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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Thank you, Mike Creger, for the excellent article about Cloquet native William Dupont in the May 24 edition of the Pine Knot News. It is the perfect reminder of what Memorial Day is all about. It is a very somber and poignant article that touches on the experience that way too many families across America have experienced when a loved one dies in warfare. You did a great job of introducing readers to the person behind the statistic. I was especially keen while reading the article because my paternal great-uncle from Itasca County was a B-17... Full story
I am a member of the state bar association and received the article “Strong Link Between Teen Cannabis Use and Psychosis Risk” in one of our weekly bar news updates. I am an assistant prosecutor for the cities of Carlton, Cloquet, and Scanlon, prosecuting misdemeanor offenses and select gross misdemeanor offenses such as thefts from Walmart and impaired driving. While in law school I trained as a guardian ad litem, which is someone who is court-appointed to be the voice for children in certain court proceedings. Part of the training inv... Full story
When the philosophers and theologians and other Smart Alecs living in the realm of Enlightenment remind us that “Beauty Is Everywhere” if only we’d open our vacant, searching eyes to it and allow the reality of it to blanket us like a saffron, terrycloth robe, they tend to leave out the part about beauty — the aesthetic elements of it, anyway — being inherently subjective. Your Beauty may not be mine. So, when we’re encouraged to “allow beauty in,” we’re, in fact, being encouraged to define what... Full story
The window to run for public office closes at the end of the business day on Tuesday, when the two-week candidate filing season comes to a close. Running for local office is a big decision. A proper campaign to introduce or refamiliarize oneself with voters takes both time and fundraising for things like lawn signs. An election victory means modest or scant compensation in most cases, and comes with loads of responsibility. It requires the office holder to study and be informed on matters, and spend oodles of time in meetings and visiting with... Full story
Earlier this week at the group home, we experienced a harrowing moment. One of our residents fell from bed, screaming he was hurt. Lying tense on the floor as we assessed his condition, his vocalization turned to a new refrain, “I’m afraid!” We felt so bad for him. We know him well, and understand his history of traumatic falls. We consoled and comforted him until he calmed. The Cloquet Area Fire District paramedics were able to assess him, deem him unharmed, and help return him to bed. Our resident shared a cathartic conversation with Jorda... Full story
The great migration from rural to urban living in the past century brings a nostalgia for farm life, which is met, in part, by agritourism. With the internet, organizations such as FarmStayUS, Hipcamp, and others can draw people from all over. Hosting strangers for a few days can be a cash stream boosting a working farmer’s livelihood. But certain ambitious organizations use farm visits to knit relationships that last. Renewing the Countryside (RTC), a Minnesota nonprofit, pursues the mission of “connecting people interested in sustainable rur...
Dear Graduates, Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your graduation from high school. It is an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourselves. Please know that your community and loved ones are proud of you, too. As you go off to jobs, college, the military, trade school, work, a gap year (or two) or however you choose to begin adulthood, we’d like to offer some words of advice. While some of them seem cliche, that doesn’t mean they’re not sincere or based in reality. 1. Enjoy the moment, because you never know what’s coming next. W... Full story
I just finished reading the May 3 edition of the Pine Knot. I reside in Florida now but lived and worked most of my life in Cloquet. I was very disturbed by the business article written by Brady Slater, entitled, “Tribe projects include cannabis.” I worked for more than 20 years as a guidance counselor at Washington and Churchill elementary schools in Cloquet. As part of my job duties, I taught students about drug education, peer pressure, decision making, and consequences for actions. I have taught thousands of Cloquet kids during my car... Full story
OK, kids — go get your placards and bullhorns and be prepared to shove “OK, Boomer” at me. We live in a world with way too much information. It overwhelms. It freezes us. It rules us. It just makes things so dumbly different. The last time I wrote about an amazing Northern Lights experience seems like a lifetime ago. The last time I saw the aurora act like it did last week was in the 1990s. I’m not exactly sure when, because I’m old. (Shakes fist.) I was in my 20s, and, as those of that age are wont to do, I was walking home with some visi... Full story
I would like to thank Rep. Jeff Dotseth for his work co-sponsoring Minnesota House File 3925, which was just passed. The bill helps fix a problem with homeowners insurance for people who use a Transfer on Death Deed to pass real property to their heirs at death instead of having to go through the probate process. The bill is not perfect, but l believe it is an improvement over what the law was before. The bill was sponsored by four Republicans and two Democrats. I am glad the two parties were able to work together on this. Sam V. Calvert, St.... Full story
ete Stauber’s latest newsletter statements on wolf delisting I say: please put some numbers to your claims. Rep. Stauber goes on about wolf predation and lost pets but hasn’t provided much evidence of the problem besides anecdotes. What is the official documented rate of pet and livestock mortality in Minnesota? How much money has federal, state or counties agencies paid in compensation to farmers and ranchers in Minnesota for livestock lost to wolf predation? How do the “many experts, hunters and farmers” arrive at their wolf populat... Full story
I would like to echo the remarks made by Mark Cline’s recent letter calling for support of our local newspaper, the Pine Knot News. We are fortunate to have a local paper to help us keep informed of local happenings and events. The Pine Knot has an excellent, competent and friendly staff. This is evidenced by the many awards that they have received. The recent articles on the status and description of the new county jail, the status of the Cloquet Forestry Center, future building plans for the Fond du Lac band among other stories are very i... Full story
The young mother rubbed oil on her already brown legs and lay back on the towel in the sand, her skin a shiny offering to the sun. Nearby, her blond, husky son, covered in sand, sucked orange pop from a straw. “Don’t spill that,” the mother said, not opening her eyes, not moving her head, her brain slowly melting in the heat. “I’m not,” the boy said, truthfully. He looked at the pop and the sand around him, checking for signs of spillage. “I don’t want any ants,” the mother said, breathing a... Full story
Fair warning out there, with spring comes a spirit of optimism, and the Pine Knot News is not immune. Thus, we give only positive feedback this week. Enjoy. Thumbs up to news that the legislature adopted compromise language for school district public notices that will keep them in local newspapers and allow only certain school districts — which unexpectedly find themselves without a local newspaper — to publish notices on their own websites until Aug. 1. Like Swift County Monitor-News publisher Reed Anfinson said in last week’s guest editorial:... Full story
I moved to Cloquet upon retiring in 2017. I had previously lived in Chanhassen/Chaska, which were served by capable “local” newspapers. These papers and others were owned and operated by Southwest News Media. While having one company operating several regional papers made good economic sense (fewer staff, lower overhead, ability to sell ads in multiple papers, shared columns, etc.), it did so at the expense of each paper losing a bit of its truly local flavor. Shortly after I moved here, I was shocked to hear that Cloquet was getting its own... Full story
Is Rep. Jeff Dotseth about to stumble again as he did last year with the bonding process that nearly cost Carlton County taxpayers $10 million in lost funding for the law enforcement complex in Carlton? In my opinion, Dotseth proved at that moment he cannot be trusted with issues directly affecting property taxes in Carlton County, and advancing our community’s needs should never again be left in the hands of his incompetent representation. Here we are again. In the current legislative session, Dotseth appears to have ambitious intentions f... Full story
I am deeply troubled by the recent proposal to reduce the Carlton school week from five days to four. This change was proposed without adequate notification or consultation with parents, and it threatens not only our children’s education but also places an undue burden on working families who will need to arrange and pay for additional childcare. Next year, I will have three elementary school students. According to the childcare rate at South Terrace school, this care will cost $4v per hour, resulting in $2,400 for my family next year. With t... Full story
The Northern Lights Academy is a school district serving students who need special education support for their whole school day. The staff at NLA believe all students deserve the opportunity to become academically successful and socially responsible citizens. This year they have asked the Minnesota Legislature for help in replacing outdated learning spaces which are also too small to serve all the students who need their level of support. Thank you, Sen. Jason Rarick and Rep. Jeff Dotseth, for introducing HF 4282 and SF 3939 — a request for a... Full story
Efforts are underway in the Minnesota Legislature to further damage the future of the state’s community newspapers. The Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA) has proposed last-minute legislation allowing school districts to publish their public notices on school websites rather than in their local newspapers. In its argument for moving public notices to school websites, the MSBA points to the loss of community newspapers and the increasing difficulty of finding one in which to publish its notices. Although those instances are rare, they a... Full story
Let's talk about electric vehicles for a moment, shall we? A few weeks ago I bought a 2022 Kia Niro and I want to share my delight with it and perhaps stimulate some conversation around this new technology that may or may not change our transportation landscape. Those of you who know me know how much I loved my 2007 Subaru Forester. We made an unbeatable team, but after 17 years together, a fuel leak that saturated the back seat helped me realize that the time had come to move away from... Full story
It would be easy to cast a wary eye at the actions of the Carlton school district, which over the course of roughly 10 days this month adopted a four-day school week beginning next year. The notion came as a surprise. The move to adopt it was hasty and could be construed as panic. The outcomes of a four-day week are worthy of a much longer discussion than the one held by the board and administration. The board’s action ignored Wrenshall altogether, even though the districts are in the process of negotiating consolidation. The superintendent p... Full story
I worked for the City of Cloquet for 40 years and came to know Pine Valley well. It has long been a Cloquet gem overlooked by many. The first time I walked into the chalet, my immediate thought was what a great place this would be with an updated chalet that had a Master Fireplace! Thank you to the Medich Family for having this same vision. It will forever be a lasting legacy for not only Joe Nowak, Mike Marciniak and Hank Nelson, who gave their everything to Pine Valley, but also to George and Helen. Thank you! Jim Prusak, Pike... Full story
I want to express my appreciation to kind strangers. Thank you to the father carrying his young son, who took my hand and made a path through the snowbank so I could get to the Good Friday service. Thank you to the kind gentleman who took notice of me struggling to push my grocery cart through the heavy slush and puddles in the Super One parking lot, and came to the rescue, pushing and parking with a smile. So appreciated! Thank you to the patient, smiling clerks who wait for me to decipher and count out the right change with my dimming... Full story
Last week the Pine Knot ran a story by the Minnesota Reformer, with the self-ascribed tagline “Minnesota Reformer is a nonpartisan news producer.” I visited the Reformer website. After perusing several articles, it appears to me this organization is basically a surrogate for the Democrat party that publishes hit pieces. I wrote a letter to the editor filled with vitriol and accusations but paused before I submitted it. I thought, what is one more angry letter going to do to help the situation? It won’t. It may get a few nods of approval by pe... Full story
The words “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are ensconced in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. At a time when people in the new colonies struggled to meet basic needs, procure property and establish a free society, it is a bit puzzling that the Founding Fathers would list “pursuit of happiness” on an equal level as “life” and “liberty.” We are almost 249 years removed from the time when those words were written. The United States of America has grown from 13 colonies t... Full story
