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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Midway through the second quarter of the NCAA Division II women's basketball championship game, the announcers on the CBS Sports Network national broadcast mentioned Cromwell. That's because they were referring to Taya Hakamaki, a junior guard for the University of Minnesota Duluth team and high school player at Cromwell-Wright. The announcement likely caused cheers at many establishments in Carlton County that aired the title game Saturday afternoon. "I didn't realize they mentioned Cromwell,"... Full story
We don't know. Despite snow still covering the ground and crazy winter storms swirling about, local photographer Will Stenberg has been capturing signs that spring is making its presence known at Jay Cooke State Park. Stenberg shared this photo of some "middle of the road tom turkeys" crossing Minnesota Highway 210 in the park in late March. If you have any photos showing that spring is, indeed, springing, send them along to news@PineKnot News.com.... Full story
The proposed artificial turf athletic complex at Cloquet High School is expected to cost $4.9 million, the school board learned Wednesday. Meeting with contractor Kraus-Anderson during a committee of the whole gathering at Garfield School, the board seemed to have an appetite for the project and its costs. Board members had been asking for financial and design specifics for weeks, during what has been an accelerated design and planning process. What started as a community conversation last spring could see construction this summer and yield new...
Cloquet city councilors took care of business in only five minutes Tuesday, setting an unofficial record for the shortest meeting of the year with only three members and mayor Roger Maki present on a windy wintry evening. Aside from approving bills, payroll and some end-of-year account transfers, there was only one current business item on the agenda: approval of a minor subdivision plat, to create three lots on a 17-acre property at the corner of Laine and Stark roads. Landowners Andy and Sandy Elias were in the audience. They plan to build a...
Minnesota lawmakers took a brief break this week before launching into the final sprint of the legislative session. Debates around tax relief, recreational cannabis, paid family and medical leave — as well as the bulk of a $72 billion budget proposal — are ahead. And details about what will make it through the DFL-controlled Capitol this year will become clearer in the next couple weeks. Ahead of the Easter and Passover recess, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said that the las... 
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Because of the winter storm, the Minnesota Department of Transportation held its Wednesday, April 5 meeting online only, to discuss the Minnesota Highway 73 corridor study from Kettle River to Cromwell. The in-person meeting on the same subject was rescheduled for April 12. Doors open at 5 p.m. with a formal presentation at 5:15 p.m. in the Cromwell Pavilion, 5577 Cromwell Park Drive....
Cloquet Community Education will hold its second annual Easter weekend Skate with the Easter Bunny 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 8 at the Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Pine Valley. The free family skating event will feature a DJ, arts and crafts projects, bean bag toss and more. Even non-skaters can do the hokey-pokey on the track and enjoy more off-ice activities. Wilderness players and the Lumberjack mascot and Wilderness Wolf will be participating, and there are prize drawings. Before the event, the Cloquet High School Track Team... Full story
The Arrowhead Library System is touring with Up North! A Writer’s Journey with author Mary Casanova this spring to a host of its local libraries. Casanova will appear at the Moose Lake Public Library at 1 p.m., Thursday, April 13. She’ll be at the Cloquet Public Library at 10 a.m. April 15. There is no cost to attend the presentations. Straight out of college, Casanova and her husband followed their dream to live “up north.” Forty years and 40 books later, Mary’s love of woods, water, and wilderness permeates her wide range of work, an Arrowh...
Before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, her baby, Stefa, was beginning to talk, said Anastasiia, a Ukrainian woman now living in Carlton. Then the air raid sirens started. Sometimes they would go off for seven hours in a row. "She became numb and stopped talking," Stefa's mom said through translator Galyna Tuttle. On this particular Saturday morning, however, the now 2 ½-year-old was running around upstairs at Common Ground Coffee Bar & Deli, taking advantage of the wide-open space. She... Full story
Our children are sitting ducks, dying in regular school shootings. Thoughts and prayers won’t stop the shootings. Gun violence is now the No. 1 cause of death for children under 17. Suicides account for the majority of gun deaths in Minnesota and happen mostly in rural areas affecting mostly white men. And yet, some of our legislators oppose doing anything about our national public health epidemic of gun violence. Two bills working through the Minnesota House and Senate would work together to save lives without affecting gun rights. R...
As a young married man, now 75, we purchased our first home with a coal-fired (by hand) furnace. Our second was also heated with coal; however, we had a stoker we would fill every two or three days, pulling out clunkers daily. Those days are gone as coal’s days are numbered, even as a generating power for all power companies. Many homes are also heated with fuel oil. Two of my uncles owned fuel oil companies in Duluth, now closed. At $4.18 per gallon with a 265-gallon tank, the cost to fill would be over $1,100. With all heat forms being c...
Each year, thousands of volunteers in Minnesota donate their time and energy to make their communities a better place to live. These volunteers will be among the millions across the country who will be spotlighted during National Volunteer Week, April 16-22. One group that relies heavily on volunteers is the University of Minnesota Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program. During National Volunteer Week and every week throughout 2022, Minnesota 4-H celebrates and appreciates its more than 6,700 volunteers — each one critical to the suc...
The Legislature is gearing up to spend our money this week, so I thought I’d review some of the ways they plan to spend it. First, they are planning to increase wages and funding for the courts. As a lawyer, I can see the need. I’m not going to argue about why the court system is so busy and overworked, because there is another approach to solving that problem. Let’s just admit there is a problem, and increased funding will certainly help. The Legislature will increase salaries for court staff,...
Mike Shannon was such a curmudgeon - with a capital C - a picture of him could be expected next to the word in any illustrated dictionary. I had many maddening conversations with him in low light at the Gaslight tavern in Sandstone. This small town in Pine County had an inordinate number of talented musicians at the time, now nearly 20 years ago. Just when Mike would tear at the last remnant of likability I may have had, he would shuffle over to the piano and start playing. He was transformed....
Lately, I’ve been pondering how marvelous and challenging live and in-person human performance can be. Of course, machines perform as well, by design. But machines don’t have feelings and/or unique intelligence that can be mobilized to enhance expression. We also may enjoy products that convey or reflect on expression, such as films, recordings, books and magazines. But nothing can be as marvelous as live human expression offered up to others. A week ago, while in New York City, I attended a n...
Last weekend saw some heroic work done on outdoor track facilities, as Pete Hughes cleared much of the Cloquet track, while Esko utilized custodians, coaches and volunteers to clear at least three or four lanes to train on. In spite of those efforts, track remains an indoor sport for now. On Saturday, April 1, eight different Polar League teams traveled to Superior for the inaugural meet of the season, giving track and field athletes a taste of what's to come. Carlton County runners, jumpers... Full story
Like most Minnesotans, I was saddened to read that former Vikings Coach Bud Grant passed away last month. I never met the man personally, but felt near-bowing reverence. Like many fans, I’m sending my sincere condolences to his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Grant was a tremendous athlete. Born and brought up in nearby Superior, Wisconsin, he was a three-sport high school letterman in football, basketball and baseball. Maybe he played hoops in the Cloquet gymnasium? He entered the m...
The Cloquet Lumberjacks softball team is looking to take another step this spring. The 'Jacks finished with a 13-7 record, but for the second straight year were beaten in the Saturday round of the playoffs by Hibbing. "We have a lot of kids who play a lot of softball and who adore the game," said 'Jacks head coach Tyler Korby. "It will be a tough section again this year, but our girls are up to the task." Cloquet will have some tough shoes to fill, with the loss of five seniors from last year's... Full story
With a split in Janesville, Wisconsin last weekend, the Minnesota Wilderness secured a playoff berth for the eighth time in its 10 seasons in the North American Hockey League. The Wilderness lost to the Jets, 6-1, on Friday, March 31, before winning, 3-0, on Saturday to secure a top-four position in the Midwest Division and a spot in the upcoming 16-team Robertson Cup playoffs. One day after getting pulled in the first period for allowing three goals in Janesville’s first eight shots, Minnesota goalie Isak Posch, of Umeå, Sweden, collected hi... Full story
Prospective bear hunters have until Friday, May 5, to apply for a bear hunting license from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Applications for the 2023 season can be submitted online, at any license agent or by telephone at 888-665-4236. A total of 4,035 licenses are available in 14 permit areas for the season, which opens Friday, Sept. 1, and closes Sunday, Oct. 15. The number of permits available each year in the quota zone is based on Minnesota’s bear population, which has stabilized and started to increase during the past 10 y...
It's been a long wait for sugarbush time. The sap flows when warm days follow cold nights, and with the arrival of the spring equinox, we're there. Sap flows when the pressure inside the tree is greater than the external atmospheric pressure. Bruce and Tawny Savage welcomed the Fond du Lac Reservation Historical Society and the Carlton County Historical Society to Spirit Lake Native Farms a few weeks ago, in the midst of yet another snowstorm, to learn about taking care of the trees, stringing... Full story
Easter season services will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Kettle River. A Maundy Thursday communion service was held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. A Good Friday Tenebrae service will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 7; the candlelight service will include meditation of the Solemn Reproaches and the story of the Passion in word and song. The Easter service starts at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 9. Everyone is invited to attend. The next city council meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, April 13. Note the change of day. The first Finnish luncheon is at...
Many years ago, when I was still teaching fourth grade, I had my students interview elders and write their life stories. One year, a student interviewed Ruth Karki, who lived south of Cromwell. When asked how old she was, she told him that she was as old as Highway 73 “and in better shape.” So, with that in mind, please attend the Minnesota Highway 73 corridor study open house in person April 12, at 5 p.m. at the Cromwell Pavilion. (It was scheduled for this week, but held only online due to weather.) There will be a formal presentation on pos...
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Every Christian learns it from the time they are little - Jesus died for my sins. But what does that mean? How does that even work? And why did it happen? This is Holy Week, the most solemn days for Christians in the Church year. This...
Lyle E. Johnston, 97, of Cloquet passed away on Thursday, March 30, 2023, at Diamond Willow Assisted Living in Cloquet. God, family and country are the three characteristics Lyle strongly believed in and made up his life's journey. Lyle and his wife, Armella, raised five kids and a foster daughter on the principles of the Bible. He was born in Timber Lake, South Dakota on April 22, 1925, and moved to Proctor at age 2. He grew up quickly during the difficult times of the 1920s through 1940s. He... Full story
