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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For 6-year-old Aiyana Tegels, Wednesday was no ordinary day. She underwent surgery in St. Paul to remove corrective apparatuses from her legs that she's worn since late February. Expected to help Aiyana walk normally, the surgery was the culmination of a long journey that started when she was 6 months old, when her mother first noticed her daughter had trouble sitting up. "That's when we kind of noticed that her little feet weren't working the way they should," Ashley Tegels said at the...
The University of Minnesota Duluth announced its dean’s list for spring semester, which included the following students from the area: Barnum Madeleine Manahan, Oliver Swimeley Carlton Andrea Hille, Connor Kanirie, Ezekiel Palmer, Ben Talarico Cloquet Benjamin Bauer, Lindsey Dunaiski, Zachary Dunaiski, Casey Essler, Hannah Green, Tyler Hey, Nick Kallevig, Caley Kruse, Brynn Martin, Kathryn Owens, Andrew Peak, Camden Pollard, Sam Remus, Emerson Rock, Isabella Roy, Joshua South, Samantha Thomsen, Sarah Urban Cromwell Isaac Shelton Esko Faith B...
Cloquet school board members unanimously passed the closest thing to a balanced budget the school district has seen in years, with only $2,366 in the red for the unassigned general fund versus a projected deficit of $514,000 this time last year. “This is probably the lowest or as close to a balanced budget as I’ve seen,” said district finance director Candace Nelis. The unassigned general fund includes salaries, benefits and most items administrators and school board members have more control over, versus items such as food services, trans...
By unanimous vote of the school board Monday night, the Esko school nickname will no longer be "the Eskomos" as of June 30. The change, which has been urged for at least three years by some in the community, comes as a new state law goes into effect that prohibits school districts from using names, symbols, or images that refer to American Indian tribes. The board told parents and the community that they were still researching options about the nickname at its meeting on May 8 and planned to...
Nestled in a corner on the west side of the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College's main building is a medicine garden. Laid out in the shape of a turtle, it is divided into nine sections. The head and the feet make up five sections, where pollinator plants grow. The shell of the turtle is divided into four sections corresponding to the four cardinal directions. The north-facing section is planted with sweetgrass, the east section with tobacco, the west with sage and the south with cedar....
Firefighters responded to a structure fire in Barnum Township just after 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. A caller reported that a home was totally engulfed by fire on the 3000 block of Lone Oak Road east of the City of Barnum, the Carlton County Sheriff’s office reported. Occupants were all out of the home by the time crews arrived and helped with trying to extinguish the fire. It is believed a pet died. The home was considered a total loss. No firefighters were injured. Crews came from Barnum, Mahtowa, Blackhoof and Moose Lake fire departments. A...
In the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ weekly conservation officers’ reports, Cloquet’s Tony Elwell noted that abandoned fawn calls have been coming in. The DNR advised that, “if you find a fawn, please leave it lay even if you don’t see momma. Whitetail does commonly leave their young fawns tucked away for long periods of time while feeding a safe distance away to avoid drawing attention to their little ones....
Cloquet City Hall and all Carlton County offices will be closed on Monday, June 19, in observance of the Juneteenth Holiday. This includes County Courthouse offices, County Government Services Building, County Transportation Department, Human Services, Public Health, Motor Vehicle License Bureau, Veterans Service Office, and the University of Minnesota Extension Service/Carlton County. The Hwy 210 Transfer Station will be open on Monday....
Pinehurst Beach in Cloquet has opened for the summer. Above, Luxun Fjeld, Reina Miens and Kallen Miens cool off at the Pinehurst Beach on a hot Tuesday afternoon. Right, Jack Deters plays in the sand at the beach. A few changes have been made to how the beach is operating this year: • The concession stand has been closed, replaced with ice cream sold at the front desk, and pop, cookies and chips from vending machines. Patrons are now allowed to bring their own food into the park. • Swim tes...
After months of discussion and even contention, the Wrenshall city council adopted a campground ordinance June 7. The measure passed with a 4-1 vote, with councilor Duane Ziebarth dissenting. The campground ordinance requires permitting with the city and a public hearing prior to approval, as well as planning with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency over stormwater coverage prior to any dirt work being done. Additionally, each site must be a minimum of 40 feet wide. Campgrounds or RV parks will also need to be at least 5 acres with a...
To help ensure public safety and protect natural resources, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has activated burning restrictions for Carlton, Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties. In the area affected by the restrictions, burning permits will not be issued for brush or yard waste; no fireworks may be ignited on any public or private land outside city limits (check with the local community for any additional restrictions); and campfires are allowed only in an established fire ring...
There's a new superintendent in Wrenshall following unanimous school board approval Monday. Retired Deer River superintendent Jeff Pesta was approved for a part-time role. It's what the financially strapped district could afford and what Pesta, 58, wanted to work. "I wanted to continue to work part-time," he said. "It's like scratching an itch. Working through challenges, solving problems, that's something I still want to do." Pesta replaces Kim Belcastro, who spent 11 years in the role,...
Carlton superintendent John Engstrom asked the Carlton school board to renew the current operating levy for another seven years. The per-student levy has helped Carlton with general operating expenses and was voter-approved twice. The Minnesota Legislature now allows school boards to renew, on their own authority, a voter-approved operating levy. Since the funding is based on enrollment numbers, the actual amount each year varies, but in 2022, it meant roughly $400,000. Engstrom was not enthusiastic about asking for an increase to this amount,...
Congratulations to the Class of 2023 on your graduation from high school. It is an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourselves, and please know that your community and loved ones are proud of you, too. As you go off to jobs, college, the military, trade school, working through a gap year or however you choose to begin adulthood, we'd like to offer some words of advice. Although some of them may seem cliche, that doesn't mean they're not sincere or based in reality. Enjoy the moment,...
I just got back from a car trip to the West Coast. My cousin Kaija Kivimaki from Finland, my sister Denise, and my cousin Patsey Koivisto VanderVeer from Floodwood went with me on a mission to bring a headstone for my great-grandfather's grave in Washtucna, Washington. The headstone came from a granite boulder I found in a wooded part of my Automba property. I had it cut in half and an inscription put on each section. One half of the stone was marked "Emil Riitijoki Reed, Ita Aure, Finland,...
When the cops knock on your door at the stroke of midnight, it usually isn't to say you've won the lottery. It's typically bad news. It was. The worst news. The well-intentioned young officer and his no-speaking-part partner did what they could, which was mostly stand there and say, "I'm so sorry" as I fell to my knees and wailed, clutching at the partner's cop collar, trying to drag him to the ground with me, working toward someone else's injury. Misery loves company, and creates it if it can't...
On June 6, after careful review and analysis, the Army Corps of Engineers revoked the Section 404 wetlands permit for PolyMet Mining, Inc.’s proposed NorthMet mining project. This was a great victory for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, clean water, and Minnesota. Yet, in a press release issued shortly after the decision was made public, U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber from the Eighth Congressional District decried the Corps’ decision as an assault on northern Minnesota and our way of life. We are writing to set the record straight. The...
More than 40 local athletes participated in the Minnesota Boys and Girls State Track meet last weekend at St. Michael-Albertville. A number of those athletes had top showings and made it to the finals. Class AA boys Miles Fischer had a big day for Cloquet by finishing in third place in the 1,600 meter run. The senior followed that up with a seventh place finish in the 3,200. He ran 4:18.43 in the 1600 and 9:39.20 in the 3,200. "Miles Fischer almost got the 1600 record from 1985 of John Wodny,"...
When asked what her three seniors have meant to her and their community's softball squad over the years, an emotional Moose Lake/Willow River head coach Kelley Goeb needed a moment. Rightfully so, as the momentum that Sarah Christy, Alexis Hoffmann and Hannah Roach have brought to the Rebels' program has sent them soaring into the record books. In fact, the trio bookended their prep careers in familiar territory - with a win - as Christy and Hoffmann split duty in the pitcher's circle, spinning...
The Esko baseball team is on the verge of a state championship after two wins in the Minnesota Class AA Baseball Tournament in St. Cloud. Esko was set to meet Perham at 1 p.m. Friday at CHS Field in St. Paul, where championship games in all four classes are being played. Esko was powered to a win in the semifinal against Cannon Falls Wednesday by a grand slam homer by Issac Sertich in the fourth inning. Esko had stormed back after being down 2-0 early and got a 7-2 win. Getting the jitters out...
Cloquet senior Karson Patten finished a high school golf career that included five trips to state on a high note: he tied for second place in the Class AA tournament, his highest individual finish yet. Were it not for a disappearing ball on the 10th hole, head coach Aaron Young said he was confident Patten would have ended the tournament tied for first. "No one could find it, so that put him two strokes back," Young said. "But it was really nice to see Karson finish so strong." On Day 2, Patten...
It took three games against Cherry in the section tournament, but the South Ridge Panthers got the wins when it counted, and entered the Minnesota State Class A baseball tournament as the top seed Tuesday. Playing at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, the Section 7A champs struggled on the base paths in their opening game against Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and fell by a 2-1 score. The team rebounded in the consolation bracket Wednesday, pounding Legacy Christian Academy 12-2 and taking the consolation...
In a field dominated by seniors, Cloquet freshman Ethan Lavan faced a sophomore in his first Class A state tennis match at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis, and won 6-3, 6-4, against Ayan Glaser from St. Anthony Village. Cloquet-Esko-Carlton head coach Derek Johnson said they didn't know much about Glaser going in - the two had not even played any common opponents - but he thought Lavan had a good shot at winning as long as he kept his cool. He did. "He earned it. He deserved to be...
It didn't take long for the Minnesota Wilderness to fill its coaching vacancy. The Cloquet-based North American Hockey League franchise announced Colten St. Clair as the sixth head coach in team history in a news release late last week. His hiring comes just one week after Brett Skinner departed to lead the coaching staff of the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. St. Clair, 30, has spent the last two seasons as associate head coach of the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers. In his first s...
Many of us are celebrating the beginning of summer by planting flowers and vegetable seeds in our gardens. Now is the season of graduation parties, rummage sales and family get-togethers. Maybe even a trip to someplace exciting and new. Everyone enjoy the next three months, and take time to smell the roses. Happy Father’s Day to the dads in our lives. Coming events Carlton VFW Post 2962 has bingo at 6:30 Wednesday evenings and a meat raffle at 6 p.m. Fridays. The VFW golf tournament is June 2...
