Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 88
HURLEY – The Kimball Volunteer Fire Department held its 32nd annual turkey dinner fundraiser at the Kimball Community Center Sunday afternoon. The cost was $9 for adults and $4 for children ages 5 to 12. This year, 4-H students helped serve dinner to the masses. Average attendance is about 1,000 people. "I think we're going to be down this year," said assistant fire chief Bill Sivula. Activities included the dinner, a 50/50 raffle and a table selling Kimball-themed souvenirs. "We hold this d...
WAKEFIELD - City manager John Siira announced his retirement at the Wakefield city council meeting Monday evening. "After much time and consideration, I have decided to retire in the spring," Siira said. Siira has been an active member of the board since October 1986. Recently, he took two years off from the board due to health complications. "It's with regret that I see him go but we need to keep him on board in the process of getting a new city manager," said member Richard Bolen. The council...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP – The Aspirus Grand View hospital held its second annual YooperBeiner Snowshoe Race and Tour Saturday morning at the Wolverine Nordic trails. This year's race was the first sanctioned by the United States Ski and Snowboard Association. It is also part of the Braveheart Snowshoe Race Series. A kids race plus a 5K and 10K race were held. The 5K ran the length of the ski trails only and the 10K ran the length of the ski trails along with the snowshoe trail. "We usually get a...
IRONWOOD – The 14th annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids was held at Larry's Lucky Strikes Saturday afternoon. The event included 3 sessions of bowling. About 100 bowlers and children attended the event. "There are some new teams," said match support coordinator Kristy Recla, "and lots of returning bowlers." Each participant was required to raise $37 in pledges, which translated into two hours of bowling and free refreshments. For the last two years, the event has raised $14,000 to $...
WAKEFIELD - Sheriff Pete Matonich presented the sheriff department's 2013 year end report at the Wakefield city council meeting Monday evening. Included in this report was a count of 43 issued citations, 15 arrests and 46 total accidents. The council also adopted a city closure policy, which reads "the city manager and mayor will decide if the city needs to close due to unforeseen circumstances, such as inclement weather." "I think the simpler you keep it, the better off you are," said member...
BESSEMER - The Bessemer school board discussed enrollment and graduation rates at its meeting Thursday evening. "Bessemer's flying high, both athletically and academically," said superintendent Dave Radovich. The school's graduation rate is the highest in the intermediate school district, he said. It is also one of the only schools in the Upper Peninsula to have increased enrollment. The board also elected officers. All officers remain in the same positions. Bob Berg is chairman; Al Gaiss is...
IRONWOOD - The Gogebic Community College board discussed the launch of a Behavioral Intervention Team at its meeting Tuesday evening. The team will work with students dealing with drug and alcohol use through assessments and counseling sessions. Student services officials have identified drug and alcohol use as a factor leading to lack of academic success for some students in achieving their educational goals. "This is a pilot program to see how it works," said Dean of Student Services Jeanne...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council discussed the Wakefield-Marensico School District summer tax collection at its meeting Monday evening. The council agreed to continue collecting summer taxes for the school and will keep 1 percent of the taxes levied as payment for collection. The council also approved a $10,000 advance payment to the Gogebic Range Solid Waste Management Authority. The GRSWMA has a short fall and is asking authority members to contribute, said city manager John Siira. The $...
MERCER, Wis. - Hundreds of fishermen competed in four divisions at the ninth annual Justin Donner Memorial ice fishing tournament Saturday. The tournament was held from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Donner's Bay Resort. Activities included music, auctions, raffles and a snack bar in an enclosed tent just off the ice. Fireworks were held around 6:30 p.m. Attendence usually average 1,000, said organizer Jeff Donner. However, due to adverse weather conditions, there were only a reported 600-700 at the...
IRONWOOD - Planning consultants for Ironwood's comprehensive plan revision held an open house at the Memorial Building Thursday afternoon. The event highlighted ideas and concepts developed by consultants during the week. The plan is aimed to increase economic development by creating jobs, local businesses and housing. The consultants are from the Minneapolis firm of Hoisington Koegler Group Inc. The city has paid the firm $70,000 to assist in updating the plan, adopted in 1982. The event also...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield-Marenisco school board discussed updates on the proposed consolidation of the Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco school districts at its meeting Monday evening. Superintendent Cathy Shamion said a new website of unknown origin, considerconsolidation.com, has appeared on the radar. The website includes a presentation on the benefits of consolidation between the two districts. It also offers a survey for local residents. A group of citizens, not acting in consult with...
IRONWOOD - Monday marked the first day of the spring semester for Gogebic Community College students. Spring enrollment numbers are still fluctuating as students can add and drop courses for the first week, according to officials. Last semester, there were 1,000 students enrolled at GCC, including students enrolled online and on-campus in Ironwood and Houghton. "It's safe to say about 30 percent of the population is in Houghton," Dean of Student Services Jeanne Graham said. Graham expects the fi...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield City Council discussed the policy for closing the city offices at Monday evening's meeting. The city closed its offices early last week due to the severe cold temperatures. This brought to light its absence of a closure policy. Council member Richard Bolen suggested mayor Les Schneck meet with member Joseph DelFavero, who requested this issue be addressed, at a later time to discuss a policy. This motion was accepted by the council. The council also discussed the...
IRONWOOD - Fans from far and wide gathered in the grandstands at the Gogebic County Fairgrounds for the Pro-series U.S. Snowmobile Association races Saturday and Sunday. Among the crowd was Ron Fjerstad, father to one of the racers, Joey Fjerstad, 24, of Minneapolis. Joey Fjerstad has been racing since 2004, working his way up from stock class to championship class. Ron enjoys following his son to the races. Barb Reinhard, of Ironwood, came out to the races on Sunday. It wasn't her first time....
WAKEFIELD – Twenty-nine people competed in the SISU snowshoe race at the Milje's Ski Trails Saturday morning. A 5k race and 10k race were available. "This has been an amazing event," said one of the trail owners, Carrie Miljevich, "We had a great turnout." Corey Stivve of Ashland heard about the race from a co-worker. It was his first time competing in a snowshoe race. "It was fabulous," Susanne Brown of Bessmer said after completing the 5k. Bob Sejbl, of Ironwood, won the 10k race. He has c...
IRONWOOD - "Snowmobile racing in the 1970s was huge in Ironwood," said Tom Auvinen, Gogebic County Fair Board member and Snowmobile Olympus organizer, "but in the 1980s it started to disappear, so now we are trying to bring it back." Auvinen is a member of the United States Snowmobile Association and has been a snowmobile mechanic for over 30 years. He's one of many volunteers working to revive the Ironwood Snowmobile Olympus. In recent years there has been Pro-vintage racing on an ice track at...
IRONWOOD – 10 people competed in the first Mt. Zion ski race of the season Saturday morning. The race consisted of two runs of Giant Slalom. Registration began at 9 a.m. and was open to all ages. Races will be held at the hill every Saturday for the next 8-9 weeks, said director Jim Vanderspoel. To participate, skiers must fill out a one-time form and register for each individual race. The Mt. Zion ski races have been held annually for over 30 years. Team Z Racing will begin on Jan. 10 at the h...
MERCER, Wis. – The Mercer Cross-County Association (MECCA) ski trail will hold a candlelit ski on Jan. 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. The candlelit trail will begin at the cabin trailhead, loop through the woods and an open field and return to the cabin. Refreshments will be provided. The MECCA trail system boasts 18 km of trails groomed for classic and skate skiing. The trail system is available year-round with hiking and mountain biking in the summer, MECCA Secretary Kelly Martinko said. Dogs are also a...
IRONWOOD - A group of snowshoers, locals and visitors to the area, braved bitter temperatures as they participated in the second annual Mark Fitting Memorial Walk Wednesday evening, beginning at the Michigan Information Center. This was the first event in the 2014 Superior Snowshoe Walks, a series of such walks to be held every Wednesday at various locations until March 12. Wednesday's walk was 1.75 miles long, traveling from the information center, through the cemetery and back. The starting...
UPSON, Wis. - While some people head home for the holidays, others head out on vacation. Plenty of early season snow has made the area's ski hills, cross country trails and snowmobile trails perfect for a holiday getaway. By Christmas Day, the area had received 57.4 inches of snow for the season, including 24.6 inches in the month of December. All the area ski hills were reporting most, if not all, of their runs open. Numerous individuals celebrated Christmas Eve by skiing and snowboarding at Wh...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield City Council raised sewer rates at its Monday evening meeting. The council agreed to increase the sewer rate from $2 to $3.50 per 1,000 gallons and also to decrease the administration cost for the sewer fund by $3,000. This will generate an additional $48,600 in revenue for the council, assuming each resident uses 3,000 gallons of water per month, said city manager John Siira in a memo to the council. Council member Joseph DelFavero said those living on Social Security...
IRONWOOD - As part of the High 5 Mentoring program, juniors from Luther L. Wright high school assisted kindergarteners in building gingerbread houses Wednesday morning at Sleight school. Before their mentors arrived, the students of Michelle Trier's kindergarten class sat at tables with pre-prepared gingerbread houses, or graham crackers glued to large milk cartons with marshmallow crème. The kids were given various treats to decorate their houses, including marshmallows, peppermints and...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield-Marenisco School Board discussed the proposed consolidation of the Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco school districts at its meeting Monday. A group of citizens has proposed a consolidation and is collecting signatures to put the issue on a ballot. Superintendent Cathy Shamion said the group has until mid-January to collect enough signatures for the vote to occur in May 2014. If approved, consolidation will occur in July 2014, giving both schools about six weeks in the i...
WAKEFIELD - The Gogebic County Sheriff's Office held a Gogebic-Iron Area Narcotic Team (GIANT) presentation at the Wakefield City Council meeting Monday night. GIANT is a self-funded, cooperative effort between the Ironwood Public Safety Department, Gogebic County Sheriff's Office, Iron County Sheriff's Office and Hurley Police Department to fight drug-related crimes. The presentation included information about drug crimes in Gogebic and Iron County, the Upper Peninsula and the state of...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield Historical Society and the Veterans of Foreign Wars held their annual old-fashioned Christmas craft fair at the Wakefield VFW Post 9084 Saturday. Vice President of the Wakefield Historical Society Bella Schroeder hosted a table selling Finnish cheese and baked goods at the Christmas craft fair. The craft fair has been taking place for nearly 60 years. The Wakefield Chamber of Commerce hosted a table at the fair, which sold various items including fossils, books and...
