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

Cloquet and Carlton County have an impressive history of producing their own “legends,” but we’ve also imported some of our talent. Starting as far back as the sawmills, regional employers — including... Full story

The mystery may have been solved. On Monday, Aug. 15, pharmacies across Carlton County were having an unexplained surge in sales of Bengay, ice packs, and Ace bandages. The reason may have been those... Full story

Cloquet resident Ron Tondryk has been a Minnesota Twins fan as far back as he can remember. He has framed autographed pictures of 1960s Twins stars Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Tony Oliva in his... Full story

Cloquet golf phenom Sam Baker struck again with a convincing win in the Cloquet Country Club Championship last weekend, July 23-24. In his final match, Baker defeated Aaron Young, his Cloquet High... Full story

As Cloquet's most heralded young golfer, it wasn't a total surprise to local golf pundits when Sam Baker won the Cloquet Invitational amateur tournament last weekend. After all, the 2021 Cloquet High... Full story

Often, I’ve dreamed of playing golf on new courses or maybe even on the turf of foreign countries. My Korby grandparents were born in Finland. Could I ever play close to where they grew up, farmed and... Full story

The Cloquet High School boys golf team, the defending Class AA Minnesota state champions, are heading to the state tournament once again. In windy and chilly conditions last week, the boys... Full story

The Cloquet High School boys golf team, the defending Minnesota State Champions, are heading to the state tournament once again. On June 1 and 2, with windy and chilly conditions, the boys won the... Full story

The Cloquet Country Club’s paved parking lot on Monday was packed with regular-sized buses, short buses, vans and cars delivering kids from all over northeastern Minnesota to a tournament hosted by Cl... Full story

Unlike high school basketball and hockey - which have competitive seasons for four months - high school golf in northeastern Minnesota can have seasons lasting closer to one month. "April was some... Full story

Ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic - including shortened and canceled sports seasons - contributed to the end of Jerry Erickson's 50-plus years of coaching youth sports. The Cloquet legend... Full story

Nobody in the last three years has shot more hoops in the Cloquet and Fond du Lac area than Cloquet senior Conner Barney. Barney's high school career ended with Cloquet losing to Hibbing in the sectio... Full story

It was a love affair. It's the only way to describe how people from Cloquet and the surrounding communities embraced the 1963 Cloquet High School boys basketball team. Basketball was king in Minnesota... Full story

It's been rousing fun tracking some of the feedback I've been receiving from my column March 4 on local high school basketball scoring records. Carlton County sports fanatics have much to be proud of... Full story

At Cloquet coach Rol Bromberg's recent visitation at Nelson Funeral Care, I was astounded by the preeminent collection of athletic and family photos on display. Undefeated football teams, track... Full story

In January, I celebrated the 50-year anniversary of my scoring 12 points in a Cloquet high school boys basketball game versus the stunned Morgan Park Wildcats. It was my all-time CHS high. There was... Full story

Have you ever been lost? No, really lost. Lost where your heart and pulse start elevating, you’re perspiring, it’s getting dark, personal fear and anxiety are on the rise. You try to be calm. Mos... Full story

Last June, I lost a close friend, Gary Ross. It wasn't officially recorded as a direct Covid-19 death, but the damn pandemic was surely a contributing factor. Sorry about the curse, but it is... Full story

As I recently watched young, smiling kids riding down the snow-covered hill at Cloquet's Pinehurst Park, I thought back to the great times the "Scanlon Rottensnots" had sliding in "the pines" in the... Full story

Kerry Rodd’s column about the late Rol Bromberg last week was right on, but I wanted to add a few of my favorite memories. I first met Bromberg when he was my physical education teacher at Cloquet J... Full story

This saga sounds like the backdrop to a TV reality show: snowmobiles in the wilderness on the Minnesota/Canada isolated border with subzero record-breaking temperatures, whiteout blizzard conditions a...

Santa Claus came a few weeks early, bringing presents for Minnesota Twins fans. First was the news that Byron Buxton had signed a long-term million-dollar contract. The talented but oft injured... Full story

I was saddened to hear that my high school driver education teacher, Gerald “Jiggs” La Breche, recently passed away. Jiggs was a legend at the Cloquet and Big Lake golf clubs. He was a longtime Cro... Full story

At the ripe old age of 21, former Cloquet standout Riley Leslie has been an award-winning high school athlete and scholar, then a hard-working college student, and now you can call him “Captain.” Les... Full story

Do you remember where you were the evening of Oct. 26, 1991 - 30 years ago? If I tell you it was the night that Twins baseball player Kirby Puckett hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to... Full story