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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As a pandemic summer heats up meteorologically, so has the national rhetoric around how school districts will start classes in August and September. Normally sleepy and short meetings of school boards across Carlton County have become hours-long discussions on what school days will look like in the fall. Committees of staff have formed and ramped up planning in the past few weeks as an announcement is expected Monday from state leaders on how things will proceed. While Covid-19 cases in...
Hours after the Cloquet City Council voted to require face coverings by Aug. 1 in all public indoor spaces in the city of Cloquet, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced that a statewide mandate would begin Saturday. The Cloquet City Council joined a growing number of cities issuing mask ordinances during its regular meeting Tuesday by a 5-2 vote, with councilors Kerry Kolodge and Steve Langley dissenting. On Wednesday, Walz cited the emerging ordinances and decisions by businesses in requiring masks... Full story
In what normally would be a summer filled with parades and town celebrations, Wright, on the western edge of Carlton County, stands alone. It was filled with normal sounds of summer fun - such as a parade Saturday - as a scaled-down Wrong Days went off during the current coronavirus pandemic. It was bittersweet for many, as most regular summer events have been stored away for next year when it is hoped that large gatherings of people will be a safer prospect. We've got a whole page of Wrong...
Residents of the Carlton Lofts apartments in Cloquet were forced to exit the building Sunday night when a fire alarm went off just before midnight. Fortunately, it was not a big fire and the alarms worked as they should. Unfortunately, it left a lot of folks standing around in their pajamas for at least a couple of hours outside the former middle school building. Firefighter Jason Maki said residents were already outside when first responders arrived. While the call was initially for an alarm,...
An employee of Sunnyside Health Care Center in Cloquet tested positive for Covid-19 last month, and the Cloquet nursing home is now on the Minnesota Department of Health’s list of congregate care facilities “with Covid-19 outbreaks.” Community Memorial Hospital CEO Rick Breuer said the classification was “unfortunate” but technically correct. There have not been any patient cases at the nursing home attached to the hospital — one employee tested positive. The employee had been off work for an extended period of time (since June), became ill... Full story
Gov. Tim Walz Wednesday finally issued a rule Wednesday requiring people to wear masks or face coverings in public indoor spaces in Minnesota. More than half of U.S. states have issued similar mandates. So have most major Minnesota cities, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, Duluth, Rochester and St. Cloud. On Tuesday, Cloquet and Superior joined the chorus. In announcing his decision, Walz said Minnesota's business and health care communities both supported a statewide mask order. Walz had dela... Full story
Studies have shown that masks limit the spread of the coronavirus by blocking respiratory droplets that can travel through the air when someone coughs, sneezes or even just speaks. There’s also strong evidence to suggest that masks help protect others from catching the virus from the person wearing the mask. When you talk, “things are coming out of your mouth. They’re coming out fast,” explained Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech who studies the airborne transmission of viruses. “They’re going to slam into the cloth mask. I think even a... Full story
Children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old are not required to wear masks, but are encouraged to wear them when in public. People who have health conditions, disabilities or behavioral needs that make it difficult to safely wear a mask are exempted from the rule. There are also exceptions for people who are unable to remove a mask without assistance, and for any person who has trouble breathing. In addition, the mandate does not apply to private indoor spaces, including homes, or hotel rooms. There are also lots of situations in which you... Full story
The Carlton school board decided on Monday to go it alone on a $3,000 study that would determine what district residents would pay in taxes if a consolidation with Wrenshall should ever come to fruition. The financial impact study would pinpoint how taxes would be affected for residents in both districts as they put fund balances and debts together. It’s something Carlton and Wrenshall board members have said should have been done in the process of providing information to residents about the consolidation. On Monday, Carlton members said g...
The fun continues this weekend in Carlton, where the annual Carlton Daze event was canceled due to the pandemic but some local businesses are continuing with several of the traditional celebration’s most popular events Friday through Sunday, July 24-26. The festivities kick off Friday evening with bingo 4-8 p.m. at the Carlton VFW, followed by music 9 p.m.-1 a.m. at the VFW (Stranded) and the Third Base Bar (Runaway). Saturday is a big day, with the VFW car show along Chestnut Avenue from 9 a... Full story
Members of Croft's Crew - from left, Cale Prosen, AJ Maijala, Josh Sanders, Ben Croft and Bob Fox - adopted a stretch of Carlton Road and met earlier this summer to collect trash. Contributed photo...
Saying that a man she once had a relationship with told her “paybacks are a bitch,” a woman told a Cloquet police officer this past weekend that she was held against her will for 34 hours and repeatedly raped and assaulted by a Scanlon man. Dennis Michael St. John Jr. was arrested Sunday and charged Tuesday with six felony charges after the alleged victim reported a horrific series of events that began at Black Bear Resort Casino late Friday night. According to the complaint filed in Minnesota Sixth District Court in Carlton, the alleged vic...
The City of Carlton has added playground equipment to the Northern Pacific Junction bike shelter area, much to the delight of monkey bar users Winston and Berkeley Leno, ages 6 and 7. Last year the Barnum school district was getting new playground equipment and put out a request to other communities to see if there was interest in the old equipment. Carlton wrote a letter in response stating how it would use the playground and where it would be located. The request was granted and the company...
The filing period for school board, cities (except Cloquet) and township positions opens Tuesday, July 28, for residents looking to serve by leading at the most local levels. The filing period runs through 5 p.m. Aug. 11. In most cases, the filing fee is $2. Applicants can generally pick up an application and/or file at school, city or township offices, although people should call ahead for hours because of pandemic protocols. The general election is Nov. 3. Following is a list of school board,... Full story
Due to staff vacation time, the Pine Knot office at 122 Avenue C in Cloquet will not be open the next two Fridays, July 31 and Aug. 7. We will be checking voicemail at 218-878-9332 and emails. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] with any questions.... Full story
What can we expect when the schools open this fall with the pandemic ongoing? The Minnesota Department of Education has created three scenarios, with input from the Minnesota Department of Health. A decision will be made soon, and we don’t know if the decision will be statewide or district-by-district. Scenario 1 is a return to school in person, with social distancing but some flexibility. Scenario 2, a hybrid, has schools open but with capacity limits, hard guidelines on social distancing, and perhaps students in classrooms one to several d... Full story
The Minnesota Department of Health will be hosting two days of community testing for COVID-19 at the St. Louis County Fairgrounds in Chisholm next week. The testing will be open to everyone, including those without symptoms, and will be free. The testing will be held on Tuesday, July 28 from 12:00 – 7:00 P.M. and on Wednesday, July 29 from 10:00 – 5 P.M. at the St. Louis County Fairgrounds (1010 Discovery Drive, Chisholm, MN). The testing does not require insurance, and people are encouraged to sign up ahead of time to help avoid waiting in...
Becky Gergen moved to Cloquet a couple years ago. She spends a lot of time with the 6-year-old boy in her life. She loves Cloquet’s parks, but since she has a pool of her own she doesn’t spend much time at The Beach at Pinehurst Park. Still, she brought up an idea for our great city park system — explored years ago by the city but which bears revisiting — that she posted on her Facebook page recently: “Wouldn’t it be great to have a splash pad in Cloquet?” she wrote. A splash pad, in case you d... Full story
It was a balmy evening, perfect for sitting outside and listening to high-energy jazz. We'd brought our lawn chairs and positioned them near the front of the tent, to the left of the stage. We were about to be treated to marvelous live music, the first in months at Carlton's Oldenburg House. In their response to Covid-19 concerns, owners Emily Fuerste and Glenn Swanson converted their periodic jazz and dining nights to "Cookin' at the O Outdoors." We purchased delicious sandwiches at Paul's...
The disenchantment with and removal, these days, of monuments to past figures of note whose behaviors, in retrospect, are being found wanting has me in mind of a recent trip I took to eastern Europe. After the fall of the Soviet Union a massive effort to remove the statuary of the communist elite found in most every village led to the creation of a ‘theme park’ near Vilnius in Lithuania. Large scale sculptures of Lenin, Stalin and lesser known figures were situated in a park-like setting with walking paths inviting public viewing. With app... Full story
All of us have a voice for what we want our nation to be. It should represent the rule of law, the Constitution, that our republic was founded on. The Constitution has outlined with God’s blessing, a nation for all. Yes, it has come a long way for equalization for all, but we are trying. Every system (education, economy, legal, faith) is being attacked. Whether you are a Trump supporter, as I am, or not, the commonality we all should have as citizens of this great country is the rule of law and not the extreme destructive communistic/anarchy t...
FDLTCC releases spring dean’s list Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet announced that 149 students attending the college during spring semester achieved high academic standing and earned dean’s list honors. Requirements for the list include maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher while completing 12 or more course credits during the semester. A total of 1,358 full-time and part-time students were enrolled at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College this past spring. The following students from the region earned dean’s list honor... Full story
Lois Marie Gray, née Unke It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Lois Gray, our loving and devoted mother, and friend to all whose lives she touched. Lois Marie Gray, née Unke, 90, went to her heavenly home on July 1, 2020, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. Lois was born Nov. 17, 1929, and was raised on the family farm near Cavalier, North Dakota, where she worked in the fields with her father. At age 16, she enrolled at the University of North Dakota in Grand F... Full story
Lynn M. (Johnson) Rinks Lynn Mary Rinks, loving wife of Tom Rinks for 57 years, mother, grandmother, teacher, dear friend, and nurturing communicator, was born at the Cloquet Hospital in 1941 and passed away in the winter of 2020. She grew up in the big white house on the hill in Sunnyside. She was preceded in death by her father, Kenny Johnson, an architect; her mother, Eleanor Johnson, a teacher; and brother Paul, an entrepreneur. Lynn was an avid reader and probably had read most of the books in the old library by the time she graduated... Full story
Phyllis Jean Bakka Phyllis Jean Bakka, 80, of Cloquet passed away July 17, 2020, in her home. She was born Dec. 13, 1939, to Frank and Josephine (Mudik) Kastanek in Staples. Phyllis was employed as the secretary through the University of Minnesota Forestry Center in Cloquet until her retirement. She was a member of Queen of Peace Catholic Church. Phyllis enjoyed gardening - growing flowers and vegetables each season. She was an avid reader and liked to go on rides sightseeing. In her younger... Full story
