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

The morning of June 21, Father's Day, broke hot and humid in the Twin Cities. I was visiting my daughter and son-in-law and three of my grandsons. My work quarantine was over and, for the first time i... Full story

Q What in your personal background, characteristics and qualifications makes you good for this job? A I worked for Carlton County for 39-plus years, the last eight years as Carlton County Assessor.... Full story

Q What in your personal background, characteristics and qualifications makes you good for this job? A I was born and raised on a Carlton County farm where my parents instilled in me the value of hard... Full story

Q What in your personal background, characteristics and qualifications makes you good for this job? A Working as an accountant at Alaspa and Murray provides the opportunity to work with a variety of... Full story

Q What in your personal background, characteristics and qualifications makes you good for this job? A I am a hard working, honest individual that is running for the position of city councilor to... Full story

Q What in your personal background, characteristics and qualifications makes you good for this job? A I am an upstanding citizen of the reservation, city, county, state, country and tribe. I work to... Full story

Former Cloquet mayor (2014-18) Dave Hallback did not respond to several efforts by Pine Knot News to reach him over the past two weeks.... Full story

Cloquet's newest librarian, Courtney Dietsche, started her job May 18 when the public library was closed to the public in response to the coronavirus pandemic and knee deep in a construction project....

I once had the opportunity to walk the Freedom Trail in Boston, Massachusetts. The trail is a red line painted on the pavement and guides people from the central city park to many of the historic... Full story

Pope Francis has appointed Father Michel J. Mulloy, from the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, to be the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Duluth, it was announced June 19. Bishop-elect Mulloy was...

For the next two months, the Pine Knot Gallery will exhibit Julia Jaakola's watercolors, with an opening and in-person (socially distanced) reception on Thursday, July 9. How did Julia become an artis... Full story

The Cloquet Library has been blessed with tremendously dedicated staff and volunteers over the years. One of those was Helen Jensen, a 40-year employee of the library, whose name would be near the...

Hello. I would like to formally introduce myself as the new summer intern at the Pine Knot News. My name is Lexis Gerard, and I am going into my senior year at Cloquet High School. Ever since I was...

Natalie Swanson shares a recipe from "The New Midwestern Table," a 2013 book of recipes from Amy Thielen. Rhubarb-Lime Icebox Pie Sweet Shortbread Crust Nonstick spray or canola oil 1½ cups fin...

Jessica Olson recently pickled some rhubarb. A family member declared "it made the whole house smell like stinky feet. Worth it, though, to make kale confetti salad from Kim Ode's 'Rhubarb... Full story

As a child, Kevin Schroeder used to tag along with his dad as he headed to the Scanlon fire hall to work as a volunteer firefighter. Schroeder became a firefighter himself, first as a volunteer in... Full story

Members Cooperative Credit Union recently hired Susan Shold as its new vice president of human resources. As a key member of MCCU's executive leadership team, Shold will oversee recruitment, talent...

Local photographer Dan Malkovich likes to photograph woodland wildflowers and shared these two with the Pine Knot News this week. According to Malkovich, several varieties of trillium grow in...

A stock water tank and a giant Coca-Cola bottle replica contained most of the one million pop can tabs Wright Elementary School students collected back in the late 1980s. The collection was to be recy...

About 14 years ago, Kate Isles gave her partner in life and music, Bill Isles, some direction while they were driving in St. Cloud. "Don't go down by the bridge," Bill recalls Kate saying. "(And) I... Full story

With teams of experts reminding us daily of the defensive measures we must all take to fight off the coronavirus, we tend to think that's all we need to do. But now comes our moment to go on the... Full story

Residents at Diamond Willow Assisted Living facilities in the region have been able to virtually and, sometimes, physically - divided by glass - connect with loved ones in recent months as the...

The Pine Knot inadvertently left out some of our Mother's Day art submissions last week. Here are three of those celebrating generations of mothers....

I am breaking the first rule of writers: "Write about what you know." Even though my husband and I have raised gardens for 50 years, my knowledge of the plant world remains quite incomplete. I come...

They were singing and preaching from the rooftop Sunday at Journey Christian Church in Cloquet. It was the second drive-in church service where associate Pastor Fred Goldschmidt preached and the...