Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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IRONWOOD — Chuck Gervasio’s role in Ironwood’s annual Jack Frost Festival of Lights Parade is going to be a bit different this year, as parade organizers named Gervasio the grand marshall. The parade’s theme, “Christmas is ON the Air,” also honors Gervasio — the parade’s long time on-air announcer and co-host, according to parade organizers. Gervasio, of WUPM/WHRY, has worked with the parade for 19 of its 20 years, according to organizers, and while he has retired from announcing the parade, he will host a live WUPM radio broadcast from...
HURLEY — While the deadline is roughly a month away, the Iron County Regional Trail Committee agreed Thursday to pursue a coastal management grant through the Wisconsin Department of Administration to help develop the Wisconsin portion of a regional trail. The committee agreed to seek a $50,000 grant requiring $25,000 in matching funds, according to information presented at the meeting. As the committee remains a loose coalition of citizens, Iron County will serve as the entity actually applying for the grant. The grant money would be used t...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - Michigan Department of Natural Resources employees were busy installing new barriers along a section of the Lake Superior shoreline at Little Girl's Point Thursday in an effort to combat erosion near the mouth of Oman's Creek. The installation of the Beach Prisms - 4-by-10-foot concrete blocks with specially designed holes to allow the movement of water through them - is the first use of the technology in Michigan, according to...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Members of Ironwood's JROTC program tested their personal limits Wednesday as the program practiced rappelling outside of Wakefield. The members of the school's JROTC program in grades nine through 12 rappelled down an approximately 110-foot cliff-face near M-28 and Crusher Road, northeast of downtown Wakefield. In addition to being a fun event, the rappelling allowed the students to challenge themselves and discover what they are...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Ontonagon Village Manager Joe Erickson told the village council Monday the village will receive a $900,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to study the sewer system. Erickson said he has received a notice of the grant approval and expects the grant agreement documents to be in Ontonagon in the next few weeks. The Stormwater, Assessment and Wastewater grant will provide the $900,000 to devise a sewage, collection and treatment plan. The village could receive an a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - It's 7 a.m. - 1 hour before classes start - and Ironwood K-12 Principal Denise Woodward is arriving for another day at Luther L. Wright. Upon arriving at her office, she is greeted by three students turning in a cell phone found outside the school and a student returning from a disciplinary issue. "It kicks in quick around here," Woodward said. "Honestly, I have no idea what time I have to be here to beat the first kids here." By 7:05,...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - Representatives from groups working to promote and enhance the Gogebic Range gathered at Gogebic Community College Thursday to provide updates on their efforts and network with like-minded people. The event grew out of the Gogebic Range Next Generation Initiative, a group that began in 2008 as an effort to attract and retain young people. "That's what this is really all about, creating the kind of community that is attractive to...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] EWEN - Ewen-Trout Creek hosted a job fair for its junior and senior high school students Wednesday. Superintendent/principal Alan Tulppo said the "career and college fair" was the first of its kind at E-TC and he hopes to do it again. "The goal was to introduce our students to the different careers they could have in this area. We're encouraging them to go on and get a degree, get some training beyond high school - whether it's a four-year, a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County’s 4-H program is looking for both new members and adults who can help teach important life skills to members, according to Neil Klemme, the youth development agent with the University of Wisconsin’s Iron County Extension Office. 4-H-related activities are open to students as young as those in kindergarten, according to Klemme, with regular 4-H activities beginning in third grade and running through the freshman year of college. Klemme hopes those who join 4-H gain a numbe...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — Even though it was expected before the start of the school year, the playground equipment intended for the Ironwood Area School’s third through sixth graders has yet to be delivered to the district — an issue brought up during the public comment portion of Monday’s Board of Education meeting. “I’m just kind of wondering if the board — on the record — can tell me when, where, what’s the plan,” Jeff Ramme asked the board after recounting how the installation of playground equipmen...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - Bessemer's athletes are going to have some more room to spread out after the school expanded the weight room Friday to make space for additional exercise equipment. Members of Bessemer's junior varsity football team helped clear a portion of the shop classroom that adjoins the existing weight room to make room for the new equipment. The district's booster club - along with an anonymous donor - raised around $8,500 to purchase some of the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis - A small crowd gathered in Mercer Veterans Memorial Park Friday for the third annual flag retirement ceremony. Several organizers of the event spoke about the importance of the flag before both the American flag and the Prisoner of War/Missing In Action flag were replaced with new versions and the old flags disposed of in the proper manner. This year's ceremony not only reminds people of proper flag etiquette but also honors veterans...
CRYSTAL FALLS — Detectives with the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team raided a residence on Thursday in Crystal Falls, according to a team news release, seizing drugs and firearms. According to the release, a search of the property — conducted by UPSET detectives, troopers from the Michigan State Police’s Iron Mountain Post and members of the Crystal Falls Police Department — resulted in the confiscation of 106 marijuana plants, over five pounds of processed marijuana and illegal firearms. A Crystal Falls man, 26, was arrested at the...
Detectives with the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team made nine arrests in three drug cases in the Escanaba and Ishpeming areas earlier this week. Maurice Shaunetz Gray, of South Bend, Ind., and Jennifer Savanguaongsavanh, of Milwaukee, were arrested by UPSET detectives on Monday after they were spotted at an Ishpeming hotel. According a news release, the pair hve been the targets of an UPSET investigation for the last several months. During the arrest, detectives located heroin, morphine, packaging materials and more than $4,200 in...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Not guilty pleas were entered in Judge Patrick Madden’s Iron County Courtroom Wednesday during the initial appearance of three defendants charged with a range of crimes including misdemeanor battery. John Paul Ranta, 29, of Woodruff, Wis., is facing a felony charge of strangulation and suffocation — which carries a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison and a $10,000 fine — and two misdemeanor charges. The misdemeanor charges — battery and disorderly conduct — carry maximum penalties o...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - If you find yourself walking the woods trail west of the Ontonagon Area Schools building on Parker Ave., watch out for the bridge closures. OASD recently received a $2,500 grant from the Portage Health Foundation to improve the trail system and the area around the school/village tennis courts. The first order of business is the dismantling of four old bridges that cross some of the water courses on the property. A cooperative project involving the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Comprehensive Planning Land and Zoning Committee Tuesday again discussed a plan to install an electronic sign at the Mercer School, and while no formal action was taken, there was a consensus that the committee would reach a decision at its next meeting. The discussion stems from a request by Zoning Administrator Tom Bergman for the committee to clarify how it viewed the county’s prohibition of “flashing signs.” Bergman, in essence, wanted to know whether the committ...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] SPRINGSTEAD, Wis. — Members of the University of Wisconsin’s Iron County Extension Office visited the Sherman Town Hall Thursday to meet residents and discuss programs the office offers. The goal was to establish relationships with residents and provide an opportunity for the Extension office to share what it was working on and how area residents could get involved. Representatives from the Price County Extension Office were also present, given the town’s proximity to the county line and the numbe...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] BERGLAND - The Ontonagon County Commission on Aging received a special commendation from state legislators and the governor on the occasion of the organization's 40th anniversary. Gov. Rick Snyder, State Rep. Scott Dianda and State Sen. Tom Casperson, in a special tribute, applauded the contributions the agency has made to seniors of Ontonagon County throughout the 40 years. In the tribute, the legislators congratulated the agency, which they said "has...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — After the sticker shock wore off, the members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors Finance Committee voted 4-1 Thursday to move forward with the purchase of two dispatcher consoles for the sheriff’s department. The purchase will cost around $199,799 — although the price would have increased another $50,000 if the county doesn’t make the purchase prior to Nov. 21 — according to information presented to the committee. “We can ignore the $50,000, but we can’t ignore the fact we need the (...
ERWIN TOWNSHIP — While the Erwin Township agreed that it was a good idea at Wednesday’s meeting, they agreed to delay the Geographic Information System mapping of the township until the update of the township’s property cards is complete. Township Supervisor Larry Grimsby explained he was in the process of confirming and updating the information on the property cards — which are the records of the assessing data of the parcels of land in the township. “I don’t want to put that information in there, because if somebody goes on and looks up th...
HURLEY - As part of his mission as the youth development agent with the University of Wisconsin's Iron County Extension Office, Neil Klemme recently took seven Hurley teens to Montello, Wis., to participate in a first impressions survey. The survey entails two groups visiting each other's communities to offer feedback based on the "first impression" of a visitor, Klemme explained. "You're looking at the community's assets. What are the positives in the community and what can they do to enhance...
ONTONAGON - Seventeen percent of Ontonagon County residents are veterans. Saturday, the bridge over the Ontonagon River was named for these men and women, The Ontonagon Veterans Memorial Bridge. The placing of a wreath at the bridge was made by State Congressman Scott Dianda, and Kirk Schott, representing State Senator Tom Casperson. Dianda and Casperson got the re-naming bill through the legislature and the bill was signed by Governor Rick Snyder. Dianda said that with a population of 6,200...
MERCER, Wis. — The waters of southern Iron County were the focus for fishermen with kayaks and canoes this weekend as Mercer held its first “Can-Yak” canoe and kayak fishing tournament and festival. The tournament which began with registration on Friday and fishing on Saturday and Sunday provided an opportunity to bring visitors to the Mercer area in what is traditionally a down period, according to Tina Brunell, the executive director of the Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce and one of the organizers of the tournament. “Mercer, what we are all...
IRONWOOD - The Ironwood City Commission is expected to hear a request to authorize the remaining funds generated by the "Bridge the Gap" campaign be used to extend the paved portion of the regional trail from the Montreal River to U.S. 51, according to Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi. According to Pinardi, he and the University of Wisconsin Iron County Extension Office's Will Andresen met with city officials, including Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson, on Friday to discuss using the remaining...
