Week of June 12, 2026
Week of June 12, 2026
With high school graduations over, it’s time to support a different kind of senior: one with lots of lived experience who is over age 50. Co-hosted by Northwoods Credit Union and Reliable Insurance, this year’s Senior Day runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, at the Cloquet Armory.* It’s free and filled with useful information, along with light refreshments, fun giveaways and free resources. Find out what’s available, ask questions of experts and visit with friends. There will...
The Cloquet Country Club recently completed a very large capital improvement project and it did so without assuming more debt, a major accomplishment. For years, the club had on its wish list the need for better cart paths. Carts are, undoubtedly, dominating play with few golf walkers now scattered on the course. This has been a trend not only at Cloquet but across the country. Some courses require riding. The club's maintenance department did a good job of keeping the paths usable, but they...
The Carlton County board will discuss the prospect of a one-year moratorium on data center development at a meeting next month. "It would be worth a discussion," commissioner Susan Zmyslony said, drawing agreement from the other commissioners Tuesday in Carlton. The board heard from a group calling for a moratorium to "clarify the possible benefits and impacts of the role of data centers in our county." Named the Carlton County Land Stewards, the group was made up of four community members:...
Rest easy, Carlton grads: The metal Carlton Bulldog outside the high school will have a new home near the Four Seasons Sports Complex and Event Center. The fate of the bulldog was just one of many questions answered during a public hearing Monday on closing down the Carlton secondary school, part of the final sprint toward consolidation with Wrenshall on July 1. "I've never decommissioned a building before," said Carlton chairwoman Laura Nilsen. "So we vote Monday?" Yes. This week's special...
The career of Cloquet- Esko-Carlton's most decorated boys tennis player came to an end last week in the second round of the Minnesota State High School Class A Tennis Tournament. Ethan Lavan concluded a career that included four straight runs to the state tournament. "Obviously a kid like Ethan only comes maybe once in a coach's career if you are lucky," said CEC boys coach Tom Proulx. "We'll never see a kid of his caliber again as far as I'm concerned." Things got interesting before the...
They weren't all winners, but there was a strong showing among Carlton County athletes at the Minnesota State High School Class A Track and Field Meet last week. The top finisher was Ben Schmitz of Esko, who captured a third-place medal in the 110-meter hurdles. "Ben had a fantastic day," said Esko coach Matt Peterson. "He had an extremely busy hour during state finals. He was competing in the high jump, the long jump and preparing for the state finals in the hurdles all at the same time."...
Since the Carlton girls volleyball program started in the early 1970s, the school has only known two head coaches. Elsie Sjodin started the program in 1972 and coached for 20 years and then Barb Soukkala took over. The community celebrated Soukkala at a retirement gathering Tuesday, held in the gym at Carlton High School, appropriately. "I played for Elsie when the program first started," Soukkala said. "After high school I went and played a year at (the University of Minnesota Duluth) and then...
The Cloquet track team ran its way to a stellar Minnesota State High School Class AA Track and Field Meet last week. Two Lumberjacks finished in second place, while others had their best performances of the season. Makenzie Lynch was one of the stars of the state tournament as the Cloquet junior participated in four individual events. Lynch's top performance was in the 300 hurdles where she faced off against one of the top athletes in the state, Maddie Greenway from Providence Academy. "It was...
The Barnum girls softball team ended its season last Thursday when they fell 3-2 to the Southland Rebels in the consolation championship of the Minnesota Class A State Girls Softball Tournament in North Mankato. "We were right there the whole tournament," said Bombers coach Dustin Collelo. The Bombers opened the tournament with a 3-2 loss to West Lutheran and then beat New York Mills 5-1 on Wednesday before dropping another one-run decision in the consolation championship. "I felt our pitching...
We need a pause in the headlong rush into artificial intelligence. AI is dangerous. AI lives in hyperscale data centers. A moratorium on these huge projects provides a year to plan a safe path forward. Here are a few of the threats of AI: • Cyber vulnerability. Many of the services that we depend on, such as the Internet, banks, power grids, transportation (trains and planes), and others, are dependent on digital networks that have been hit with hacker attacks. AI is boosting the number of...
The Declaration of Independence formally declared and justified the American revolution. What was that revolution? It was against a government destructive of the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. In 1776, no government in the world secured those rights for all, or even most, of its citizens. It was revolutionary to declare that a government should do so. To be clear, the Declaration has nothing to do with the Constitution, which came later. It’s not about democracy, rule of law, due process, separation of powers, and the...
Barnum Community United Methodist Church Pastor Jeremy Woodley Youth group leader Bill Schoonover 3762 Front Street, Barnum 218-389-6876 office@barnumumc.org www.barnumumc.org 9 a.m. service, followed by coffee and fellowship Bethany Lutheran Church 5660 Hwy 210, Cromwell 218-644-3640 bethany55726@ yahoo.com www.bethanybethlehem.org Worship 9 a.m., with Sunday School Women’s Bible study 9:30 a.m. first Wednesday Bethany Beacons women’s ministry 9 a.m. second Wednesday Bethel Lutheran Church Pastor Rob Larson 1012 29th St., Scanlon...
My name is Elise Lockner, and I am one of two interns working at the Pine Knot News this summer. I am just coming up on my last year at the University of Minnesota Duluth where I have been working toward a degree in Journalism, as well as minors in photography and environment, sustainability and geography. I am originally from Bemidji, where I spent many hours exploring nature and running around with my brother and my friends. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a town full of my relatives and...
Cromwell-Wright School A Honor Roll 2025-2026 Second semester Grade 12 Justine Anderson Phoenix Anderson Kieriahna Goodin Larissa Homstad Rylee King-HagE James Lind Haylee McCuskey JJ Skalko-Olesiak Kaylee Smith Klaudiusz Sobczak Grade 11 Emelia Dahl Rose Dilly Mya Einberger Jorge Gatica Dominik Hanegmon Landon Mrosla Isabella Nyberg Remington Olesiak Grace Shelton Keira Webb Serena Zoeller Grade 10 Carys Borglund Cadence Casey Addison Disterhaupt Blake Granholm Brenden Gronner Clarissa Irving...
For Chad and Erica Thompson, helping with Spring Fever Days has never been about recognition. Whether setting up equipment for the parade, volunteering at community events, or supporting local organizations, the couple has spent decades contributing to the Barnum community. This year, those efforts are being recognized with their selection as the 2026 Spring Fever Days grand marshals. The Thompsons' connection to Barnum runs deep. Chad, a 1987 Barnum High School graduate, met Erica while they...
Now at the end of his career as Cloquet Middle School principal, Tom Brenner said coming home to teach decades ago meant he could pay it forward. After all, the Cloquet Class of 1984 graduate benefitted from some educator guidance as a youngster. "Part of my childhood was a little bit messy, and I didn't quite know where my path was," Brenner said. He didn't offer details but added: "There's some very, very special adults who guided me through that and helped me get to where I'm at. It's just...
Photography contributor Will Stenberg saw an adult coyote the week before he spotted what he suspected was a pup in his...
Nature photographer and frequent Pine Knot News contributor Will Stenberg discovered some interesting bird action in the past week. He noted, "This scene would appear humorous to anyone who is familiar with the aggressive nature of red-winged blackbirds during nesting season. A turkey vulture is none too large a target." Stenburg assumed he got too close to this killdeer's nest as it was feigning injury to draw attention to it and not a nest. A yellow swallowtail flitted around lilac blooms....
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources launched the first phase of a new electronic licensing system on June 9 with the fishing and hunting license module, replacing a system that has served the state for more than 25 years. The new system offers more flexibility than ever with three ways to buy a license — by phone app, online, or in-person from a license agent — and three ways to carry it (paper, PDF, or stored in the app). Customers can purchase, store, and even register harvests from anywhere, including areas without cell...
FRIDAY, JUNE 5 Community chess club, 3:30-5 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Also June 12 and June 26. SATURDAY, JUNE 6 Plant sale, 9 a.m. until sold out, Carlton County Transportation Building, 1630 County Road 61, Carlton. Sponsored by Carlton County Master Gardeners. Lady’s slipper walk 1-2:30 p.m., Jay Cooke State Park. Meet at the River Inn Visitor Center for this 2-mile moderate hike across the St. Louis River to a scenic hillside of yellow lady slippers. Park admission required. Bingo, 1-4 p.m., Cloquet VFW. Fifty cents per board or...
Naomi Sandstrom of Carlton has been named to the South Dakota State University dean’s list for the spring semester. Sandstrom is a student in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. • • Megan Hattenberger of Barnum was named to the Central Lakes College dean’s list. • • Annika Rakes of Cloquet received high honors recognition at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point after earning a grade point average of 3.75 to 3.89. • • The University of Wisconsin-Superior has named several Carlton County students to...
