The Cloquet City Council and Mayor Roger Maki did the right thing last week when they voted to eliminate the project labor agreement mandate for private businesses. We elect the mayor and the councilors to look after the city of Cloquet, and that...

Thank you for your heartfelt story by Brady Slater in the March 17 issue. It was nice to see you honor a friend and one of the best mechanics that I know. I have been a loyal customer of Tom Getchell’s for decades, and so were my sons. It was nice...

Throughout life I’ve toggled between professional worlds, working in journalism or being employed in human services as a caregiver. For the first time, I’m juggling those. I work part-time at the Pine Knot News, of course, and also for a Cloquet...

On Sunday, March 26, I had a fall on ice at a local store. A kind man who was driving a truck at this store helped me without being asked to by moving my car where I lay on the ground and helping me to get back into it. I would like to express my...

I love (Kermit Nielsen’s) ideas for security dogs in schools. (Column in the March 24 Pine Knot.) As a teacher for 45 years, I could see it working. I wonder if you could get your friends at Proctor High School to pilot a program. You most...

There is a fine line between public duty done right and dereliction, and currently the city of Kettle River is skating on it. After a lengthy letter from the state auditor’s office in February outlining a long list of questionable procedures by... Full story

Steve Olson did a good job of relating the history of the various laws that affected the Fond du Lac Band in his March 3 column. But I wonder how far back in history we want to go. After all, the Ojibway seized the land from the Sioux. There is a...

As a retired school teacher, I’ve thought a lot about school shootings over the years and I would like to suggest an unconventional idea — incorporating service dogs into the school environment. School service dogs would add a dimension that huma...

Thumbs up to people having fun together, even when it’s cold or snowing outside. It’s all over the recent issues of the Pine Knot, from the City Meet to the Mojakka Cookoff. Sure, it takes time to organize these things, but the payoff goes way...

Sunshine Week is an annual initiative to promote open government and journalism’s role in it. It is celebrated in the second full week of March. It was launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors — now News Leaders Association. The...

History was made last month when 34 strong DFL senators at the Minnesota State Capitol delivered the critical commitment to safeguard our children’s future. The Minnesota 100 Percent Clean Energy bill, passed by the DFL on party-line Senate and...

This legislative session has proven interesting. In most bienniums, the first year is appropriations, not policy. However, there have been a lot of policies introduced and passed. Our local legislators have voted against most of the legislation....

I disagree with the Pine Knot reporter’s description of a community member shouting questions at the Wrenshall school board meeting in the Feb. 17 issue. I was sitting right next to that community member and he did not “shout.” In fact, he...

Back in the 1960s, China was a Third World country, but today it’s a superpower. We, through trade agreements and importation, have turned the tables, making them strong. What do China, Russia and North Korea have in common? They’re all led by...