Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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ONTONAGON - One hundred and fifteen people braved subzero weather to attend an informational meeting of Highland Copper Company, which is on target to purchase the White Pine Copper Mine in White Pine. Ross Grundwall, vice president of exploration for Highland introduced the company to the community. He described the history of copper exploration in the area, including White Pine, and presented maps indicating where the present deposits of copper are located. He said the company is excited to... Full story
ONTONAGON - The temperature was just eight above zero at the 13th annual Hometown Christmas Parade in Ontonagon Sunday. The parade featured veterans with the combined colors, floats from the Stein Club, Dream Catchers, Americinn Inn, Silver City, Ontonagon County Animal Protection group, SONCO Ambulance and Santa and Mrs. Claus riding on the Ontonagon Fire Truck. The two-day festival was shortened slightly by cold and snowy weather when some outdoor events had to be cancelled, but indoor... Full story
ONTONAGON — The St. Vincent de Paul Society in Ontonagon has assisted more than 400 families in the past year to the tune of $30,000. Helen Hoefferle, of the St. Vincent de Paul Society board, told Ontonagon Rotarians that the National St. Vincent de Paul Society is taking a new approach in its efforts to help those in need. She explained that the new approach is an effort to get people to be more self-sustaining. It includes home visits, help in referring to jobs and budgeting. In the past just giving out money was “like putting bandage on... Full story
ONTONAGON - The Ontonagon Area School Book Fair Tuesday sold more than $4,000 in books which will result in 1,800 scholastic dollars for books in the school. For more than 20 years, there has been a book fair where children, adults and organizations can choose the finest books for all school-aged children. For six of those years, it has been the "organizational baby" of Avelin Yost. Yost transformed a room at the Ontonagon School into a children's bookstore with imaginative displays geared for v... Full story
ONTONAGON - Ontonagon Village Manager Joe Erickson informed the council Monday that he has looked into the various insurance plans for village employees but still has questions on what plans would be closest to the plans presently in effect for union members. The village was notified last month that its union plan does not comply with all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. He said that he reviewed the proposed Gold Plan and while the medical coverage is similar with only minor... Full story
WHITE PINE - More than $1,000 was raised at a cabaret dinner benefit for Safe Harbor Adult Care Center of Ontonagon Saturday. "Celebrity" waiters gave the diners assigned to their tables the royal treatment and with the treatment collected more tips. When the dinner was over the tips totaled $958. The waiters' team of Drew Bastman and Dustin Linder were crowned top waiters with $314 in tips. The final tally raised by tips and dinner was $1,535. Waiters included Val Seid, Ted Baird, Kenny Lee... Full story
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon-White Pine Rotary Club presented SONCO Ambulance with a check for $771 Wednesday as a result of the Rotary Club Log Race over the Labor Day weekend. The money will purchase a Littmann electronic stethoscope and a Welch Suretemp electron thermometer for the ambulance. According to Gina Linna, SONCO manager, the stethoscope offers improved quality and ease of use to help make a clear diagnosis. “It is a state-of- the-art sound sensor which provides a life-like, hig... Full story
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Labor Day Festival Parade brought large crowds, music and ingenious home built floats to River Street Sunday. Float competition was close. “Judging this was really tough,” said Don Lutz. He was in Ontonagon for his 50th class reunion and to serve as one of five float judges. The first place went to the Norwich Country Club with its three-part float. The first section featured WLUV TV weatherman Karl Bohnak, a weary ice fisherman and the tough winter of 2013. The secon... Full story
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] WHITE PINE - Prairie Plant Systems, owners of SubTerra in White Pine, said it has completed its purchase of the Traxys Power Group Inc., which includes the White Pine Power Plant, White Pine Copper refinery and Upper Peninsula Power Marketing LLC. Brent Zettl, president and CEO of Prairie Plant Systems, will be president of all three groups, while Steve Walsh, president of TPG Power Holdings, the former owner of TPG, will be CEO of White Pine Electric and... Full story
GREENLAND — Cold winds, temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s held crowds down and caused some cancellations at the Ontonagon County fair in Greenland over the weekend. Friday night’s stormy weather forced cancellation of the stock car races and things got even worse on Saturday. Motocross races were cancelled and the Timber Trails Riding Club speed show as a memorial to Jackie Strauch had to be transferred to Houghton County. A hardy group of runners showed up despite the 46-degree, rai... Full story
ONTONAGON — State Sen.Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba) urged Ontonagon Village Council members and a group of residents attending the council's session Monday, to focus on how state policies are relevant to the community. “Look at state policy and how they affect your own land. We should all be able to use our land for recreation,” Casperson said. He cautioned that when the state works with federal agencies, often "the restrictive use of land creeps into the policy.” He cited the attempt to enact a... Full story
GREENLAND — The Ontonagon County Fair will close out July with a bang and a full schedule of events July 25-28. Animals, races, fast cars, kids games, beer and wine judging top the menu during the annual event. One of the newly organized events is the Jackie Strauch/Critter Ranch Memorial Speed Show presented by the Timber Trails Riding Club. Named after the late Strauch, who operated the ranch and taught many young people to ride and work with horses, will be held Sunday with registration at 10 a.m. EDT and the speed show to start at 11. Erin... Full story
ONTONAGON — Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital, in conjunction with the Ontonagon Rotary and Hancock Rotary, are sending unused, outdated medial equipment to third-world countries. Dan Crane, of the Hancock Rotary, loaded the equipment into a van last week with the help of Aspirus employees Lynn Walters and Cindy Lonchar. The Hancock Rotary will take the equipment to Green Bay, Wis., where it will be taken to third-world countries. Rotary officials explained that outdated equipment from the United S... Full story
School's out for summer, at least for some. There are schools that have summer school classes or credit recovery classes. Recent surveys show kids lose much of what they learned during school year because of summer break. It is one of the reasons some advocate year-'round school, with smaller breaks. There is another answer — the Jan Tucker School curriculum for summer! The catalogue for summer courses includes: —HOME ECONOMICS 101: Planning, preparing two meals a week for the family, with an emphasis on shopping and cost; 102: Cleaning up the... Full story
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday hired a new superintendent- principal combination for the 2013-2014 school year. The board approved a one-year contract with Jim Bobula. Bobula graduated from the Ontonagon school system and has been a longtime teacher, and in the past year, principal and athletic director. The hiring of Bobula came following a letter of resignation of five-year superintendent Gray Webber. Webber spent 27 years as a teacher in the system and was hired i... Full story
ONTONAGON — For forty years John Gravier has run the football fields, basketball courts and tracks across the Western Upper Peninsula. He is affectionately known as a zebra by many and occasionally there may have been some cheers and boos. Gravier is a referee. This winter he was honored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association for 40 years as a referee. Although John could not attend the dinner honoring long time referees, the Association presented him with a trophy in which is e... Full story
ONTONAGON — The weather went from hot to icy at the annual Cook-Off for Cancer at the Ontonagon Recreation building Saturday. Seven teams of cooks started their grills and smokers Friday night to be ready for the Saturday competition of barbecued chicken, ribs and beef brisket. The meal, open to the public, also included a full dinner. Funds raised from the competition and dinner benefit the Ontonagon County Cancer Association. Tom Domitrovich chaired the benefit, along with numerous v... Full story
ONTONAGON — Tom Pestka gave Ontonagon Area Elementary School children a glimpse of the lumberjacks and camps of the past at the school recently. Pestka, 70, said he was born in a lumber camp near Ontonagon and worked in the woods for better than 50 years. He said his father, Felix, built 19 camps around the Ontonagon County area. Through the years, he has acquired a unique collection of lumberjack tools of the past, including a cross-saw that is more than 150 years old. In addition to the t... Full story
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday agreed to ask for bids on all non-instructional Ontonagon Teacher Education Association schedule B positions. Superintendent Gray Webber said the board has been trying to reach an agreement with the education association to separate coaching and non-instructional pay from fringe and retirement benefits for the past three years. “We could not reach that agreement and will institute it ourselves,” he said, adding many other school districts... Full story
WHITE PINE — Lowell and Peggy Elmblad joined thousands of people more than five years ago who have heard the verdict of cancer. As Lowell was in the treatment and recovery stage, the couple discussed something they wanted to do for the Ontonagon County Cancer Association which had helped them financially with some of the cancer bills. Lowell and Peggy are great bowling enthusiasts and thought they could combine bowling and a benefit. Out of that thinking came the Bowling for the Cure benefit, w...
EWEN — The Michigan Department of Transportation closed the bridge on M-28 over the South Branch of the Ontonagon River just east of Ewen Monday at 2 p.m. At 3:30, the water was still rising according to Ontonagon County Road Commission officials, but the water was not over the road. Truck traffic was being detoured on M-64, M-38 and U.S. 45. Lighter traffic was rerouted to a bridge just south of M-28, adding a 3.5 mile detour, according to Jerry Mattson of the OCRC. Mattson, one of many OCRC w...
ONTONAGON — What started out as a nice Sunday kayak ride for two Ontonagon men ended up a cold spill into icy waters and an even colder night in the woods for one of them. The Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Department reported the men set in to the Firesteel River early Sunday afternoon. Undersheriff Gerald Balcomb said the river was very fast with the spring run-off and one of the kayaks overturned and spilled its driver into the water. The second kayaker assisted the spilled man, helping him to shore. The second kayaker continued to the Fir...
ONTONAGON — A program to dramatically reduce drunk driving in the five western Upper Peninsula counties was kicked off at the Ontonagon County Courthouse Wednesday and Thursday. Ontonagon, Houghton, Baraga, Gogebic and Keweenaw counties will form a regional driving while intoxicated court approach. Retired Judge Patrick Bowler, after 24 years on the bench, is the state judicial outreach liaison for the program. He conducted the training session for judges and officials of the five counties in On...
ONTONAGON — More than a quarter of a ton of weight was lost by competitors in the seventh annual Aspirus Ontonagon Fitness Center Meltdown in Ontonagon. The three-month contest saw two-person teams competing for the largest percentage of weight loss. The top team award was garnered by Joe and Linda Haas. They lost 58.5 pounds, or 23.6 percent of their body weight. Coming in second with a loss of 60.5 pounds or 21.6 percent of body weight was the team of Todd Penegor and Erik Hartzell. Coming i...
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon-White Pine Rotary learned Wednesday there are 578 students in the two-county area which are served by the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District in special education services. Marge Leaf, director of special education for the GOISD, and Rotary member Bruce Mayle, superintendent of the GOISD, told the members of the impact committee special education has on disabled from birth to 26 years old in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties. In Ontonagon County, Leaf said, the Ontonagon Area School District has 80 special e...
