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Articles from the February 25, 2022 edition


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  • Wanted: a place for lost dogs and cats

    Francy Chammings|Feb 25, 2022

    In August, Carlton County will have been without an animal shelter for four years. That's not OK, says a new group of concerned citizens. Now called Carlton County Animal Rescue, the group has been meeting since October. Their ultimate objective is to build and manage a shelter to house lost or abandoned cats and dogs in Carlton County. It's been a grassroots movement from the beginning, when Bekki Babineau recognized that an animal rescue group was needed and placed a message on the Cloquet...

  • Bombers win over rival Rebels

    Kerry Rodd|Feb 25, 2022

    When neighborhood rivals Barnum and Moose Lake/Willow River collided in a boys basketball game last Friday, the stakes were high and the crowd was in a frenzy. The Rebels had just come off an impressive road win over Cloquet the previous night and Bombers were on a six-game win streak. In the end, the Bombers rode a strong start and strong shooting to a 74-59 victory over the Rebels. "We had great energy and stayed within our systems," said Barnum coach Rich Newman. "In the first half our shots...

  • History Mystery

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    This mystery photo shouldn't be too hard to figure out. The Carlton County Historical Society sent us this one for readers to sleuth on. The only information on the photo is the date of Feb. 21, 1998, and the words, "Hooverville Joad put on by school at Super One parking lot." If you have the identities of those in this picture and perhaps a bit more information about the circumstances, please send what you have to [email protected] with "history" in the subject line....

  • Winter weather packs a wallop

    Pine Knot News staff|Feb 25, 2022

    Sunday wasn't exactly a spring-like day in Carlton, but compared to the tight grip of cold on the region this winter, it felt rather balmy as temperatures neared 30 degrees and a bit of melt occurred. Not so fast, winter said, as a two-day blow of cold and plenty of snow hit the area on Monday and Tuesday. The wind made snow totals difficult to measure. The National Weather Service in Duluth took reports of 11 to 15 inches of snow in Carlton County. Wrenshall had the highest total reported at 15...

  • Commuter bus ferries locals to Duluth and back

    Tom Urbanski|Feb 25, 2022

    It could be described as a chauffeur service that takes you to work every day. The Cloquet-Duluth commuter bus has been making twice-daily trips between the two cities for about 30 years. The service is operated by LCS Coaches in Cloquet and is appreciated by local residents who ride the bus to work in Duluth. "It started when Don Panger was here," said Jeff Lane, president of LCS Coaches. "It was when the rideshare concept was going on, so we started the Cloquet-Duluth commuter bus option....

  • Obituary: Mitchell Rontti

    Feb 25, 2022

    Mitchell Rontti passed away Feb. 5, 2022. Mitch was born in Duluth to Joyce Carlson. He grew up in Cloquet and graduated from Cloquet High School in 1977. He graduated from Dunwoody college in 1979, followed by his first job where he worked in Hibbing for two years before relocating to the Twin Cities area, where he worked 30-plus years for the Custom Conveyor Corporation. Mitch and Deb (Cabak) were married Aug. 19, 1986. Mitch resided in Elk River for most of his adult life before moving to Rogers in 2015. He was a tough but proud coach to...

  • Obituary: Rickey Joe Nynas

    Feb 25, 2022

    Rickey Joe Nynas, born July 28, 1952, passed away suddenly at home Feb. 21, 2022. He was raised in Esko on the Nynas Road and graduated from Esko High School in 1970. He went to school for forestry and worked at Jay Cooke State Park. Rick started work at Conwed in 1971, then USG 1985-2015, and retired after 44 years. He married Jan Fisher in Scranton, North Dakota, on Aug. 7, 1976. He was a member of St. Francis Catholic Church in Carlton and the Moose Lodge 1274. Rick was an enrolled member of...

  • Obituary: Leslie Dougherty

    Feb 25, 2022

    Leslie “Old Man” Dougherty of Saginaw died unexpectedly on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022 with his loyal dogs Bacon and Holly. Leslie was born on March 16, 1960 in Duluth, son of Laurel “Sonny” and Betty Dougherty. Leslie took over Dougherty’s Trucking and Aggregate when his father passed away in 2004 and also worked in Jeep parts. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed fishing when he was able. No matter where Leslie was, Bacon was never far behind him, her following in the paw prints of the shop dogs of t...

  • Man dead after vehicle fire

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    Responding to a 911 call at 10:56 p.m. Friday, emergency responders found a dead man with extensive burns next to a burned-up pickup truck in the 8000 block of Highway 2 near Saginaw. The deceased man will not be named while the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office is waiting for the medical examiner to confirm positive identification. According to a news release from the SLC Sheriff’s Office, it appears the 61-year-old man was driving his vehicle on his property when he collided with an unoccupied vehicle, a trailer, and a large sand berm bef...

  • Order free Covid tests

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests from USPS.com courtesy of the federal government. Go to https://special.usps.com/testkits to order. • Limit of one order per residential address; • One order includes 4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests....

  • At age 100, Iris Johnson is one busy lady

    Jana Peterson|Feb 25, 2022

    Barnum native and longtime Mahtowa resident Iris Johnson turned 100 years old on Valentine's Day but, with typical modesty, she wasn't sure about being interviewed. "My life was like watching paint dry," she told the Pine Knot News. Not true. Johnson had all kinds of stories, and she tells them with charm and enthusiasm. She grew up during the Depression with her parents and a sister, in a house with a massive garden halfway up the Barnum hill. Her dad was a "truck farmer," she said, which...

  • Thomson board meeting is brief

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    With few bullet points on the agenda, the Thomson Township Board of Supervisors held another brief meeting Thursday, Feb. 17. The board approved 2022 health savings account contributions for township employees, with no discussion from the board. The board also accepted the retirement of township employee Jerry Manthey, part-time building and code enforcement official, with thanks for his years of service. Any township residents who would like to be on the agenda to speak at a board of supervisors meeting should call the township office before...

  • Libraries offer acrylic paint kits

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    The Arrowhead Library System will be providing acrylic painting Take & Create art kits to member public libraries to distribute March 1-31. This art experience has been designed by 321 Art Studio in Chisholm and explores acrylic painting for beginners and more advanced participants. The Take & Create art kit includes supplies to create two unique pictures — one for beginners and one for advanced painters — one 11x14 stretched canvas, one 9x12 canvas board, one sheet of mixed media paper, and one paint kit that contains a drawing pencil, two...

  • Custody cases wind through courts

    Jana Peterson|Feb 25, 2022

    Testimony continued last week in a contentious local child custody case that sparked weeks of protests last month. There are five children in each of two homes, most of them either adopted or otherwise in the permanent custody of the two caregivers, Nicole and Dawn Ammesmaki, who are sisters. Both the women and all of the children in the related cases are Native American, which makes the case even more complicated, because of additional protections in the Indian Child Welfare Act. In a more than 2-hour hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 16, Sixth...

  • Man accused of child sex abuse

    Pine Knot News staff|Feb 25, 2022

    A 74-year-old Cloquet man is facing charges of sexually assaulting a child who was not a stranger to him. Edward Christian of Cloquet was charged with six counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree for allegedly performing sexually penetrative acts with a female child under the age of 10 years old. According to the criminal complaint, the child’s mother observed Christian allegedly showing the girl pornography when the two of them were on a FaceTime call. The mother and father had their daughter discontinue the call, then asked if Ch...

  • Free hackathon registration

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    Whoever thought non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cool websites, sweet apps and cybersecurity would be mentioned in the same sentence as computer science? A guy from Cloquet who focused on computer science (at Harvard, no less) and was named one of Fortune magazine’s “30 Under 30” honorees, that’s who. Because Luke Heine, 27, knows computer science is the foundation for all kinds of cool innovation. “A hackathon is a digital form of building things with Legos, only more fun!” said Heine. “You don’t have to be a website guru to join us. You just ha...

  • Buy new hunting, fishing licenses

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    It’s the time of year when anglers and hunters need to buy new fishing and hunting licenses. Minnesota fishing, hunting and trapping licenses for 2021 expire Monday, Feb. 28. Licenses for 2022 are now available wherever fishing and hunting licenses are sold, online at mndnr.gov/BuyALicense and by telephone at 888-665-4236....

  • Our View: Unique park needs snowmaking

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    While it may seem that Cloquet need never worry about adequate snow after the storm earlier this week, we can all recall times when the golf courses still showed green in November and even into December … when cross country ski season kicks off. So, before the city of Cloquet progresses any further with its master plan for the city’s Pine Valley park, we’d like to ask elected officials to consider elevating the need for snowmaking equipment from near the bottom of the list to somewhere after fixing the jumps and before creating a pavil...

  • Harry's Gang: What advice would you give your younger self?

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    At one of my brilliant and well-received lunch presentations for a local service group, I noticed most of the members were “of a certain age.” Fast approaching that age myself, but with children of my own under 14 years old, I thought I’d take advantage of the group’s collective wisdom and asked them this question: Knowing what you know now, and if you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your 20-year-old self? Here are some of their answers. “If you want to keep a secret, tell no one.” Boy, that’s true. Nobody treats your s...

  • Letter to the editor: Opinion articles are well-said

    Feb 25, 2022

    Opinion articles are well-said A jackpot! Three articles that reinforced why your paper won the prestigious award [as the best weekly newspaper in the state]. -Our View: “Choices have consequences”: Clear, concise, truth in every sentence. -Ann Markusen’s article: “Racism: a persistent American crisis”: Researched, informative, well-written. In fact, I am ordering one of her suggested books. -Pete Radosevich’s article, “We need police, yes, but we also need police reform.” Once again, Pete writes as though he is taking words from my mouth!...

  • The challenge? Searching for the best beer

    Tom Urbanski|Feb 25, 2022

    File this one under "It's a tough job, but someone has to do it." The tough task? Judging beer. Last weekend, the Northern Ale Stars Homebrewers Guild hosted a competition in Duluth where 149 entries of beer, cider and mead were inspected with the purpose of selecting the best of the batch. I was one of the judges. It sounds like it might be all fun and games, but it's serious business once the judges are seated and the bottle caps are pried off. And it's safe to say that judging beer is more...

  • 'Jacks top Marshall, advance

    Kerry Rodd|Feb 25, 2022

    It took a total team effort, but the Lumberjacks boys hockey team eked out a 3-2 win in their home Section 7AA boys playoff game Saturday against Duluth Marshall. The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton players wasted little time in gaining a lead. At 4:58 of the first period, sophomore defenseman Cooper Ellena gathered a loose puck in his own zone and moved it ahead on the right wing to Joey Antonutti. Antonutti raced into the Hilltopper zone and slid the puck across the crease to Noah Knutson, who slipped...

  • The Ticker: A quick look at area teams in action

    Pine Knot News|Feb 25, 2022

    Thursday, Feb. 17 Girls Basketball Cromwell-Wright-48 Carlton-18 Esko-54 Hermantown-23 South Ridge-72 Two Harbors-50 Floodwood-38 Wrenshall-29 Boys Basketball Moose Lake/Willow River-89 Cloquet-82 Friday, Feb. 18 Boys Basketball Cromwell-Wright-52 Carlton-33 South Ridge-62 Two Harbors-54 Barnum-74 Moose Lake-Willow River-59 Saturday, Feb. 19 Girls Basketball Cloquet-82 Bemidji-65 Cass Lake-Bena-81 South Ridge-57 Boys Hockey Section 7AA Play-In game CEC-3 Duluth Marshall-2 Section 7A Play-In game International Falls-7 Moose Lake Area-0 All...

  • Rebels fight, but fall, in playoffs

    Kerry Rodd|Feb 25, 2022

    Moose Lake Area goalie Henry Dammer gave what appeared to be a superhuman effort Saturday afternoon in the Section 7A boys hockey playoffs, making 61 saves against International Falls. “Henry was incredible, especially in the first period,” said Rebels coach Lee Costley. “Henry and our defensive effort kept the score 1-0 after the first period despite facing an unbelievable number of shots.” Despite Dammer’s dazzling defense, the No. 10 seeded Rebels fell 7-0 to the No. 7 seeded Broncos i...

  • Esko robotics shoots for world competition

    Rebekah King|Feb 25, 2022

    The Esko SubZero robotics team is preparing for its biggest season yet. The team of more than 40 Esko students has been hard at work since early January, constructing a robot to compete at the Lake Superior Regionals Competition at the Duluth Event Entertainment Center on March 4, a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition. "First off, robotics gets confused with battle bots a lot, but it's really not that at all," said team captain Ben Holt....

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