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

I got a fishing merit badge as a Boy Scout, not because I loved to fish and had grown up fishing. No, I precisely got the merit badge in spite of growing up without fishing, and having little idea of...

I am shocked how many people refuse to wear masks based on political beliefs. I recall a few years back when a nudie bar opened in Scanlon. The outrage! As I remember, a group of local people went...

Criminals should not benefit from their crimes. If a jewel thief is arrested with the stolen diamonds, he shouldn’t be able to keep the jewels. That’s just crazy, right? On the other hand, a... Full story

I’ve hired quite a few pizza delivery drivers over the years, mostly high school boys, but sometimes girls and adults. But, mostly, my delivery drivers are young. The first question I ask during...

One of my good friends called another of my good friends a “moron” the other day. In public. He’s not a moron; in fact, he’s quite intelligent and accomplished. His sin? He made some very...

Maybe I’m exaggerating, but the local cable access channel, CAT-7, may become great again. The city council just approved a contract with Pine Knot News to take over the daily operations of CAT-7,...

Bill Effinger, the silky-voiced announcer at WKLK, has been heard on the morning show quite a bit lately as ringleader Kerry Rodd recovers from surgery. Last week, I made one of my well-received...

I have an idea to keep the postal service operating for years to come. But I almost guarantee nobody will completely like it. That’s why I think the idea must be brilliant: if it works, and it equal...

Suddenly, we’re talking about changing the nickname in Esko to avoid making an indirect negative reference to Eskimos, a historical name for the Inuit in Alaska, which some people seem to think is...

Becky Gergen moved to Cloquet a couple years ago. She spends a lot of time with the 6-year-old boy in her life. She loves Cloquet’s parks, but since she has a pool of her own she doesn’t spend... Full story

Eleanor has a birthday in 12 days. She’s been reminding me every morning that big, big things are going to happen when she turns 6, like she won’t need a booster seat in the car anymore (she will)...

School districts typically take summer time to clean and repair school facilities, plan for the following school year, and maybe take some time off for vacation. This year, however, many in the...

I’m feeling patriotic. There’s an old quote, from George Bernard Shaw, that “Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.” A little...

A few years ago, Cloquet commissioned a police study, which recommended significant changes to the department. A new chief was hired to implement the changes, among other things. Long story short,...

I have to admit, I really rolled my eyes when people started chanting “defund the police” following the events surrounding George Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement. It just sounds...

It’s probably too late now, but I wish the City of Cloquet had decided to open “The Beach” at Pinehurst Park this summer. The city council agreed with the leanings of the parks commission and... Full story

The swimming pond at Pinehurst Park is another pandemic casualty, city staff and councilors determined during Tuesday's Cloquet city council meeting. Although there was no formal vote, councilors... Full story

Criminal cases take up about 80 percent or so of the district court’s time in Minnesota, so it’s no surprise that people think all lawyers should know and understand criminal law. But for a civil...

Justin Krych of Esko once told me that political compromise is essential to good government. Everyone agrees we need to raise taxes: the Democrats want to raise them by 5 percent, but the Republicans...

Boy, we can sure politicize every issue in the country, can't we? It seems that the political divide can be attached to any issue, even ones concerning science, medicine and sports. I used to joke...

Property taxes are just too high. It’s pretty easy to start a conversation with any landowner by saying, “My property taxes are crazy high.” No one ever really argues with you about it. They’l...

Now we can't camp overnight in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I say it's no big deal, for now. It's a ban lasting only until May 18. But who camps in early May except the diehards? It's...

Today, the first of May, "May Day," is a date of significance for several reasons. May 1 is "Law Day" in America. The American Bar Association celebrates the day as recognition of how the law played a...

It takes some chutzpah to commit a crime, get sentenced to prison, then complain about the poor conditions and ask to be let out. After all, prison is not supposed to be fun. Or pleasant. That's why...

It's been proposed that we conduct the next few elections by mail. No in-person voting, until the threat of COVID-19 subsides and it's safe to congregate at polling places. Plus, it's been hard to...