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
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In one school year in the 1940s, in rural Moose Lake, there were five sets of twins riding a bus to school. This is testament from Jim Eckman, who, with his twin brother Chuck, belonged to one of those sets. Remarkable, yes. Was there something in the water? Maybe, Jim says. Of all those sets of twins, the Eckman boys stood out for a simple fact. They were born on Feb. 29. Leap year babies. The boys were born on the Harry and Eva Eckman farm on Feb. 29, 1936. Eva went into labor two months... Full story
Two former Cloquet residents were arrested in Arkansas last week for allegedly leaving seven cats behind - with no source of water or food - when they moved away from Cloquet late last year. Four cats were dead by the time someone entered the apartment 18 days later. A fifth cat died the same day and two cats have survived. Karlee Lynn Strum, 32, and Dominic James Welch, 26, were extradited to Minnesota this week from the White County jail in Searcy, Arkansas. They are each accused of 21 animal...
Photographer Will Stenberg was out at Jay Cooke State park last week and noticed what has become the way of our current winter. At Mont du Lac Resort there was a definite demarcation between the manmade snow and the barren ground we have across the region. Dave Anderson, from Northern News Now in Duluth, delivers our weather forecast each week and had some thoughts on February and March. "The long, warm winter is now being called Super El Niño because this is one of the strongest El Niño s... Full story
With plans for a first-ever city hall followed by cascading improvements from there, city leaders in Wright are aiming big in an attempt to provide more for residents and families. "Wright has always been the wild, wild West of Carlton County, and everybody kind of turned a blind eye to us and what's happened out here," city councilor Terri Lott told the Pine Knot earlier this month. "It was our business." Lott, mayor Donovan Ranta and fellow councilors Jerri Haugan and Gene Lott, Terri's... Full story
Following a special meeting Friday morning, Cloquet school board members voted 5-1 to approve the list of softball coaches for this spring, including head coach Tyler Korby and assistant or JV coaches Joel Korby, Brian Fleck, Olivia Diver and Travis Warnygora. Board member Hawk Huard was the lone “nay” vote. The board previously approved all the other spring coaching staff with no discussion at its Feb. 5 meeting. The special meeting was closed for a time to discuss allegations against a school district employee. No action was taken Friday reg...
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is honored to share that Achieving the Dream has awarded FDLTCC the 2024 Leah Meyer Austin Award. The Leah Meyer Austin Award signifies a college’s adoption of practices and strategies leading to a student-focused culture, notable increases in student outcomes, and reduction of equity gaps. The announcement was made at the annual DREAM conference, which brought over 2,000 community college leaders, faculty, and student affairs staff to the Orlando World Center Marriott. FDLTCC joined ATD in 2017 among a...
Superintendent Donita Stepan asked the Carlton school board to downsize staff by more than four full-time positions, including three teachers, during Tuesday’s school board meeting. Included in the cuts were one full-time position at South Terrace Elementary and the band program at the middle school/highschool. Declining enrollments and the accompanying decrease in revenue from the state have driven the retrenchment. In her remarks on the issue, Stepan pointed to the unassigned general fund balance — which should be kept to at least 16 per...
A week ago, the Pine Knot used a photo to highlight the earliest teardown of the Pinehurst Park ice rink on Feb. 13. Later the same week, we found a group of youngsters playing basketball in the park on Feb. 17, in subfreezing temperatures. It was 28 degrees at around 9 p.m., when the boys were playing pickup basketball - maybe the earliest day in a year in which we've seen ballers on the basketball courts.... Full story
Carlton County is short by up to 50 units of entry-level housing for new homebuyers, 350 units of affordable apartments, 60 units of workforce rentals and scores of units for seniors who desire to own, scale down or transition into settings such as assisted living. That was the stark tale told by a Comprehensive Housing Needs Analysis presented to the Carlton County board earlier this month. Presented by LOCi Consulting of St. Paul, the analysis left commissioners thankful for the information....
The Cloquet city council laid the groundwork for a number of new or ongoing initiatives Tuesday, including plans for future transportation and housing projects. Councilors and Mayor Roger Maki unanimously passed a resolution supporting the “multimodal” use of Highway 33 between Big Lake Road and Cloquet Avenue, with a letter outlining the city’s viewpoint shared with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. MnDOT is looking at rebuilding that stretch of the state highway in 2028 and held a public information meeting in Cloquet on Feb. 1. The...
The Indigenous-feminist Spiderwoman Theater is bringing its 16-member ensemble to Cloquet as part of a five-day residency at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, and Northland College, in Ashland, Wisconsin, Feb. 27-March 2. Spiderwoman grew out of the urban Native community centered in Brooklyn in the 1950s. In addition to their experimental and activist focuses, they have emphasized the importance of interconnectivity among Indigenous communities across the globe. Spiderwoman Theater was...
Once again, Cloquet sent the largest contingent of students to Saturday's regional science fair, held at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Fifteen middle school and four high school students from Cloquet competed, plus a number of students from other schools. Although overall numbers declined this year after a post-Covid jump last year, the overall projects were better, judges said. Most of the students will compete at the 2024 State Science and Engineering Fair March 22 at the St. Paul... Full story
It’s been a year since roughly 40 residents packed Thomson Town Hall to comment on two proposed township ordinances regarding private roads and driveways. Many speakers provided constructive criticism, while others outright rejected the attempt to set standards for shared private roads and driveways. Although township attorney David Pritchett told people they would fine-tune the ordinances and hold another meeting in a while, there have been no meeting notices or new draft ordinances posted on the website. Nor have any of the people that v...
The Minnesota Department of Revenue announced last week that they will be reissuing over 128,000 one-time tax rebate checks that have gone uncashed and subsequently expired after their November and December issuance dates. The mailing of reissued checks should be completed by mid-March. The rebates are part of a $1 billion giveback passed in the last legislative session. According to a story by MPR News, Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart said the outstanding payments add up to about $48 million. What do the checks look like? Unlike previously...
THUMBS UP to the Moose Lake city council for its unpopular but fiscally responsible decision to contract with Carlton County for its law enforcement needs. The months-long saga ended last week, in what many considered disappointing fashion, with a 3-2 vote. Choosing the Sheriff's Office to provide four deputies and a part-time clerk to cover the city meant dissolving the city's long-standing police force. But the force had dwindled to one, a result of disgruntled officers resigning and early... Full story
The Power of Karma By Juliauna Nygaard I believe in karma. I believe in good karma, but I also believe in bad karma. I believe the things we say and do will come back to us. I believe karma reflects on personal responsibility and ethical behavior. We are responsible for our own actions, and they can influence our own life’s trajectory. Our deeds, whether good or bad, will eventually return to us. Karma, like a boomerang, throws back what we give and teaches us many of life’s valuable lessons. Growing up, my parents always taught me the imp... Full story
I was mystified to read a revisionist history in the Pine Knot News op-ed article with local representatives offering a legislative session preview. Rep. Jeff Dotseth was actually taking credit for “delivering” $10 million for the Carlton County female offender and judicial facility. Carlton County taxpayers were supposed to receive $23 million, but Rep. Dotseth bungled the money, refusing to support the bill with the funding. Democrats had to ask Rep. Dave Lislegard from Aurora, not Dotseth, to sponsor the smaller amount primarily because our... Full story
Urban legends and conspiracy theories are sometimes difficult to overcome, especially when they are often repeated. This appears to be the case with the $10 million funding for the Carlton County female and judicial facility addressed in the bill HF 3101. According to bill tracker, on March 23, 11A’s Rep. Jeff Dotseth introduced the bill as chief author. On May 10, HF 3101 was again presented by Rep. Dotseth and amended to include Rep. Dave Lislegard as chief author. This move was initiated by concern that with the Democratic trifecta in power,... Full story
he Moose Lake City Council to disband the police department in the name of funding concerns. Many questions abound, foremost those of security to the populace of the surrounding citizens as well as conscientious use of the resulting “freed up” hundreds of thousands of dollars. I had the privilege, as a citizen of the Moose Lake area (I live in a township just outside), of attending the city council meeting in January at which the decision was debated. As an observer, I tallied the viewpoints of the citizens whom I saw: 10 of 13 in favor of kee... Full story
When the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjack boys hockey team opened play in the Section 7A playoffs Tuesday, it marked the Lumberjacks' first time playing in a Class A playoff tournament. It was also the first time CEC met Ely/Tower-Soudan in a hockey playoff game. The 'Jacks didn't disappoint the hometown fans as they raced out to a 12-0 victory, ensuring them a spot in Saturday's semifinals. "We came out just the way I hoped we would," said CEC coach Shea Walters. CEC put all kinds of pressure on... Full story
Thursday, Feb. 15 Boys Basketball Hibbing 71 ML/WR 66 Esko 89 Bemidji 70 North Woods 97 Fond du Lac Ojibwe 81 Girls Basketball Esko 66 Hermantown 44 Two Harbors 51 Carlton/Wrenshall 25 South Ridge 55 Floodwood 35 Cromwell-Wright 75 Pine River-Backus 45 Friday, Feb. 16 Boys Basketball Carlton/Wrenshall 85 Two Harbors 76 Esko 64 Barnum 50 ML/WR 87 Cloquet 79 South Ridge 67 Floodwood 53 Girls Basketball Hinckley-Finlayson 60 ML/WR 32 Saturday, Feb. 17 Boys Hockey Section 7A play-in International Falls 8 Moose Lake Area 4 Girls Basketball Cloquet... Full story
Moose Lake Area was knocked out of the Section 7A boys hockey tournament Saturday afternoon in International Falls. A wild first period, which saw both teams pounding shots on net, eventually spelled trouble for the Rebels, who fell behind early and were never able to rebound in an 8-4 loss. “We had a real good first half of the first period,” said Rebels head coach Chris Gamst. Unfortunately for MLA, they were unable to score in the first period despite putting 17 shots on net. Even more unfortunate was that the Broncos pounded 20 shots on... Full story
Friday, Feb. 23 Girls Basketball ML/WR vs East Central, 7 Boys Basketball Barnum vs Cook County, 6:15 Cromwell-Wright at Carlton/Wrenshall (Carlton), 6:15 Saturday, Feb. 24 Boys 7A Hockey playoffs CEC vs Hibbing, 8, at Amsoil Boys Basketball Esko vs Superior, 3 Wrestling CEC Sectional at Grand Rapids Monday, Feb. 26 Boys Basketball Cromwell-Wright vs Chisholm, 7:15 Barnum at Rush City, 7:15 Carlton/Wrenshall vs Proctor, 7:15 Fond du Lac vs South Ridge, 7:15 Wednesday, Feb. 28 Boys 7A Hockey playoffs Championship game TBD, 7, at Amsoil Girls... Full story
A split with Springfield Jr. Blues in Illinois last weekend left the Minnesota Wilderness clinging to a tie for third place in its division. The Wilderness got a hat trick from forward Peyton Nelson on Saturday, leading to a 6-2 win. The Centennial, Colorado native scored once in the second, on a breakaway in the third and again on an empty netter late as the Wilderness scored four times in the final 7 minutes, 29 seconds to break open the game. On Feb. 16, the Wilderness (25-17-4) fell, 4-2, to Springfield (15-22-6). Goalie Nick Erickson... Full story
Despite a bad winter for practice and competition, three Cloquet ski jumpers are headed to Alaska next week to compete in the 2024 ski jumping and Nordic combined Junior National Championships. Isaiah Langer, 14, Simon Langer, 12, and Joel Linden, 14, all qualified to compete in Nordic combined in the 16-and-younger-age group, a sport that combines ski jumping and Nordic skiing. The competition in Anchorage Feb. 27 to March 2 will be Isaiah's second Junior Nationals. Last year's event was actual... Full story
