of us at one time or another: What happens when you’re too sick to go to work? Or a family member is so sick that they need your care? Among industrialized n...

The abrupt death of my husband’s brother, Milt Walli, left both of us and our extended families wet-eyed for much of the week. Milt’s son Michael found him on Wednesday morning, dead on the...

The café in Wright had survived several rounds of ownership, most recently as Minetties Diner. It remained for years the only restaurant in Wright, a gathering place for weekly coffee groups,...

To be a can-do attitude and solid people skills. Cromwell’s Mayor, Sharon Zelazny, has risen to the challenge, and she loves her job and her staff. Sharon and her husband Bill built a house on...

Last week, at Augsburg College, six exceptional Native women artists spoke about their work. Moderator Ananya Chatterjee, University of Minnesota dance professor, posed questions, the audience also....

Starting this week, the Cloquet Public Library is offering its Winter Reading Program to encourage people of all ages to read. Librarians have been asking area leaders to recommend five books for...

I’m flying back from New York on New Year’s Day. Two years ago, I was prepping for a trip to D.C. to join the Women’s March. How discouraged and angry many of us were that a majority vote for...

The days shorten. The clouds deliver snow, ice, rain. On some mornings, Venus shines in the dawn sky. On other mornings, she hides. We spend more time indoors: in schools, churches, homes or...

Earlier this month, at the Magnolia Salon at Carlton's Oldenburg House, Annie Dugan presented challenging ideas on how art intersects with agriculture. She first showed a hilarious video of young...

How do community members with a "can do" attitude organize to make their town a better place? This past Sunday, the Cromwell Area Community Club gathered for its annual dinner and meeting. Of course,...