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
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 166
Carlton County voters approved it, but paperwork and state bureaucracy means collecting the voter-approved half-cent sales tax money to support the construction of the Justice Center won’t begin until spring. In November, Carlton County voters overwhelmingly accepted a half-percent sales tax to pay for the $66 million jail and courts facility being constructed in Carlton. But purchases and services of goods in the county will not see the added tax until April 1. Auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt received approval to proceed with the n...
Blackhoof Township residents have collected nearly 100 local signatures on a petition opposing a new “green” cemetery advertising its services on land in the township. Residents again attended Tuesday’s county board meeting, this time to object to the approximately 20-acre cemetery, Loving Earth Memorial Gardens, being established adjacent to eight relatively new homes. The cemetery caters to clientele wishing to be buried naturally without embalming or cremation. Matt Connell originally bought the land but does not live here. The issue has p...
Two dozen people attended Monday’s Carlton County board meeting to voice opposition to a new cemetery being established in Blackhoof Township, at what is known to locals as the old Gordon MacVey dairy farm on Pioneer Road. The Loving Earth Memorial Gardens markets itself as a “eco-friendly” cemetery that provides burial of bodies that are not cremated or embalmed. There are no concrete vaults, and the containers for the bodies are biodegradable. Preparation of the body is billed as “nontoxic.” Grave markers are made from natural, local mat...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners approved $20,000 for an evaluation of the Restorative Justice program, currently used as a tool for some offenders under the jurisdiction of the local District Court system. This is one of several steps the County Board is taking to see which county services should be funded and which should not. The Restorative Justice program is not mandated or funded by the state of Minnesota. The local program was started in 2008. Simply put, the Restorative Justice program helps an offender own what the person...
Carlton County officials blamed a national inflation rate of more than 8 percent this year for putting pressure on the county’s upcoming 2023 budget. On Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole forwarded a preliminary 6.9-percent levy increase for board action by the end of the month. Minnesota statutes call for a preliminary levy to be adopted in September in preparation for a final levy decision in December. Historically, the final number can come in lower, but it cannot be higher than the figure set in September. What are the forces putting p...
After workers spent the past few weeks clearing the site of the future justice center, Carlton County commissioners and other dignitaries gathered for a traditional groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon. County Board chairman Gary Peterson led the event. State Rep. Mary Murphy, DFL-Hermantown, who has served as a state rep for 46 years, was the only woman to turn a gold shovel. Murphy and retiring District 11 State Rep. Mike Sundin were instrumental in guiding legislation for the $2 million...
The only local youth shelter will be closing its doors this fall. Located in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Cloquet, the Carlton Youth Shelter, run by Lutheran Social Services, will close by Oct. 1 and the county will utilize a different LSS shelter in Duluth. Carlton County Public Health and Human Services director Dave Lee said the main reason for the closure is low usage: the average number of children using the shelter has dropped to less than one person per day. Services for Carlton County families will now be provided at the new LSS...
Editor's note: Find the fair schedule below this story. This weekend people from the greater Carlton County area will gather in Barnum to celebrate the 131st Carlton County fair. Last year saw a record 40,000 people attend the fair after Covid-19 shut down the annual gathering in 2020. The Carlton County event continues to be one of the largest county fairs in the region. Fair manager Lindsey Larson said phone inquiries are up and she anticipates the number of entries for needlework, canning,...
The final wording for a ballot resolution related to funding a new $66.8 million justice center was approved by the Carlton County Board of Commissioners last week. Auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt encouraged the action to make sure there was plenty of time to include it in the Nov. 8 ballot soon to be printed. It reads: “How will the new Justice Center be paid for? “The new Carlton County Justice Center is being built. Shall Carlton County be authorized to pay for construction costs through a county wide one-half percent (0.5%) local opt...
Kettle River will be transformed Saturday, Aug. 13 as the small town celebrates the 38th year of the Ma & Pa Kettle Days celebration. Exhibitors and vendors will line both sidewalks "fair style," running down the main street of Kettle River. People who come to celebrate will wander along, enjoying each exhibit, able to ask questions at the various stations showcasing Kettle River and the surrounding area. Lois Johnson - longtime local writer, reporter, and member of many of the local organizatio...
Carlton County commissioners gave their support for a $400,000 broadband internet grant during their meeting Monday, July 25. The board instructed economic development director Mary Finnegan to write a letter of support for the Border-to-Border grant application being filed by Consolidated Telephone Co. Due by Thursday, Aug. 4, the grant would help cover $984,790 in costs for Brainerd-based Consolidated Telephone to lay fiber optic cable past 246 homes in northern Cloquet. Consolidated Telephone has also proposed a broadband extension to includ...
The Carlton County board of commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to accept the guaranteed maximum price for the construction of the new justice center at just over $66.8 million, nearly double early estimates. County coordinator Dennis Genereau said the county passed the point of no return with this particular vote. “This was a significant decision,” Genereau told the Pine Knot News. “There is no turning back now. After eight years of planning and answering countless questions and concerns, the county board has made the decision to proceed....
After eight years of research and planning, Carlton County officials should know the maximum cost of a new justice center following a special meeting set for Thursday, July 21, after this issue of the Pine Knot News went to press. County coordinator Dennis predicted the top number from project contractor Adolfson & Peterson will come in at over $70 million, including construction and soft costs such as architectural, engineering and permitting. Funding is also up in the air. The largest possible funding source for the justice center is the...
With bonding money from the state in limbo after the legislature failed to reach an agreement on an omnibus bonding bill, the Carlton County board of commissioners is counting on voter approval of the half-percent sales tax in the November election. Funding for the $70-plus million complex is dependent on the approval of the sales tax to avoid adding to the local property tax hit. When asked about the impact on property taxes, county coordinator Dennis Genereau essentially said the county is looking at multiple funding streams. “The county is f...
A public meeting Monday regarding captive deer, elk and moose farms yielded two surprises: news of a new elk farm in the county and a state agency’s refusal to give county officials any information regarding the new business. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health denied a request by Carlton County for any information on a new elk farm in Moose Lake Township. The reason for the denial was that the site location is considered proprietary information and protected. Neither the county or township was consulted on the new venture. County land c...
As a member of the Arrowhead Regional Corrections agency, Carlton County pays 11 percent of that operating budget to handle 100 percent of Carlton County’s client probation needs. With the advent of the soon-to-be-built justice center, a Carlton County probation committee has been studying ways of managing the growth of the local jail population by “improving criminal justice operations … and reduce recidivism through improvement of existing supervision and treatment programs,” quoting the earlier Carlton County jail and justice system plannin...
Carlton County's Jenny Barta has never worked harder than she has during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the public health nurse met the challenge head-on. "This is what I was called for, this is what I was born to do," said Barta, who also acts as the county's disease prevention and control coordinator. When the pandemic began, Barta added another job to her list of duties: subject matter expert for Covid-19. Barta has been a huge part of the county's response to the pandemic, which has received...
Carlton County coordinator Dennis Genereau gave a pitch for three new leased pickups for the property management department during Monday’s meeting, sparking a discussion by the Carlton County Board of Commissioners about replacing all county-owned cars with leased vehicles. Carlton County assessor Kyle Holmes is pushing for the change. Holmes oversees the “county fleet” of 16 rental vehicles: seven county at the courthouse in Carlton and nine used by Health & Human Services in Cloquet. These had been owned in the past and were upgraded throu...
After years of planning by the Carlton County board of commissioners and county administration, major bid packages for the county’s justice center are scheduled to be released June 10, closing June 30. A guaranteed maximum price for the justice center will be presented to the board at its July 12 meeting by construction manager Adolfson & Peterson. There are many contractors involved in the project, which has grown to an estimated $73 million with an estimated 15 percent inflation rate built in. The final cost won’t be determined until aft...
Chronic wasting disease is spreading in deer farms and, to a lesser extent, among wild deer in Minnesota and across the country. While there has been no CWD documented in Carlton County, a positive case in the city of Grand Rapids in March, and issues with a Beltrami County farm last year, have the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources looking at a statewide approach to disease surveillance, management, control and education. The fatal neurological disease affects the cervid family - deer,...
Carlton County commissioners got a taste of some of the challenges they will face in crafting a budget for 2023 at Tuesday’s board meeting. “Fuel costs are at $4 and rising,” said county coordinator Dennis Genereau. “The rise of gas and fuel prices impacts everything we do in the programs we run.” Genereau explained that the costs to run the new justice center are still in the planning stage. Another groundskeeper and at least a couple of custodians are being considered. Additional staff for the Sheriff’s Office and the court system are...
Following a hearing and a presentation of a redistricting proposal by a high school student, the Carlton County board of commissioners voted 4-1 to make no changes to the boundaries of the five commissioner districts. Commissioner Mark Thell voted no. The agenda item, from motions, discussion, to voting took no more than three minutes at the April 25 adjourned session. Esko senior Nick Barta had presented a redistricting plan at the April 12 hearing that changed the commissioner district boundaries to reflect the changes in population noted in...
Volunteers from the Mahtowa Fire Department and the dispatch supervisor at the Carlton County Sheriff's Office were recognized at this year's Carlton County EMS Council awards. EMS Council chairman Steve Trenhaile of the Moose Lake fire district handed out plaques for Jon Fundine for a Lifetime Achievement Award, his brother Jim Fundine for an EMS Person of the Year, and Dylan Bridges as a Carlton County Friend of EMS at the county board meeting on April 12. Jon Fundine was nominated by the...
The only person to propose a plan at Tuesday's county redistricting hearing was an Esko High School student. He was also the only person to get his plan in on time. Senior Nathan Barta explained his proposal for redrawing the boundaries of Carlton County's five commissioner districts, pointing out his plan kept the districts close to dead even in population as tabulated by the 2020 Census. As required by Minnesota state statute, county commissioners had called for a hearing on the redistricting...
After a lapse of around 40 years, the Carlton County highway maintenance department is proposing a new, written agreement with those Carlton County townships that use the county to grade and plow their roads. County engineer JinYeene Neumann is encouraging the townships to provide input on any changes needed. She plans to present the proposed maintenance agreement at the spring Carlton County Association of Township Officers meeting on April 26. "We are open to any suggestions from the...
