Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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ONTONAGON — The head of the union for the Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Department told the Ontonagon County Board Tuesday that union members have “serious concerns regarding the safety of our officers and inmates.” Ken Waldrop, union president, said the board at its last meeting voted to rescind the approval of hiring a correctional officer due to financial issues. Waldrop outlined the previous decision of the board to send two desk deputies to the academy for training and certification. He said, that while they were in training the board w...
ONTONAGON - The graduation speaker for the 2019 Class at the Ontonagon Area High School, Keven Store, was in familiar terrain Friday night, noting that 30 years ago, to the day, he sat as a student and received his diploma from OAHS. Store is the Executive Director of the Portage Health Foundation, and oversees and administers all aspects of a $67 million dollar charitable foundation that serves the Keweenaw Peninsula. He has been recognized by the Michigan Health Council for his work in develop...
Just 25 people moving back and forth in the labor market influenced the latest jobless report Gogebic and Ontonagon County numbers for November. According to the Bureau of Labor Market information, the jobless rate increased seasonally in 10 of the 15 U.P. counties in November. Gogebic County registered just a small blip upward, rising from 4.2 percent to 4.3 percent from October to November. The effect of 25 people was felt in the total employment and unemployment. The civilian labor force remained the same from October to November at 6,075,...
Several Ontonagon County townships, the village of Ontonagon, school boards and county board feature races Tuesday. The Ontonagon County Board of Commissioners has a write-in race for commissioners of the fifth and fourth districts. Gray Webber resigned in the fifth district for health reasons, but not until the filing date to get on the ballot had passed. Bryan Hamilton (no party affiliation) and Marlene Broemer (Democrat) have filed as write-ins for the seat. Hamilton has been serving on the board by commission appointment. In District 4,...
WAKEFIELD - Construction crews on the M-28 Jackson Creek Bridge project east of Wakefield are still working, but very slowly, a Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson said Tuesday. MDOT spokesperson Dan Weingarten said Anlaan Corp., the contractor on the project, is continuing to work on the bridge. He told the Daily Globe Thursday while the project has faced delays, they are unrelated to a statewide labor impasse that ended that day. That dispute between road contractors and a...
GREENLAND — The Ontonagon County Fair, 2018 edition will be held July 26-29 at Adventure Mountain and features some new challenges and events. In place of the previous 5K Walk-Run, the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital is sponsoring a “ninja course” competition. There will be a quarter-mile course walk-run loaded with various challenging obstacles. The event will be Saturday, July 28, with registration at 1 p.m. and competition at 2 p.m. Other challenging events this year are the Adventure Mountain Mud Challenge, also on Saturday, as ATVs and UTVs...
ONTONAGON - The Ontonagon County Board has a new commissioner. On Tuesday, the county board selected Robert Nousiainen, of Bruce Crossing, to represent district 3, including Rockland, Stannard and Interior Townships. He replaces David Nykanen, who died just a short time after his election to the board last month. Nousiainen will serve out the remainder of the term, which will be one year and a month. Commissioners emphasized they had two excellent applicants, Nousiainen and Bill Wing, of...
ONTONAGON - Eighteen years ago, Ben Mayer sat where the 26 Ontonagon Area 2017 graduates sat Friday night in the Ontonagon gym. Mayer, who teaches band, history and coaches the Gladiator football team, was selected by the class to be the commencement speaker. He told seniors they could end up anywhere, but his path was "to come back here. Eighteen years after my graduation, you could say I've made it approximately 30 feet." He added even though the road of his life has not taken him far, "I'd...
ONTONAGON - More than 200 people turned out to celebrate the $2.8 million expansion project at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital Thursday. The state-of-the-art 8,210-square-foot expansion and in-patient unit renovation drew praises from residents as they toured the facility, which fully enhances and expands emergency care for Ontonagon County and the region. Charlotte Mallotte, who came to Ontonagon in 1974 and worked 25 years as a nurse, including the emergency room at Ontonagon, called the new...
Ontonagon County took a big hit in unemployment numbers in November, while Gogebic County remained practically the same as in October. The Ontonagon County rate jumped from 6.9 percent in October to 8 percent in November. While the civilian labor force remained the same both months at 2,225, total unemployment jumped from 150 in October to 175 in November. Total employment also dropped by the same 25, from 2,075 to 2,050. A year ago, the Ontonagon County rate was 7.1 percent. The layoffs at White Pine Electric were not measured in that report...
ONTONAGON - Sara Domitrovich is a teacher. Although now retired, she still has the curiosity of a teacher to learn all about her subject. When she was diagnosed with extensive lobular ductile breast cancer in June 2008 after a mammogram at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital, she was determined to learn all she could about it and make the best decisions. First, she sought out her friend, Jane Dickow, who had breast cancer two years earlier. Next was another friend, Bonnie Johnson. Throughout the surgery...
WHITE PINE - For Jane Dickow, it was a positive attitude and a surprising "God Wink" that got her through her experience with breast cancer. When Dickow had her regular mammogram 10 years ago, the nurse told her to wait to put her clothes on because they needed "another review." She said her first thought was, "Here we go." Dickow's mom had breast cancer in the 1950s and a radical mastectomy while still in her 40s. It was a shock, but, "I knew I would be OK and I just wanted to get on with the...
ONTONAGON - Huge crowds and great weather ushered in the 60th anniversary of the Ontonagon Labor Day Festival in Ontonagon over the weekend. It was estimated that 5,000 people lined the streets for the large Festival Parade on Sunday as floats and bands made their way down River Street. Competition for float prizes was stiff and the Norwich Country Club with its "Dukes of Hazard 39 years later," float scored first place in the open division. All the Dukes of Hazard characters were there. Boss...
ONTONAGON — The state of Michigan has awarded Camp Josh a grant under the Upper Peninsula Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative. Under the partnership agreement, Camp Josh will construct a 3.4-acre food plot on the 40-acre parcel that it owns on the LP Walsh road in Ontonagon Township. The state will fund $4,876 and Camp Josh will fund $3,260 of the $8,136 project cost. A very wet spring caused some delay in the initial clearing of the land, however, workers were able to get the tree stumps removed and bulldoze the site. The plot h...
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday approved placing a millage request on the November ballot. The request, if approved, would cost voters less in taxes than they are presently paying. Superintendent Jim Bobula said, if approved, .5 mill would be used to purchase four new buses over the next one to two years. The district is also asking for 1.5 mills for building and facility upgrades. Since two present millage proposals will expire this year and in 2017, if approved, the millage would be one-tenth less than what O...
ONTONAGON - Fifth grade students from Ontonagon and Ewen-Trout Creek schools, along with most of the law enforcement and emergency services representatives were at 911 Camp in Ontonagon Wednesday. The camp was the brain-child of Sheriff Dale Rantala when he was undersheriff eleven years ago, and brings together fire and law officials teaching the children about the importance of those resources in their lives. The Ontonagon Fire Department, Upper Peninsula Power Company, Greenland Fire...
Employment numbers worsened in all western Upper Peninsula counties in January, according to the Michigan Labor Market Bureau. Gogebic County’s unemployment rate rose from 5.5 percent in December to 6.7 percent in January. The leap came despite 75 more people being employed in January. That was also balanced by 75 more unemployed persons, as well, as 100 more people entered the labor market. Total employment rose to 6,400 and unemployment has reached 450. A year ago, the unemployment rate in Gogebic County was 8.1 percent. The jobless rate in O...
ONTONAGON - Large crowds returned Friday to the Michigan Works Building to vote on specific planning options for the Ontonagon waterfront which were identified at a public meeting Thursday. Participants viewed three mapped options and were given a large green circle for the best liked plan, smaller circles for somewhat liked features and a red circle for a proposal "they could not live with." Anyone using the red veto had to explain why he or she could not live with that option, Don Carpenter sa...
ONTONAGON - Cancer dealt a double whammy for Gail Ollila, of Ontonagon. Ollila was a custodian at the Ontonagon Area Elementary-Junior High School when she met and married teacher and elementary principal Jim Ollila in 1983. When their daughter, Amanda, was born, Ollila became a stay-at-home mom. In addition to Amanda, she has two step-sons from her husband's previous marriage. Jim Ollila was just 56 when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Surgery and chemotherapy followed. He was still re...
By JAN TUCKER jantuck@jamadots.org 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 JAN TUCKER jantuck@jamadots.org 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 JAN TUCKER jantuck@jamadots.org 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...
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...
ONTONAGON - Protecting large walleyes in the Ontonagon River is a concern of Ontonagon County sportsfishing organizations. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources held a public meeting Thursday to receive opinions of the men and women who fish the Ontonagon River. The impetus for the meeting came from letters sent to the DNR from the Ontonagon County Valley Sportsmen's Club and the Upper Peninsula SportsfishermEn's Club, both located in the county. J.R. Richardson, Ontonagon, of the...
ONTONAGON - Geological engineers from Highland Copper demonstrated to the Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday the application and advantage of the ArcGIS system, a collaboration between the mining company and the OASD. Tony Geglio and Eric Shepek, engineers with the mining company, explained how the software and technology applied to mining and to a myriad of other professions as well. The men were introduced by Dave Anderson, Highland's Director of Environmental Affairs for the Keweenaw,...
