Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 376 - 393 of 393
IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission took no action Monday on a proposed agency fee agreement requested by the local employees union. Michigan officially became a “freedom-to-work” state on Thursday, meaning employees can choose whether or not to join unions. The Local 1538 union, represented by Robert Murphy, sought to have the city commission Monday adopt an agency fee agreement that would require all newly hired employees to pay the equivalent of union dues. “Michigan American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council...
BAYFIELD, Wis. — The two snowmobilers who were found dead on Lake Superior near Madeline Island on Feb. 20 were both extremely intoxicated, according to a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources investigation. Joshua Reynolds, 30, and Mark J. Backes, 38, both of La Pointe, were found dead the morning after they were reported missing. Their snowmobile broke through the ice of the lake. Reynolds had a blood-alcohol level of .286 and Backes’ level was .260, according to the WDNR’s fatality summary for the 2012-’13 winter season. In Wiscons...
BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners renewed the $1 per month 911 surcharge on all communications service providers for another year on Wednesday. On May 15, 2009, county voters approved a surcharge of up to $1.65 per month, but only $1 has been collected, noted Jim Loeper, county emergency services director. The surcharge was voted in 1,449-1,052. The $1 renewal begins on July 1. Loeper noted the surcharge collected by the county will be in effect through December of 2014, and it will then be placed before the voters again. ...
IRONWOOD — The Western Upper Peninsula Trail Association was recognized by the city commission Monday as a nonprofit organization for the purpose of obtaining charitable gaming licenses. Representatives of WUPTA, an off-road group, spoke to the commission about the purpose of the organization and its membership drive efforts. “We want to work with businesses and landowners,” said WUPTA president Ross Kolesar. The club has two safety instructors and is involved with similar organizations in Ontonagon and Iron County, Wis. “We’ve done a lot in...
BESSEMER — Gogebic County Sheriff Peter Matonich isn’t signing the downstate petition to keep wolves a protected species and prevent a hunt. When the sheriff of Saginaw County sent Matonich a message seeking his support in signing the petition to stop the planned wolf hunt, it struck a raw nerve with Matonich. “I would like to thank you for the laugh, I needed one today. I will make sure and pass on your letter and request to other law enforcement agencies and officers in my county. I am sure they could use a good laugh, also,” Matonic...
BESSEMER — Gogebic County Prosecutor Richard Adams has authorized charges against the five people who were arrested early Tuesday morning for meth-making in two busts. A house was raided at 525 Florence St. in Ironwood, followed by a second search of a residence on River Street in Ramsay. Both busts were conducted by the Gogebic-Iron Area Narcotics Team, with the cooperation of other area law enforcement officers and the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team. Arrested in the Ironwood raid were George Davis, 59; Kristin Carter, 31, and W...
HURLEY — Burton Industries of Ironwood has joined the businesses assisting the Hurley School District in upgrading its technical education cooperative program. District administrator Chris Patritto told the school board Monday that Burton, an electronics components firm in the industrial park, has indicated it wants to join the effort that also includes Ironwood Plastics, Extreme Tool, of Wakefield, and Bretting Manufacturing, of Ashland. “They’re excited about it,” Patritto said. The compani...
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp said Monday Chippewa tribes in northern Wisconsin are setting spearing levels that will mean more one-walleye lakes for sport anglers. As a result, the WDNR will withhold funds previously paid to the tribe. For the tribal ceded territory covering the northern third of the state, a DNR analysis indicates out of 535 lakes named for tribal harvests, 197 have been designated by the tribe at a level that will result in one-walleye daily bag limits for anglers. While most lakes in Iron C...
HURLEY — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2013-’14 school budget isn’t favorable to the Hurley School District, according to district administrator Chris Patritto. In fact, Patritto told the school board Monday that the district faces a $222,000 deficit for the next school year, worst case scenario, under the state budget, which will be approved in July. The proposed state budget favors voucher programs for poorly performing big city schools and private schools, but doesn’t do anything for Hurley, said Patritto, who likened the situation...
IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood received a “clean opinion” in the 2011-12 audit that was reviewed by the city commission in a work session on Monday. Tony Pollack, of Joki, Makela, Pollack and Ahonen, reviewed the 100-plus-page audit for the one-year period extending to July 1, 2012. A clean opinion is the best type of report an audited municipality may receive from an auditing firm. Pollack said there was a $1,264,000 general fund balance and it had increased $219,000 during the fiscal year, a good sign. The audit was somewhat unusual in th...
IRONWOOD — State Rep. Scott Dianda, D-Calumet, said he’s not buying the Department of Natural Resources’ plan to raise hunting and fishing licenses. According to the DNR, most licenses would increase substantially. Deer licenses would be hiked from $15 to $20, bear licenses would increase from $15 to $25 and non-resident fishing licenses would be increased from $42 to $75, according to a DNR summary of the proposed changes that’s posted online. Also, the popular 24-hour fishing license would more than double, from $7 to $15. Dianda said he...
IRONWOOD — An Ironwood woman gave out her bank account number in an apparent scam attempt on Thursday, according to an Ironwood Public Safety Department report. The 72-year-old woman received a telephone solicitation call from a company called “Health Group” and in talking with the company, she gave out the number, according to the IPSD report. When the woman went to the Associated Bank in Hurley, bank employees tried calling the number that the company had left with the woman, but the operator on the other end of the phone hung up on the b...
BESSEMER — Three re-appointments to the Community Mental Health Authority Board and a new appointment were approved by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday. The previous terms expired March 31. Reappointed were Margaret Rayner, Robert Lynn and Ken Wegmeyer, all of the Ironwood area. All three indicated to Gogebic County Community Mental Health officials that they would like to be reappointed to the three-year terms on the board. The new appointee is former Gogebic County sheriff and county board member Donald Pezzetti, of W...
IRONWOOD — If Michigan conducts a wolf hunt, it won’t be Upper Peninsula-wide. That’s what 272 people attending a Department of Natural Resources meeting on wolf management learned Tuesday at Gogebic Community College. Heavy snow throughout the day held the crowd down somewhat. Adam Bump, a DNR bear and furbearer specialist, said another certainty regarding a potential hunt is dogs wouldn’t be allowed, but trapping would be a possibility. It was a relatively quiet two-hour meeting in the gym...
IRONWOOD — Proceeds from a city of Ironwood timber sale will be used for a local match in a grant application for a city park. City manager Scott Erickson told the city commission Monday the city received $32,000 from the timber sale. He praised retired U.S. Forest Service employee Marion True, of Ironwood, for helping the city out with the timber sale and said another one will be conducted next winter. The commission on Monday agreed to apply for Department of Natural Resources grants of $60,000 apiece for Longyear and Curry parks after holdin...
MADISON, Wis. — State Sen. Robert Jauch questioned why Gov. Scott Walker chose to sign Wisconsin’s new mining bill on Monday so far from the counties that would be affected by a Gogebic Taconite mine. Walker signed the controversial mining bill Monday in Rhinelander and Milwaukee, “neither of which are located near the Penokee Mountain range,” Jauch pointed out. The Assembly overwhelmingly passed the bill last week, sending it to Walker for his signature. Jauch, D-Poplar, noted late last week that the Oneida County Board of Supervisors last ye...
IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood is seeking to recoup some of the money it stands to lose in a $60,000 loan that was approved in 2010 for a new business that never got of the ground. The city commission agreed Monday to try to sell equipment it has received from the ill-fated loan to Entree and Companions, a start-up company that was associated with Old World Meats. Entree and Companions, a catering and food business, went out of business after repaying only about $1,000 on the $60,000 loan obtained through the city’s revolving loan fund, cit...
IRONWOOD — Concerns about grant funding for ice-making equipment at the Patrick O’Donnell Civic Center and the Gogebic County Fair were heard by State Rep. Scott Dianda, D-Calumet, Saturday. Dianda fielded questions at a town hall meeting at Mike’s Restaurant on Cloverland Drive. Brian Roehm, manager of the civic center, told Dianda the Ironwood City Commission last Monday approved a $275,000 bond for a $500,000 civic center project. Roehm explained the problem in seeking grant money for the c...
