Pine Journal | Cloquet, Minnesota

Weekend warms up, cooler weather to return

Stefan Sundin — Sat, 02 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy Saturday as temperatures finally crank up into the 50s. Southwest winds will stay light.

A little more sunshine will show itself Sunday, with a chance of reaching 60 degrees in the afternoon. Winds will be moderate and out of the northwest.

A few showers are possible Monday, and a slight northwest breeze sets the stage for highs in the 40s most of the workweek.

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Prep report: Harriman, Cloquet blank Duluth Marshall

Staff reports — Sat, 02 May 2026 03:54:43 GMT

Cloquet pitcher Bo Harriman had everything working on Friday, shutting out Duluth Marshall on a single hit and striking out nine Hilltoppers in a 7-0 game on Friday at Wade Stadium.

He was also 3-for-4 with a two-run triple in the victory. Marshall’s only hit was a two-out single from Evan Lammi in the second inning. Pitcher Alden Marsolek went six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and striking out 10.

Hermantown 10, Hibbing 8

Ethan McCubbin delivered a walk-off two-run homer to centerfield as the Hawks won Friday at Centricity Park at Fichtner Fields.

Drew Sonneson was 3-for-3 with two walks for Hermantown. Hunter Gustavsson and Dylan Vesel had two-hit games for Hibbing.

Brainerd 3, Duluth East 2

The Greyhounds didn’t have enough offense on Friday to overcome to early runs in Brainerd.

Brainerd added to its lead with a third run in the fourth inning and East only managed a Jake Kuklock sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and a two-out RBI single from Jackson Spoden in the seventh. Spoden had two of Brainerd’s six hits.

Cole Licari took the loss for East, allowing three runs on nine hits in 4 ⅓ innings.

Esko 17, Hinckley-Finlayson 6

Easton Harker went 4-for-4 for the winners, while three other players had three-hit games.

Esko didn’t pull away until late, scoring 13 of their 17 runs over the sixth and seventh innings.

Northwestern 15-9, Barron 3-7

The Tigers’ offense had a field day in a road Heart O’North Conference baseball doubleheader on Friday.

Mason Chell and Tysen Teal took over the doubleheader. In Game 1, Chell went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and Teal was 3-for-4 and scored four times. Teal tripled and had two stolen bases. Teal and Gage Nollet also worked together on the mound, combining to hold Barron to three runs on six hits.

In the second game, Northwestern coughed up a 7-2 lead but recovered to score the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Teal and an RBI double by Chell.

Chisago Lakes 13, Rock Ridge 6

The visiting Wildcats matched Rock Ridge’s five-run fourth inning with five runs in their next at-bat to win on the road in Virginia on Friday.

Owen Hallin was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs for the Wolverines.

Chisholm 11, Two Harbors 5

The Bluestreaks hung eight runs on the board in the top of the seventh to surprise the Agates on Friday in Two Harbors.

Shea Showalter was 2-for-3 and scored three times for the Bluestreaks. Six Agates had one hit apiece.

Mellen 12, Northwood/Solon Springs 4

N/SS led 2-0 after three but gave up seven runs in the fourth inning and five in the fifth.

N/SS had three hits, one of them by Isaiah Ahlberg, who scored three times.

SOFTBALL Duluth Denfeld 3, Esko 1

Denfeld pitcher Noelle Vesel held Esko to one run on six hits and opened the scoring with a solo homer on Friday.

Denfeld held that lead until Coco Flaig’s two-run double in the fifth inning.

Keira Leach had an RBI double for Esko.

Denfeld went on to claim two wins over Stella Maris later in the day.

Esko 3, Mesabi East 2

Lucy Barta’s RBI single in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie on Friday after both sides had early two-run innings.

After allowing two Giants to score in the first, Leach settled in, allowing only two Mesabi East hits the rest of the way. Leach also had two hits, including a two-run homer, for her own cause.

Hibbing 10, Duluth East 9

Isabella Shay was 3-for-4 with four RBIs as the Bluejackets came out on top in a back-and-forth affair at Ordean East Middle School.

Julia Plombon had two hits and three RBIs for the winning side. Both teams had six-run innings. East opened the bottom of the seventh by drawing two walks. A sacrifice bunt and a groundout brought one run in and put the tying run on third but a pop-up ended the threat.

Viv Berrisford had two hits and two RBIs for East.

Moose Lake/Willow River 7, South Ridge 6

Jessie Volk’s homer in the fifth inning put the Rebels into the lead on Friday.

Kendall Volk had a two-run double in a 3-for-3 day.

Ellie Fish, Maya Vanderscheuren and August Bernard had two-hit games for the Panthers.

Northwestern 7-11, Barron 5-4

The Tigers claimed two Heart O’North Conference wins on Friay in Maple.

In the opener, a seven-run first inning proved to be just enough, with Mallory Siddiqui and Gianna Giessler recording two hits apiece.

In the second game, Siddiqui had two more hits and four RBIs as the Tigers scored in each of their first six at-bats.

Eau Claire North 10, Superior 2

A wild pitch and an RBI single from Cora Cockerham put the Spartans into an early lead in Eau Claire but that was all the good news to come from Friday’s game.

Superior was outhit only 6-5 but struggled defensively. Cockerham, 2-for-3, was Superior’s lone player with multiple hits.

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Simeon Woods Richardson’s woes continue in 7-3 loss to Toronto

Mike Cook / Special to the St. Paul Pioneer Press — Sat, 02 May 2026 03:39:43 GMT

Kazuma Okamoto homered twice, Yohendrick Pinango had three hits in just his fifth career game, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3 Friday night at Target Field.

Lenyn Sosa also had three hits to tie a career high, and Patrick Corbin allowed two earned runs in 5⅓ innings to get his first win with the Blue Jays. Maplewood’s Louis Varland struck out Ryan Jeffers with two on in the ninth to end the game.

Byron Buxton homered for the fourth time in five games, but Minnesota lost for the 12th time in 15 games.

Okamoto hit a solo shot to lead off the fourth inning and added a two-run shot in the fifth to make it 6-2. It is the first multi-homer game for Okamoto, who signed a four-year, $60 million contract with Toronto in January. He hit 248 home runs during his 11-year career in Japan.

He nearly added a third home run in the ninth inning, but the ball was caught on the warning track.

Corbin (1-0), who made 30 starts for Texas last year and signed with Toronto on April 3 to help a rotation battered by early season injuries, scattered six hits and struck out four.

Minnesota loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning against Jeff Hoffman but only scored one run on Ryan Jeffers’ sacrifice fly.

For the sixth time in seven outings, Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5) failed to go more than five innings, allowing six runs — four earned — in 4⅔ innings, pushing his ERA to 6.49.

Buxton golfed a two-run home run in the third to tie the score 2-2. His nine home runs since April 13 are tied with Munetaka Murakami for the most in baseball.

Trying to throw out Daulton Varsho at home on a fielder’s choice, a throwing error by first baseman Josh Bell allowed Varsho and Sosa to score for a 2-0 second-inning Toronto lead.

Up next

RHP Dylan Cease (1-1, 2.87 ERA) starts for Toronto on Saturday, and LHP Connor Prielipp (1-0, 4.00 ERA) pitches for Minnesota. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.

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Frederick: When Ant Man goes down, Jaden McDaniels becomes Timberwolves’ superhero

Jace Frederick / St. Paul Pioneer Press — Sat, 02 May 2026 00:05:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — Jaden McDaniels wasn’t interested in rehashing the comments that became the focal point of Minnesota’s entire first-round series with Denver. Yes, he said essentially everyone on the Nuggets’ roster was a “bad defender” after a Game 2 victory. No, it wasn’t an attempt at a mind game, nor was it to fulfill any role as the villain of the series.

McDaniels says what he thinks. In the moment, that’s what he thought.

“I just didn’t care,” he said. “I said what I said. I’m not going to say it again.”

Because talk is cheap. It does little more than fill a local talk radio station segment. Off-handed comments don’t create substance that fulfills lasting legacies. Performances do, and McDaniels delivered on Thursday night.

McDaniels’ dominant, two-way showcase in a series-clinching Game 6 at Target Center was about nothing more than reminding the Nuggets, and anyone else watching NBA basketball, of the player the 25-year-old wing can be.

“It’s fun to see all the attention that he’s getting, but the way that he was playing, it was even more impressive,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “Outside of stuff that the fans were talking about, what he was doing on the court was special.”

With a capital S. McDaniels is a superstar hiding in plain sight.

He scored 32 points to go with 10 rebounds on Thursday. Defensively, he had two steals and a blocked shot while holding Jamal Murray, a likely All-NBA selection this season, to 4-for-17 shooting. All series, the Wolves’ wing stopper sucked the life out of Murray with his relentless full-court pressure.

For 45 minutes on Thursday, McDaniels ran from one side of the floor to the other, dominating each end of play. In the playoffs. To send home the No. 3 seed in the West.

“You love to play the whole game,” McDaniels said. “There’s nothing more I could ask for; almost the whole game, I mean. I’m solid. I’m not tired at all.”

That was evident in his finishing kick. McDaniels tallied 12 points and four boards in the fourth quarter. With Denver desperate for stops, the 6-foot-9 forward dissected the defense, routinely getting to his spots to knock down jumpers.

When the Nuggets finally put two defenders on McDaniels, he comfortably hit Rudy Gobert in the pocket, which led to an open kickout triple for Terrence Shannon Jr. McDaniels frequently insists he’s a point guard. When given the role, he fits the bill. He had zero turnovers in Thursday’s win.

It’s top-20-player-in-the-world-type stuff.

Minnesota is Anthony Edwards’ team. He has the ball. He is the center of the offense. There are many times when McDaniels gets lost within that ecosystem. But whenever the Wolves’ superstar is absent, McDaniels steps in and thrives. The defensive stopper has played in 20 games without Edwards dating back to last season, and is averaging 20.8 points in those contests.

The Timberwolves are now 11-5 this season in games in which Edwards sat, but McDaniels still played. When Ant Man goes down, Clark Kent puts on the cape.

“I think that’s what made us so comfortable about tonight’s game,” Conley said. “We know what Jaden is capable of. … We have guys that we know sit in the shadow a bit, don’t say anything, wait for their opportunities. And when they get them, they can pounce. … Especially Jaden, who can do multiple things and comes to work every day. And when he gets his opportunity, he makes the most of it.”

McDaniels has the playmaking, ball-handling, scoring and decision-making to be the sun of his own galaxy, and the stamina to continue to do what separates him from the field on the other end of the floor. In an era where everyone is searching for two-way talents, the Timberwolves have one of the very best.

His name was thrown around in trade rumors ahead of the February deadline, the wing linked to a potential blockbuster trade involving Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Should such a deal ever take place, McDaniels looks well-equipped to prosper in a lead role.

In the second round, the Wolves need to win at least one game against the dominant Spurs to put purpose behind the small hope of an Edwards return. They will not achieve that feat without more heroics from their slender assassin.

And when Edwards does return, McDaniels will very likely lurk back into the relative darkness: the spare star player maintained on layaway in case of emergency. When needed to lead the way, he’ll likely deliver, with little to say about it in the aftermath.

Words aren’t necessary when your game does this much talking.

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Wild’s first-round playoff celebration was a long time coming

Jess Myers / St. Paul Pioneer Press — Fri, 01 May 2026 23:35:00 GMT

ST. PAUL — In a state where the most recent men’s pro sports title was celebrated in 1991, seeing die-hard fans in tears is sadly not uncommon. But as he makes his way through his first crack at the NHL playoffs, Minnesota Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt noticed a new kind of emotion expressed in the deafening final two minutes of his team’s 5-2 win over Dallas on Thursday night.

“For me, it’s the only feeling I’ve had of NHL playoffs (but) obviously I know the history of everything,” Wallstedt said after he helped push the Wild to the second round for the first time since he was 12.

“I see our fans when we scored our fourth goal. I looked back through the glass, and I see someone crying in the stands. I realize how big this is for our fan base. Not just us. There’s so many more people who are with us on this road and this journey. The excitement and joy to get past the first round is huge.”

It was 2015 when Wild fans last got to experience that joy of winning a playoff series, April 26, 2015, to be exact. The Wild torched St. Louis goalie Jake Allen and beat the Blues 4-1 to advance to Round 2. Until Thursday, it was the only time in 25 years that this franchise had clinched a playoff series at home.

Wild veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored a vital tying goal versus Dallas in the 2026 first-round finale, remembers that day in 2015. He was a relative NHL newcomer at the time, playing for the Blues and experiencing the decibel levels produced in downtown St. Paul.

“Being on the winning side is better,” he said after Thursday’s game. “I can’t complain.”

Being on the winning side comes after five frustrating and fruitless trips to the postseason in the previous six years. After first-round exits to teams like Vancouver (2020), Vegas (2021), St. Louis (2022), Dallas (2023) and Vegas again (2025), the refrain was familiar.

They were close. They were learning. They just needed a few more breaks to go their way. And on and on.

Matt Boldy, who sealed the series win with a pair of empty-net goals on Thursday, just turned 25 last month, but is playing playoff hockey like a seasoned veteran. Speaking following the first series-clinching win of his career, he said learning how to thrive in the postseason definitely takes time and experience.

“I think you learn so much throughout those other playoff series. Not that I’m old, but I feel like I was young during those and didn’t know what to expect or what the expectation was and stuff,” Boldy said. “I think it was just a group of guys that were ready to take that step. … You learn the ways that you need to play in order to make that jump. I think from Game 1, that was the mindset — that we weren’t going to let that happen again.”

Game 1, a 6-1 blowout in Dallas, which had Stars fans heading for the American Airlines exits in the third period, set the tone: the Wild were not going to be intimidated by the moment.

Over the course of the next five contests, they dealt with fluky bounces that tested Wallstedt’s mettle, a power outage on their power play, a Dallas man-advantage squad that had Minnesota fans cringing every time the penalty box door opened, a 2-1 deficit in the series, and the loss of veteran defenseman Jonas Brodin to an injury in Game 5.

Through it all, Wild coach John Hynes kept his team calm and focused, not looking back at what had gone wrong, but fully trained on the next game, the next shift, the next shot, the next save.

After all the challenges sent their way by a talented Dallas team, which had been to the Western Conference final for three years running, one could scarcely hear the final horn sounding at the end of Game 6, when the 19,273 inside Grand Casino Arena let out a symphony of noise that was equal parts jubilation and relief.

The chance to watch their hockey team play on Fishing Opener weekend and beyond hasn’t come around in Minnesota for a while. So, a few tears of joy were absolutely acceptable.

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Photos: Stories in the state park

Staff reports — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:31:15 GMT

CARLTON — National Library Week wrapped up Saturday, April 25, with authors and librarians visiting Jay Cooke State Park to talk about their work and read books. The Pages and Pines celebration also included a nature-themed story stroll, campfire, community art project and more.

The event was held in conjunction with a quarterly free state park admission day. The crowd was so large Saturday that many visitors had to use an overflow parking area.

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Solar field planned for Moose Lake

Macklin Caruso — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:08:41 GMT

CARLTON — Carlton County will lease 40 acres of land at the Moose Lake Carlton County Airport for the development of a solar field.

On Monday, the Carlton County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a 25-year lease to US Solar Development, a Minneapolis-based renewable energy company.

The firm will lease the land for $400 per acre annually as the field is being constructed and $900 an acre once it is complete, totaling $36,000 in annual revenue for the county, according to County Engineer JinYeene Neumann.

The proposal received praise from Carlton County resident Tom Karas, who spoke before the board as a “recovering solar developer.”

“There's probably not a better solar company in the Midwest that you could enter into a lease with than US Solar,” said Karas, who previously worked for the company.

“They have a great reputation for community engagement (and) being involved in their projects. I just can't say enough about them,” he added.

Karas noted the company’s work in agrivoltaics, where land leased by a solar field is also utilized for agriculture, such as honey production and livestock grazing. US Solar has piloted several such projects at its existing solar sites.

The field will be on the southern edge of the airport property. Though the land is administered by Carlton County, Pine County’s border runs through the airport. Though Neumann initially stated most of the field would actually be within Pine County, there seemed to be some confusion among county officials about whether that is correct. Neither Neumann nor County Administrator Dennis Genereau responded to requests for clarification.

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Cloquet schools contract with new school bus provider

Macklin Caruso — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:32:06 GMT

CLOQUET — The Cloquet School District entered into a contract with North Mankato-based Palmer Bus Service, which will assume the bus routes currently serviced by Cloquet Transit at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.

On Monday, the Cloquet School Board unanimously approved a two-year contract with Palmer Bus Service following a vote at its April 13 meeting confirming the district’s intention of doing so.

“At (the) last meeting, we brought forward just that the board will vote that we would move forward with Palmer for our yellow bus transportation … tonight we have the contract there for you with Palmer,” Superintendent Michael Cary said.

The contract runs through 2028, though it can be extended another two years with a 3% fee increase. Though prices vary by bus type and service time, the district is generally contracting daily bus services for up to $400 a day.

The move follows a business decision by Cloquet Transit to transition away from school bus operations, which struggled to remain profitable, according to CEO Tonio Adler Di Giacomo. The company will instead focus on its coach bus division, LCS Coaches.

The Cloquet School District intends to enter into a contract with LCS Coaches for its athletics and extracurricular activities. The contract will be ready for a School Board vote in the near future, according to Cary.

Palmer Bus Service will take over Cloquet Transit's current school bus garage, and will offer jobs and the same wages to all school bus drivers currently employed by Cloquet Transit, according to Cary and Adler Di Giacomo.

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Esko superintendent finalists named

Staff reports — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 18:14:38 GMT

ESKO — Three finalists to become the next superintendent of Esko Public Schools will be interviewed May 6. The candidates are: Greg Hexum, principal of Esko High School; Jodiann Fanth, principal of Barnum High School; and Brian Trettin, principal of Ashland High School in Wisconsin.

The Esko School Board selected the finalists on April 24, according to a news release from the firm contracted to lead the search.

The interviews are open to the public at the following times: Fanth at 4:30 p.m., Hexum at 5:30 p.m. and Trettin at 6:30 p.m. They will take place in the Board Room adjacent to the Esko District Office, 2 East Highway 61. The School Board will deliberate and may make a selection following the final interview.

The board aims to hire someone to start July 1 to replace Superintendent Aaron Fischer, who is leaving to become director of the Minnesota Rural School Association.

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House ethics committee drops complaints, but restates the 'norms' of lawmaking

Mary Murphy — Fri, 01 May 2026 22:27:24 GMT

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House Ethics Committee heard and later unanimously voted to dismiss three ethics complaints on Friday, May 1.

While the hearing didn't have much teeth in terms of disciplinary action, it raised questions about lawmaking “norms”: How present lawmakers should be during their work, whether certain work actually “matters” and what ties to lobby groups are too tight.

Engen, Hudson complaints

House Democrats filed an ethics complaint in early April against Reps. Elliott Engen, R-Lino Lakes, and Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, for leaving the Education Finance committee early on March 26 for lunch and a drink at a nearby restaurant, and soon after making an appearance for a debate on the House floor.

In the early morning hours of March 27, Engen was arrested and has since been charged with DWI. The ethics complaint does not have to do with his DWI, only his conduct at the Legislature on March 26.

“I conducted myself in a way that I would be proud of that day," Engen said during the ethics hearing. "That evening, it's a different story."

Engen said that he feels “remorse, shame and regret” for his actions on March 27. Several lawmakers have DWIs, including Sen. Tou Xiong, a Democrat from Maplewood and Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, who is also running for state Auditor against Engen.

But DWI aside, Engen stood on defense Friday for his actions while at the Capitol, asserting he did not miss any committee votes, was not inebriated and that it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to leave during committee.

“This is common practice,” Engen said. “We all know how little time we have throughout the day to eat, use the facilities, make a phone call, meet with a constituent. Those are all normative practices of this institution. And to say otherwise, I think, is disingenuous.”

House floor Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, has told the media that he’s not aware of members of his caucus doing the same. He said Friday that the institution and public “deserve better.”

“In no other job is it acceptable to leave in the middle of the work day to go drinking, and it should not be acceptable at the Capitol either,” Long said.

“I had a burger, and then I had a beer, and I'm having to litigate this as if it's some sort of a high crime or misdemeanor? I ate lunch,” Engen said.

Engen said he left committee because he “didn't see need to sit through a committee in which MDE advocates for money for MDE.”

“Having had a single beer, it did not in any way, shape or form, change my duties or my actions,” Engen said. “I spoke on the House floor that evening for over nine minutes, and I genuinely care about the substance of the bills that were before the House floor that day.”

Hudson, who also spoke on the House floor, asserted that with two drinks as a 6-foot-4 and 250-pound man, he “couldn't possibly have been legally impaired.”

Engen’s attorney, Chris Madel, also offered a spirited presentation, during which he showed photos of other lawmakers this session with beers at nearby Sweeney’s Saloon.

Hudson backed Engen's claim that it’s standard practice to be absent on occasion. He mentioned the frequency of such during long floor sessions where members push “yes” and “no” vote buttons for each other.

He was asked whether he has evidence that members who leave the House floor go to drink.

Hudson said, if given more time, maybe he could have found someone “who could testify to the number of vodka shooters that they find in the women's restroom off the retiring room” at the Capitol.

Hudson said he actually thinks the way the Legislature functions “incentivizes disengagement.”

“The reason why people are so eager to leave the House floor is because none of it matters,” Hudson said. “Everybody knows how they're going to vote. It's all been caucused. It's all been pre-programmed. Nobody's going to be convinced by anything that anyone is saying, and we all know it.”

Another question — not directed at Engen — was whether his actions brought “dishonor or disrepute to the house.”

“I’d love to answer that,” Engen said.

“I would say that Minnesotans don't trust this institution. It has no honor right now,” he said. “Politicians are as trustworthy as gas station sushi right now,” he said, before explaining how he doesn’t want to engage in “inauthenticity.”

Not only did Hudson assert absences were routine, but he also asserted it’s not out of the norm for a lawmaker to grab a beer. He referenced all the posts from the Sweeney’s event from earlier this session.

“That's strange, isn't it?” Hudson asked. “I mean, if there's this enforced expectation that members never drink during the day during legislative business, why would so many members eagerly document violations of that norm on their own social media accounts?”

He then pointed to the Democratic boycott at the start of the 2025 session.

“If there truly existed an absolute duty of perfect attendance at every moment of official activity, then one must ask what ethical standard applied to Rep. Engen and I taking a lunch break that did not apply to the entire House Democrat caucus when they boycotted,” Hudson said.

“The impact was significantly GREATER,” he said. "They denied a quorum, paralyzed the house, and collected more than $130,000 in taxpayer salaries while doing so.”

Falconer's complaint

Also heard Friday was a House GOP ethics complaint against Rep. Alex Falconer, DFL-Eden Prairie. The complaint cites an article by Alpha News, arguing Falconer’s position as a former lobbyist for the Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness raises concerns about his push for bills regarding the Boundary Waters.

Falconer terminated his lobbyist registration on Dec. 31, 2024, before he was sworn into the House, though he still works for them in a different capacity.

Falconer’s lawyer, David Zoll, who also worked for Senate President Bobby Joe Champion during his ethics complaint, called the complaint non-coincidental and “intended to distract.”

Falconer said Friday that his bills to advocate for the Boundary Waters are no surprise.

“I literally did campaign with a canoe on my car,” he said. “Protecting the boundary waters was the top three issue, if not the top issue, among everything else I campaigned on. Voters know my employment background.”

Clarifying 'norms'

The hearing ended with a unanimous vote that there was no probable cause for all three of the ethics complaints, meaning no further action will be taken. However, in the case of Engen and Hudson, the committee wanted to clarify the “norms.”

Ethics Committee Chair Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, read from a letter signed by all four members of the committee.

“House members are expected to attend assigned committees, unless excused, do the work of the committee and treat testifiers with dignity and respect," Moller read. "It is incumbent upon members to bring honor to the body and to uphold the public trust."

None of the members of the Ethics Committee spoke to the media afterward. Engen and Hudson had already left the committee.

Falconer said the whole debacle was not a good use of his time and that if anything, it distracted him from his legislative work.

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Minnesota veteran killed in WWII will be laid to rest Saturday after 80 years

Forum News Service staff — Fri, 01 May 2026 20:05:21 GMT

NEW ULM, Minn. — A Minnesota veteran killed in World War II will be laid to rest in his hometown on Saturday, May 2, after more than 80 years.

The remains of U.S. Army Capt. Willibald Charles Bianchi, 29, of New Ulm, were accounted for on Aug. 11, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced last year.

Gov. Tim Walz on Friday ordered all United States and Minnesota flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise to sunset on Saturday in honor of Bianchi.

“After more than 80 years, Captain Willibald C. Bianchi is coming home,” Walz said in a news release. “His courage on the battlefield and his endurance as a prisoner of war represent the highest ideals of service. Today, we stand with his family and community to ensure his sacrifice is remembered with the dignity and respect it has always deserved.”

In 1942, Bianchi served as commander of Company D, 1st Battalion, 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts, on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. He volunteered to help clear a series of Japanese machine gun nests and, despite being wounded multiple times, he continued leading the attack, earning him the Medal of Honor.

On April 9, 1942, he was captured and held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines, according to the agency.

Bianchi was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, after U.S. naval aircraft, unaware that there were prisoners on board, scored a direct hit on the Japanese transport ship Enoura Maru, in Takao Harbor, according to a Navy Times report.

A visitation gathering will be 10-11 a.m. Saturday at the New Ulm National Guard — Readiness Center in New Ulm, according to an obituary. A military tribute speech ceremony will be at 11 a.m. prior to the procession to the cemetery.

A graveside service and full military honors will be at noon in the Soldiers Rest Section of the New Ulm City Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Readiness Center.

Arrangements are with Minnesota Valley Funeral Homes of New Ulm.

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Minnesota Rep. Kristin Robbins drops governor bid

Forum News Service staff — Fri, 01 May 2026 15:36:54 GMT

ST. PAUL — Minnesota Rep. Kristin Robbins has ended her bid for Minnesota governor.

"After much thought and prayer, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Governor of Minnesota," the Republican lawmaker from Maple Grove said in a Friday, May 1, news release.

Robbins, 58, is a fourth-term representative who was first elected to the House in 2018. She chairs the newly created Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee and is vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

"Our state government and political system are broken, and after fighting for Minnesotans from the inside for the past eight years, I have determined that the best way for me to fight for the future of our state is from the outside," Robbins said. "I believe more than ever that it’s going to take a grassroots coalition of common-sense Minnesotans to save our state. And that starts with our families, faith and communities, not government."

The race for the Republican nomination for governor includes speaker of the House Lisa Demuth, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and health care tech executive Kendall Qualls. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is seeking the DFL nomination for governor.

The candidates hope to replace outgoing DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who decided not to run for a third term amid scrutiny over fraud in the state.

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Magistrate judge to retire from federal bench in Duluth

Tom Olsen — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:03:19 GMT

DULUTH — The only federal jurist chambered in Northeastern Minnesota plans to retire in January after 16 years on the bench.

Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois will step down after completing his second eight-year term, according to an announcement Thursday from the U.S. District Court in Minnesota. Applications are now being sought to fill the vacancy.

Brisbois, 64, was first selected for the post in August 2010, replacing longtime Magistrate Judge Raymond Erickson at the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse and Customhouse in Duluth.

A member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Brisbois was the first known person of Native American descent to serve as president of the Minnesota State Bar Association prior to his appointment.

Born in Aurora and raised in Hibbing, where he was a goalie for the hockey team and a top cross-country runner, Brisbois received his undergraduate and law school degrees from Hamline University in St. Paul.

He was an attorney for the Minneapolis law firm of Stich, Angell, Kreidler & Dodge when he was selected for the magistrate position, having experience mostly in civil litigation defense and appellate work at both the state and federal levels.

Earlier in his career, Brisbois also served as a U.S. Army captain, handling legal affairs in Europe.

Magistrate judges typically do not preside over trials, unless agreed upon by the parties, but they are tasked with assisting their presidentially appointed, life-tenured colleagues with a myriad of preliminary and administrative tasks.

For example, they review search warrants and set bail in criminal cases. In civil matters, they manage the schedule and rule on discovery disputes. When tasked with more significant issues, such as motions to dismiss, they write a report and recommendation for a district judge to review.

Minnesota has just seven authorized federal district judges, though several others continued to hear cases on senior status. There are seven full-time magistrate judges in the state, and one who works part time.

Brisbois is chambered in Duluth, but occasionally hears cases at the district’s other courthouses in Fergus Falls, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

A merit selection panel consisting of attorneys and community members will review applications, which are due June 5, and confidentially submit the names of five recommended candidates to the district’s judges, who will be tasked with making the next eight-year appointment.

Their selection will be required to pass an FBI background investigation and an IRS tax review before assuming the role, which currently pays $229,908 per year.

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Minnesota Senate, House pass prediction market bans

Maddie Mullikin — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:55:32 GMT

Correction:

Sen. John Marty has been the chief author of the bill since its March introduction. Sen. Matt Klein has always been signed on as a co-author. Information about the bill’s authorship was wrong in an earlier version of this story. It has been corrected.

ST. PAUL — Just seven days after Sen. Matt Klein was caught for betting on his own political race, the Senate floor passed a bill on Thursday that would place prohibitions on certain prediction markets.

Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights, is a co-author of the bill, SF 4511. Prediction markets allow individuals to bet on real-world outcomes, such as politics, economics, weather and sports. The bill would prohibit these markets, with a few exceptions.

According to his statement on X, Klein said he discovered the prediction market site Kalshi that had wagers on his primary race in October 2025. Out of curiosity, he said, he placed a bet of $50 on himself. Kalshi contacted him in March 2026, informing him that he violated their rules. He paid a fine and was banned from the site for five years.

“This was a mistake, and I apologize,” he said. “My experience, like many other Minnesotans, points to the need for clearer rules and regulations for these types of markets.”

In an apology on the Senate floor session last week, Klein said he was unaware of the rule and moved swiftly to address his mistake.

“I take the dignity of the Senate and of the entire Legislature very seriously. I know that we are held to a higher standard, and that is as it should be,” he said. “I apologize to my colleagues, and the body, for having fallen short of that high standard in this matter.”

While 56 out of 66 senators present voted in support of the bill, there was hesitancy from some on if it would be more effective or harmful for Minnesotans, especially farmers.

Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Alexandria, said he is concerned that the bill would end up broadening to prohibit farmers from using prediction markets for risk mitigation. He asked for the bill language to be reconsidered and tightened up so it isn’t as expansive.

“I’m concerned for farmers and those that use a lot of prediction markets to really balance their risk — on crops, selling or buying contracts or options. I know it’s excluded in here, but it’s only one stroke away from being part of the law that would ban it,” he said. “But I’m concerned there might be some far-reaching, unintended consequences, or some easy changes in the future that all of a sudden lumps farming and commodity practices that has (have) gone on for decades into some, now new, banned regulation in the state of Minnesota.”

He was also worried that the bill would not apply to Native American reservations and would leave doors open for them to expand their “monopoly of gambling” while excluding the rest of Minnesota.

Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, raised concerns about whether the Senate even has the authority to regulate prediction markets, or if the Commodities Futures Trading Commission is responsible for regulating it.

“I am hoping this goes to conference committee and we continue to work this out because the language is just too broad, and too undefined, and sweeps up too many other things,” he said. “But if we can stop the insider trading — if we can stop that illegal activity — until we can get this regulated properly, until the CFTC can get this regulated properly, let’s see what happens.”

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, the bill's chief author, said that the bill would align with CFTC regulations. He said the ban would also apply to tribes and pushed for the bill to be passed as soon as possible.

Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, agreed, adding that tribal leaders have actually expressed concerns over prediction markets threatening their tribal revenues from casinos. She said casinos and gambling organizations have “lifted our tribes out of poverty” and contributed millions of dollars to the state.

“Tribal leaders warn that if these prediction markets are allowed to operate without tribal oversight, they could erode our tribal revenues by diverting market activity and consumer spending away from our tribal casinos,” she said. “It could undermine our rural jobs tied to the gaming industry. Our casinos provide a huge amount of jobs in greater Minnesota.”

Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, a co-author of the bill, passionately condemned prediction markets for covering up that they are online gambling platforms, saying they use a federal loophole to claim they are a swaps or futures market.

He emphasized that the bill has support from both those who oppose and those who support online gambling because it gives Minnesotans a say on what gambling should be allowed in their state.

“It seems every week, we have new stories of insider trading and profiteering, including from the Biden administration,” he said, referring to officials betting on who former President Joe Biden was going to pardon in the final weeks of his administration.

Rasmusson referred to data that found that 69% of users on Polymarket, an online prediction market, lost money. Only 1% of users have gained 75% of the winnings since 2022, he said.

House buy-in?

It’s not clear whether the measure has support in the House. House Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said on April 23 that he would like to let the CFTC handle it first.

“I’m concerned about the sort of legal status of that,” he said. “How do we do that with federal commodities laws — which apparently the CFTC thinks that they have exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets because they’re essentially considered binary options under federal law? So I personally would really like to see that shake out before we, as Minnesota, kind of charge forward into trying to figure out do something that’s going to end up in a whole bunch of litigation. We’ve seen how costly that can be for the state of Minnesota.”

Despite some lawmakers’ hesitation, the bill passed on the Senate floor 56-10. A prediction market ban also passed as a part of the House’s omnibus Public Safety policy bill, SF 4760, on the House Floor on Thursday.

“It’s important to state that this is not a victimless crime,” Rasmusson said. “When you have someone who is corruptly using insider knowledge to gain money through these prediction markets, they are defrauding all of the other consumers who are participating in that market.”

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Minnesota Supreme Court upholds conviction of Madeline Kingsbury's killer

Sydney Mook — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:53:37 GMT

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction of Adam Fravel.

In November 2024, a jury in Blue Earth County found Fravel guilty of murdering Madeline Kingsbury, a Winona, Minnesota, woman who was the mother of Fravel’s children and his former domestic partner.

The state supreme court heard Fravel’s appeal back in January, where his attorney Greg Scanlan argued the evidence against Fravel was insufficient for a first-degree murder conviction. He said Kingsbury’s death was negligence, not murder.

Scanlan also argued that the district court should not have allowed certain testimony during the trial, including multiple statements Kingsbury had made to other people about an incident in which Fravel allegedly choked her and told her she would end up like Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old woman who was killed by her fiancé in 2021. Scanlan also argued against the inclusion of testimony from an abuse expert.

Kingsbury was reported missing in March 2023. Her body was found wrapped in a culvert in June 2023. Fravel was sentenced to life in prison for premeditated murder.

On Wednesday, April 29, the Minnesota Supreme Court released its opinion on the appeal. It found that any error in the admission of certain hearsay statements was harmless and that the district court “did not abuse its discretion” when it included expert testimony on similarities in domestic violence relationships.

The court also found that the alleged “cumulative errors” by the district court “did not deny” Fravel a fair trial.

“Any misconduct that the prosecutor committed by asking questions eliciting expert testimony on sexual abuse in domestic violence relationships did not prejudice the defendant’s substantial rights,” the Minnesota Supreme Court decided.

Ultimately, the court ruled that evidence at the trial was “sufficient” to prove Fravel’s “extreme indifference to human life, premeditation, and intent to cause death.”

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FBI carries out Minnesota fraud investigation search warrants

Mara H. Gottfried / St. Paul Pioneer Press — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:07:34 GMT

ST. PAUL — Federal agents carried out search warrants Tuesday, April 28, in the Twin Cities “relating to the rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars,” according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“The American people deserve to know how their taxpayer money was abused,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement. “No stone will be left unturned.”

The search warrants were at autism centers, according to Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi.

“This is an important action for families who rely on autism services and for Minnesota taxpayers fed up — as I am — with criminals taking advantage of the systems we have in place to deliver social services,” she said in a statement. “Our primary goal remains — to make Minnesota’s Medicaid program the best in the nation for program integrity.”

Homeland Security Investigations, working with law enforcement partners, carried out the warrants in Minneapolis, the U.S. DHS statement said. The FBI’s Minneapolis office said they are “involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity at various locations around the metro area as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Vice President JD Vance wrote on X: “The task force and the DOJ will be relentless in exposing these fraudsters wherever they may be hiding.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in January that it was pausing federal funding to child care subsidies and other social service programs in Minnesota and four other states because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally.

In a hearing in a federal court in January, a government attorney said the concerns were raised by media reports, though she told the judge she did not know which ones. Federal officials have previously cited a video that claimed to show fraud at Minneapolis day care centers operated by people with Somali backgrounds.

Gov. Tim Walz said “securing justice depends on” joint investigations.

“If you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught — and that’s exactly what we saw today,” Walz wrote on X on Tuesday. “Today’s raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it. That’s how the system is supposed to work, and our agencies will keep at it as long as there are fraudsters around to put behind bars.”

U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, applauded reports of agents raiding more than 20 locations.

“President Trump and his administration have made it crystal clear — our country will not tolerate waste, fraud, and abuse, and we are not going to allow people to take advantage of Americans’ generosity,” he said in a statement. “Thank you to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for taking action against Somali fraudsters. Minnesotans and U.S. taxpayers across the nation are grateful.”

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families said Tuesday’s law enforcement actions “are a result of state, county, and federal agencies working together to root out fraud and hold bad actors accountable.”

The agency said in a statement that they’re “pleased to see the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and our federal partners taking strong action based on information we have shared with them. We will continue sharing information with law enforcement to ensure they are able to conduct thorough criminal investigations.”

Minnesota Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson, of East Grand Forks, criticized Walz.

“When Walz took office in 2019, reports of massive childcare fraud began exploding across the headlines,” he said in a statement. “Seven years later, Minnesota is still grappling with systemic abuse; not only in childcare, but in housing assistance, support for vulnerable adults, medical transportation, and more.”

This story was originally published on TwinCities.com.

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Minnesota House, Senate pass bills to increase ‘sextortion’ penalties

Mary Murphy — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:04:36 GMT

ST. PAUL — Data shows teens are increasingly falling victim to “sextortion,” a form of digitial blackmail, and Minnesota lawmakers are cracking down on it.

The bill, HF2358, unanimously passed the House on Monday, April 20, and was added as an amendment to the Senate’s omnibus public safety bill, which passed the Senate on Tuesday.

The effort was brought forward after the 2021 suicide of 16-year-old Carter Bremseth in Olivia after he became the victim of an online sextortion hoax.

Sextortion is a form of online criminal blackmail where the offender will message individuals on social media — often targeting minors — and in some cases pretend to be an individual their own age interested in a romantic relationship, asking for explicit images. Once those images are received, the offender often threatens to release the images unless more explicit images and, in some cases, money are sent, the FBI explains.

Data shows the crime is increasing. Between 2021 and 2023, the crime increased by 300%, and by the fall of 2024, 456,000 online enticement incidents were reported for 2024 alone, according to the National Council of Missing and Exploited Children.

FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of financial sextortion of minors from October 2021 to March 2023, involving at least 12,600 victims — primarily boys — and led to at least 20 suicides.

“Carter’s Law,” authored by Rep. Scott Van Binsbergen, R-Montevideo, who represents Olivia, would make the crime punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both, if the offense “substantially contributes to the victim suffering great bodily harm,” and imprisonment of up to 15 years, a fine of up to $30,000, or both, if the offense “substantially contributes to the victim’s death.”

Current law does not include penalties for bodily harm or death and allows up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $20,000, or both if the crime resulted in financial gains or losses of $2,500 or more.

Van Binsbergen said on the floor Monday that Carter received a message on Instagram from someone he believed to be a girl, and after much “coaxing and encouragement, Carter reluctantly sent the photos.” Soon after, demands began.

“Carter felt trapped. All this happened within a 24-hour window,” Van Binsbergen said. “These scammers find victims by scouring through social media sites across the internet, and they often look for teenage boys and girls. They look for kids that are involved in activities, in sports like Carter was, or active in school, and they prey upon these kids because they know that these kids are concerned with what other kids are going to think, just like Carter.”

Sen. Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, author of the bill in the Senate, spoke on the floor Tuesday before the bill was added to the Senate’s omnibus bill.

"No law, no matter how strong, can bring Carter back. No penalty will ever fully ease the pain his parents carry every single day. What this bill can do is send a message ... that Minnesota will not tolerate these crimes,” Lang said.

Since the House passed a standalone bill and the Senate hitched the measure onto a larger omnibus bill, the Senate either needs to pass the House’s standalone bill or the House needs to pass the Senate’s public safety omnibus.

A separate bill from Lang, SF3958, would appropriate $125,000 in one-time grants for education on sextortion crimes to further prevention. That bill has not moved out of committee in the Senate.

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FAA drops no-fly zone near ICE vehicles after Duluth native sues

Tom Olsen — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:49:44 GMT

WASHINGTON — A month after a Duluth native’s lawsuit, the Federal Aviation Administration has abandoned its strict no-fly zone for drones near immigration enforcement activities and other federal assets.

The agency this week rescinded a January notice, which banned flights within 3,000 lateral feet and 1,000 vertical feet of Department of Homeland Security facilities and mobile assets, including vehicles.

The rule was challenged by Minneapolis-based professional photographer Rob Levine, who contended it was unconstitutionally vague and effectively prevented him from using his drone anywhere in the Twin Cities metro.

In its place, the FAA issued a new advisory notice that warns drone pilots against interfering with DHS operations, but removes the threat of criminal and civil penalties for journalists engaged in newsgathering.

“This is a big win,” Levine said. “It was heartbreaking to have my drones grounded at a time of such importance to my community, but I'm looking forward to getting back up there and getting back to my journalism as soon as possible.”

Levine, a 1980 graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth, had documented the influx of federal agents and protests happening near his Powderhorn Park home in the early days of Operation Metro Surge.

But he told the News Tribune he was forced to stop flying as a result of the temporary flight restriction. Because vehicles are often unmarked, he said he couldn’t possibly know if agents are present in any particular area. And unlike other flight restrictions, which are clearly marked on a map, cars are a moving obstacle.

Levine found that if he launched a drone from the center of St. Paul, he’d run afoul of the rule if DHS vehicles were present essentially anywhere in the entire downtown and State Capitol area — something he couldn’t possibly know before flying.

Under the rule, which was set to extend to October 2027, Levine said he could be arrested, have his drone seized and destroyed, and lose his future flying privileges.

The updated notice removes the distance requirements and simply asks operators to avoid flying drones “in proximity to” Homeland Security, Defense, Energy and Justice department mobile assets, including “ground vehicle convoys and their associated escorts.”

It warns that drones may still be seized if they are deemed to “pose a credible safety or security threat.”

Levine is represented by the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which, along with other industry groups and major news organizations, had expressed concern about the “chilling effect” of the original policy.

The Reports Committee had filed a request last week for interim relief, seeking a stay of the no-fly zone around DHS vehicles, but withdrew the motion in light of the FAA’s updated advisory.

Still, attorney Grayson Clary has said the FAA’s restrictions are becoming “more extensive, aggressive and reflexive” over time. He indicated they intend to continue litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

“We're glad to see the FAA rescind its original order, which was an egregious overreach that had serious consequences for reporters nationwide,” Clary said. “But this kind of arbitrary back-and-forth from the FAA is exactly the problem, and we intend to make clear to the D.C. Circuit that this restriction never should have been implemented in the first place.”

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DNR Report: Ice is out or nearly out on area lakes

Staff reports — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:06:42 GMT

CO Troy Fondie (Orr) handled numerous incidental otter catches by local trappers; checked streams, forest roads and spring trail closures; and seized an illegal minnow trap.

CO Sean Cannon (Cook) reports outdoor activity is ramping up quickly and will continue with ice out nearing on all area lakes.

CO Aaron Larson (Tower) monitored ATV, trapping and angling activity, during which he found angling violations related to licenses and saw many small lakes are clear of ice and larger lakes have lost more of their ice.

CO Marc Johnson (Hibbing) reports nuisance bear complaints have started filtering in and he reminds homeowners to remove all food sources such as garbage containers and bird feeders until natural food sources are available for the bears.

CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) responded to fire that was started by burning a piece of tissue paper and spread due to extremely dry conditions and wind. The fire burned over 10 acres of land and several outbuildings. He also worked on the Rainy River over the weekend and encountered boating safety and angling violations. Sturgeon fishing was slower compared to past years.

CO Duke Broughten (Aurora) reports ice went out on area lakes and spring fishing has yielded limited success. He reminds ATV operators to check spring closures.

CO Sean Williams (Ely) reports ATV activity increased. Smelting also picked up, and several netters were checked. Violations included angling without a license in possession.

CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked off-highway motorcycle complaints, ATV enforcement and the spring fish run, assisted other agencies and was part of a class that certified 23 youths in ATV safety. An investigation also led to a citation for failure to register bear baits.

CO Thomas Sutherland (Grand Rapids) took enforcement action for spearing suckers during the closed season, angling in a closed area and operating an ATV on a highway.

CO Hudson Ledeen (Hovland) reports steelhead anglers are starting to hit the shore. River conditions are at an extremely high flow state and water clarity is almost zero. He also inspected commercial minnow traps along with spring beaver trapping sets.

CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) reports ice conditions are quickly deteriorating and he advises caution.

CO Megan Franzen (Silver Bay) primarily monitoring stream angling activity and reports anglers were having low success as rivers were running heavy due to snowmelt and rain.

CO Cassie Block (Two Harbors) reports rainfall has made conditions challenging for angling.

CO Derek Peterlin (Brookston) investigated traps without legible identification, which led to the discovery of additional violations when the trapper was located with an otter in possession but did not have any otter site coupons. He also monitored ATV trails and addressed violations involving registration and seat belts. More watercraft were seen on lakes and rivers, and he reminds operators to have a personal flotation device for everybody on board.

CO Nathan Garza (Duluth West) spoke to firearm safety classes and patrolled for angling activity along the North Shore. Angers were having the most success at the Lester River and south pier. He reminds anglers that designated trout lakes are closed to all fishing when lake trout season is closed.

CO Rheanna Deal (Duluth East) reports rain caused high and fast water conditions that continue to affect trout streams. Anglers on Lake Superior had good reports of reaching limits of coho salmon during the morning bite. She also investigated TIP complaints and spoke at firearm safety classes. She advises checking the DNR burning restrictions webpage daily for updated information before starting any fires.

CO Tony Elwell (Cloquet) took calls on turkey hunting and trapping complaints, checked trout anglers and gave a firearms safety presentation to Esko area youth. Nuisance bear complaints have started to trickle in and she recommends taking down the bird feeders.

CO Aimee Hand (Willow River) fielded complaints about illegal turkey hunting and illegal off-highway vehicle recreation in the Nemadji State Forest, which remains closed.

CO Gabe Soriano (Hinckley) monitored anglers for the fleeting crappie bite. Common violations included being over limit, out of season, and no valid license. He asks people to be respectful when using other private property to access shoreline.

CO Ben Karon (Pine City) saw a number of anglers out and enforcement action involved seasonal and harvest limits. He also fielded calls of nuisance wildlife, responded to fire incidents, gave presentations to youth firearms safety classes and represented the DNR at a career fair.

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Northland Nature: Spring quickens in late April

Larry Weber — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Nature watchers often observe the changes as we go through the months. Phenologists have noted that virtually every month has a difference between the first half and the second. We had a good example of this in March.

While the beginning days gave us nearly 17 inches of snow, the rest of the month had only about one inch and it was very dry.

Now, in April, early and late are like two different seasons. Snows are replaced by rain (maybe a thunder shower), open waters are on ponds and lakes where ice was, and our lawns go from white to green. Temperatures of less than 10 degrees may now be more than 70.

The pace of spring, a month after the vernal equinox, has picked up quickly.

The sights of this are everywhere around us.

The furry buds of willows and aspens that opened weeks ago have matured to become long catkins of female and male with drifting pollen in the breeze. Catkins of alders are yellow with pollen, and those of hazels and birches are soon to follow. Silver maples that flowered early in the month are being joined by flowers of red maples.

Looking carefully over the forest floor, we find the earliest of spring wildflowers — hepatica, bloodroot and spring beauty. These small flora begin the scene, soon to be followed by many other ephemeral plants that are also quick to bloom.

And these blossoms may bring out a few hibernating butterflies — the anglewings.

Small ponds shed their ice of winter and are replaced by the melting snow to form vernal ponds. Since many of these bodies of water are temporary, the frogs that breed here need to do so quickly.

Males sing with a variety of sounds to attract females.

The early singing trio is chorus frogs, wood frogs and spring peepers. Usually starting by mid-month, they become four as leopard frogs call from the swamps in late April. Amorous anuran sounds bring on the formation of eggs in these sites.

Fourteen hours of daylight promotes northbound migration.

After the arrival of geese, swans, mergansers and ducks, the white pelicans, cormorants and herons are in the wetlands, and we may hear the call from a loon in a recently open lake.

The earlier flight of sparrows, juncos, finches and robins that all stayed for a while feeding on seeds are now having a new batch of migrants join them. Killdeer call from the fields while yellowlegs are at the water’s edge. Hermit thrushes and some Swainson’s thrushes arrive in the woods, occasionally giving their unique songs.

Migrant woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers, join the four kinds that wintered here. Out over the ponds and lakes, a few swallows use their quick flight to catch emerging insects. And the first warbler, the yellow-rumped warbler, begins the movement that will grow to about two dozen kinds in May.

Seed eaters have given way to insect-eating birds. Also in the woods, the drumming of woodpeckers, so common in late winter, is being replaced by another drumming — the ruffed grouse.

We might see newborn rabbits and squirrels in the yard while bears and woodchucks are slowly moving after their winter sleeps.

Also waking now is the queen bumble bee. She has wintered alone in the protection of logs and leaves. Impregnated last fall, she now flies low over the emerging grasses and forest floor in search of a site to begin the new colony. And maybe we’ll see the first dragonfly or spider web of the season.

Despite changing weather, spring is happening quickly in late April.

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DNR Report: Few anglers but ATV riders are out

Staff reports — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:02:12 GMT

CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports lakes remain covered with a foot or more of ice. Small streams have opened. Fishing activity remains minimal. ATV activity has increased.

CO Aaron Larson (Tower) monitored ATV and trapping activity and checked streams and rivers for beaver and otter trapping. Ice has started to degrade rapidly, with the ice receding from the shorelines.

CO Marc Johnson (Hibbing) is seeing more beaver/otter traps. He investigated a complaint of a truck stuck on a trail and took enforcement action.

CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) reports shoreline ice has quickly receded and it’s looking like an earlier than normal ice out date for most lakes. He reminds landowners to be mindful when starting any type of fires during dry spring conditions.

CO Duke Broughten (Aurora) monitoring fishing, trapping and ATV activity, and says the slow arrival of spring has limited outdoor activity. He also fielded calls regarding turkey season, bear lottery and youth ATV regulations, and assisted with a youth firearm safety class.

CO Sean Williams (Ely) notes most snow is now gone after a string of days in the 70s followed by heavy rain. Ice condition has deteriorated along with the snow and is now extremely dangerous. He checked anglers along the North Shore fishing tributaries, who were not having success over the weekend.

CO Thomas Sutherland (Grand Rapids) took enforcement action for children under age 16 operating an ATV on a public roadway and reminds that all individuals operating in the public road right-of-way need a driver’s license.

CO Hudson Ledeen (Hovland) patrolled for angling and trapping activities, took enforcement action for off-highway motorcycle violations and handled calls regarding nuisance animals.

CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) checked trapping activity, followed up on trapping complaints and worked ATV complaint areas.

CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) focused on angling and trapping enforcement, handled wildlife and trapping-related calls, and attended public outreach events. Variable weather conditions continue to delay the spring thaw.

CO Megan Franzen (Silver Bay) reports warm weather has melted much of the ice that had been keeping the rivers locked, and anglers are reporting varied success. She expects warm temperatures in the forecast should raise river temperatures as well as angling success.

CO Cassie Block (Two Harbors) checked anglers on area streams and Lake Superior, patrolled for trapping activity, and trained with K9 Jet.

CO Derek Peterlin (Brookston) reports fishing is starting to pick up on the St. Louis River Estuary and he expects an increase in smelt activity soon as well. He asks people to use caution when burning and follow any current burning restrictions and permit requirements.

CO Nathan Garza (Duluth West) checked anglers along the North Shore and reports that waters remain cold and angling remains slow. He also followed up on ongoing investigations and spoke at multiple firearms safety classes.

CO Rheanna Deal (Duluth East) patrolled trout streams and smelting locations and reports overall angling activity was low, though some anglers reported success with steelhead. She also followed up on TIP cases and assisted on an off-road-vehicle detail in General C.C Andrew’s State Forest. She reminds dog owners that allowing dogs to chase deer is illegal, especially as we near the fawning season.

CO Tony Elwell (Cloquet) patrolled for turkey hunting activity, investigated trapping and turkey hunting complaints, checked trout anglers, and attended the Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College Law Enforcement Expo. He also checked for smelt activity but saw little activity as ice is still choking the beaches and the rivers are still too cold.

CO Aimee Hand (Willow River) continued to deal with a multitude of off-highway-vehicle-related violations, primarily operation on the roadway and failure to register. She reminds ATV operators to have their headlights illuminated and ride on the shoulder if available.

CO Gabe Soriano (Hinckley) has observed consistent ATV traffic despite the roulette of weather conditions. He advises riders that posted signs are placed and enforced for a reason and asks them to check in with local forestry offices, DNR website, or a conservation officer for trail closures and conditions. He reminds riders to stay to the right in roadways, maintain appropriate registration display, and have their headlights activated while operating. He also notes that colored lights are not allowed to be activated off trails or forest roads when riding public property.

CO Ben Karon (Pine City) conducted compliance checks for angling and smelting, resolved illegal burning and shooting violations, responded to inquiries on fish and game laws, gave firearms safety course talks, and conducted regulatory inspections of commercial minnow retailers.

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Wrenshall district voters to decide future of consolidation

Macklin Caruso — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:26:34 GMT

WRENSHALL — Voters living within the Wrenshall School District go to the polls May 12 to decide the fate of a yearlong consolidation effort between the Wrenshall and Carlton school boards.

Triggered by a petition with 101 signatures — which exceeds the 5% of a district's registered voters required by state statute to trigger a referendum — voters will decide whether Carlton and Wrenshall finally consolidate after decades of debate.

“If I were to be a betting man, I don't know where I'd place my bet. You know, I feel like it's pretty even, so it'll be interesting to see where we're at in two weeks,” said Tommy Jacobson, a Carlton resident whose children attend Wrenshall.

If approved, the districts will consolidate on July 1, forming a joint at-large school board that will govern the district. Carlton will retire its aging high school, and pre-K through fifth grade will be held at South Terrace Elementary School in Carlton, and middle and high school at Wrenshall School.

If it fails, the future is less certain.

Faced with a budget deficit, the Wrenshall School District will likely have to cut its budget by 8-10% and ask voters to approve a new levy if consolidation fails, according to Wrenshall School Board Chair Mary Carlson.

Conversely, if consolidation is approved, Wrenshall Superintendent Frank Schill said he expects the new district to be more financially stable since it would have a much wider tax base.

Schill said that if the future consolidated school district were ever to need to hold a referendum seeking funding to support operations or building projects, the

larger tax base would allow them to "raise that money without digging in as deep into each taxpayer's pocket."

According to a financial analysis prepared by Ehlers, a Minneapolis-based public-sector advising firm, if the district consolidates, property taxes will increase for Carlton residents and decrease for Wrenshall residents.

According to the report, a home with a market value of $300,000 in a consolidated district in Carlton would increase by $164, and decrease in Wrenshall by $239 to average $501 in property taxes.

Carlton property owners pay the lowest share of school taxes in the county. Wrenshall property owners, on average, pay over twice as much in school property taxes. By contrast, the Cloquet school district will collect $1,345 in taxes — the highest in the county — on a $300,000 home in 2026, according to the report.

The Carlton School District has been able to maintain low property taxes in part because it has not had to take out bonds to repair its schools. However, the high school needs serious repair and has become a financial liability for the district. Wrenshall has already financed repairs to its school and is paying for them through the levy, which Carlton School District residents would also assume if the districts consolidate.

Although initially a proponent of consolidation, former Wrenshall School Board member Janaki Fisher-Merritt soured on the prospect after watching the boards navigate the consolidation this past year.

“It's like been this game of the goalpost shifting and shifting and shifting, and finally it gets to this point where it's like, we're not even on the field, like, what is going on here?” he said.

Fisher-Merritt cited past joint school board meetings that turned into grinding, hourslong debates over consolidation timelines and building plans, as the Wrenshall and Carlton School Boards that he said showed the boards were not working together and possibly negotiating in bad faith.

“The opportunity that the boards had to demonstrate that they're going to take a different path, and that is going to be more cooperative, and there's more give and take. I mean, the two joint meetings where they've had real things to decide, I just thought they were toxic,” he said.

Fischer-Merrit joined several committees that the boards announced intended to streamline consolidation efforts, but said he grew disillusioned with the lack of engagement with the committee process.

Fischer-Merrit has since joined a coalition of Wrenshall parents urging community members to vote no on May 12.

“I think it could have been a good thing, and I just feel like it kind of went off the rails,” he said.

Jacobson, by contrast, feels that consolidation is almost a necessity if he wants to continue raising his kids in their own community. If the schools fail to pool their limited resources, he worries neither will be able to provide the programming necessary to retain students.

“For us getting into consolidation, utilizing what we have currently between the two districts, taking the good from both, and just trying to make something new is very appealing,” he said.

Carlson urged caution about “misinformation” circulating in the Wrenshall community about consolidation.

“Our big ask is that the community is using legitimate sources for the information,” Carlson said, requesting that people go to RaptorsUnited.org, a website advocating for consolidation, to get information.

If consolidation fails, Carlton’s future is uncertain. It would have to maintain its aging Carlton High School building, which the board planned to retire after consolidation. It would also likely need to seek a new tenant to lease school space after Northern Lights Academy relocated to Cloquet in anticipation of consolidation.

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Cloquet School Board saves elementary positions amid $1.1M in cuts

Macklin Caruso — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 21:46:59 GMT

CLOQUET — The Cloquet School Board saved two elementary school positions amid $1.1 million in budget cuts that reduced the district’s workforce by the equivalent of 14 full-time positions.

On Monday, April 27, the Cloquet School Board unanimously voted to eliminate the positions of several non-tenured staff at the recommendation of district administrators.

However, board members took issue with the loss of elementary teaching positions that would have resulted in larger class sizes and the forced transfer of 22 students between Churchill and Washington elementary schools.

“We tried to move five or six kids last year, and it was an uproar. I've got significant concerns,” said board member Dave Battaglia, who added an addendum to the agenda to save the elementary positions. The addendum passed 4-2, with board members Nichole Diver and Nate Sandman voting against it.

The initial proposal by administrators was estimated to cut spending by $1.3 million. By saving the two positions, the board only reduced the budget by $1.1 million, according to Superintendent Michael Cary.

To not run a deficit next school year, the district may need to eliminate tenured staff, Cary said.

“I get very nervous if we talk about going back and trying to identify additional things at this late in the game, because there are all other measures of ramifications that could be impacted,” Cary said.

The Cloquet School District has a long history of forcing students to transfer between elementary schools. Though the district first requests volunteers for transfer, it is often met with strong opposition from parents unwilling to relocate their children.

If the positions had been cut, classroom size was projected to increase to the upper threshold standards set by the School Board.

“When we're pushing these upper limits of these areas, it's not really the best education for these young kids. It truly isn't,” said board Chair LeAnn Butler, noting that this would be the second consecutive year of cutting elementary positions.

Amid shrinking enrollment, Cary said the district should consider restructuring elementary schools to a pre-K through first-grade building and a second-grade through fourth-grade building to provide students stability and eliminate forced transfers.

“We either need to decide that we're going to live with discrepant class sizes or section sizes between the two buildings, or we need to decide that we're going to be okay with moving towards a lower elementary and upper elementary building,” Cary said.

The measure to save elementary school positions met resistance from some board members who fretted that it was too late to reconfigure cuts.

“I guess I'm just a little disappointed that we gave a direction and now we're just kind of trimming and cutting it, and then now we're coming in last minute making changes,” Sandman said.

In addition to teachers, the staffing reductions include paraprofessionals and other support staff. The Cloquet Area Alternative Education Program principal position also is being eliminated. As the alternative program moves to the high school, it will share a principal with the high school, and a teacher will be promoted to dean of students for the alternative program.

Initially, the district expected to make $1.5 million in cuts. However, due to the expected closure of the Carlton High School building, special education cooperative Northern Lights Academy will begin leasing Cloquet’s Garfield School full-time for $200,000 a year, reducing the cuts the district needs to make.

The cuts follow a $1.9 million budget cut last year that eliminated the equivalent of 30 jobs, and a $2 million revenue shortfall in 2024 that eliminated 23 positions.

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Cloquet school administrators propose to eliminate 16 positions

Macklin Caruso — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:24:21 GMT

CLOQUET — Faced with a financial shortfall for a third consecutive year, Cloquet Public Schools is set to eliminate the equivalent of just over 16 full-time positions at the end of the school year.

On Wednesday, March 22, the Cloquet School Board held a special meeting to review a proposal by district administrators to eliminate positions they estimate would save the district $1.3 million. The board will vote on the proposal at its meeting Monday, April 27.

“Budget reductions are always amongst the very hardest things we have to do,” Superintendent Michael Cary told the board. “To tell people at the end of the year that we're not going to need their services the next year is always difficult, and it's not something that we all ever take lightly.”

Though the proposal tries to leverage retirements to minimize the number of staff being laid off, Cary estimates that eight teachers and three paraprofessionals will be involuntarily affected. Staff impacted by the cuts learned of the decisions Tuesday, Cary said. District officials plan to publicly share the names April 27.

Because of state law and union contracts, the district is required to lay off based on seniority. To do this, district officials aren’t proposing to eliminate specific employees but rather positions. Remaining employees may then be moved into new roles. Though the district has a plan on where it will move staff based on licensing, those plans won't be shared with impacted personnel until after the board votes on the proposal, Cary said.

“These budget reductions have led to us needing to shuffle and shift many staff into new roles,” Cary said.

If the board approves the proposal, it would follow a $1.9 million budget cut last year that eliminated the equivalent of 30 jobs, and a $2 million revenue shortfall in 2024 that forced the district to lay off 23 employees.

Cloquet School District business manager Candace Nelis previously said the projected shortfall is largely the consequence of declining enrollment and shifts toward online learning and Postsecondary Enrollment Options, which allows juniors and seniors to enroll at local colleges.

The Cloquet Area Alternative Education Program will relocate to Cloquet High School, allowing the district to streamline its administrative structure and reduce further cuts, Cary said. The proposal calls for the elimination of one principal position. District officials are proposing that the alternative program share a principal with the high school, and a teacher would then be promoted to serve as the program’s dean of students.

The district is set to lose $400,000 in grant revenue and plans on eliminating positions directly funded by those grants. The proposal also calls for the elimination of paraprofessional positions deemed no longer necessary due to declining enrollment, Cary said.

Cuts are expected to reduce elementary teacher positions and likely result in increased classroom size and the transfer of 22 students between Churchill or Washington elementary schools to balance class sizes.

“In full disclosure, it is pushing the upper end of those ranges, but we are within those ranges currently, with the students we’re anticipating,” Cary said regarding class sizes.

School Board Member Dave Battaglia raised an issue with the proposal to transfer students between elementary schools.

There is a formula for transferring students, with students who are open-enrolled in the district at the top of the transfer list, according to Washington Elementary School Principal Robbi Mondati. The formula also factors in things like siblings, special needs and physical home location. Mondati said the school will send letters to families impacted by the decision and seek volunteers for transfer.

“We usually go down that list of criteria to try to have the most workable list of students,” Mondati said.

Cary reminded the board that the cuts are currently just a proposal and that it has the authority to forgo reductions at its Monday meeting. However, doing so, he warned, would leave the district in a financially precarious situation.

“I've been here for the good times when we're growing, and I've been here for the bad times when we're shrinking, our enrollment is shrinking, and it doesn't look like it's turning around,” Cloquet Middle School Principal Tom Brenner told the board. “So you're just passing the buck down the road if you take the cuts away.”

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Longtime Cloquet Middle School principal to retire

Macklin Caruso — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:40:35 GMT

CLOQUET — After nearly 30 years with the Cloquet School District, Cloquet Middle Principal Tom Brenner will retire after the end of the school year.

Brenner’s decision to retire was made public by Superintendent Michal Cary at Monday’s School Board meeting. Brenner did not respond to emails and phone calls from the Pine Journal requesting comment.

“I just want to formally kind of note that we really appreciate his service to our district for all these years,” Cary said.

Although administrative contracts typically run through the end of the school year, which officially ends on June 30, Brenner won't retire until August, according to Cary. By extending his retirement date, Cary said Brenner will be able to assist with district administrative changes due to looming budget cuts.

“I think having him through the summer will really help us kind of transition people and get cross-training in place, and do some other things as we move forward,” Cary said.

In 2023, Brenner was named Minnesota’s Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

“His astute understanding of curriculum, particularly in reading and math, has led him to deploy innovative strategies ensuring access to quality education, even with constrained resources,” the association stated. “Beyond just an educator, Tom’s relentless drive for student success and his standout leadership skills have cemented his reputation as one of Minnesota’s most influential school administrators.”

Brenner was first hired as a mathematics and computer science teacher by Cloquet Senior High School in 1997, according to his LinkedIn page. He has been principal of Cloquet Middle School since 2003.

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Prep report: Superior baseball rallies past Rock Ridge

Staff reports — Fri, 01 May 2026 04:00:10 GMT

Superior used a four-run sixth inning to get out of a big hole and earn a fourth-straight baseball win, 8-5, on Thursday vs. Rock Ridge at NBC Spartan Sports Complex.

Going to the sixth down 5-3, Superior saw six consecutive players reach base and the seventh, pitcher Dawson Ahlborg delivered a sacrifice fly to cap the rally. Ahlborg ended up getting the win after allowing five runs on five hits in six innings. Jayce Rue was 2-for-3 and scored three times.

Rock Ridge had six hits from six different players.

Cloquet 16, Cherry 2

Cloquet baseball ran roughshod over host Cherry on Thursday night, piling up 15 hits in a big road victory.

Eleven different Cloquet players had at least one hit; Jackson Peterson had three, including a double, and scored twice.

Logan Baker was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Moose Lake/Willow River 5, Braham 0

Hayden Danelski spun a complete-game two-hit shutout as the Rebels won at home on Thursday, striking out eight and walking just one.

Eight MLWR players had one hit apiece, though Danelski’s was a two-run double that made it 3-0 in the fifth inning.

Hibbing 12-12, Duluth Denfeld 2-2

The Bluejackets put up matching 12-2 wins in a doubleheader against the Hunters on Thursday in Hibbing.

In Game 1, Dylan Vesel, Aiden Davey and Hunter Gustafson finished with two hits apiece, as the Hunters didn’t pull away until scoring four times in the fourth and fifth in the fifth, triggering the run rule.

Blake Kolden allowed two runs on six hits, two of which came from Denfeld’s Vinny Udd.

Game 2 went six innings, ending after the Bluejackets put up seven in the bottom of the sixth.

Kadin Augustin allowed two unearned runs on one hit for Hibbing, while Gavin Lamphere had a 4-for-4 offensive performance and drove in three. Easton Fisher added three hits.

Proctor 10, Two Harbors 0

Antrell Yoki shined under the lights, throwing a six-inning two-hit shutout under the lights at Terry Egerdahl Field on Thursday.

Owen Baker was 3-for-3 and drove in three for the Rails.

South Ridge 11, McGregor 0

Austin Olson tossed a five-inning one-hitter for the Panthers, striking out 10. He also had two hits, as did Kingsley Archambault and Carter Price.

GIRLS LACROSSE St. Paul-Two Rivers 10, Duluth Marshall 4

Ella Hron and Ciri Ciardelli had two-goal games for the Hilltoppers, but that was all the offense they could muster on the road on Thursday night.

SOFTBALL Silver Bay 12, Cromwell-Wright 2

The Mariners hung a loss on the previously unbeaten Cardinals on Thursday in Silver Bay, led by Kinley Nelson, who was 4-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs. Madison Ollman and Anna Klemmer added three hits apiece.

Berkley Hoff allowed two runs on five hits in six innings for the 12-1 Mariners.

The Cardinals got two hits from Clarissa Irving and Carys Borglund.

Esko 12, Carlton/Wrenshall 2

Hannah Roemer was 3-for-4 with an RBI single as Esko cruised to a win on Thursday.

Esko needed a few innings to break out, scoring four times in the third inning and five in the fourth.

Kennadi Foxx allowed just two unearned runs on five hits in five innings.

Superior 16, Duluth Marshall 3

Halle Visger had a single, double and triple, drove in three runs and scored four time as the Spartans dominated proceedings in Duluth on Thursday.

Four others had multi-hit games for the Spartans who had a team total of 17 hits.

Rock Ridge 10, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 2

The top of the Wolverines’ order proved unstoppable on Thursday, with one-through-four hitters Mattelyn Seppi, Mayme Scott, Ayla Troutwine and Ayla Lokken recording two hits each.

Rock Ridge took control early, scoring four times in the first inning and adding four more on in the fourth frame.

Lokken pitched, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits.

Moose Lake/Willow River 8, Mora 5

Jessie Volk had a three-run homer and struck out seven Mustangs to help the Rebels to a road win on Thursday.

Kara Lemieux and Kendall Volk had two-hit games.

Barnum 3, Aitkin 2

Barnum pitcher Alizondra Collelo struck out 11 Gobblers and worked out of a big jam in the seventh inning on Thursday.

The Bombers had held Aitkin scoreless through six innings and down to its last out before an error, double and single brought in two runs and put the tying run on base before a ground ball ended the threat.

Ava Nyquist had a three-hit game in the win.

Northwestern 4, Cameron 3

Adelle Holdsclaw singled in the seventh inning and scored the winning run on a passed ball on Thursday.

The Tigers were down 3-0 through 4 ½ innings before scoring three runs with two outs in the fifth. Claire Nielcen singled in a run and two more scored on an outfield error. Gabby Beger allowed three runs on five hits in a complete game.

Thursday’s game was supposed to be the first in a doubleheader, but the second contest was suspended due to darkness tied at 14 after seven innings.

TENNIS Hermantown 4, Aitkin 3

The Hawks swept all four singles flights in straight sets for a nonconference win on Thursday in Aitkin.

Zach Shingler of the Hawks won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles while Henrick Wikstrom, Max Christy and Brendan Bugliosi were also straight-set winners.

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Prep report: Langley delivers big homer for Proctor

Staff reports — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 03:58:57 GMT

Suri Langley’s sixth-inning two-run homer was the difference for the Rails against neighbors Denfeld on Wednesday at Terry Egerdahl Field in Proctor.

The homer was Langley’s third hit of the day and drove in her third and fourth RBIs.

Noelle Vesel had two hits and two RBIs for Denfeld.

Hermantown 7, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 6

Carlin Carlson put the ball in play for the Hawks and a fielding error brought in the winning run on Wednesday in Hermantown, capping a thrilling seventh inning in which both teams scored twice.

Avery Beranek was 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs for the Hawks, while Gabrielle Woodman and Ava Johnson had two hits apiece for GNK.

Duluth East 12-10, Grand Rapids 4-0

The Greyhounds had the offense working all day in a doubleheader sweep of the Thunderhawks at Ordean East Middle School in Duluth.

Lauren Pozniak was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored out of the leadoff spot for East in Game 1, with Jossie Filiatrault and Sasha Cole contributing two hits apiece behind her.

In the second game, Filiatrault threw a five-inning one-hit shutout and struck out six.

Silver Bay 10, Carlton/Wrenshall 0

Madison Ollman threw a two-hitter over five innings for the Mariners, now 11-1, while Kinley Nelson finished 3-for-4 and drove in four runs.

BASEBALL South Ridge 4, Cloquet 2

Parker Morse’s bunt single in the bottom of the sixth inning put the Panthers in front for good in Culver on Wednesday.

It was Morse’s third hit of the day for a South Ridge squad that had just six. A second run came in on the play via a throwing error.

Gavin Willeck allowed two runs on six hits and struck out seven for South Ridge.

Aiden Thiesen had two hits for Cloquet.

Rock Ridge 3, Esko 2

Connor Saxhaug delivered a walk-off single for the Wolverines in the bottom of the seventh in Virginia.

Saxhaug also contributed three scoreless innings in a low-scoring contest in which the teams combined for six hits.

Nolan Anderson allowed two unearned runs and one hit in five innings for Esko.

BOYS TENNIS Stella Maris 4, Duluth Denfeld 3

The Sentinels swept all four singles matches comfortably for a win over the Hunters in Duluth on Wednesday.

David Moe won the No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-1, while Mateo Watson, Luke Moe and Henry Hoberg also claimed wins.

Denfeld won all the doubles points in straight sets, with the closest match coming at No. 2, with Cailen Suomala and Sam Eklund prevailing 6-0, 7-6.

Superior 4, Hermantown 3

The Spartans combined a sweep of the doubles matches with a single point at No. 2 singles from Jack Mueller in a Lake Superior Conference dual on Wednesday.

Mueller earned a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Hermantown’s Henrick Wikstrom. In the doubles, Superior won all three in straight sets, but the No. 2 team of Cole Thralow and Kegan Sumption faced the most resistance in a 6-4, 6-4 win over Paul Marinos and Liam Neitzel.

Rock Ridge 4, Duluth East 3

Wyatt Frederick’s 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win over East’s Wesley Furin at No. 1 singles was one closely contested flight in a closely contested match at the Longview Courts in Duluth on Wednesday.

East’s Cullen Burns won 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 against Rock Ridge’s Gage Benz at No. 2 singles, while Rock Ridge’s No. 2 doubles team of Gavin Harley and Griffen Roen won 7-6, 6-4 and East’s No. 3 doubles team of Lundin Flohaug and Max Edmunds won their flight 6-3 in the third set.

GIRLS LACROSSE Hermantown/Proctor 12, Duluth Marshall 9

Ella Hron recorded four goals and three assists for the Hilltoppers, but Hermantown/Proctor pulled out a home win on Wednesday in Hermantown, gaining necessary separation by blanking the Hilltoppers 4-0 in the third quarter and holding on for the win.

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Ava Anderson a dominant ‘big unit’ for Cloquet softball

Reagan Hoverman — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 03:10:40 GMT

CLOQUET — Ava Anderson stepped out of the dugout and walked toward the pitching circle.

Cloquet’s freshman pitcher tossed the previous five innings and knew that if her team was going to maintain its 8-5 lead over Superior, she would be a vital part of it. She reminded herself during that short walk.

“I feel like you kind of come with some fire,” Anderson said. “I walked out there and was thinking, ‘I’m not letting anybody get on base.’ I knew I had to do my job and help out the team so that we could get the win.”

Anderson used that fire to retire the first three batters she faced in the bottom of the sixth frame. The first two went down swinging while the third was called out on strikes after Anderson painted the corner to strike out the side.

She mowed down three of the first four batters she faced in the seventh inning to secure Cloquet’s 8-5 win. It was part of a complete-game effort that included just two walks and eight K’s while allowing five earned runs on nine hits.

“It was good,” Anderson said. “Once I get out there, I just kind of get in a zone and then you’re locked in. It really helps when the offense plays that well because there is less pressure on the defense and pitching. Playing like that kind of comes natural.”

Anderson has been a crucial addition to Cloquet’s daily varsity roster. She saw limited innings last season as an eighth-grader largely because the Lumberjacks relied on Allie Jones, a veteran pitcher who is now rostered at Division II Bemidji State.

Jones’ departure through graduation — along with six other everyday starters — left many sizable shoes to fill this spring. Cloquet head coach Tyler Korby said Anderson’s early success in the circle has been pivotal in the Lumberjacks starting the year 7-2.

“I like to call her The Big Unit,” Korby said of his 6-foot tall freshman pitcher. “She’s so cool, calm and collected. She’s always locked in and is a gamer. Nothing rattles that kid, so I’m not surprised to see her go the distance. We’re confident with her in the circle.”

Cloquet senior captain Emma Warnygora has been a staple of the program for years, and she said it’s been an adjustment playing with a nearly completely new team that is starting more than a half-dozen fresh faces.

Anderson is one of many new additions to the full-time varsity roster and although she had a massive role to fill in the circle, Warnygora has been impressed with what the freshman pitcher has accomplished so far.

“Allie was a really, really big part of our team for years,” Warnygora said. “But Ava has done a really good job stepping in. It’s like she’s been there for a long time — she filled the role very well. That was a big role to fill, and she’s done a great job.”

While Anderson has stepped up and filled a portion of that starting pitching role, she hasn’t done it alone. Her older sister, Ella Anderson, a junior, has been the other half of Cloquet’s one-two punch in the circle.

Ella has a flawless 3-0 record and has produced a 1.48 ERA through the first month of the season. Together, Ella and Ava have accounted for 61 ⅓ of Cloquet’s 65 innings this year. Korby said they’re both strong pitchers, but together, they’re exponentially better.

“They work well with each other,” Korby said. “They both can start, relieve each other, it is kind of 1A and 1B. They’re both kind of number one. I think they compliment each other nicely and are hard working kids who any coach would want on their team.”

Ava said when they were little kids, she began playing softball as a catcher while Ella was chosen to be a pitcher. After seeing her older sister play one of the most important positions in sports, she wanted to do it too.

It didn’t take long for the coaches to recognize that Ava had pitching talent too. She said Ella has been instrumental in her development as a pitcher, despite arguments that often stem from their competitive nature, which she said are sisterly and all in good fun.

“I saw she was a pitcher and I wanted to do it too,” Ava said. “She has made me better. It’s not really a sister rivalry, but we fight a lot. We’ll be pitching together and it gets a little fiery, it’s competitive, but it’s all fun and it makes us better.”

Anderson indicated that winning seven of their first nine games with such a young and relatively inexperienced roster has been a whirlwind. It’s been a massive boost of confidence and has them dreaming of what may be possible this year.

“We want to go into the playoffs and win games,” Ava said. “Then we want to keep going. We just need to keep getting better, do what we can and play our game.”

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Cloquet partnership with Carlton to dissolve in potential consolidation

Jamey Malcomb — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:46:47 GMT

CLOQUET — After nearly 20 years, the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton cooperative partnership could end if Carlton merges with Wrenshall.

The Cloquet School Board voted Monday to dissolve the partnership with Carlton that has allowed students in the tiny neighboring district to play primarily boys and girls hockey and soccer.

In a memo to the school board, the district’s activity subcommittee recommended the action and said “our athletic activities exist to serve Cloquet students.”

“We are also in a budget crunch — we have cut over $1 million each year over the last two years and are facing a similar budget deficit this year,” the memo said. “Our extracurricular activities tend to run at a deficit and are subsidized through general fund dollars. Expanding access to these programs comes at a cost for the students who attend our district.”

Cary said activities director Paul Riess sent a list of questions to the Minnesota State High School League. Cary spoke with MSHSL executive director Erich Martens “face-to-face” but answers have not been forthcoming.

“We never really got a clear answer,” he said. “Part of the reason it’s taken 18 months is we’ve had a lot of discussion. We’ve been trying to get a lot of answers, but we’re not getting a ton of clarity.”

Cary told the board that the oldest documentation they had for the cooperative agreement was dated back to 2007.

The memo also noted that in 2021, the Cloquet and Carlton school boards worked together to hammer out a tuition agreement to allow Carlton High School students to attend Cloquet, allowing them to take advantage of the district’s larger offering of college and career and technical education courses, as well as athletics. The plan failed to gain the support of the Carlton School Board.

Without clarity from the MSHSL, Cloquet needed to take action, according to board member Dave Battaglia.

“We don’t know — that’s the issue,” he said. “If we took no action, our fear is if they consolidate, then we have Wrenshall kids too. If down the road in two years they want to bring Barnum in, then we have Barnum kids too.”

Last season, there were 14 Carlton students that participated across all the cooperative teams between the districts and Cloquet billed Carlton for $22,000 to offset the cost, Riess told the board.

“If we’re looking at it financially, we’ve had lots of people ask us what’s going to happen,” he said. “We didn’t have the answer regarding this co-op and a lot of them have preemptively expressed interest in open-enrolling their students to Cloquet to participate. I think financially you’d be $50,000 to the net positive.”

Tommy Jacobson, a coach and board member at the Carlton Youth Hockey Association, was upset that his kids — who attend Wrenshall — were reduced to a financial concern for Cloquet.

“The sales pitch of revenue getting generated from children like mine attending your school adds to the insult,” he said. “I promise you, if this goes through — my children will never attend your school. I hope you take that into consideration.”

Carlton School Board chair Laura Nilsen also attended the meeting and also said the Cloquet board’s actions were insulting to the Carlton and Wrenshall communities. Moreover, she claimed “Robert’s Rules of Order was all wrong” and the motion was “purposely pushed through” so the board didn’t have a chance to change the agenda.

“Why don’t we do what’s best for our local students?” she said. “It’s not just about Cloquet students, there are cooperatives throughout the state — lacrosse is a cooperative…That’s what communities are moving to because there’s not as many athletes. Birth rates are down, the number of children attending school districts is down.”

While the districts have been working toward a July 1 consolidation, a vote on consolidation is scheduled in Wrenshall May 12 after a petition gained enough signatures to trigger a special election. If the consolidation vote fails, the cooperative will continue as it has.

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Matters of Record for April 20-24 2026

Staff reports — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:31:00 GMT

District Court

Carlton County

April 20

Kingston L. Almar, 18, Saginaw, driving 108 mph in a 65 mph zone, fined $150. Jacob A. Canfield, 20, Sandstone, damage to property, fined $100, 90 days jail with 86 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Isaiah J. St. Germaine, 25, Duluth, driving after revocation, 90 days jail. Lisa M. Todd, 54, Cloquet, careless driving, fined $1,000 with $950 stayed, 90 days jail with 87 days tayed on one year probation with conditions. Joshua J. Wise, 36, Duluth, fleeing a peace officer and assault, fined $50, 17 months in prison concurrent.

April 21

Josiah J. Bearder, 20, Carver, driving after revocation, adjudication stayed for one year, $50 fine. Alejandro G. Cruz, 29, Minneapolis, driving after suspension, fined $200. Kenneth J. Fosness III, 47, Cloquet, driving after suspension, fined $200. Abigail F. Lampaa, 19, Virginia, driving after suspension, fined $200. Scott K. Lindgren, 29, Hinckley, driving after suspension, fined $200. Benjamin L. McCoy, 24, Superior, driving after suspension, fined $200.

April 22

Joseph R. Fontaine, 28, Duluth, possession of a controlled substance, adjudication stayed on three years probation with conditions, $75 fine and 140 days jail; receiving stolen property and theft, imposition stayed on three years probation with conditions, $50 fine, 148 days jail concurrent, 40 hours community service, pay $1,104 in restitution. Christopher M. Maloney, 53, Duluth, domestic assault - subsequent violation, fined $50, 364 days jail with 154 days stayed on two years probation with conditions. Isabella E. Petite, 19, Cloquet, disorderly conduct, fined $50, 30 days jail with 27 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Daniel D. Vang, 31, St. Paul, driving 96 mph in a 70 mph zone, fined $100.

April 23

James L. Bogue, 54, Burnsville, careless driving, fined $50, 90 days jail with 88 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Littlestar Holmes-Thompson, 25, Duluth, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000 with $950 stayed, 364 days jail with 334 days stayed on two years probation with conditions. Mark A. Keller, 41, Cloquet, felon in possession with a firearm, fined $50, 57 days jail, 60 months prison stayed on three years probation with conditions.

April 24

Clinton N. Leppanen, 48, Cloquet, careless driving, fined $300, 90 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions. Cyndel S. Johnson, 39, Cloquet, collision with an unattended motor vehicle, fined $100, 60 days jail with 56 days stayed on one year probation. Villiami E. A. Ofanoa, driving while impaired, fined $1,000, 90 days jail with 89 days stayed on one year probation with conditions.

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Matters of Record for April 13-16, 2026

Staff reports — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:39:00 GMT

District Court

Carlton County

April 13

Hector M. A. Alicea, 36, South St. Paul, open bottle law violation, fined $100; driving after revocation, fined $200. Terry R. Jackson, 63, Moose Lake, assault in a secure treatment facility, fined $50, 15 months prison; second count assault, fined $50, 17 months prison, concurrent. Aaliyah L. Ojibway, 29, Cloquet, give peace officer false information, 30 days jail. Tad J. Steffensen, 30, Newton, Iowa, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000, 90 days jail with 89 days stayed on one year probation with conditions.

April 15

Brian S. Bennett, 40, Sandstone, annual inspection decal violation, fined $100. Brandon R. Shaw, 22, Duluth, two counts assault, adjudication stayed on one year probation with conditions, $50 fine per count; disorderly conduct, adjudication stayed on one year probation, $50 fine, concurrent; two counts violation of a no contact order, adjudication stayed on one year probation with conditions, $50 fine per count, concurrent.

April 16

Andrew J. Billman, 40, Cloquet, violation of no contact order, 37 days jail. Daniel R. Lund, 62, Cloquet, driving while impaired, fined $1,000, 90 days jail with 88 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Abigail L. Mallon, 20, Cloquet, fleeing a peace officer and receiving stolen property, imposition stayed on four years probation with conditions, $50 fine and 101 days jail. Christopher E. Ojibway, 48, Saginaw, felon in possession of a firearm, fined $50, 364 days jail, 60 months prison stayed on five years probation with conditions. Sophia M. Solem, 20, Duluth, underage drinking and driving, fined $100, 90 days jail with 85 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Amanda N. Spears, 39, Carlton, disorderly conduct, fined $50. Steven I. Veres, 51, St. Francis, possession of a controlled substance, imposition stayed on two years probation with conditions, $50 and four days jail; driving while impaired, $50 fine, 364 days jail with 360 days stayed on two years probation with conditions, concurrent. Billy L. Wright, 44, Duluth, driving after cancellation, fined $200.]]>

Chief Deputy Dan Danielson announces bid for Carlton County Sheriff

Macklin Caruso — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:53:46 GMT

CARLTON — Carlton County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Dan Danielson announced his bid to serve as the next sheriff of Carlton County following Sheriff Kelly Lake’s announcement that she will not seek another term.

“The biggest goal for me is: this is home, and this is the place I want to be, and we’re in a really good spot, and I want to continue the momentum that (Lake) built,” Danielson said.

Having worked alongside Danielson throughout his 26-year career at the Sheriff’s Office, Lake was quick to endorse Danielson’s bid for sheriff.

“As my second in command, I have seen firsthand his integrity, knowledge and dedication,” Lake told the Pine Journal in a text message. “He genuinely cares about the people he serves, and with his experience and professional expertise, I am confident he will lead the Sheriff’s Office effectively and excel in the role of sheriff.”

Danielson said he has spent years preparing for this opportunity. He previously served on the Cloquet School Board, which he said gave him experience in local public office. In 2021, he earned a bachelor’s degree in tribal administration and governance from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

“I did a lot of things to get me to this point, took on a lot of challenges,” Danielson said.

At the Carlton County Sheriff's Office, Danielson worked as an investigator before being promoted to lieutenant and then chief deputy in 2022.

Sheriff’s offices are unique political organizations due to its wide range of functions, Danielson said. Over the course of his tenure, he said he has had experience in many of those responsibilities, including dispatch, running the jail, investigations and patrol.

A member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Danielson said his bid is also an opportunity to have a sheriff with a deep understanding of two distinct jurisdictions within Carlton County. Danielson lives in Sawyer on the Fond du Lac Reservation.

“I really understand our community. I know the people, people know me,” he said.

Candidates seeking local office have until June 2 to file for the general election on Nov. 3.

Sheriffs are elected for four-year terms. Lake served as sheriff for five terms.

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Feds will defer an additional $91 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota

Mary Murphy — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:51:03 GMT

ST. PAUL — The federal government announced another $91 million in deferred Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns.

In a post on X on Thursday, April 30, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz said the decision “follows a pattern we can’t ignore.”

“From the 'Learing Center' scandal to the recent DOJ action involving childcare centers, Minnesota’s Medicaid program has shown serious vulnerabilities to fraud," Oz said in the post. "These are not isolated breakdowns — they point to systemic issues that must be addressed."

Oz said that of the $91 million deferred, $76 million is tied to the 14 high-risk programs vulnerable to fraud and $14 million involves concerns over program integrity, "including payments for ineligible individuals.”

“We’re giving Governor Walz as much support as we can to turn this around,” Oz said. “However, we cannot and will not pay bad bills so we’re asking for more information from Minnesota to verify these bills.”

The $91 million is on top of a February announcement to defer $259 million in quarterly reimbursements for Medicaid claims that the state has already paid out.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has estimated that the deferrals on top of other Medicaid cuts could amount $3.1 billion in Medicaid funding losses for the state annually.

“While Minnesota is working to stop fraud, the Trump Administration is working to exploit it,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement Thursday. “This is a transparent effort to cut funding for the same working people and rural Minnesota hospitals they’ve had in their crosshairs for months. Minnesota will not stand for this continued campaign of retribution.”

DHS reported in March that CMS had approved its “corrective action plan” and that while the $259 million in quarterly payments hadn’t resumed, the state was a step closer to getting the funds back and undergoing the “revalidation” process.

Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said in a statement that for more than a year, DHS “has been taking aggressive action” to prevent fraud and retrieve fraudulent payments.

“We have been reporting to our federal partners and the public about those efforts,” Gandhi said. “We are disappointed to learn that CMS will extend deferrals of needed funds for another quarter. Nonetheless, the department will continue to fight against the criminals who target Medicaid programs.”

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Minnesota lawmakers assess pace and scope of bonding bill

Mary Murphy — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:40:03 GMT

ST. PAUL — A Legislature stuck in gridlock has been able to find a few areas of agreement on must-do’s this session, like financial aid for Hennepin County Medical Center or passing fraud prevention measures. Another one is passing a bonding bill.

But the certainty of that bill has been called into question this week, with champions of the bonding efforts reporting mixed messages on the progress of negotiations.

Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, said Tuesday, April 28, she had to admit she’s “kind of nervous.”

“I’m concerned we’re not moving quickly enough. There’s only, what, two and a half weeks left to this session, and we can’t fall back on a special session like we did last year,” Pappas said. “There’s not going to be a special session. Mark my word.”

Her DFL counterpart in the House, Rep. Fue Lee, DFL-Minneapolis, said he’s not concerned — yet.

“I feel like this is kind of like the typical pace every year,” he said. “If we go into next weekend, [and] we don’t have any ideas about, ’OK, now this is the target for you guys,’ that’s when I’ll be concerned. Right now, if you were to ask me, scale 1 to 10, I’m probably around 3 or 4 right now.”

Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, said Tuesday that this year feels “quicker” than last, but “we’ll need more conversations with leaders, which just started today.”

A bonding bill authorizes the state to borrow money — typically through general obligation bonds — to fund public infrastructure projects. Lawmakers neglected to pass a bonding bill in 2024, and say they are still playing catch-up. Last session, the Legislature passed a $700 million bonding package.

The Legislature has received up to $7 billion in bonding requests this session for things like clean drinking water, state parks and trails, leaking roofs and more.

Gov. Tim Walz proposed a $907 million package in January. Lee said Wednesday that packages in the House range from $995 million to $1.4 billion, with $1.2 billion as the “middle ground.” The Senate DFL is proposing a $1.4 billion package.

“We need to pass a substantial bonding bill to meet even a fraction of what Minnesotans need,” Pappas said.

One key question this year is whether to provide help for counties to modernize their IT systems or a financial lifeline for Hennepin County Medical Center in the bonding bill, given that lawmakers are working with a tight budget. Senate DFL leaders have shot that down, but Lee said he’s open.

“With the structural imbalance that we have coming up here, we’re not going to be able to address these issues right away with a large pot of money or with one-time spending,” he said, adding that bonding versus a direct one-time appropriation could allow lawmakers to make a larger investment into HCMC or IT upgrades that the state can pay off over time.

The Senate passed $150 million in its omnibus Health and Human Services bill on Wednesday, but it’s not clear whether that appropriation would clear the House. Another proposal for HCMC aid is a Hennepin County sales tax increase, but Republicans are opposed to tax hikes — hence the pivot to a potential bonding route.

“If we could find a revenue raiser to make it more sustainable for HCMC, I’m all supportive of that, but at this point, it seems like there’s not really a workaround on that, and so that’s why I just want to make sure that bonding is a tool that we should consider using to make sure that we can address both of those needs,” Lee said.

Another question with the bonding bill is whether lawmakers will keep it “clean” of other issues. Since bonding requires a supermajority to pass, caucuses can leverage the bill’s passage to get traction on other priorities unrelated to bonding.

“Senator Housley, she has mentioned that they don’t want to show their cards yet, because Leader Johnson hasn’t been part of those conversations at the higher leadership level. And so I would imagine that Senate GOP has something that they want,” Lee said. “What are those demands? I don’t know.”

With key negotiations just beginning, Pappas spoke to the commonality of the bonding bill as a last-minute push.

“I’ve never liked that bonding bills are treated like an afterthought at the eleventh hour, often not passing until the last day of session,” she said. “These critical infrastructure projects are concrete investments in our state economy, and the folks we represent all over Minnesota are counting on us.”

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Former GOP Chair David Hann drops out of US Senate race

Mary Murphy — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 22:42:13 GMT

ST. PAUL — Former GOP Chair David Hann announced Wednesday, April 29, that he’s suspending his campaign for U.S. Senate.

He joined the race in December, and in a statement on April 29, said he’s dropping out, though there wasn’t much detail on what went behind the decision. He said that even as he suspends his campaign, he has “hope that Minnesotans will elect common sense, conservative leadership in November.”

Former sports broadcaster Michelle Tafoya, former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze and former NBA player Royce White are among the GOP candidates. The DFL field includes Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig.

Hann, who also served as Senate minority leader from 2013 to 2017, did not endorse a candidate in his announcement that he was dropping out.

Both the DFL and the Republican parties will hold conventions at the end of May. The primary is on Aug. 11.

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‘We’re not done’: Walz delivers final State of the State address

Mary Murphy — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:48:30 GMT

ST. PAUL — In his final State of the State address Tuesday night, April 28, Gov. Tim Walz reflected on his seven years in office and looked ahead to the last few weeks of the legislative session.

The governor started his speech by addressing the major events of a turbulent year for Minnesota: the assassination of his close friend and colleague Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church, and Operation Metro Surge.

“We gather tonight in the long shadow of all those tragic, transformative losses,” he said. “And yet, the state of our state remains strong. Indeed, over the last several months, the world has seen our strength — a strength that comes not from our politics, but from our people.”

Walz celebrated several wins from his tenure, such as the Free School Meals and Paid Family Medical Leave programs.

“I don’t know if there’s a ranking on this, but there certainly should be — I think we’ve also made Minnesota one of the freest places in America,” he said, touting voting rights, reproductive rights, protections for the LGBTQ+ community, among others.

“But we’re not done. Not by a long shot,” he said after listing accomplishments.

Looking toward session end May 18, Walz called for the passage of a bonding bill and some of his proposals in his supplemental budget, such as a social media tax and an expansion of the state’s Dependent Care Credit. Lawmakers and the governor aren’t required to pass a budget this year, but leaders have identified several “must-do’s,” such as responding to HCMC’s financial crisis and combating fraud.

The DFL has also been pushing for gun control and a response to Operation Metro Surge, but so far, there hasn’t been any Republican buy-in, which is necessary for anything to pass in a tied House.

“Some of you might say we can’t do more to stop gun violence, but you need to be more specific. What you really mean is that you won’t do more to stop gun violence,” Walz said to a round of applause. “Because the truth is, in this chamber, we’ve beaten the NRA before, and we can do it again. We’re going to do it again, because we have a responsibility to keep our communities safer.”

Tuesday’s address was Walz’s last State of the State as governor after stepping out of the race for a third term in January amid national fraud scrutiny. He called on lawmakers to work with him on combating fraud — something he has named as a top priority this session.

“My ask for you tonight is simple: If you’re taking fraud seriously, take your responsibility seriously and pass legislation to stop it. If you talk about oversight, vote for that oversight in the bills that are working their way through the chamber,” he said. “You gotta want to stop it, not just talk about it.”

Walz said he intends to “use every hour of every day to make as much progress as we possibly can” in his last eight months on the job.

“This is not a goodbye, friends,” he said. “That being said, it is my last State of the State address,” he said before he was met with a single Republican clapping.

He clapped back: “But the things we implemented will be here for decades," and the DFL side of the Chamber soon after erupted with claps and cheers.

“I will just say it’s been the honor of a lifetime for Gwen and I to serve ... And it’s been a particular privilege to sit in this chair during some of the most pivotal moments in our history. I will never forget the way the people of this state showed up for each other during these consequential times.”

How did lawmakers react?

The consensus among GOP leadership was disapproval. House Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said the State of the State was a “fitting cap to what has been a really disappointing gubernatorial administration.”

“It would have been good to see some accountability from really a disastrous administration,” he said. “We had to wait 38 minutes into the speech before we heard anything about the biggest national story about Minnesota, shocking multi-billion-dollar fraud that struck our state.”

Speaking about Walz’s legacy, Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said, “We are going to be living with this legacy for a long time.”

“There is a lot of work to be done in the next few years to undo a number of the things that the governor was highlighting tonight,” Johnson said. “You go around, you talk to Minnesotans every single day, and you ask them, ‘Do you feel better now after these policies have been enacted?’ And I think the only ones that you’re going to hear a ‘yes’ from are those who are in the Governor Walz camp.”

House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, said he’s proud of the part he and others like Speaker Hortman played in Walz’s legacy.

“It’s an incredible legacy of accomplishment in education and paid family medical leave, of climate and labor,” Stephenson said. “And we have a real opportunity here, over the next few weeks, to build on that legacy and cement it.”

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she appreciated that reminder from Walz that the DFL programs will be around for decades.

“The things that we have done together are going to persist for a very, very long time, even though he will no longer be in office,” she said. “He has a proud legacy. We have a bright future as a result of the work that we have done together.”

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Nearly a decade after he left for a work trip, his remains were identified in a Minnesota shed

Trisha Taurinskas — Fri, 01 May 2026 14:45:00 GMT

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — For nearly a decade, James Everett's loved ones wondered where he went.

He left his New York state home for a work trip in September 2013 — and never returned.

A year later, unbeknownst to Everett's friends and family members, his body was discovered by a Union Pacific worker in a Rosemount, Minnesota, railroad utility shed.

Investigators didn't find identification with his remains, leaving them unaware of his name or background information. The only clues that accompanied him were receipts from 2013, which told officials he had likely been in the shed since then.

The Medical Examiner's Office determined he was a white man, between the ages of 40 and 60, who stood 5 feet, 6 inches tall and had long brown hair.

The description was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and law enforcement submitted his DNA into the nationwide Combined DNA Index System database. Despite the efforts, investigators were not able to match the identity of a missing person.

Initially, Everett had been reported missing when he failed to return home in 2013, but law enforcement located him in Montana — where they determined he was safe and acting on his own accord.

By the time his body was found, he was no longer on the missing persons registry.

After chasing nearly 600 leads with no answers, Everett's body was buried and a funeral was held.

Still, authorities in Hennepin County continued searching for his identity.

Working with Parabon Nanolabs and the DNA Doe Project, forensic genealogy led the Rosemount Police Department to a family member in New York. Investigators followed the trail of relatives until they had their match in 2022: 48-year-old James Everett.

“Our search to identify this man was important,” said Shawn Wilson, department administrator for the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, said in a press release. “We all had questions, and we couldn’t begin to tell his story until we knew his name. But the story of James Raymond Everett is not ours to tell. It is his family’s, and they now have an ending.”

At the end of the investigation, Rosemount and Hennepin County authorities did not give any indication that foul play was suspected in his death.

Authorities contacted his wife, Patricia Everett, who for years had been searching for her spouse.

"Please be assured that we, especially me, never gave up searching," she said in a statement. "We were always on the lookout for him when out and about and frequently did a lot of online searching for any indication of activity or other clues as to his whereabouts."

Patricia Everett described her husband as a brilliant man whose passions included technology, cooking, music and sports. His favorite teams were the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Sabres.

In her statement, Patricia Everett expressed gratitude for the many people who cared about her husband throughout the years — from investigators and medical examiners, to those who took part in his funeral.

"For those who are missing a loved one, I hope this story provides hope that your loved one may also be found," she stated.

For more information on the DNA Doe Project, visit https://dnadoeproject.org/.

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How a Minnesota barber worked to free slaves before the Civil War

C.S. Hagen — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:10:00 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Working as a barber inside bustling Seven Corners was the perfect cover for Moses Dickson in 1856.

From behind the scissors in St. Paul and on steamboats traveling the nearby Mississippi River, he listened, developed contacts, organized and passed messages to deeply embedded members of the Underground Railroad as well as the 11 founding members of a secret society he founded called the Knights of Liberty, not to be confused with the World War I era vigilante group by the same name.

The Knights of Liberty had one goal: end slavery in America.

“He became a lifelong foe to the slave owner, slave driver and the slave trader,” the Boston Globe published in 1897.

“In the troubled days that preceded the civil war, the fear of an insurrection of the slaves was an ever present terror in the south. How well founded that was few realize even today,” the Minneapolis Journal reported in 1901.

The 12 members swore a secret oath: “I can die, but I cannot reveal the name of any member until the slaves are free,” which was a promise Dickson kept through his years as a barber. teacher and restaurateur in St. Paul, as a freedom fighter with the Underground Railroad and as a soldier during the Civil War.

“This secret organization was the strongest that was ever formed among the slaves,” the Boston Globe reported. “Its mission was to free slaves, and thousands of slaves were sent north by aid of the Knights of Liberty, over the Underground Railroad.”

Early life

Born into freedom in Ohio, Dickson was educated in Cincinnati's early schools for African American children, according to Finding Moses, a website dedicated to new discoveries about Dickson. Despite Ohio's state constitution outlawing slavery, racial tensions were high. Black residents had to enter into a bond or pay exorbitant fees or face being expelled from the state.

He later traveled the south as a barber, according to The Voice of Black Cincinnati. During his journeys he “witnessed such scenes of monstrous cruelty as caused his African blood to boil with suppressed indignation at the sight of the outrageous suffering of his people,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1972.

“I became filled with the single purpose of doing something to better the lot of my race,” Dickson told reporters in a story republished by the Minneapolis Journal in 1901.

“I was determined to organize the slaves throughout the south, drill them, and in ten years from that time strike for freedom. The organization was successful. Every southern state except Texas and Missouri was covered by a chain of camps where the picked men of the neighborhood met by night, and drilled,” Dickson said.

The 'rising'

By the time Dickson's plans were complete for an insurrection, he was in St. Paul. Spread throughout the south were 42,000 men drilled and armed — mostly with guns shipped in through Texas by English sympathizers — who would free themselves, bring in others, and then with an army of more than 200,000, march toward Atlanta.

A day was set for the “rising,” but tensions between north and south verged on war. The insurrection was canceled, and Dickson later most likely joined the war, enlisting with the Union Army in Missouri.

“Four years later, when the war came, and with it the enlistment of slaves as U.S. troops, it was mostly the Knights of Liberty in the south that flocked to the Union Army. If the war of the rebellion had not occurred just at the time it did, the Knights of Liberty would have made public history,” the Boston Globe reported.

Little was known of Dickson’s years in Minnesota until Karen Sieber, a history teacher at Southern New Hampshire University who leads the Finding Moses Initiative, started putting pieces of Dickson’s missing years in the 1850s together.

Dickson’s Knights of Liberty network turned its efforts to the Underground Railroad, and a smaller secret organization, the Order of Twelve. In addition to freeing enslaved people, they raised funds for the Railroad, at one time helping author Henry “Box” Brown escape from South Carolina — a state that boasted no enslaved person could ever escape — by shipping him north in a wooden, breathable box.

“After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, getting over the line into the north wasn't enough, as fugitive slave catchers were allowed to kidnap and return individuals back to enslavement," Sieber told Forum News Service. "So the new goal became either Canada or simply further into the wilderness into places like Minnesota Territory, the Dakotas, Northern Wisconsin and Michigan.”

Sieber discovered that while Dickson lived in St. Paul in the 1850s, he operated restaurants such as the Nonparcil on St. Antony Street, and Dickson’s Eating Saloon, a cafe that featured proper meals as well as cakes, jellies and pastries, according to numerous newspaper advertisements.

While in the Twin Cities area, Dickson worked from the barber shop and eateries to further his true goal of emancipating the enslaved people in the south. But he also worked as an educator, petitioning the St. Paul’s Board of Education in 1858 for the schooling of 15 colored children between the ages of 5 and 20 living within the city, according to the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat.

The motion was referred to the district’s Committee on Schools, according to the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat.

Even with four occupations, Dickson's main goal was freedom of his southern enslaved neighbors. Once, in New Orleans, tailors and barbers were stationed at the port when the steamboat Orinoco docked. He had a mate on board the ship.

“I went down to the auction block when a sale was going on. They had just sold a woman of 32 or 33 years old to a planter down the river, and her daughter, a girl of 14, up the river,” Dickson was quoted in the Minneapolis Journal in 1901.

Dickson put the Underground Railroad to work, arranging their escape by disguising them as young men while paddy rollers, or slave catchers, patrolled the city looking for two females.

“I went down to the levee with a good-looking young man and a boy. ‘Here,’ I said to the mate, ‘are a couple of young fellows who want to work their way up the river. Can you give them a job?’” Dickson said.

By the time the mother and daughter departed, the city was plastered with descriptions of the runaway slaves. At Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the boat was searched, but mother and daughter escaped discovery, and continued traveling north to Canada and to freedom.

Deep north

Not everyone in the north welcomed runaway slaves or freedmen. In 1857, the Canadian government petitioned the King of England to ban African Americans from their borders.

“The Canada government are determined to get rid of their free negro population… petitions are being forwarded to the home government to send the entire negro population in Canada to some of the English tropical islands,” the Freeborn County Standard reported in 1857.

“Dickson was also the first unofficial teacher for Black students in town," Sieber said. "All four positions (steamboat, barber, business owner, educator) were known professions associated with the Underground Railroad as they provided mobility, opportunities to gather with Black and white allies alike, and modes to share information."

While in Minnesota, Dickson reportedly met Dred Scott, who sued for his freedom while in the free territory of Minnesota, but U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney declared enslaved people were property of their owners, which in effect nullified Congress’ right to determine what was free territory in 1857.

The Supreme Court’s decision may have been one of the reasons why Dickson left Minnesota, according to Sieber.

Shortly after the judge’s decision, Dickson wrote a letter, which he signed “an alien American,” that was published in the Minnesota Weekly Times in 1857. He condemned a local minister for rejoicing in the Dred Scott court decision.

“Why do you make merry over this piece of judicial tyranny? Is it because it robs me of my birthright, and comes like a blighting curse upon all of us free colored Americans — blighting our hopes, blasting our future, prostrating our energies, sinking our manhood, and making us strangers to our fathers’ homestead and aliens in the land of our birth?” Dickson asked.

“Or is it because it sanctions the decision you had previously made, that ‘negroes are not citizens,’ hence have no rights under the Consitution,” Dickson asked. “There is only one… circumstance in this chapter of hellish laws — I cannot commit treason, for there is no nation to which I owe allegiance.”

'Part folk hero, part enigma'

Dickson disappeared from Minnesota soon after the Dred Scott decision, but there are clues showing he may have joined the 18th Missouri Colored Infantry, Company D, in Missouri in 1862, according to Sieber.

After the Civil War, Dickson was a frequent delegate at the Republican State Convention, founder of the Missouri Equal Rights League and became ordained as an African Methodist Episcopal preacher in 1866, according to Sieber. His church and school in Carondelet, Missouri, were destroyed by fire in 1871, most likely by the Ku Klux Klan, Sieber reported.

He also used inspiration from the Knights of Liberty and Order of Twelve to create the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor, an organization tasked with acquiring property, cultivating manhood and living exemplary lives. By 1896, the organization had 301,750 members, according to the Boston Globe.

Dickson died in 1901 at 78. “He was one of the original promoters of the Underground Railway,” newspapers reported at the time.

Dickson has always been well known by historians, but primarily with his work in the south, Sieber said. It wasn’t until Sieber began researching his wife, Mary Dickson, that she was able to connect him to Minnesota.

“While we don't have that smoking gun diary or letter that talks about Dickson leading them to freedom, the compounding coincidences point to Dickson still being an active agent in Minnesota," Sieber said. "This research is still new, with many promising stones to overturn.

“If there is one African American figure that has been grossly understudied, it is Moses Dickson. Part folk hero, part enigma, Dickson's newfound presence in Minnesota reminds us how little we truly know about the freedom seeking experience this far north."

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How the 1991 murder of Melissa 'Missy' Johnson reshaped Minnesota’s justice system

Lauren Breunig — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:30:00 GMT

ST. CLOUD — Melissa Noelle “Missy” Johnson should have been preparing for her first classroom, not becoming the center of one of central Minnesota’s most haunting murder cases.

The 23-year-old St. Cloud State University student was set to graduate in August 1991 and hoped to become a kindergarten teacher, a dream already reflected in the crystal apple gifted to her during student teaching and displayed in her parents’ Alexandria home.

Instead, just weeks before receiving her diploma, Johnson vanished during a late-night walk with her roommate’s puppy — a crime that shook central Minnesota, exposed failures in Minnesota’s corrections system and changed her family forever.

Her family told reporters that Missy, whose skin and blond hair turned golden in the summer sun, was “an optimist who did things her own way and was always ready to try something new.” She was the kind of person who made people feel comfortable, her roommate and friends said, with a confidence and laugh that drew others in.

She never received that diploma.

On July 8, 1991, Johnson left her St. Cloud apartment to walk around the block. Days later, the man eventually convicted of her murder would lead investigators to her body near Richmond.

A walk that never ended

Johnson had just returned home from a shift at Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center in Alexandria, an approximate 80-mile drive from her apartment in St. Cloud, around 11:30 p.m. on July 8.

Her roommate, Sheri Edlund, 21, was studying for exams and unable to join Johnson on a short walk near their residence at 807 Eighth Ave. S. It was a decision that Edlund later said haunted her.

“She was much more independent than me in that respect,” Edlund told the St. Cloud Times in July 1992. “I feel troubled that … I couldn’t set aside my studies for 15 minutes or however long she was walking — just even to go for a walk.”

Johnson took Brady, Edlund’s puppy, out alone around 11:45 p.m. It was the last time she was seen alive.

When Johnson did not return, Edlund reported her missing around 2:15 a.m. on July 9. The search began the following day, though investigators initially had no clear leads.

A break came on July 11, when Brady was found at a residence about five miles southwest of Richmond. Law enforcement focused search efforts there and near Roscoe, where the dog had reportedly been seen earlier.

Helicopters, volunteers and a horse-mounted team from Douglas County joined the search. Johnson’s disappearance — along with that of Jacob Wetterling in 1989 — would later help prompt Stearns County to form its own mounted-search team in 1993.

Scott Edward Stewart, a twice-convicted rapist, was arrested July 12, 1991, in Eden Valley after his mother reported a parole violation. Just days earlier, on July 4, he had been released from St. Cloud Prison but failed to report to a Minneapolis halfway house as required.

Investigators said Stewart later confessed on tape and led them to Johnson’s body, found covered with branches in a wooded area roughly three miles southwest of Richmond.

A Stearns County judge set Stewart’s bail at $1 million on July 15.

‘Everyone who loved Melissa’

There was an outpouring of love for Johnson and her family at her funeral the next day. Multiple newspapers reported more than 600 people attended.

She was remembered as a daughter, granddaughter, sister — one of four girls — and aunt.

“It was the worst thing that’s ever happened in my life,” Johnson’s father, Dave, said in 1992. “Children are supposed to bury parents. I mean, this is the way it should be, and when it’s reversed, it’s hard.”

Edlund remembered Johnson as a confident young woman with a beautiful laugh. The two skated together and walked their dogs around Lake George.

The funeral was held in Alexandria at Zion Lutheran Church, the same place where Johnson had been baptized and confirmed. Her obituary listed her honorary pallbearers simply as “everyone who loved Melissa.”

Case against Stewart

As Johnson’s family prepared for her funeral, prosecutors built the case against Stewart. On Aug. 13, 1991, a Stearns County grand jury indicted him on 24 counts of first-degree murder. But the case soon hit an early legal hurdle.

On Jan. 3, 1992, Stewart’s attorney moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing prosecutors improperly introduced his prior rape convictions to the grand jury.

Stearns County Judge Willard Lorette agreed, dismissing the charges Jan. 31 and sending the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Even as the case was in limbo, Stewart publicly denied responsibility. In a March 1992 interview with the St. Cloud Times, he said he did not kill Johnson and claimed law enforcement violated his constitutional rights to obtain a confession.

The Court of Appeals reinstated the indictments June 9, allowing the case to move forward. One month later — on the one-year anniversary of Johnson’s death — Stewart’s defense sought to suppress his confession and requested a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.

The trial began Aug. 17, 1992, in Duluth. Less than two weeks later, a jury found Stewart guilty on 11 counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“You can never hurt Missy again,” Johnson’s sister, Stacey, told Stewart during sentencing. “You can never hurt any of us as much as you already have … She also has a freedom you will never have. She is at peace.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 1994.

It changed Minnesota

Johnson’s killing became more than a murder case. It sparked statewide debate over parole supervision, victims’ rights and how Minnesota handled violent offenders after release.

Stewart had been released from prison unsupervised and was expected to transport himself to a halfway house in Minneapolis. His failure to report brought scrutiny to Minnesota’s release procedures.

In response, state officials tightened supervised release policies for high-risk offenders. In some cases, inmates were required to be directly transported to a halfway house or supervising agent.

The case also led to stronger coordination between corrections and communities, with greater emphasis on verifying that released individuals checked in as required.

State Sen. Joe Bertram, DFL-Payneville, frustrated that the Stearns County Attorney’s Office still had to keep Johnson’s clothing as evidence in case Stewart challenged his conviction again, pushed for tougher restrictions on inmate appeals.

“When I tell people, they can’t believe that,” Bertram told the St. Cloud Times in 1995. “We taxpayers are out the bill, and Stewart is out nothing.”

Johnson’s mother, Gayle, said the issue was about more than the clothes.

“It’s not that we don’t want them,” she said. “They’re bloody and dirty, but they’re hers. It’s the principal.”

The Johnsons also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state, Hennepin County and the halfway house where Stewart was supposed to report, arguing Minnesota bore responsibility because of his lack of supervision. But courts ultimately ruled that the county and the state agencies were largely immune from liability.

Honoring Missy

Johnson’s family spent years making sure others would not lose loved ones in the same way. Her parents testified before Gov. Arne Carlson’s violent crimes commission in 1991, pushing for tougher sentencing for rapists and fewer loopholes in the law.

Her sisters — Stacey, Kris and Marit — each “found new meanings in their lives,” Gayle said in 1992. Marit began speaking at middle and high schools across Minnesota about sexual assault.

Edlund and Johnson’s friends also helped create a scholarship in her name and worked to establish a memorial plaque to honor her life.

The murder also opened broader conversations about sexual assault and gender-based violence, including at St. Cloud State University. In 2019, Lee LaDue, assistant director of the university’s Women’s Center and coordinator of its gender violence prevention program, said Johnson’s killing was a turning point.

“That was a big wake-up call,” LaDue said.

Johnson’s legacy is not one of tragedy, according to her family. Rather, it reflects the person she was: a daughter, sister, friend and future teacher whose life changed the lives of others long after it was cut short.

Timeline of the case

1991

July 4 — Scott Edward Stewart released from St. Cloud Prison but fails to report to a Minneapolis halfway house. July 5–8 — Stewart remains unsupervised and acquires a knife while on the run. July 8 — Melissa “Missy” Johnson leaves her St. Cloud apartment at 11:45 p.m. to walk her roommate’s puppy, Brady; last known sighting. July 9 — Johnson reported missing around 2:15 a.m. July 10 — Search for Johnson begins; police have no specific leads. July 11 — Brady is found at a residence five miles southwest of Richmond. Law enforcement searched the area as well as near Roscoe, where the dog was spotted earlier. July 12 — Stewart arrested in Eden Valley after a tip from his mother, and law enforcement said he later confessed on tape. He leads investigators to Johnson’s body, covered with branches in a wooded area three miles southwest of Richmond. July 15 — Stearns County judge sets Stewart’s bail at $1 million. July 16 — Around 600 people attended Johnson’s funeral in Alexandria. Aug. 13 — Stearns County grand jury indicts Stewart on 24 counts of first-degree murder.

1992

Jan. 3 — Stewart’s lawyer files a motion to dismiss the indictment, stating that his client's two prior rape convictions should not have been brought up to the grand jury. Jan 31 — Stearns County Judge Willard Lorette dismisses the charges, sending the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals for review before more court proceedings could be scheduled. March 11 — In an interview with St. Cloud Times, Stewart said he did not kill Johnson, and that law enforcement denied him his Constitutional rights in order to obtain a confession. June 9 — The Minnesota Court of Appeals reinstates the indictments. July 9 — On the one-year anniversary of Johnson’s death, the defense motions to suppress Stewart’s confession and move his trial out of Stearns County due to publicity. Aug. 17 — Stewart’s jury trial begins in Duluth. Aug. 28 — Stewart is convicted of 11 counts of first-degree murder. He is sentenced to life without the chance of parole and sent to the state prison in Stillwater. As of 2026, he was being housed in state prison in Rush City, according to Minnesota Department of Corrections records.

1994

Minnesota Supreme Court upholds conviction.

1995–1996

Johnson’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit; courts rule government agencies are largely immune. Resources

Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center

Visit: 15 Riverside Drive NE, St. Cloud Call: (320) 251-4357 More resources: cmsac.org

SCSU Women’s Center

Visit: Atwood Memorial Center, room 218, 651 First Ave. S, St. Cloud Call: (320) 308-4958 Email: womenscenter@stcloudstate.edu

RAINN’S National Sexual Assault Hotline

Call: (800) 656-HOPE Text: HOPE to 64673 More resources: rainn.org/help-and-healing/hotline]]>

Minnesota's early history with slavery and ginseng

C.S. Hagen — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:50:00 GMT

MANKATO, Minn. — In the 1850s, Minnesota struck green gold.

A panacea for many ills, wild ginseng, also known as American ginseng or the so-called "green gold," brought in people from around the nation to the territory now known as Minnesota. North of the Mason Dixon Line, a supposed safe haven, the lure of profit didn’t escape the eyes of southern slave holders.

A pair of opportunists, the Chilton brothers, Edward and Joseph, thought they could make more money if they brought in slaves from Virginia to work in a ginseng drying house on the edge of Wayzata, Minnesota.

They called them servants, but they were considered property, according to Eric Dregni, a professor at Concordia St. Paul and author of the book “By the Waters of Minnetonka.”

“The Chilton brothers were blatant. They had this business going. And a lot of people refused to do business with them,” Dregni explained recently to Forum News Service.

“It’s an uncomfortable fact. Up here in the north, we are like, ‘how could this be?’ If you were white and from the south chances were you had slaves," Dregni said. "In the north we thought we were free of that but that’s not true."

While many residents disapproved, few protested, Dregni wrote in his book. But the Chilton brothers weren’t the only early Minnesotans to hold slaves. Military officers at Ft. Snelling also owned slaves, and were unwittingly part of the rising tensions that led to the Civil War with the Dred Scott family.

“Dred Scott, who was married, was a very big deal, but I wouldn’t say it started the Civil War. It highlighted what was going on," Dregni said. "They wanted their freedom, they were in the north. His owner died in Minnesota and he thought he should be free, and the people down south said, ‘no we still own you.’”

The Scotts were taken by their U.S, Army owners to Ft. Snelling in the 1830s. Dred Scott’s wife, Hariet Scott, was owned by U.S. Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro, while her husband was owned by Army Surgeon John Emerson, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.

And while the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery in the north, Taliaferro and Emerson kept the slaves at the fort for years, the Minnesota Historical Society reported.

While the Scotts, like all enslaved people, were considered property, they did experience more freedoms than slaves imprisoned in southern plantations. They married, lived together and had a family.

After living in a free territory for more than a decade, the Scotts eventually sued for their freedom, arguing that having lived in the Minnesota area made them free.

“Supported by abolitionists and inspired by court precedents, the Scotts pursued their case,” the Minnesota Historical Society reported.

The couple fought their case to the U.S. Supreme Court when in 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, handed down his verdict.

He said the Scotts were property, and had no right to sue. Slave owners could take their property anywhere, which in effect nullified Congress' right to determine what was free territory, which enraged abolitionists and appeased slavers, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.

Emerson died in 1843 and his widow, Irene Sanford, assumed ownership of the Scotts, rejecting Dred Scott’s attempt to buy his freedom, which left them afraid they would be sold and separated.

“The decision contributed directly to the sectional fury already inflamed by… ‘Bloody Kansas,’ and the Fugitive State Law. It strengthened the new Republican Party and helped elect Abraham Lincoln in 1860. It challenged the American nation’s idea of itself as a ‘free country,’” according to the Minnesota Historical Society.

Ultimately, the Scotts secured their freedom after a former owner, Taylor Blow, purchased the Scott family and then set them free just before Dred Scott’s death in 1858. Hariet worked as a laundress until her death in 1876.

Green gold

Dregni didn’t know if the Scotts were involved in ginseng digging, but slaves in the Minnesota territory were not in abundance. Desperate white settlers were eager to make a dollar any way they could.

“The settlers were poor, and if they could have a cash crop they would do anything,” said Dregni.

In 1858, the little-known plant ginseng was discovered in abundance in Minnesota woodlands. Known to be an important crop to Chinese herbalists — called

ren shen

, which means person root — the plant was dried and then used in cooking, for its efficacy in medicines or as a natural aphrodisiac.

Much of the ginseng was shipped to China, where “it sells for its weight in silver,” according to William Byrd, a colonel whose writings are stored at Cornell University.

“Indeed it does not grow there, but in the mountains of Tartary, to which place the emperor of China sends 10,000 men every year on purpose to gather it. It is a vegetable of so many virtues that Providence has planted it within every country that has the happiness to produce it,” Byrd wrote.

“This plant, the root of which is in favor with the Chinese for its medicinal virtues, is found only in wooded districts, and is prepared exclusively for the Chinese market,” the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat reported in 1860.

But Byrd found that chewing the roots gave warmth, vigor, and “frisks the spirits beyond any other cordial. It cheers the heart even of a man that has a bad wife, and makes him look down with great composure on the crosses of the world,” wrote Byrd.

“The Big Woods is fairly alive with ginseng diggers. And at the rate at which they get it out of the ground and dispose of it to purchasers, it is decidedly better than the ordinary run of gold diggings in California,” the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat reported in 1859.

Ginseng Diggers, also called sang diggers, were hauling out about 20 pounds every three hour. At 10 cents a pound, they could receive up to $2 per day, the equivalent of about $80 today.

Some men were making up to $4.50 per day, and children up to $1 each, the same newspaper article reported.

“Ginseng is about the only thing talked or thought of. It is the burden of their songs by day, and of their dreams by night,” according to the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat.

Entire towns were deserted with the pursuit of ginseng, according to the Hastings Ledger.

Ginseng was in demand as much as castor oil and opium, according to the St. Paul Globe. Other newspaper articles cited that ginseng was an alternative to opium.

“There are so many buyers that there is no difficulty in selling it all, the buyers taking it at all times, and in every state — as it is dug, or washed, or partially dry — paying for it in eastern currency,” the Hastings Ledger reported.

Most ginseng before the 1850s was harvested in the northeastern states, and in Virginia, so when it was discovered in Minnesota, it became a fiercely-protected secret. A “shrewd Virginian” advertised he would buy all the roots he could find, and began skirting companies in Pennsylvania to sell directly east, to China, for better profit.

“The Philadelphia dealers endeavored to arrest a movement which threatened to ruin their trade by buying up all the ginseng… at high prices. They paid as high as 90 cents for it, but could not exhaust the market," the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat reported.

The Pennsylvania company then hired a detective agency, which tracked the ginseng back to Minnesota, and discovered the “shrewd Virginian” was buying ginseng in Minnesota for six cents a pound, and selling it for up to 90 cents per pound.

They also discovered the “shrewd Virginian’s” warehouse ledgers revealed a total export in one year’s time of 203,000 pounds, worth about $7.8 million today.

Greed decimated wild ginseng, or American ginseng in Minnesota, and it is now a species of special concern in the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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Fond du Lac members tap into tradition

Brielle Bredsten — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:50:00 GMT

FOND DU LAC RESERVATION — A trio gathered under a tarp in the sleeting rain on April 2, taking turns warming by a bonfire set along the frozen shore of Big Lake in Sawyer.

“It’s a lot less work when you have more hands,” said Giizh (Sarah) Agaton Howes, whose family has produced maple syrup for the past 17 years. “It’s always an exciting part of the year, because that means spring is really there.”

In Ojibwe culture, sugar bush season (ziigwan, or “spring” in Ojibwe) is when communities gather to harvest and process maple sap into syrup and sugar.

“The sugar bush became this really cool way where people come and sit by the fire — just a nice way to build community,” Agaton Howes said. “We always try to encourage any of our friends or families who want to come and do it with us, to learn how to do it. And a couple people who have done it with us now have their own operation.”

Her land is situated on the border of a forested reservation, enabling access to even more maples for future years.

“We are happy to be able to participate in cultural activities. There is a barrier to learning about some of this stuff,” said Caasii (Alexandera) Houchin. “We have a good friend who makes invitations that feel safe, and you can say, ‘Yes, I don’t know anything. Teach me.’ It’s just been so awesome, and I can’t stop eating this syrup.”

Nearby, Houchin’s husband, Johnny Price, poured another bucket of maple sap into a kettle and adjusted a few logs to reduce the heat before its contents boiled over. A piece of pork hung just above the rolling sugar water to keep the foam down — a trick learned over the years in the sugar bush.

“You could boil this down and then get all the way to sugar, but we pretty much do syrup,” Agaton Howes said.

Smoke billowed from a large cast iron cauldron that was purchased from the family of the late Jim Northrup, a writer and prominent member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. As they had with many friends and neighbors, Jim and Pat Northrup had invited Agaton Howes and her family to gather around an annual boil. The experience encouraged her to start a sugar bush camp of her own.

“I don’t think I realized what a gift that was at the time, that they knew how to do it, but that they also were willing to show us,” Agaton Howes said. “Now I’m like, ’Wow, that was an incredible gift.’ Because now we can pass that on.”

From sap to syrup

The sugar bush season on Agaton Howes’ land began with a nod from their elders once temperatures fluctuated both above and below freezing.

Maple trees were selected on the property, and holes drilled into their trunks to place the spigots.

On warmer days, sap flows from the metal taps into the containers.

The sap is collected and stored in 32-gallon barrels. An estimated 200 gallons was collected over the course of the 2026 season.

“Last weekend, we boiled five of those barrels down to about 4 gallons of syrup,” Agaton Howes said. “Most of the syrup that we end up gathering, we end up giving it away to people, whether that’s family stuff, ceremonial things. They call it ‘liquid gold.’ ”

The success of each sapping season depends on the weather, which affects the amount of sap and how much sugar it contains.

“It’s just like slightly sugary water. Have you ever tasted this?” she asked, pouring a ladle of steaming liquid into a mug. “We were overwhelmed by the amount of sap we had this year.”

Gathering the sap didn’t always take such hard work, Agaton Howes said.

According to Ojibwe legend, thick maple syrup rained from the trees because the creator, Gitchee Manitou, originally made life very easy for his people. An Ojibwe hero named Manabozho felt the people had become greedy and lazy, so he watered down the trees to make them work for their sweet reward.

“There’s a lot of cool lessons in those things of working really hard for what we get,” Agaton Howes said. “Then, when you are able to eat that syrup, that syrup tasted so good. It was absolutely incredible, because we worked so hard for it.”

Her relationship with the trees has shaped the way Agaton Howes perceives where she lives — and the food her family eats.

In the early years, her children learned the value of participating in the work involved with collecting, boiling and canning maple syrup.

The hope is that her children will become the first generation in her family since the boarding school era who will recognize traditional methods of ricing, netting and the sugar bush as a normal aspect of daily life.

“Three generations of people who were gone for their entire childhood — they never learned how to do that. Then their kids never learned how to do it,” Agaton Howes said. “We have a big gap of knowledge, experience and comfort. Then you have the layer of shame, of not knowing how to do it.”

This story originally contained erroneous information about the kettle, which was purchased by Sarah Agaton Howes. It was updated at 3:50 p.m. on April 20. The News Tribune regrets the error.

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Tribal Council representative defeated in primary upset

Macklin Caruso — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:33:25 GMT

CLOQUET — Brad “Raff” Blacketter, the incumbent District 2 representative for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s Tribal Council, was defeated in a primary election upset and will not appear on the ballot for the general election June 9.

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa held its Tribal Council primary elections March 31 for secretary/treasurer and District 2 representative.

Mike Murray and Daniel LaPrairie, who received 42% and 20% of the vote, respectively, advance to the general election in the District 2 race, which includes Sawyer and the surrounding areas. Primary candidates who did not advance are, with their vote percentages: Jeremy “Sam” Ojibway, 16%, Blacketter, 10%, Michael LaFave, 7%, and Phillip Savage, 5%.

Blacketter has not responded to a Pine Journal invitation to comment.

For secretary/treasurer, incumbent Wayne Dupuis and challenger Jarvis “Chubbs” Paro received 47% and 40% of the votes, respectively, eliminating challenger James “Tubby” Blacketter III, who received 13%.

The secretary/treasurer and committee District 2 representative are both elected for four-year terms.

The secretary/treasurer also serves alongside the chairperson on the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, which includes the Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs and White Earth nations.

In total, 611 ballots were cast.

“Miigwech to all who voted, observed, supported, and participated in today’s process. Your involvement strengthens our sovereignty and our shared future,” the band posted on Facebook to announce the election results.

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Duluth man to be resentenced in 2017 murder as old cases reopened

Tom Olsen — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 11:33:00 GMT

DULUTH — A man convicted in the 2017 murder of a University of Minnesota Duluth student is set to receive a reduced sentence as a result of a change in state law.

Noah Anthony Charles King, now 27, has been serving a life term for the shooting death of 22-year-old William Grahek during a botched robbery at the victim’s East Hillside residence.

Under Minnesota law in effect at the time, King, who was armed with a wrench, was found guilty of first-degree murder because he was participating in a felony crime when one of his co-defendants fired the fatal shots.

But the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 overhauled the state’s accomplice liability statute, seeking to prevent disproportionate punishments for those who played a lesser role. Under the Felony Murder Reform Act, a defendant must now intend to cause the victim’s death or be a “major participant” to face the most significant consequences.

The change has upended a long-standing practice under which accomplices, such as a getaway driver in a planned robbery, were held equally liable — and sometimes even received harsher sentences — than the person who actually committed the killing.

Because the Legislature made the change apply retroactively, some defendants like King have been able to petition district courts to have their cases reexamined under the new standard.

In vacating King’s top conviction last month, 6th District Chief Judge Leslie Beiers said she didn’t want to “minimize King’s responsibility for the serious offense.” But there was no evidence, she wrote, that he intended for Grahek to die during the attempted drug heist.

“The evidence supports that King intended to aid, advise, counsel or conspire with others with the intent to cause an armed burglary,” Beiers wrote.

Deputy St. Louis County Attorney Jon Holets said his office is “deeply frustrated” with the decision and the retroactive application of the law to long-settled cases, some dating back 30 or more years.

“From a prosecutor’s perspective,” he said, “it is particularly maddening that nothing about the underlying facts have changed, yet the Legislature created a law that reaches back in time and alters the outcome. It also forces victims’ families to reengage with the system, relive traumatic events and endure renewed uncertainty after they believed the case had reached a final resolution.”

Defendants in past cases had until October 2025 to file petitions under the new law. While comprehensive data was not readily available, the News Tribune inquired with sources in the local legal system and found challenges from five defendants in three local murder cases.

Two petitions have been successful, two were rejected and another remains pending.

William Grahek

King was just 18 when he and two co-defendants, Deandre Demetrius Davenport and Noah Duane Baker, reportedly entered Grahek's home, 510 E. 11th St., on Valentine’s Day 2017.

Testimony indicated the trio hoped to take a safe containing the drugs and cash, but were surprised to discover Grahek was home. The victim’s brother, who lived with him, was upstairs when he heard an unfamiliar voice giving commands, quickly followed by two gunshots.

Baker pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge and admitted that he and Davenport were armed with Glock handguns, and King with a wrench. He said Davenport pulled the trigger. However, he later changed his story, claiming in subsequent trials that he went to Grahek’s home alone and was the real killer.

King, who opted for a bench trial before Judge Mark Munger, was convicted of first-degree murder and received the mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Davenport’s case was heard by a Brainerd jury; he met the same result.

In defending King’s conviction, prosecutor Vicky Wanta cited Munger’s findings that their formulation of a plan, including two guns and a wrench to subdue the victim’s dog, demonstrated a “mutual intent to use whatever force necessary” to commit the burglary, up to and including murder.

But Beiers sided with defense attorney Peter Johnson, noting King did not have a gun and could have believed his co-defendants only intended to threaten Grahek.

King will be resentenced Monday on a lesser count, that of aiding and abetting intentional second-degree murder. The conviction carries up to 40 years in prison, with a presumptive guideline sentence around 25 years.

Holets said his office is working with Grahek’s family and will “likely seek the most severe sentence allowed by law.” He said prosecutors believe they are bound by the ruling and “would likely be unsuccessful on appeal, given how appellate courts have ruled thus far.”

Meanwhile, Davenport has also challenged his conviction. Attorney Zachary Longsdorf cited Baker’s changing story and the fact that the jury only found Davenport guilty of aiding and abetting crimes; he was acquitted on another count directly charging him with the murder.

Wanta, in response, noted the law at the time did not require the prosecution to specifically prove which defendant pulled the trigger. But she said Munger and two juries both found Baker’s original testimony most credible, indicating Davenport was the killer.

Beiers scheduled an evidentiary hearing in his case for April 28, saying there “remains a question of whether Defendant fired the bullet that caused Mr. Grahek’s death.”

Baker agreed to a 30-year sentence under his plea agreement. Xavier Alfred Haywood, the man described as the “mastermind” who organized the robbery but was not present for the murder, is serving nearly 16 years.

Milton Williams

Another man has been freed from prison in a 2001 case that occurred under similar circumstances to Grahek’s murder.

Tyrone James White, 52, had been serving a life term for aiding and abetting both first-degree murder and attempted premeditated murder in the shooting death of Milton P. Williams, 26, and critical wounding of Tami M. Carlson.

Authorities said White, then 27, instigated, organized and directed what was planned to be a robbery of drugs and money from a fellow drug dealer at 1121 E. Second St. on April 24, 2001.

Williams suffered three gunshot wounds to his legs and a fatal shot to the top of his head during the attack. Carlson, the mother of two sons who were 10 and 13 at the time of the shootings, suffered a gunshot to the left side of her face that broke her jaw and paralyzed a vocal cord.

Also convicted in the case were Vidale Lee Whitson and Benjamin Edward King, who testified that Whitson pulled the trigger. A prosecutor maintained Carlson was shot because she witnessed Williams' murder and only survived because the gun jammed.

White’s petition was also handled by attorney Longsdorf, who acknowledged that his client intended to take part in a robbery but said he had no intent to kill Williams.

“With the aiding and abetting laws in place at that time, the operative mental state was that of Whitson, the principal in the crime,” Longsdorf said. “Now, however, the operative state of mind is that of Mr. White.”

Prosecutor Nate Stumme disputed the characterization, saying White was a major participant and was driven by revenge for Williams allegedly selling him fake drugs. White coordinated the plan, told his accomplices that the victim usually carried a gun and advised Whitson he might have to use his own.

Judge Beiers, however, said the record was “devoid of White having any intent to murder Williams.”

“White’s intent to rob Williams when an accomplice has a gun, which clearly makes death reasonably foreseeable, is not sufficient under the amended statute to yield a felony murder conviction,” she wrote.

White in October 2024 was resentenced on the attempted murder conviction only. Beiers imposed a nearly 16-year term; having already served more than 23 years, he was released from prison and has fulfilled the sentence.

Whitson is serving a life term plus 15 years; King completed a 12 ½-year sentence.

Paul Antonich

Two defendants found less success in challenging their convictions in the high-profile murder of 17-year-old Paul Antonich.

Lester Dale Greenleaf, 56, and Andy Leo DeVerney, 51, were convicted at a joint trial of aiding and abetting the kidnapping murder of the Two Harbors teen following a minor traffic collision on Aug. 28, 1996.

Antonich was attacked and abducted by five men after rear-ending their car at the intersection of Sixth Avenue East and Ninth Street. Also in the vehicle were John Steven Martin, John Alexander "Mike" Martin and Jamie Lee Aubid.

Testimony indicated the men began striking Antonich through the car window before he was pushed into the passenger seat as Greenleaf, then 26, took the wheel. The two cars drove to a location near Skyline Parkway and they severely beat the victim, with John Martin declaring his intent to “take the f---er and shoot him.”

Antonich was put in the backseat of his own car, with DeVerney, then 21, joining Greenleaf in the front. Both groups then drove approximately 35 miles to a remote location in Carlton County, where John Martin quickly shot him four times.

Johnson, the attorney representing Greenleaf, said his client had 18-20 beers that day and said he felt “coerced by Martin to continue driving the vehicle.” DeVerney’s lawyer, Bradford Colbert, characterized him as a minor participant in the two assaults and said there was no evidence he knew Martin intended to kill the victim.

But Carlton County prosecutors said the arguments largely rehashed claims that were already rejected by the jury, also citing Martin’s comment and the fact that the men continuously “participated in the escalation” with no attempt to end it.

Judge Beiers in both cases agreed with the prosecution, affirming the first-degree murder convictions, while also rejecting the county attorney’s challenge to the constitutionality of the murder reform law.

Greenleaf, DeVerney and John Martin are all serving life terms but will soon become eligible to petition for parole for the first time. DeVerney last week filed a notice of appeal.

Mike Martin, who accepted a plea agreement, served an 18-year sentence. Aubid received 30 years; he was recently charged in Itasca County with first-degree criminal sexual conduct while under supervised release and was sent back to prison to serve the final months of his term.

County Attorney Jeff Boucher said the petitions were the only ones received in Carlton County.

“Applying this law and addressing the challenges,” he said, “has been a significant challenge for the court system and it has been difficult for the families of victims.”

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Community Calendar: April 25-May 7

Staff reports — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:55:00 GMT

Rummage and bake sale, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., River of Life Church, 1002 Carlton Ave., Cloquet.

Vendor sale, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cloquet Armory. Crafters and other vendors, and food truck.

Child abuse prevention walk, 10 a.m., Fond du Lac Human Services Division lower parking lot, 927 Trettel Lane, Cloquet. Also includes information tables, drum group and lunch. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.

Prescription drug disposal, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cloquet Walmart parking lot. Bring expired and unwanted medication for safe and environmentally friendly disposal.

Library week celebration, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Jay Cook State Park. Author talks, story time, story stroll, campfire and naturalist activities in celebration of National Library Week. Free, no state park parking pass required because it is a free park admission day.

Pet adoptions, 1-4 p.m., Duluth PetSmart. Cats and dogs available from Carlton County Animal Rescue.

Sunday, April 26

Bluegrass concert, 2 p.m., Moose Lake Community School. The High 48s performs as part of the Agate Encores concert series. $20 adults and $5 students.

Free community meal, 4-5 p.m., Good Hope Church, 55 Armory Road, Cloquet. Menu: Chicken Caesar wraps, chips, fruit, dessert. Sponsored by Community of Hope 2:16. Call 218-600-6520 if need a ride.

Free formal dresses, 2-6 p.m. Bethany Lutheran Church, 5660 Highway 210, Cromwell. Gently used dresses available.

Pickleball, 2-4 pm., Esko School blue gymnasium. Free open play for adults.

Monday, April 27

Arrowhead Bookmobile, 1:15-1:45 p.m. at Silver Brook Town Hall, Wrenshall; 2:30-3:15 p.m. on Main Street in Kettle River.

Thursday, April 30

“The Most Happy Fella,” noon, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Ten Thousand Things, a Twin Cities based theater company stops to perform musical while on tour. Free but RSVP required at tenthousandthings.org/free-community-performances.

Friday, May 1

Bulldog bash, 5-7 p.m., Four Seasons Sports Complex. Carlton community members invited for free rollerblading and roller hockey, yard games, prizes, and first 200 attendees receive $10 voucher to Burger Joint food truck. Hosted by the Bulldog Spirit Club and paid for by a state grant.

Saturday, May 2

Off-road vehicles ride, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., leaving from the Disabled American Veterans grounds, 1760 County Road 3, Carlton. Register by 8:45 a.m. Stops at bars in Wrenshall, Moose Lake and Kettle River. $20 entry supports the Carlton County DAV chapter. Sponsored by Carlton County Riders Club.

Moose Run, 9;30 a.m., Moose Lake City Park. 5K run/walk or 10K run. $55. Proceeds support the Legacy of Excellence Foundation supporting Moose Lake Community School. Free kids run at 9 a.m.

Riverfront cleanup, 9:30 a.m. to noon, Dunlap Island park shelter, Broadway Street and St. Louis Avenue, Cloquet. Volunteers sought to clean up park areas. Snacks and drinks provided.

Roundabout Art Tour, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., art studios and community spaces across Carlton County. Visit oacc.us/art-roundabout-2026 for info on participating artists and a map of locations.

Bake sale, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Proceeds support Bunches of Books Book Club.

Kentucky Derby party, 4 p.m., Hank’s Sports Bar and Grill, 1306 Highway 45, Cloquet. Fundraiser for North Country Ride. $20, includes pizza and chips and queso.

Gary Allan, 7 p.m., Black Bear Casino Resort Otter Creek Event Center. Tickets to the country singer’s concert are $38.50 to 4121.50 at www.blackbearcasinoresort.com.

Sunday, May 3

Concerts on Fourth, 2 p.m., Presbyterian Church of Cloquet, 47 Fourth St. Cloquet Area Community Band, Belles of La Belle, Cal Metts, Marge Stillwell, and Ted Eastman and Rose Kuhlman perform. Refreshments to follow. Donations accepted to The Friends of the Cloquet Public Library.

Tuesday, May 5

Understanding addiction workshop, 5 p.m., Koinonia Coffee House, 103 Avenue C, Cloquet. Presenter is Pamela Lanhart, who specializes in the field of family recovery. Refreshments served. $10. Register at www.thrivefrr.org/workshops.

Thursday, May 7

Greek cooking class, 5:30 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Make a traditional Greek salad and taste other Greek dishes while Kora and John Cavanaugh share family stories and recipes. RVSP required to 218-879-1531.

Reoccurring and multiday events

Youth writing class, 1 p.m. Monday, April 27 at Cloquet High School and 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 at Moose Lake Public Library. Duluth author Margi Preus presents free “We Are All Storytellers” program for children in preschool through eighth grade.

Prostate cancer support group, 5-7 p.m. fourth Mondays, including April 27, Community Memorial Hospital ground floor, Birch Room, Cloquet.

Poetry reading and printmaking demonstration, 1 p.m. April 27 at Carlton Area Public Library, 6 p.m. April 29 at Cloquet Public Library. Poet and artist Shelley Getten presents.

Consolidation town halls, 6 p.m. April 28, noon May 6 and 4 p.m. May 11 in the Wrenshall School band room, 6 p.m. May 5 at Carlton High School. Superintendents of the Carlton and Wrenshall answer questions about the proposed consolidation.

Women’s networking breakfast, 7:30-8:30 a.m. first Fridays, including May 1, Lazy Moose Grille, 300 Arrowhead Lane, Moose Lake. Moose Lake Area Chamber of Commerce event. Food available for purchase. RSVP to mooselakechamber@gmail.com or 218-485-4145

Book sale, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 1 and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 2, Cloquet Public Library. Proceeds support the library.

Open gym, 6-7:30 p.m. May 1 and 15, Wrenshall School. Free, children must be accompanied by a parent.

Bunches of Books Book Club, 5:30 p.m. first Tuesdays, including May 5, Cloquet Public Library. For ages 9-12. RSVP to 218-879-1531.

Tinker Kids, 4-5 p.m. May 6 and 27, Cloquet Public Library. Children in preschool through sixth grade can make a Mother’s Day card May 6 and paint a rock May 27.

Vendor fair and rummage sale, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 7, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 8 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9, Four Seasons Sports Complex, 90 Chestnut Ave., Carlton. Proceeds support Community Memorial Hospital Volunteer Service Organization. Rummage sale donations accepted 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 6.

Gitigaan series, 5-6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through May 26 at Giizhimiijimewining, 964 Cary Road, Cloquet. Fond du Lac Agricultural Division classes on food sovereignty. Free and open to the public and dinner provided. Register at tinyurl.com/2026Gitigaan.

Chair yoga, 10:15-11 a.m. Wednesdays, May 6, 13, 20 and 27, Cloquet Public Library. Open to all ages. Donations to the library accepted.

Story time, Thursdays, 2-2:30 p.m., Moose Lake Public Library.

Carlton County Animal Rescue supply donation drive, through April 30, Moose Lake Municipal Liquor Store, Barnum Municipal Liquor Store and Cloquet and Moose Lake branches of Members Community Credit Union. Highly needed items are Purina puppy and cat chow, wet kitten pate, hard dog chews, potty pads, cat beds and towers. Cash donations also accepted.

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Community Calendar: April 18-27

Staff reports — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:36:00 GMT

Saturday, April 18

Living in Alignment with Nature conference, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Zero Waste Duluth hosts. Keynote at 10:30 a.m. is Robin Greenfield, who is spending a year foraging 100% of his food. Bring your own lunch. At 12:45 p.m. choose one of three breakout sessions: “eat your weeds,” “edible pollinator plants and gardens” and “nature as a closed-loop system.”

Queen of Peace Catholic School masquerade, 5-11 p.m., at the school. Dinner, dancing, raffles, live and silent auctions for ages 21 and up. $50 at the door or $45 at auctria.events/masquerade2026 or call 218-879-8516.

Sunday, April 19

Spring stroll, 1 p.m., Jay Cooke State Park, meet at the River Inn Visitor Center. A naturalist leads a walk through the park in search of signs of spring. Free, state park parking pass required.

Free community meal, 4-5 p.m., Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 515 Skyline Blvd., Cloquet. Menu: Deli sandwiches, salad, fruit, dessert. Sponsored by Community of Hope 2:16. Call 218-600-6520 if need a ride.

Tuesday, April 21

Arrowhead Bookmobile, 11:30 a.m. to noon at Wright City Hall, 1:15-2 p.m. at TJ’s Country Corner in Mahtowa, 2:45-3:45 p.m. at Holyoke Town Hall, 4:30-5:30 p.m. at Barnum High School.

Car seat checks, 1-3 p.m., Cloquet Fire Station No. 2, 2779 Big Lake Road. A certified technician will check if car seat is installed and being used correctly.

Carlton-Wrenshall school open houses, 4-6 p.m., South Terrace Elementary School and Wrenshall School. Families in the potential consolidated district invited to tour their future schools (preK-5 at South Terrace and 6-12 at Wrenshall).

Wednesday, April 22

Rock identification, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jay Cooke State Park. Stop by the River Inn Visitor Center with your favorite rocks and a naturalist with help identify them and share about the stories written in rock at the park.

Animal rescue fundraiser, 4-8 p.m., Chipotle in the Miller Hill Mall in Duluth. Carlton County Animal Rescue receives 25% of sales and will have adoptable animals inside the mall’s entrance No. 2. Enter code VE8PCZQ or show flyer from the rescue’s Facebook page.

Thursday, April 23

Ojibwe animal drawing, 4 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Children ages 8-12 invited to draw animals important in Ojibwe culture with Red Lake Nation artist Sami Downwind. RSVP to morgan.reardon@alslib.info or 218-879-1531.

Friday, April 24

One-man band, 5:30 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Steve Solkela performs.

Saturday, April 25

Early childhood screening, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Carlton County Government Services Building, 1307 Cloquet Ave., Cloquet. For children ages 3-5 who can't attend screening offered by their school district. RSVP to 218-384-4286.

Youth ATV safety class, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Moose Horn Rod and Gun Club, 3902 County Road 6, Barnum. For youths ages 10 and up who’ve completed online course. Parent must attend first 30 minutes of class. Register to 218-590-9277 or ccriders.training@gmail.com.

Prescription drug disposal, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cloquet Walmart parking lot. Bring expired and unwanted medication for safe and environmentally friendly disposal.

Sunday, April 26

Bluegrass concert, 2 p.m., Moose Lake Community School. The High 48s performs as part of the Agate Encores concert series. $20 adults and $5 students.

Free community meal, 4-5 p.m., Good Hope Church, 55 Armory Road, Cloquet. Menu: Chicken Caesar wraps, chips, fruit, dessert. Sponsored by Community of Hope 2:16. Call 218-600-6520 if need a ride.

Reoccurring and multiday events

Rate your Read Book Club, 1 p.m., Saturday, April 18, Carlton Area Public Library.

Earth Week, April 20-24, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Highlights include a discussion on artificial intelligence and data centers on April 21, research symposium and student showcase on April 22, tour of a prescribed burn area at the Cloquet Forestry Center and discussion about ishkode on April 23, and a seed-starting class and screening of the “Bring Them Home” documentary on April 24. Find full schedule at fdltcc.edu/event/earth-week.

Between the Lines Library Book Club, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, Cloquet Public Library. April book is “Where They Last Saw Her” by Marcie R. Rendon. Guest speaker is Janis Fairbanks.

Chair yoga, 10:15-11 a.m. Wednesdays, April 22, May 6, 13, 20 and 27, Cloquet Public Library. Open to all ages. Donations to the library accepted.

Rummage and bake sales, 2-6 p.m. April 23 and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.April 24 at Bethany Lutheran Church, 5660 Highway 210, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 5944 Highway 210, both in Cromwell

“Little Women,” 7 p.m. April 24 and 25, 2 p.m. April 26, Cloquet High School auditorium. Students perform a dramatization of the literary classic.

Vendor sale, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 24 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 25 Cloquet Armory. Crafters and other vendors, and food truck.

Prostate cancer support group, 5-7 p.m. fourth Mondays, including April 27, Community Memorial Hospital ground floor, Birch Room, Cloquet.

Poetry reading and printmaking demonstration, 1 p.m. April 27 at Carlton Area Public Library, 6 p.m. April 29 at Cloquet Public Library. Poet and artist Shelley Getten presents.

Story time, Thursdays, 2-2:30 p.m., Moose Lake Public Library.

Chess club, 3:30-5 p.m. Fridays, Cloquet Public Library. Open to all community members.

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Community Calendar: April 11-25

Staff reports — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:50:00 GMT

DAV rummage sale, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 11, Cloquet Armory. Proceeds support Carlton County veterans.

Cromwell egg hunt, 9 a.m., Cromwell Park. Rescheduled due to weather. Free; sponsored by Cromwell Area Community Club and Northern Grind.

Volcanoes of Lake Superior, 10:30 a.m., Cloquet Public Library. Professor Tom Fitz explains why the Lake Superior region contains one of the largest volcanic provinces on Earth.

Power of the Purse, 4-8 p.m., Fond du Lac Community College. Carlton and Pine County Area United Way fundraiser includes appetizers, dinner, dessert bar, champagne, live music, silent and live auctions and purse raffle. Tickets are $95 at tinyurl.com/CarltonPursePower.

Carlton County Animal Rescue fundraiser, 1-4 p.m., Moose Lake Brewing Company, 244 Lakeshore Drive. Bake sale, merchandise for sale, silent auction and pets available for adoption.

Sunday, April 12

Free community meal, 4-5 p.m., Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 612 12th St., Cloquet. Menu: beef Burgundy over pasta, salad, fruit, dessert. Sponsored by Community of Hope 2:16. Call 218-600-6520 if need a ride.

Tuesday, April 14

Toddler time, 10-11 a.m., Cloquet Public Library. Young children invited for crafts and play time. In lieu of story time, which is on hiatus in April.

Wednesday, April 15

Veterans resource fair, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Black Bear Casino Resort Otter Creek Event Center. Open to all veterans and their caregivers. Lunch provided.

Esko Subzero Robotics team fundraiser, 5-7:30 p.m., Esko School cafeteria. Demonstrations, games, dinner, bake sale and silent auction. Dinner is $10 adults, $7 teens, $5 ages 5-12 and free under 5.

Robotics demonstrations, 6-7 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Children in kindergarten through third grade will teach how to drive Spheros and share about local robotics opportunities.

Thursday, April 16

Ask a police officer, 4-4:45 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Children invited to meet a police officer as part of the library’s ask an expert series.

Author Marcie Rendon, 6:30 p.m., Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Rendon presents about her book “Where They Last Saw Her,” which is the 2026 One Book Northland community read.

Saturday, April 18

Historical society lunch, 1 p.m., Soo Line Event Center, 900 Folz Blvd., Moose Lake. Jan Mehlhoff presents about her travels to Tibet, China, Cuba and India. $25. RSVP by April 11 to 218-485-4234.

Pet paint-and-sip, 1-3:30 p.m., Hank’s Sports Bar, 1306 Highway 45, Scanlon. Make an abstract painting of a pet hosted by Nana’s Paint Nook. $46, with net proceeds benefiting Carlton County Animal Rescue. Register at nanaspaintnook.com.

Sunday, April 19

Tuesday, April 21

Arrowhead Bookmobile, 11:30 a.m. to noon at Wright City Hall, 1:15-2 p.m. at TJ’s Country Corner in Mahtowa, 2:45-3:45 p.m. at Holyoke Town Hall, 4:30-5:30 p.m. at Barnum High School.

Car seat checks, 1-3 p.m., Cloquet Fire Station No. 2, 2779 Big Lake Road. A certified technician will check if car seat is installed and being used correctly.

Wednesday, April 22

Thursday, April 23

Friday, April 24

One-man band, 5:30 p.m., Cloquet Public Library. Steve Solkela performs.

Saturday, April 25

Prescription drug disposal, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cloquet Walmart parking lot. Bring expired and unwanted drugs for safe and environmentally friendly disposal.

Reoccurring and multiday events

Spring strolls, 1 p.m., Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 19, Jay Cooke State Park, meet at the River Inn Visitor Center. A naturalist leads a walk through the park in search of signs of spring. Free, state park parking pass required.

Second Saturday crafts, 1 p.m., April 11, Carlton Area Public Library.

Parkinson’s support group, 2 p.m. second Mondays, including April 13, Community Memorial Hospital, in the Pine Room. All people living with Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia and their caregivers welcome.

Drop-in tech help, 3-5 p.m. second Tuesdays, including April 14, Cloquet Public Library. Get help using a smartphone, laptop or tablet, or using the library’s e-resources.

Tinker Kids, 4-5 p.m. first and third Wednesdays, Cloquet Public Library. Children in grades K-6 can make clothespin dragonflies on April 15.

Homeschool Northland conference, April 17 and 18, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 4 Elizabeth Ave., Esko. Presenters, exhibitors and other events for homeschooling parents. Cost is $60-$70. Details and registration at homeschoolnorthland.com.

Beading circle, 2-3 p.m. third Fridays, including April 17, Cloquet Public Library. Socialize while working on beading projects. Some supplies available.

Open gym, 6-7:30 p.m. April 17, May 1 and 15, Wrenshall School. Free, children must be accompanied by a parent.

Rate your Read Book Club, 1 p.m., April 18, Carlton Area Public Library.

Story time, Thursdays, 2-2:30 p.m., Moose Lake Public Library.

Between the Lines Library Book Club, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, Cloquet Public Library. April book is “Where They Last Saw Her” by Marcie R. Rendon. Guest speaker is Janis Fairbanks.

Chair yoga, 10:15-11 a.m. Wednesdays, April 22, May 6, 13, 20 and 27, Cloquet Public Library. Open to all ages. Donations to the library accepted.

Rummage and bake sales, 2-6 p.m. April 23 and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.April 24 at Bethany Lutheran Church, 5660 Highway 210, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 5944 Highway 210, both in Cromwell

“Little Women,” 7 p.m. April 24 and 25, 2 p.m. April 26, Cloquet High School auditorium. Students perform a dramatization of the literary classic.

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Matters of Record for April 3-9, 2026

Staff reports — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:19:00 GMT

District Court

Carlton County

April 3

Joseph V. Zavodnik, 41, confidential address, driving while impaired, fined $900, 364 days jail with 363 days stayed on one year probation with conditions.

April 7

Jordan J. Defoe, 18, Hinckley, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000, 90 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions. Cesar A. Houle, 19, Cloquet, attempted criminal sexual conduct, fined $50, 72 months in prison. Jennifer S. Jackson, 55, Cloquet, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000, 90 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions. Vincent J. Jourdain, 41, Cloquet, disorderly conduct, fined $50, 30 days jail with 24 days stayed on one year probation with conditions; violation of no contact order, adjudication stayed for one year, fined $50 and three days jail, concurrent. Devin J. Koski, 23, Cloquet, driving after revocation, fined $200.

April 8

Bonnie M. Bellanger, 51, Duluth, driving while impaired, fined $900, 364 days jail with 334 days stayed on two years probation with conditions. Angela C. Beste, 36, Carlton, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000, 364 days jail with 362 days stayed on two years probation with conditions. Eric R. Boe, 42, Rose Creek, driving while impaired, fined $1,000, 90 days jail with 89 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Kelly A. Bosiacki, 40, Superior, theft, continued for dismissal for one year, $50 fine. Tyrhell M. Branch, 21, Social Circle, Georgia, driving 98 mph in a 70 mph zone, fined $100; driving after cancellation/revocation/suspension, fined $300. Felicity F. M. Enger, 24, Cloquet, possession of a controlled substance, fined $50, 364 days jail with 357 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Francis B. Polson, 38, Duluth, theft, adjudication stayed for one year with conditions. Matthew B. St. John Shabaiash, 19, Brookston, solicit/induce to practice prostitution, adjudication stayed on five years probation with conditions, 270 days jail; possession of a controlled substance, adjudication stayed on three years probation with conditions, 270 days jail, concurrent.

April 9

Jeremiah J. Johnson, 39, Moose Lake, damage to property, 364 days jail stayed on two years probation with conditions, pay $2,583 in restitution. Charles M. Lumbar Sr., 39, Cloquet, driving after revocation, adjudication stayed for six months, $50 fine; second count driving after revocation, fined $200. Joel G. O'Leary, 46, Cloquet, tamper/interfere with an aircraft, fined $50, 60 days jail with 55 days stayed on one year probation. Kendall M. Rice, 20, Solway, public nuisance, adjudication stayed for one year, $50 fine. Shamonde T. Starr, 25, Fridley, theft, fined $50, 90 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions, pay $49 in restitution. Steven P. Svoboda, 44, Rochester, driving after suspension, adjudication stayed for six months, fined $50.

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Matters of Record for March 30 to April 4, 2026

Staff reports — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 13:07:00 GMT

District Court

Carlton County

March 30

Ryan D. Bridge, 48, Cloquet, careless driving, adjudication stayed for one year, $50 fine; test refusal, fined $1,000, 364 days jail with 359 days stayed on one year probation with conditions, concurrent; driving after cancellation, adjudication stayed on one year probation with conditions, $50 fine. Margaret R. Sumner, 19, Cloquet, underage drinking and driving, 30 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions, fined $300 with $150 stayed. Jackson J. Thompson, 21, Sturgeon Lake, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000, 89 days jail with 88 days stayed on one year probation with conditions.

March 31

Terri L. Huntingon, 67, White Bear Lake, driving while impaired, fined $1,000, 90 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions.

April 1

Andrea L. Anderson, 49, Cloquet, disorderly conduct, fined $50. Bobbie L. Maciewski, 52, Cloquet, theft, continued for dismissal for six months. LaRissa S. Raisch, 25, Brevator Township, driving after revocation, adjudication stayed for six months, $50 fine; open package of cannabis in a motor vehicle, fined $100, 90 days jail stayed on one year probation. Terry T. Starr, 28, Brooklyn Center, theft, fined $50, 90 days stayed on year probation with conditions.

April 2

Travis K. Haluptzok, 35, Cloquet, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $500, 364 days jail with 334 days stayed on two years probation with conditions. Gary E. Keezer, 53, Sawyer, possession of a controlled substance, imposition stayed on three year probation with conditions, two days jail served; driving while impaired, fined $500, 90 days jail with 88 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Kennedy M. Partlow, 18, Askov, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol content, fined $1,000, 90 days jail with 89 days stayed on one year probation with conditions. Kayla M. Polaski, 31, Duluth, theft, 24 days jail, $50 fine, $150 restitution; possession of 10 grams or more of a narcotic other than heroin, imposition stayed on three years probation with conditions, $50 fine and 24 days jail, concurrent. Joseph M. Rush, 48, St. Michael, exceed gross weight limit violation, fined $1,000. Arlene M. Thompson, 32, Cloquet, give false information to a peace officer, fined $50, 364 days jail with 336 days stayed on one year probation with conditions; possession of a controlled substance, imposition stayed on three years probation with conditions, 48 days jail.

April 3

Chase T. Golden, 25, Cloquet, driving after revocation, fined $50; inattentive driving, fined $50. Cheri A. Yung, 58, McGregor, driving after revocation, fined $200.

April 4

Devin J. Koski, 23, Cloquet, driving after revocation, fined $200.

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Matters of Record for March 23-28, 2026

Staff reports — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 11:11:00 GMT

District Court

Carlton County

March 23

Larry Lee Lawrence, 45, Brookston, DWI, one day jail served, 364 days jail stayed, 232 hours community service, two years probation, $500 fine that may be reduced to $50 if certain probation requirements are met; driving after revocation, dismissed. Timothy Paul Johnson, 37, Cloquet, school bus stop arm violation, six months unsupervised probation, $50 fine. Jayden Michael Rowe, 25, Poplar, Wisconsin, driving after suspension, no seat belt, $305 in fines. Kevin Eugene Painter II, 37, Cloquet, theft, seven days jail served, 23 days jail stayed, one year probation, $50 fine; driving after revocation, 11 days jail served, 19 days jail stayed on one year probation, $50 fine, all concurrent; vehicle lights not on during rain or snow, dismissed. Mark Kelly Erickson, 66, Cloquet, driving after cancellation inimical to public safety, six months probation, $50 fine; leaving the scene of a property damage accident, no proof of insurance, dismissed. Allen Robert Rengo, 24, Cloquet, disorderly conduct, 30 days jail stayed, one year probation, $50 fine.

March 24

Aaron Michael Olsen, 39, Grand Rapids, giving false identifying information to police, 11 days jail served. Tanya Lynn Craven, 40, Progress Township, driving without insurance, $200 fine.

March 25

Jeremy Dorland Thompson, 34, no permanent address, domestic assault, 40 days jail served, 324 days jail stated on two years probation with conditions, $100 fine; malicious punishment of a child, dismissed. Keegan Robert Akervik, 24, Cloquet, DWI, one day jail served, 89 days jail stayed on one year probation with conditions, $1,000 fine; disorderly conduct, dismissed. Jeremy Ryan Penney, 46, Blaine, speeding, no insurance, expired registration, $310 in fines. Broderic Thomas Mullen, 30, Cloquet, driving after revocation, stay of adjudication for one year, $50 fine; driving without insurance and second count driving after revocation, dismissed. Arthur Laine Rian, 20, McGregor, underage drinking and driving, 20 days jail served, 70 days jail stayed on one year probation, $50 fine; reckless driving, driving after revocation and underage consumption, dismissed. Kayla Lynn Reynolds, 23, Cloquet, DWI, 64 days jail served.

March 26

Michael David Dahlheim, 43, Isanti, sewage treatment system and zoning violations, six months probation and continued for dismissal if septic tank is properly replaced. Mason Christopher Hietala, 23, Carlton, driving after license revocation, $200 fine. Patrick Conrad Gamble, 44, Cromwell, exceeding gross weight hauling forest products, $700 fine. Marcus James St. John Sr., 37, Cloquet, DWI, 30 days jail with credit for 27 days served, 334 days jail stayed, two years probation; fleeing police in a vehicle, three days jail, three years probation with conditions, $50 fine, concurrent; two counts drug possession, obstructing the legal process and driving after revocation, dismissed. Catherine Jean Hill, 25, Sawyer, drug possession, 75 days jail served, continued for dismissal on three years probation; giving a false name to police, 75 days jail served, 288 days jail stayed on two years probation, concurrent; second count drug possession, dismissed. Daimon James Reynolds, 33, Cloquet, theft, $2.90 restitution, $50 fine. Larry Lee Lawrence, 45, Brookston, DWI, one day jail served, 232 hours community service, 363 days jail stayed on two years probation with conditions, $500 fine; driving after revocation, dismissed.

March 27

Clay Leroy Anderson, 54, Cloquet, driving after revocation, $200 fine. Marguerite Cynthia Diver, 39, Cloquet, driving after license revocation, uninsured vehicle, no seat belt, $425 in fines.

March 28

Dominic Jesse Stanchfield, 30, Hermantown, driving without a license, speeding, $160 in fines.
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Wheat finally has a story. The question is whether producers use it

Allison Thompson — Fri, 01 May 2026 14:17:54 GMT

Wheat markets have spent much of the past two years searching for a reason to move higher. Now, they may have finally found one. It’s not a single headline or “black swan” shock. Instead, it’s something more subtle — and often more durable: crop progress, condition ratings, and just enough uncertainty to force the market to pay attention. What makes this shift more meaningful is the timing. The market wasn’t fully positioned for it.

Part of that is because the U.S. wheat balance sheet was already shifting before weather became a factor. Planted acreage is expected to decline again this year, tightening the production base and lowering the margin for error. That alone doesn’t create a bullish market — but it does make the market more sensitive to any disruption. When you combine fewer acres with emerging weather concerns, it doesn’t take much to get prices moving.

Now layer in crop conditions. The latest USDA Crop Progress report is giving the market something it didn’t have before — a reason to assign risk premium. Nationally, winter wheat ratings held unchanged this past week at 30% good-to-excellent, but that headline number doesn’t tell the full story.

When you break it down across the key hard red wnter states, the picture becomes much more concerning — historically. Kansas is rated just 23% good-to-excellent, the third lowest in the past decade. Oklahoma sits at 14%, also the third lowest. Texas is at 12%, the second lowest. Colorado is at just 8%, the lowest on record for the past ten years, and Nebraska is at 12%, also the lowest. Taken together, the top five HRW states average just 13.8% good-to-excellent — the lowest in the last decade.

And it’s not just how the crop looks — it’s when it looks this way. The crop is moving quickly through development, with roughly 34% of the winter wheat crop now headed compared to a 21% five-year average. That means a larger portion of the crop is already entering its most critical yield-determining stage — while conditions remain historically poor in the core HRW regions.

That combination matters.

Once a crop moves into heading, the market becomes far less forgiving. At that point, it’s no longer pricing potential — it’s pricing outcome. And when conditions are this poor in the heart of the HRW belt at this stage of development, the market is forced to take notice.

Spring wheat is adding another layer to the story. Planting progress across the northern Plains is running behind the five-year average. That’s not a problem in itself, but it doesn’t need to be. This time of year, delays don’t create shortages — they create uncertainty. And uncertainty is enough to support prices, especially when the market isn’t heavily committed to a direction.

Not all wheat is trading the same story, and that distinction matters. There isn’t much concern surrounding the soft red winter wheat crop, which is grown primarily across the central and eastern Corn Belt. Conditions there remain relatively stable, and the market isn’t being forced to price in much risk. Still, that hasn’t stopped funds from stepping in. Wheat — more than most grains — tends to attract speculative buying during periods of geopolitical uncertainty, and that underlying interest has helped support the complex.

The real focus now shifts to weather — and more importantly, how it evolves from here. Recent forecasts are starting to turn more favorable across parts of the southern Plains, with improved chances of precipitation showing up in Texas, Oklahoma, and even portions of western Kansas. That doesn’t erase the stress the crop has already faced, but it does introduce a new variable: stabilization versus further deterioration.

At this stage, the market isn’t just reacting to current conditions — it’s trying to price what happens next. If follow-through moisture materializes, the narrative can quickly shift from yield loss to yield stabilization. If it doesn’t, the market will be forced to add even more risk premium.

That creates a disconnect.

The market is trading the idea that damage has already been done, while the forecast suggests conditions may stabilize — or even improve. While it’s entirely possible that some yield has been lost, the key question is whether that loss is large enough to justify the premium currently built into price.

This is where the setup begins to resemble a classic weather market. Risk premium is added quickly — and often aggressively — as uncertainty builds. But more often than not, the market overshoots the actual impact before correcting once clarity returns.

That brings us to the part of the story that doesn’t get as much attention.

When you step back and look at the actual supply and demand outlook, both domestically and globally, the market is still operating from a position of relative comfort. The latest WASDE shows U.S. ending stocks projected at 938 million bushels — up 10% from last year and the largest since 2019-20 . Demand isn’t expanding enough to offset that. Domestic use is steady to slightly lower, and exports are holding near 900 million bushels. This isn’t a demand-driven market — it’s a supply-heavy one with stable demand.

Globally, the story leans even further in that direction. Production is being revised higher in key regions like Russia and the European Union, while consumption has been trimmed. The result is a build in global stocks, now projected at 283 million metric tons — roughly 9% higher than last year. And wheat, more than any other grain, trades a global balance sheet first.

That’s the tension in this market. There is tightening U.S. acres and developing weather risk — both supportive. But you also have rising U.S. stocks and increasing global inventories — both limiting. That combination doesn’t prevent rallies, but it does cap how far they can go unless something fundamentally changes.

Right now, the wheat market is trying to price those possible changes. It now has a weather narrative, tighter acreage, lagging condition ratings, slower spring wheat planting, and technical strength confirming the move. That’s enough to keep buyers engaged — for now.

But here’s the part producers don’t want to hear. The market doesn’t need a disaster to justify these prices. It just needs enough uncertainty to keep risk premium in place. Across the wheat complex, futures are now roughly $1 above the December lows. That’s not hypothetical — that’s real.

So the question is simple: what if this rally isn’t enough for producers? Because this isn’t a market being driven by shortage. It’s a market trying to decide how much risk actually belongs in price. Tighter acres lower the margin for error — but they don’t remove the cushion. And right now, both the U.S. and the world still have one.

Markets don’t send perfect signals. They give you windows. This is one of them. Wheat finally has a story, and the market is responding. But don’t confuse that with a guarantee of higher prices. This is still a market driven by shifting expectations — not confirmed shortages. That means the opportunity is now, not later.

Use the strength. Reward the rally. Get caught up on sales and protect the rest. Because if this story fades — even slightly — the premium can disappear just as quickly as it showed up.

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Write Field: Water

David Kragnes — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Water.

As a child out in the garden,

If your thirst required a sip,

You held the hose up so

It made a bubble by your lip.

You always held it from the side,

Don’t point it at your nose,

Lest your sister seize the moment,

Up the pressure in the hose.

Water splashed on nose and face,

With shouting their reward,

There seemed excessive humor,

In this sibling water board.

Water too long in a hose,

Unlike wine does not age well,

After just a week out in the sun,

I won’t say there’s a smell,

But the finish isn’t really crisp,

I’m pretty sure it’s clean,

But there’s a fruity taste of rubber

With some notes of propylene.

With no hose, just a faucet,

Our cup was just a hand,

With no more cleanliness involved

Than brushing off the sand.

Thirsty is an issue,

If it’s hot, you’re working hard,

Whether its out in a field,

In your garden or your yard.

Hydration’s now a science,

While I cannot say it’s bad,

The obsession over liquid

Is so much more than a fad.

Water that’s just H2O,

Ain’t for a water snob,

It must balance your electrolytes

To do a decent job.

The shelves and shelves of water

At your local grocery store,

Will tell you there’s a market

For hydration with much more.

And now it’s gone another step,

Before you take a glug,

You must have your liquid in

A stainless Stanley jug.

I remember when my father got,

A Stanley for the field,

After many hours working still,

Hot coffee it would yield.

I thought the thermos era done,

A relic of the past,

No one carries their own coffee

In a thermos built to last.

I thought Caribou and Starbucks,

Had flushed the Stanley name,

But the wave of water addicts

Have just swept it back to fame.

Every gal now walks around,

A Stanley in her hands

Headed off to work, to shop,

Or sitting in the stands.

Some of them are decorative,

But with a careful glance,

Mini bumper stickers show,

The owners issue stance.

I won one once, but it was pink,

So I gave it away,

I kind of wish I had it back

So I’d have one today.

If I planned ahead and prepped

For my own happy hour,

Would a Stanley cooler keep ice in

My favorite Bourbon sour?

David Kragnes lives near Felton, Minnesota, and has retired from farming. He is a former board member and chairman of American Crystal Sugar Company, and formerly served on the CoBank Board of Directors, among other cooperative service.]]>

House passes farm bill without year-round E15 inclusion

Michael Johnson — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 18:05:14 GMT

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a farm bill for the first time since 2018 on Thursday, April 30.

The passage came with a 224-200 vote, and is called the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026.

The agriculture industry was quick to express thoughts on the action.

The National Pork Producers Council said that the act included 100% of the council's policy requests. Chief among those was a section that provides relief from Proposition 12 — that law regulates how animals, such as hogs, must not be raised in certain crowded, confined conditions. The relief in this farm bill says that farmers have a federal right to raise and sell livestock across state lines and that no state can attach conditions to how that livestock is raised, if raised somewhere else.

The National Milk Producers Federation applauded the passage in a news release.

“The House-passed 2026 Farm Bill supports the farm safety net, preserves existing conservation programs that include opportunities for dairy and livestock producers, bolsters trade promotion programs while protecting common food names, recognizes the important role of dairy in nutrition, and supports animal health programs," according to NMPF CEO Gregg Doud.

Doud urged the Senate to take up action on a farm bill without delay.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall expressed appreciation for the "new, modernized farm bill."

"Important updates to research and conservation, as well as increased loan limits and clarity on interstate commerce, will help farmers survive today’s challenges and give them the tools to thrive in the future," he said in a statement. "We urge the Senate to follow the House’s lead and move this important bipartisan legislation forward. Food security is national security, and investing in America’s farmers and ranchers is an investment in America’s families. We all benefit from a reliable and affordable food supply."

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture said the House Bill strengthens local food purchasing programs, preserves the viability of the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and reauthorizes the "three legged stool for foreign animal disease prevention."

"This legislation supports farmers, ranchers and consumers and provides economic growth for rural communities. NASDA stands ready to continue collaboration to advance this critical legislation," said Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

North Dakota Farmers Union President Matt Perdue called the passage "an important step toward completing the process after three years of delays." He lauded the inclusion of farm loan program updates and reauthorization of programs that support voluntary conservation, rural development and farmer mental health, but he said it is "not a perfect bill," mentioning the lack of year-round E15 and input cost concerns not being addressed as problems.

“However, we are deeply disappointed that the House again missed an opportunity to authorize permanent year-round E15. Family farmers need strong, stable domestic demand. We have waited long enough. It’s time to get it done," Perdue's statement said. “Family farmers and ranchers are facing a mounting crisis. We must do more to address skyrocketing fertilizer costs and extreme market volatility. We look forward to continuing our work to strengthen the farm bill, address corporate consolidation and provide meaningful relief to producers.”

Modern Ag Alliance Executive Director Elizabeth Burns-Thompson expressed disappointment that the House bill did not reaffirm EPA has sole authority for pesticide labeling and packaging requirements.

“By gutting common-sense crop protection provisions from the farm bill, lawmakers caved to anti-science MAHA activists instead of standing with those who grow our food. The result is a patchwork of state rules that will raise costs, cut yields, and increase grocery prices," she said.

Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-ND, voted in favor of the bill's passage. She shared in a news release that the legislation would strengthen the farm safety net, expand access to credit, and deliver long-term certainty for North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers.

Within the bill is an amendment directing the Secretary of Agriculture to study the feasibility of providing storage facility loans to producers for on-farm fertilizer storage. The proposal was inspired by a North Dakota farmer who shared the idea directly with Fedorchak during a meeting in her Washington, D.C. office.

While year-round E15 did not find a place within the House version of a farm bill, Fedorchak said she joined other members in negotiating with House Speaker Mike Johnson to secure a standalone vote on the legislation. That vote is expected on May 13.

Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn, is a fourth-generation farmer who serves on the House Agriculture Committee and chairs the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture. In a statement, he said the bill "is written by farmers for farmers, and by rural communities for rural communities – and that’s exactly what the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 accomplishes." He mentioned investments in conservation funding and efforts to ensure farmers and rural communities have access to funding for their operations, along with language surrounding California's Proposition 12 as ways the bill can help agriculture.

Other inclusions Finstad's office said he worked on include moves to strengthen cybersecurity protections within the food and agriculture critical infrastructure, to expand the Farm Storage Facility Loan Program through the USDA to include propane storage, to expand access to precision agriculture tools and technology for federal conservation programs, to expand eligibility for beginning farmer loans, to expand the EZGuarantee Loan Program through the USDA, expediting approval times for certain guaranteed loans, and to extend several market development programs.

"I’m proud of the work my colleagues and I have put in to deliver the strong farm policy that farmers, producers, and rural communities need and deserve,” he said.

But House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said the "skinny farm bill" fell short by locking in cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding, "rubberstamping" tariffs put in place by President Donald Trump, not providing additional farm aid to cover for trade war losses and cutting the Environmental Quality Incentives Program by $1 billion, among other priorities.

"The so-called farm bill that passed the House today does nothing to resolve high input costs, lost markets, surging food prices or provide a single penny in economic assistance to struggling family farmers," Craig said in a statement. "That said, thanks to the tremendous work of House Democrats, we defeated the Republican effort to shield pesticide companies from legal liability when their chemicals make consumers sick. Now, our hope turns to the Senate, where I encourage Democratic and Republican members to work together to deliver for farmers and working people. America needs a bipartisan, five-year, 12-title farm bill that meets the moment. The farmers who feed, fuel and clothe our country need our support, not lip service."

With focus now shifting to the Senate, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry has not yet marked up a farm bill during the 119

Congress, which started in January 2025.

The most recent farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, expired in 2023. It was extended three times, for a year at a time: in November 2023 to cover FY2024 and crop year 2024; in December 2024 to cover FY2025 and crop year 2025; and in November 2025 to cover FY2026 and crop year 2026, according to the Library of Congress.

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More dairy farms would be eligible for assistance under bill passed by Minnesota House and Senate

Michael Johnson — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:30:00 GMT

ST. PAUL — More dairy farmers in Minnesota could be eligible to apply for Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Relief Initiative grants through the Department of Agriculture, thanks to early bipartisan support at the Minnesota Legislature.

The news comes after the Minnesota Senate passed SF 3832 unanimously in March. It’s a bill that modifies existing assistance for dairy farmers in the state to make new producers eligible. The Minnesota House brought that bill up on Monday, April 20, and passed it 129-4. Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill into law on April 29.

The state’s Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Relief Initiative program (DAIRI) gives additional financial assistance to dairy farmers who participate in the Dairy Margin Coverage program. That is a federal Farm Service Agency program that provides financial support to dairy farmers when the margin between milk prices and feed costs is low.

Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish expressed his support in the bill.

“We appreciate that this program is targeted at family-sized dairy farms,” he wrote in a letter to House members. “That will ensure that the money goes further to keeping more farms in business.”

The Legislature appropriated $4 million for DAIRI in a 2023 law for fiscal year 2024, and a 2024 law amended the appropriation to be for fiscal year 2025. The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not offer the DMC program in either fiscal year 2024 or fiscal year 2025. In 2025, the legislature canceled $1 million of the DAIRI appropriation to the general fund, leaving $3 million remaining. Eligible farmers are those who produced no more than 16 million pounds of milk in 2022. The DAIRI payments are based on the amount of milk produced in 2022, up to 5 million pounds per participating farm.

This left out opportunities for new dairy farmers in the state who have been operating since 2022. Rep. Nathan Nelson, R-Hinkley, said in the hearing before the House that this change opens up eligibility for about an additional 30 farmers.

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul said he supported the bill but brought his concern that the state was providing money in order to access federal money. He said these actions were necessary due to the long-overdue passage of a farm bill. His support came from his thought that these funds may support small to medium startups that could have a better chance of competing with larger consolidated operations.

SF 3832 modifies eligibility for DAIRI by adding eligibility for new dairy farms that did not sell milk in 2022 or sold milk for only a portion of the year. For those farms, the payments would be based on the farm’s production history established in its DMC enrollment. The bill also allows any unencumbered balance after June 30, 2026, to be used for similar purposes. The bill would be effective the day following enactment.

The DAIRI application period for 2026 closed April 9. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture expects to begin issuing payments one month after the application period closes. Visit https://www.mda.state.mn.us/dairi for more information.

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