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Chief Public Defender Dan Lew announced a new position in the Sixth Judicial District that will manage both the Iron Range and Carlton County public defender teams late last month. Mark Muhich will be managing attorney for the two offices in Virginia and Carlton. Lew said Muhich brings "nearly two decades of commitment to client centered representation [and] an energy to holistic public defense." Muhich has worked for the office as a part-time public defender for 18 years, in addition to having...
When baby Stella Mae Ammesmaki finally decided it was time to make her debut, things happened pretty quickly. Her parents, Marina Berglund and James Ammesmaki, arrived at Community Memorial Hospital around 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, but went home about three hours later because Berglund's labor was not progressing very quickly. That changed over the next 12 hours. "We came back about 3:20 a.m., registered and got to the room at about 3:50. Not even 15 minutes later, she was here," Ammesmaki...
The year 2019 was a busy one for the Cloquet Area Fire District and 2020 is unlikely to get any slower. Crews surpassed the now 10-year-old district’s historic high run total of 2,985 incidents in 2016 on Dec. 9 … with almost three weeks left to go in the year. “We’re not getting slower, but we are getting busier,” said CAFD Chief Kevin Schroeder, explaining that about 85.5 percent of its calls are ambulance, while 17.5 are fire calls. Schroeder said the pace is so great that the fire district...
Family Pathways, which is contracted by the state to provide domestic violence and sexual assault services in Carlton County, is expanding supervised visitation services to its facility at 230 Chestnut Avenue in Carlton. This service is offered as a tool to assist families as they navigate difficult times and transitions. Family Pathways provides supervised visitation services to ensure that children have safe contact with absent family members. Often court-ordered, supervised visitation supports the noncustodial parent/child relationship and...
Historic Minnesota events with anniversaries this coming week. Jan. 10 1925 "Arrowhead" is selected as the official moniker for northeastern Minnesota, the result of a nationwide contest sponsored by the Northeastern Minnesota Civic and Commerce Association of Duluth. It renamed itself the Minnesota Arrowhead Association in July of 1925. 1975 A fierce blizzard strikes, bringing one to two feet of snow (with some drifts reaching 20 feet) and winds up to 80 miles per hour, closing most Minnesota...
Final passage and authorization of a county tobacco ordinance is still in the air despite being passed by the Carlton County Board of Commissioners Dec. 23. On Tuesday, Cromwell gas station owner Lance Line stated his concern at the board’s first meeting of the year. He said the new ordinance bans sales of menthol products but city ordinances could supercede the county law, meaning customers could seek out cities without a ban on menthol and get their products there. Line said the ordinance would affect adults that had smoked or chewed menthol...
Ward 3 voters in the city of Cloquet who won’t be around to cast their votes in the Cloquet City Council special election on Feb. 12 can vote absentee now. Uriah Wilkinson and Chris Swanson advanced to the February special election following a November primary in which only 14 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. Out of a possible 1,312 registered voters in Ward 3, Swanson received the most votes with 124. Wilkinson garnered 54 votes and Ray Schow got seven. Swanson grew up here and has been teaching government and history at Cloquet High...
After 30 years of offering free recycling, Cloquet Sanitary Service will close its Cloquet Riverside Recycling facility at 1103 Industry Avenue to members of the public after Wednesday, Jan. 15. Residents can still dispose of cardboard in their curbside recycling, or at the Carlton County Transfer Station or other area recycling sheds. Businesses will require a hauler....
Rudolph and 2-year-old Sayge Allen go sliding on a different kind of sleigh at Cloquet's Pinehurst Park over Christmas break. Grandma Angela Depoe (aka Rudolph) said Sayge loved all the bumps and speed "while not falling off" and other grandkids aged 4 and 5 also had a great time. Contributed photo...
Cloquet city councilors had to reconsider a decision they made during their final meeting of 2019 on Tuesday night, but the result was the same. Again the council denied a request from SKB Environmental Landfill to alter its Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and expand its hours of operation to allow for drop-off and dumping of SRFI waste (paper residue left over from junk mail) 24 hours a day. The vote was 4-3, with councilors Bun Carlson, Sheila Lamb, Kerry Kolodge and Laura Wilkinson voting to...
Cloquet city engineer Caleb Peterson said city crews are still working hard every day to remove or push back the high piles of snow that have accumulated during the double whammy of Thanksgiving holiday storms. One of the city's main snow dump areas next to Veterans Park is already full, and the other site on Carlton Avenue and Highway 45 is filling up fast. "The reality is we got a lot of snow early and storage space is gone, which means we are hauling snow constantly," Peterson said. City...
Jury selection began Monday in Sixth District Carlton County Court for the first-degree murder trial of a Bayfield County man accused of shooting and killing his uncle. James Francis Montano, 33, of Bayfield County was arrested in April 2018 in Carlton County for shooting his uncle, 57-year-old Andrew James Gokee, and injuring Gokee’s son, 38-year-old Hudson Gauthier, Montano’s cousin. The Bayfield man faces charges of first-degree premeditated murder, attempted premeditated first-degree murder,...
A former Carlton County resident accused of shooting his sister’s boyfriend in the head at his grandmother’s funeral last fall pleaded not guilty to three felony firearm charges in U.S. District Court last week. Shelby Gene Boswell, a convicted felon, pleaded not guilty Jan. 2 in Duluth to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a school zone and discharge of a firearm in a school zone. According to the criminal complaint, Boswell approached 45-...
It’s 20 minutes that could change the future of two school districts and the children they serve. That’s about how long residents, staff and parents in the Carlton and Wrenshall school districts should set aside to complete their copies of a community survey regarding consolidation talks and facility plans between the two districts. Copies of the survey were mailed to school district residents and any parents/guardians of students who open-enroll into either district. Staff received the sur...
Many of the local school districts, cities and the county itself are taking care of business now at their annual meetings, when the various elected officials choose their leaders for the year, set meeting dates, and also designate official banks and law firms, and take care of other administrative details. It’s an annual chore, guided by state law. Most of these bodies also choose an official newspaper in which their legal notices and meeting minutes must be published. It’s an open bidding process and, by state statute, the elected off...
I read in the last Pine Knot News of 2019 that the Rudy Law firm merged with Fryberger in Duluth, and will now be known as Rudy, Gassert, Yetka, Pritchett, and Helwig, a Fryberger Law Firm Practice Group (although I bet they still answer the phone simply, “Rudy Law Firm”). I’m happy for them, as it’s getting harder and harder to attract quality attorneys to small-town practices, and none of the capital names at the Rudy firm are getting any younger. Joining the Duluth law firm will keep the Rud...
My husband, Rod Walli, often and confidently says in Finnish: "Voin Korjata mitaan." It means "I can fix anything." He's not bragging. Just expressing confidence. I'm drafting at home. Morning light bounces off walls and a cathedral ceiling he built 17 years ago, enlarging the bungalow that Barb Walli designed and where they raised their boys, Gene and Mark. One time, a nosy drive-by neighbor asked "Why are your building an addition?" "For the baby," the 64-year old Rod answered, amused at the...
“Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don’t want war … That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along … the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacif...
What could be better than sampling delicious local food items and raising money for education at the same time? Food for Thought is a tasting event where area businesses offer food specialties for guests to sample. Most things are in miniature, so guests will have more room to sample all the different goodies, with past highlights ranging from ribs and coleslaw, brisket bites and lamb chops to baklava, tiny cupcakes, tasty ice cream and much more. The seventh annual tasting event is set for...
Leslie Hubbell, of Pierz, Minnesota, formerly of Cloquet, where he was born June 15, 1937, passed away Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019 at the Harmony House. No services will be held per his request. Nelson Funeral Care assisted the family with arrangements. Marlin A. Lund, 79, of Cloquet, died Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 in St. Luke’s Hospice in Duluth. Services were scheduled for Jan. 7 in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Cloquet. Spring interment will be in Oak Lake Cemetery in Duquette. Atkins Northland Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements. Rut...
Storyteller Chad Lewis says he expects to bring a "bizarre" evening of tales from "the dark side of winter" to the Cloquet Public Library on Jan. 16. He may indeed be right, given his descriptions. "Winter may seem like a quiet time," Lewis says, "but it is actually filled with bizarre tales and stories of cannibalistic spirits, Krampus the anti-Santa Claus, stories of little people, werewolves, witches, people being burned alive, and numerous other cold traditions." The free library event...
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team was busy this past week with three home games that included a pair of wins on Friday and Tuesday. On Thursday, the 'Jacks fell 3-2 to Eagan. On Friday, the Lumberjacks fought from behind to beat Holy Angels in overtime 4-3 and on Tuesday they notched an easy win over Duluth Marshall. In their Thursday loss to Eagan, the Lumberjacks picked up the first goal of the game when Kyle Siiter scored just 1:52 into the contest on an assist from Brayden Tyman. Unf...
Thursday, Jan. 2 Boys Basketball Carlton-75 Two Harbors-66 Ben Soderstrom with 32 points, Matthew Santkuyl with 21 points and Ryan Gray with 13 points led the Bulldogs to the win over the Agates. Justin Swanson added four points. Adam Hey had three points and rounding out the scoring for the Bulldogs was Austin Parker with two points. Trent Gomez had a big night for the Agates with 27 points. Girls Basketball Barnum-54 Two Harbors-53 The Bombers held a slim one-point lead at halftime and were able to fend off the Agates on Thursday night. MaKen...
Richard "Dick" G. Chick, 88, of Cloquet, went to his heavenly Father on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 at Viewcrest Health Center in Duluth. He was born April 18, 1931 in Moose Lake to George and Laura (Guss) Chick. Richard graduated from Carlton High School in 1949, where he lettered in basketball. He then attended the University of Minnesota Duluth and joined the Minnesota National Guard. He served 20 years in the Guard, retiring as a First Sergeant. He continued meeting with his Guard friends on...
John "Jack" Enlund, 73, of Cloquet, passed away Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020 at Benedictine Health Center in Duluth. He was born July 27, 1946 to John and Anna (Myking) Enlund. Jack graduated from Cloquet Senior High School in 1964 and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. He was united in marriage to Susan Tribby on June 5, 1971 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Cloquet. He worked for the Potlatch Corporation in Cloquet, and retired from Sappi. Jack enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping,...