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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After deliberating behind closed doors for nearly 80 minutes, Cloquet City councilors fired longtime police sergeant Scott Holman by a 4-2 vote Tuesday night. Mayor Roger Maki and councilors Lara Wilkinson, Kerry Kolodge and Bunn Carlson voted in favor of dismissal, while councilors Dakota Koski and Steve Langley voted “nay.” Councilor Sheila Lamb was absent. Holman was a detective and K-9 officer, and had worked for the Cloquet police department for 22 years. In a written statement, his attorne... Full story
Editor's note: This Q-and-A with Landon was published in the very first issue of the Pine Knot News on Oct. 26, 2018. We are publishing it online in memory of him. He will be missed, very much. Sincerely, the Pine Knot Staff Q-and-A: Eight questions with Landon Hall It can be difficult to spot the director among the high school students at Cloquet High School these last couple years. It's not that director Landon Hall doesn't stand out in a crowd - with his outgoing personality and pompadour... Full story
Landon-James Evenson Hall, 23, of Cloquet went to join the Lord and his sister Danelle Amanda on June 8, 2019. He was born to Barbara and Cully on February 21, 1996 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota. Landon left our earthly world, peacefully, while working in his perennial flower garden. Landon had a very energetic presence about him which would light up every room he walked into. Landon’s dreams were endless; he always saw his visions of creativity become reality. Landon continually r... Full story
The Esko Eskomos softball squad is once again making plans for the state softball tournament, thanks to a convincing 8-1 win last Thursday afternoon over Proctor. The Eskomos finished off an undefeated run through the Section 7AA tournament by dispatching the Rails at Braun Park in Cloquet. Just two days before, the Eskomos won a 4-3 game over the Rails. The clincher wasn't quite as close. "Any section final game can go three different ways: You win big, you lose big or it's a nailbiter," Esko...
These are hard times for the Brookston area. A young man who grew up there, age 16, was shot and killed in Duluth earlier this month. A young mother of five was found dead after going missing last week, and a 15-year-old boy died of unknown causes Friday. Bryan "Bear" Bosto, who manages the Brookston Community Center, said the community is mourning the losses. He hopes people will come together, and seek help from the grief counselors available at the community center. "There were three tragic...
New Sixth District Judge Rebekka L. Strumme was sworn in by Judge Mark Munger, whose retirement led to her appointment by Gov. Tim Walz and the investiture ceremony in the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College commons Friday, May 31. She is joined by her husband, Nate, and daughters, Ellie and Lilly. Judge Strumme will be chambered in Carlton County along with Judge Robert Macaulay. She replaces Judge Leslie Beiers, who is transferring from Carlton County to the St. Louis County Courthouse...
Have you ever picked up a really interesting rock and wondered what it was and how it was made? Well, I have, and still do. Each rock tells a story about its creation: when it was made, how it was made, where it was made, and how it got to its finding spot. As I learn more about rock creation, I become interested in all rocks, even the plain ones. One rock that is definitely not plain is our state gemstone, the Lake Superior agate. While visiting my son and his family in Omaha last week, my gran...
Although Carlton High School graduation has come and gone as with other area schools, I thought it might be interesting to visit the Carlton County Historical Society for a look at the history of Carlton High School. From the Carlton County Historical Society: The Carlton school located in the county seat was destroyed by fire three times. The first two schools were wooden structures, and fire equipment and access to water to fight the fires was limited. The second school was built in the 1890s...
"Listening Point tells of what I have seen and heard on a bare glaciated spit of rock in the Quetico-Superior country... From it I have seen the immensity of space and glimpsed at times the grandeur of creation. There I have sensed the span of uncounted centuries and looked down the path all life has come. I have explored on this rocky bit of shore the great concept that nothing stands alone and everything, no matter how small, is part of a greater whole." Hello. I am Pastor Charles (CJ) Boettch...
Jack Holman, 73, lifelong Cloquet resident, passed away Tuesday, May 21, 2019, at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton. He was born Dec. 19, 1945, to Orval and Ethel (Forstrom) Holman. Jack graduated from Cloquet High School. Throughout his life he wore many different hats. Late in life he was a greeter at Walmart and worked at Family Tradition Restaurant and with Cloquet Senior Dining. Jack thoroughly enjoyed the game of cribbage, playing in the Senior Center League and Al's Cribbage League.... Full story
Luella Carol Maki, 89, of Floodwood, Minn. passed away Saturday, June 1, 2019 in Essentia Health-St. Mary’s in Duluth. Visitation: 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. funeral service Friday, June 7, 2019 in New Life Community Church in Floodwood. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery, Van Buren Township. William “Bill” Omundson, 58 of Cloquet, Minn. passed away Thursday, May 30, 2019 in Duluth. Visitation: 5 p.m. until the 6 p.m. memorial service Saturday, June 8, 2019, at Nelson Funeral Care, Cloquet, with reception to follow in the Fellowship Room.... Full story
Well, school is out again for another year! It seems that the older we get the faster the years go by. We can be so proud of our area youth as they graduate from high school and go on to further education, the military or employment. Also, congratulations to our area college graduates. If you have any graduates to congratulate, please let me know so I can include them in this column. Congratulations to Jenifer Nieman Johnson for getting her master’s degree in educational leadership recently. She...
Sue Brown Chapin has been teaching watercolor classes in Carlton County for more than 10 years. This week she brought her lessons to the shores of Lac La Belle at the Historic Scott House for a series of one-day classes on the basics of watercolor process. Chapin grew up in an artistic household. Her mother, Betty Brown, was a beloved artist in Carlton County. In 2006 she started painting and fell in love with the watercolor medium. She is very active in the arts and is a member of the Arrowhead...
A Cloquet man was sentenced to 86 months in prison Friday, after pleading guilty to shaking, squeezing and dropping his infant daughter, then 12 weeks old, when he “snapped” in a moment of mental weakness. The sentence equates to seven years and two months in custody. Orion Harrison Sinclair Verbist, 25, pleaded guilty in Sixth District Carlton County Court to felony assault in the first degree in April, and asked to be sent to prison as soon as possible. He was back from St. Cloud Cor...
In late May, Emily Swanson of Carlton’s Oldenburg House and I journeyed to Jackson, Miss., for a week of deep and lively conversations on how arts and culture transform our communities. Hundreds joined the two back-to-back conferences. One convened a decade’s worth of ArtPlace America’s grantees and admirers. The second, the Rural Summit, pulled together rural development folks from across the country. We competed to win workshop slots pondering how arts home-comers or newcomers, like us, can u...
My dad would have turned 100 years old tomorrow. Out of respect for him, and because my siblings look for any excuse to get together, we are all assembling at my sister’s house in St. Paul for a birthday party. There’s a total of seven Radosevich siblings, plus all my cousins and their families, so there will be quite a few relatives in her backyard. It will be noisy. A few years before Dad passed away, my parents asked me to help them with their health care directives, sometimes called “li...
It’s hard to find a more dedicated elected official than Paul Gassert. Elected as the Carlton County auditor more than 30 years ago, he’s spent his entire career serving residents as auditor and eventually with tagged-on duties as treasurer. Paul is emblematic of everything good about government. In an age where too many politicians pander to their base and spend most of their time in office trying to get re-elected, he was a dedicated bureaucrat who was also accountable to the voters who re-elected him, by wide margins, every four years. He...
I find it curious that the city of Cloquet has embraced “openness” by instituting “live” CAT-7 broadcasts to the public in an effort for more public participation and transparency in local government. I applaud them. On the contrary, the Thomson Township Board of Supervisors, on March 7, entertained a motion by one of its more progressive members, Jason Paulson, to also record and televise its meetings on CAT-7, as the township is a member of the cable access channel. The motion was not even seconded after discussion concluding that it could “q...
I’d like to give special recognition to Paul Riess for being a very involved athletic director. I have seen him present at numerous sporting events. It is very enlightening to see how he positively interacts with the coaches, players and their parents, and the community members. He is a positive role model for our school district and the city of Cloquet. Well done, Mr. Riess. Gary “Hawk” Huard, Cloquet The writer is a Cloquet school board member...
May's weather was full of cold mayhem around here this year. The snowstorm that brought close to a foot of snow to some towns on May 19th was the latest measurable snow in recorded history at least for the Duluth area. (I still remember flurries in Ely on July 4, 1977.) The final climate data from the National Weather Service in Duluth shows the May departure from normal mean temperature was -2.1 degrees. So far, 2019 has ranged from as cold as -4.5 degrees from normal in February to as warm as...
Mayor Roger Maki officially declared Friday, June 14, “Senior Citizens Day” in Cloquet. While the declaration didn’t make it happen, there will be a celebration of senior citizens from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day at the Cloquet National Guard Armory, on Armory Drive, that will include free food and drink, a free photo booth, prize drawings and access to a number of community resources valuable to older citizens. Organizations including Senior LinkAge Line, Carlton County Volunteer Services, the Carlton County Historical Society, plus vendo...
Cloquet city administrator Aaron Reeves said the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz approved changes to the city’s existing half-cent sales tax legislation. The changes will allow the city to tap into funds that were originally earmarked for infrastructure for commercial development at Highway 33 and Interstate 35 that simply isn’t going to happen. Reeves said the city has already lined up about $4 million in projects for the newly available sales tax dollars, and the council would need to allocate another $1.5-$1.8 million, or it cou...
After discussion during Tuesday's meeting, Cloquet city councilors and Mayor Roger Maki voted unanimously to hold a special election to replace Ward 3 city councilor Dakota Koski, who purchased and is moving to a home in Ward 5. Koski said he regrets having to step down, but ultimately chose a home for life over a four-year council term. Although city administrator Aaron Reeves recommended the council appoint someone and hold a special election at the same time as the November 2020 election to...
Cloquet City Hall will be closed June 13-14 so employees can move into the new location at 101 14th St. (previously the Members Cooperative Credit Union building). The Cloquet police department will be sharing the new location with City Hall. Current phone numbers for both City Hall and the police department will remain the same. City Hall will be open for business on Monday, June 17 at its new location. Call Cloquet City Hall at 218-879-3347 with any questions or concerns....
An Esko man is dead following a hit-and-run accident in Duluth May 28. Stanley Brown, 30, of Duluth, was charged in Duluth Sixth District Court Friday, May 31 with criminal vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a collision, as well as fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and second-degree refusal to submit to a chemical test. According to the criminal complaint, Peter J. Seppanen was riding a motorcycle when he was struck by a red Jeep that crossed the centerline into his lane of traffic on 40th Avenue West. The Jeep driver,...
