Pine Knot News - A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

The annual rite of spring in Cloquet is the opening of Gordy's Hi-Hat on the hill in Cloquet. Customers will notice little change in the decor there, and, according to the Lundquist family, perhaps... Full story

The Esko boys basketball team met its Achilles' heel in the Section 7AA championship Friday, falling to Pequot Lakes, 55-42, at Romano Gym on the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth. It was t... Full story

Last month, when I was at the Carlton County Historical Center perusing old Cloquet skiing information for a story, director Carol Klitzke brought me a big box of files she asked me to review. They...

Gage Stankiewicz is now an All-American in track and field after the NCAA Division III meet in Virginia Beach, Virginia, earlier this month. A junior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the... Full story

Rae Marie Elizabeth Sylvester, 82, passed away peacefully Sunday, March 3, 2024, at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton with her children at her side. Rae was born Sept. 19, 1941, in Perham to Mike... Full story

The annual meeting for residents of Thomson Township ended Tuesday with a standing ovation for clerk-treasurer Rhonda Peleski, who is retiring at the end of the month. Jason Paulson, a former...

"History is who we are and why we are the way we are," said David McCullough, the American historian who received two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Book Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.... Full story

It was a tale of two halves last Saturday when No. 4 seed Moose Lake/Willow River and neighboring No. 5 seed Barnum met in the Section 7AA boys basketball quarterfinals in Hermantown. The Bombers... Full story

The No. 1 seeded Esko boys basketball team continues to cruise through the Section 7AA playoffs following an 84-47 victory over No. 8 seed Duluth Marshall Saturday at Hermantown High School. Esko... Full story

Cloquet's Aidan Ripp is a 2024 national champion four times over, winning every Nordic ski race he competed in last week during the U.S. Collegiate Skiing Nationals championships. Held March 5-9 at... Full story

The 7AA girls basketball season came to an end for local teams last week as Esko, Barnum and Moose Lake / Willow River bowed out of the tournament. Trailing 53-52, Esko had a chance to advance to the... Full story

Rae Marie Elizabeth Sylvester, 82, passed away peacefully on March 3, 2024, at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton, with her children at her side. Rae was born Sept. 19, 1941, in Perham to Mike and May... Full story

While the girls basketball playoffs are entering their final stages, the boys sectional tournaments finally kicked off this week. The Pine Knot News offers this overview of local boys basketball... Full story

Cloquet was fifth out of 55 teams in the Lake Superior Regional FIRST Robotics competition last weekend at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, the best the team has placed in its five years of... Full story

Charles Franklin "Frank" Liupakka, 81, of Esko passed into the arms of his Savior, Jesus Christ, peacefully surrounded by his family on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, at Essentia St. Mary's Medical Center in... Full story

A slow start proved too much to overcome for the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team Saturday night. Playing in the semifinals of the Section 7A playoffs, the Lumberjacks fell behind early, rallied... Full story

Meeting for the third time this season Wednesday night, Cloquet dispatched Hibbing with ease, 56-20, in the quarterfinals of the Section 7AAA tournament. The Lumberjacks will move on to play in the Se... Full story

The Northern Revival 18s were back in action on Sunday, Feb. 25, at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire volleyball tournament. The Revival went 5-0 on the day to take home the Gold championship.... Full story

Two Lumberjack wrestlers qualified for the state boys wrestling tournament this week in St. Paul: freshman Aiden Theisen and senior Warren Heitala. Theisen will make his second straight state... Full story

In one school year in the 1940s, in rural Moose Lake, there were five sets of twins riding a bus to school. This is testament from Jim Eckman, who, with his twin brother Chuck, belonged to one of... Full story

When the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjack boys hockey team opened play in the Section 7A playoffs Tuesday, it marked the Lumberjacks' first time playing in a Class A playoff tournament. It was also the... Full story