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

With school colors of black and orange, it makes sense that Wrenshall should go all out for Halloween. The school's recently formed Partners in Education (PIE) group joined with Wrenshall Community... Full story

Jake Tremble moved to Wrenshall a year ago in June with his girlfriend, Claire, and dog, Gracey. The couple had been living in Duluth, and he had been training as a classical painter at the Great... Full story

Molly Kidd can't remember the last time her art students at Wrenshall School were able to show off their work to family and friends, but colleague and school music teacher Tim Rahkola knows exactly...

As the snow gets a bit soggy around the edges, thoughts of spring aren't far from the minds of Wrenshall area farmers, and many have been planning for the coming season by attending conferences and...

At a recent Carlton County Board of Commissioners meeting, one member asked the audience, “What do farmers actually do in the winter?” While I was initially a taken aback by the question ...

By the time the English poet John Milton had completed his epic poem “Paradise Lost” in 1664, he was completely blind. He dictated most of the verse to his aides, which included his three...

Over the last two years, my rural Wrenshall neighbor Burnell Peterson has built a cabin entirely of wood from trees he planted on his property 40 years ago. Peterson is quick to give Kelly Smith credi...

Although summer is winding down, we can still enjoy the warm temperatures and our favorite ice cream treat. I thought back to when I was a kid and my mom would buy one pint of ice cream from...

The opera is coming to the shores of Lac La Belle Tuesday, Aug. 17. The Lyric Opera of the North, or LOON, as it is lovingly called, will be presenting its Summer Sparkler event in person on the...

Wrenshall's August event calendar is filling up fast, so I want to take a moment to make sure everyone has a preview of the upcoming activities in your neighborhood! The month kicks off with...

Local Wrenshall farmer Jason Amundson describes the taste of the honeyberry as what would happen if a blueberry fell in love with a pack of SweeTARTS: some are sweet, some are sour, some are tart,...

This past weekend we planned a pizza party to celebrate many colliding holidays. There were birthdays, Father's Day, and the summer solstice. But the biggest celebration was for the inch of rain that...

My son Truman came home last week talking about his class at Wrenshall riding bikes during Derek Duncan’s gym class. “The purple bikes are the big bikes and they have hand brakes and everything.... Full story

I’m not usually fan of knick-knacks and I like to keep the mantle over my fireplace pretty clean but there is one statue that I allow to keep a permanent perch: “The Jonake” by Edward Knudsen. T... Full story

There is a day for most everything now – if you visit nationaltoday.com, you’ll see that today, Friday, is National Buttermilk Biscuit Day, National Dance Like a Chicken Day, National Underground...

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... Full story

I don’t know if it was the warmest Easter on record, but it sure felt special to be outside without winter gear last weekend. We celebrated with family outside around the pizza oven and feasted on... Full story

Homecoming week for Wrenshall is coming up next week and despite the differences in its delivery, it will be full of festivities. There are dress up days throughout the week and, given that some...

At 4:37 a.m. on March 20, we officially passed into spring with the vernal equinox. We’ve tipped the scales and there is a little more light every day. Our family joined plenty of other folks...

This month is feeling a lot more like a new year to me than January did. Social media is filled with posts from folks remembering their last public event before lockdown measures swept the country,...

In English, we have the term bookworm to describe someone who is always reading. According to historian Nick Kapur, most every other language has a similar phrase. In Spanish and French there is book...

Like many Americans this past Sunday, I celebrated the largest sporting event of the year by eating my fair share of avocado. I realized it might be a fun science project for my kids and me to watch...

For me and my neighbors, it feels far too early to think of the promise of spring. But I have appreciated the return of evening light as I walk to the mailbox at 5 p.m. While most phenological...

As gradeschoolers in Wrenshall made their way back to the classroom this week, the learning theme that my mom came up with is “My Neighborhood.” Our kids created a map of their little slice of...

When I was young I remember my mom telling me a story about a guy whose car had broken down on a country road with a flat tire. It was late at night and bitter cold. He had helped his wife with a...