Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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IRONWOOD - "We hear a lot about what's going wrong in the world. This is about what's going right," guest conductor Pamela Bustos said Friday in welcoming people to a musical honors concert at the Historic Ironwood Theatre. Dr. Bustos is director of bands and professor of instrumental music at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She has been at UWS for 12 years and has studied with prominent conductors throughout the United States. Steve Boyd, Ironwood band director, told the audience the 63...
WATERSMEET - Following two severe winters, with a third one in the making, deer of either sex are scarce in the western Upper Peninsula. Some hunters consider it a success if they even see a deer, let alone harvest one. But a 14-year-old girl from Hurley had no trouble bagging a buck on opening day of Michigan's gun-deer season last Saturday. In fact, Lexi Swanson downed two bucks. The daughter of Nikki Swanson and Bruce Swanson, of Hurley, was hunting at the Bob D'Antonio camp in the...
IRONWOOD - Another 110-year snow record fell Tuesday morning in Ironwood before the sun finally popped out. A total of 15.2 inches of snow was recorded for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Tuesday at the National Weather Station measuring site at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant off Cloverland Drive. It marked a Nov. 18 record, dating to the early 1900s, and brought the season's snow total in Ironwood to 60.1 inches. Remarkably, that's not a record for this date, as in 1989 a whopping...
IRONWOOD - A winter advisory warning for lake-effect snow that could total from 12 to 18 inches remained in effect for the Gogebic Range today through noon. Wakefield and Bessemer schools closed early Monday and many evening meetings were postponed because of heavy snowfall that grew worse throughout the day. Ironwood schools were off Monday for deer hunting, but classes were scheduled to resume today, weather permitting. The lake-effect snow followed around 50 inches that fell last week across...
IRONWOOD - The Ironwood snow total since Monday climbed to 37.7 inches on Friday. The 7 a.m. Friday 24-hour reading was 7.2 inches at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant off Cloverland Drive. That followed three consecutive 24-hour periods of 10-inch snowfalls in Ironwood, as a total of 30.5 inches had been recorded since Monday and for a change, there was no snow after Friday morning. The on-the-ground snow total at Ironwood stood at 26 inches, but some areas of the Gogebic Range had...
HURLEY - There was quite a bit of interest across the country in the Gogebic Range's snowstorm that ended early Wednesday morning, then later rekindled. Up to two feet of snow fell across the Gogebic Range, whipped into drifts by strong winds. Hurley Chamber of Commerce Director Dorrene O'Donnell said she posted a video of the snowfall on Facebook Tuesday and it had received 24,376 hits, with 227 shares, as of Wednesday morning. "I just went outside (Tuesday) and took a minute-long video of the...
IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood is launching its own facade improvement program. The city plans to spend $2,500 matching facade improvements to four downtown buildings. The $625 per building will be a one-to-one match from the city, according to Ironwood Community Development Director Michael Brown. He said the application period is now open. In the past, facade grants were awarded through the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority, and many building owners throughout the city took advantage of the funding, sprucing up the b...
CEDAR,Wis. - A 74-year-old Saxon man lost control of his vehicle on Friday at 4:39 p.m., and the vehicle ended up at the bottom of a 75-foot ravine off of Harbor Drive near Frontier Bar and Campground in Cedar, near Gurney, according to an Iron County Sheriff's Department report. According to the report, Christopher Roby claimed two deer jumped out in front of him while he was driving down Harbor Drive. He told deputies it startled him, so he jumped out of the vehicle while it was still...
IRONWOOD - Naima Adedapo, a top 11 "American Idol" finalist, arrived in Ironwood Friday for a brief performance that night and a longer one today at the Historic Ironwood Theatre. Forty-five area singers competed at the theater Friday night, all trying to become the opening act for Adedapo's performance tonight in a 90-minute show. HIT members greeted Adedapo Friday afternoon at the Maplewood Steakhouse on Cloverland Drive. She had been in town just long enough to watch a blast of Big Snow...
IRONWOOD — Ironwood voters on Tuesday approved a special 10-year millage to resurface about 10 miles of streets next year. The vote was 832 to 651, or 56 to 44 percent, to levy 2 mills for general obligation tax bonds to be repaid over a 10-year period, for about $1.4 million in street work. Before the election, city manager Scott Erickson said there are 62 miles of streets in the city and although much street work has been done in the past few years, about 20 miles are still in bad shape and need of repair. He said the work would likely b...
IRONWOOD -The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has pledged $10,000 as the state's match for a downtown Ironwood art park. The art park will be on Aurora Street, between Mattson's TV and Appliance and Book World, and across from the Downtown Art Place and Historic Ironwood Theatre. MEDC President-CEO Michael A. Finney said the initiative in Ironwood is "one of the first of its kind in the country, a great opportunity for residents, businesses, and others to pool resources and actively...
LITTLE GIRL'S POINT - Lake Road near Upper Powers Road is closed to traffic as the Maki Creek culvert replacement project has begun. It is the last of 10 culvert replacement projects throughout the county and by far the most extensive, and expensive. Smith Construction, of Marquette, the general contractor for the project, was expected to begin laying the culverts on Monday, according to an Xcel Energy worker who was at the scene on Friday. Massive amounts of dirt were being moved in...
IRONWOOD — A switch in health care providers shouldn’t result in much change as far as city employee contributions are concerned, the Ironwood City Commission learned Monday. City finance director Paul Linn said Blue Cross-Blue Shield, the current provider, offered a plan to the city with a “significantly higher premium rate.” As a result, the city switched to Consumers Mutual Insurance, which offers a plan similar to Blue Cross, but with a lower premium. Linn said with the new insurance there will be a high deductible, but it will be “funded...
HURLEY - For the second time in less than a year, a Hurley nightspot was struck by a major fire on Friday evening. A grease fire started at Freddie's Old-Time Saloon on Silver Street, causing heavy smoke to quickly spread throughout the building while patrons were dining or sipping drinks. The fire began around 7:15 p.m. A customer in the tavern who didn't want to be identified said he tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher, but lost the battle when it contained no more retardant. H...
HURLEY - The Hurley City Council finds itself in the enviable position of having a $600,000 grant to spend. At its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, the council discussed the money with Jeff Seamandel, of MSA Professional Services, the city's engineering firm. Seamandel said the federal Army Corps of Engineers grant was originally designated for the city's well project, but it can be used for another project. He indicated it's a use it or lose it proposition for the city. Seamandel said while...
IRONWOOD - Two structures that faced demolition in the city of Ironwood may be saved. The Ironwood City Commission on Monday granted Garron Stenstrom another 35-day extension to work on structures at 125 and 129 May St. "He's done a lot more than I thought he could do," city building inspector Dennis Hewitt said of Stenstrom's effort to rehabilitate the two buildings that were previously condemned as eyesores by the commission. Stenstrom has reinforced support beams for the small houses and...
IRONWOOD - Friends of the Library proved Saturday that despite increased Internet use, reading books is as popular as ever. Good numbers of readers turned out for a used book sale in the auditorium at the Memorial Building on a sunny fall day. Organizers of the event said it was about the 15th year of the sale, which helps the Ironwood Carnegie buy books and supports programs at the library. Books were donated by the public for the sale and were set up in specific categories. Members of the...
After experiencing the coldest year on record in 2014, Ironwood residents are now in line for the second most frigid 12-month period since 1901. That's the word from Kevin Crupi, of the National Weather Service office in Marquette. Crupi said Tuesday the average 2014 temperature for the January through September period in Ironwood was 39.2 degrees, compared with the long-term average of 43.7. In his review of September, Crupi noted the thermometer reached 80 only once, on Sept. 28. It was a wet...
HAZELHURST, Wis. - Family vacations for the Joe and Molly Bodewes family of Hazelhurst, Wis., are never boring. In 2011, the family paddled 1,600 miles around Lake Superior in 72 days, finishing at Black River Harbor, north of Ironwood. They raised money for HIV-positive children in Tanzania. This summer, the challenge moved out West as the family successfully tackled a 2,500-mile bicycle trip across America. They planned on a 55-day journey, but finished in 47 days on Aug. 6, riding along the...
After the most brutal winter in the past 110 years in Ironwood, Gogebic Range residents wouldn't mind a reprieve from the bitter cold for the next five months. The Farmers Almanac isn't predicting any relief, however. The magazine predicts a "shivery and shovely" winter of 2014-15. For its two-month forecast in the Great Lakes states, the almanac predicts a lot of wet weather for October, followed by a Nov. 8-19 period that could produce plenty of wet snow and some frigid temperatures. For the e...
IRONWOOD - Cool and wet best describes August in Ironwood, adding to a year of below average temperatures. In fact, Kevin Crupi, of the National Weather Service office in Marquette, said the first eight months of 2014 were the second coldest on record in Ironwood, dating to 1901. The cold first eight months came in 1917. That's coming off of 2013, which was the coldest year on record in Ironwood. A persistent northwest flow of Canadian air into the upper Great Lakes region caused the August...
HURLEY - A Weston, Wis., woman on Friday entered no contest pleas to two charges in connection with a heated confrontation with Gogebic-Taconite employees at the site of a proposed iron mine. Katie "Krow" Kloth, 27, was found guilty in Iron County Court of felony robbery by use of force and misdemeanor malicious destruction of property at the proposed mine site by acting Judge Douglas Fox. Two other charges - theft and a second malicious destruction of property -were dismissed through a plea...
Look for a later fall color show than normal on the Gogebic Range. Because of the ample rainfall that has included around 5 inches already in September in Ironwood, the colors may stick around at least a week longer this autumn, according to Bill McNee, a forest health specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. That's good news for tourism here, which receives a boost every autumn from nature's spectacular color show. There are a few pockets of fall color in the area, but...
LITTLE GIRL'S POINT - The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said it hopes the Oman's Creek boat landing at Little Girl's Point will be reopened to Lake Superior boaters by Wednesday. Gale-force winds last Wednesday wiped out 20 feet of the parking lot and blocked the launch ramp with wood and cobblestone debris. Dredging was scheduled to resume at the creek mouth on Monday, according to park manager Jef Gaertner. He said DNR would work with Gogebic County employees to make the site north...
IRONWOOD - Vehicles were lined up about 12 deep along Ayer Street Saturday morning as sunshine greeted Ironwood's annual fall clean-up day. City residents got rid of trash of all sorts in the three-hour collection effort manned by city workers and numerous volunteers who were assisting Eagle Waste and Recycling. Eagle Waste is the city's new garbage collection servicer and City Manager Scott Erickson said the conversion to the new business has been working out well, with many compliments about...
