Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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BESSEMER — After deliberating for roughly 4.5 hours, a jury found an Ironwood man not guilty of all charges in Gogebic County Circuit Court Friday. Jeremy James Richards, 42, was acquitted of four counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct-personal injury and one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm-strangulation. Each of the criminal sexual conduct charges had carried a potential life sentence as the maximum punishment. The charges had stemmed from an alleged incident involving a woman Richards had a casual, sexual ...
GILE, Wis. - Ice fishing enthusiasts from as far away as Green Bay came to the Gile Flowage Saturday for the third annual Ice Fishing Jamboree. Organized by the Bank Club, the tournament had anglers competing to catch the largest pike, walleye, crappie and perch. Joe Smoczyk, one of the tournament's organizers, said the 52 anglers participating was down from last year but Saturday's snowstorm probably kept some people off the ice. The weather also likely kept the fish from biting aggressively,...
HURLEY — A woman is dead after a Sunday morning snowmobile crash in Hurley. Iron County Dispatch received reports of a snowmobile operator being unresponsive after her snowmobile went off the trail outside of Hurley at approximately 1:52 a.m. Sunday, Iron County Sheriff Paul Samardich said in a news release. Officers with the Hurley Police Department and deputies with the Iron County Sheriff’s Department immediately responded, according to Samardich, along with Beacon Ambulance and Hurley Snowmobile Rescue. Officers located the scene of the...
WASHINGTON — Michigan’s two senators, Democrats Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, annoucned Monday that they were calling on the Department of the Army and the Office of Management and Budget to address the high water levels around the Great Lakes in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ budget for the 2020 fiscal year. Included in that call was a funding request for dredging Ontonagon and other commercial harbors around the state. “Communities and coastlines across Michigan have been battered by flooding and erosion as a result of record high wa...
BESSEMER - Thursday's Thanksgiving dinner will likely be extra special for a Caspian family after Gogebic County Judge Anna Talaska finalized the adoption of two brothers Tuesday afternoon - which happens to also be Adoption Day in Michigan. Colton Earle Houghtaling, 10, and Chase Joseph Houghtaling, 6, sat in the Bessemer courtroom with their new mom, Tina Houghtaling, as the formal process was completed before the family and court staff enjoyed cake to celebrate them joining their "forever fam...
WAKEFIELD - There will be some new faces on the Wakefield City Council following Tuesday's election. A total of six candidates ran for the five council seats, with incumbent councilman Dale White receiving the most votes with 270. Scott Heikkila - who city clerk Susan Ahonen told the Daily Globe had chosen not to seek election - took second with 236 votes. Incumbents James S. Anderson, Amy Tarro and Kay Witta round out the council with 211 votes, 199 votes and 182 votes, respectively. Current ma...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The hardy few who braved the cold, wet, windy weather Saturday morning got the chance to preview the future path of the North Country Trail on Little Girl’s Points and enjoy one of the best views of fall leaves in the county as the Ni-Miikanaake chapter hosted a hike to the Montreal Gorge. The small group hiked along Lake Road from the Superior Falls parking lot for a short distance before heading off road and along a muddy all-terrain vehicle trail to the cliffs above the Montreal River. Saturday’s hike was the final group...
SAXON, Wis. — It’s been 3 years, 1 month and 19 days since flooding from the July 11, 2016 storm, destroyed Saxon Harbor. Today, for the first time since that storm, boats will be able to use the harbor’s marina again. The marina’s new docks and boat launches are open for public use, however, county officials are asking visitors to be patient over the next few weeks while some of the final cosmetic work is completed around the marina. “Go down and enjoy, but understand there’s still some work that’s being finished up,” Iron County Forestry...
BESSEMER — An Iron River man pleaded guilty for taking a car from an Ironwood parking lot in Gogebic Circuit Court on Tuesday. Kyle Cal Kontney, 26, pleaded guilty to unlawfully driving away with a vehicle and use of methamphetamine as part of a plea agreement. The agreement also requires he plead guilty to breaking and entering of a motor vehicle to steal property less than $200 in a separate case in Gogebic County District Court. The unlawful driving charge is a 5-year felony, while breaking and entering and use of meth are misdemeanors. In e...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department released the names of those in the car involved in a single-vehicle crash that killed two teens near Little Girl’s Point Saturday morning. Lauren Powless, 18, and Madeline Jackson, 15 died when the car they were in left the road and hit a tree. The third person in the car, Zachery Hammon, 20, survived the crash and walked to a nearby house to report the accident. Gogebic County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene of the accident on Lake Road north of Powers Road at approxi...
Editor's note: The Daily Globe is counting down the Gogebic Range's top five stories of 2018 each day through Monday, New Year's Eve. The editorial department staff sat down and came up with its annual list, naming a fatal fire in the early morning hours of Feb. 20 in downtown Ironwood as the second-place story of the year. Feb. 21, 2018. City Commissioner Jim Mildren later said it was the day he "thought we might lose our downtown," as a fire left three dead and two buildings destroyed. The Ironwood Public Safety Department responded to...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The parking area next to St. John's Lutheran Church was full and cars lined a section of Airport Road in Ironwood Township Saturday as the church held its annual pie social fundraiser. "We've had a good steady rush most of the day, lots of different community members coming out and supporting us," said Cortney Ofstad, the president of the church council. The church has held pie social fundraisers for the last 35 years and the Ofstads have been involved since the beginning....
BESSEMER - While the temperature left little doubt fall has arrived on the Gogebic Range, the lack of rain or much wind meant the crowds were out in Bessemer Saturday for the 40th annual Pumpkin Festival. "(It) is going well ... there's no rain and the wind is minimal," festival co-chair Donna Frello said. "So it's going as good as can be expected when it's 40 degrees." Along with popular annual staples such as the craft fair, Klassic Kruiser's car show, kiddies parade, and pumpkin decorating...
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...
BESSEMER — An Ironwood man will spend time in prison for home invasion and receiving and concealing stolen firearms. Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope sentenced Aubrey Dean Cummins, 19, to between five and 15 years in prison for second-degree home invasion and between two and 10 years in prison for receiving and concealing stolen firearms Tuesday. Cummins pleaded guilty to the two charges in June, as part of a plea agreement that had charges of first-degree home invasion and larceny of a firearm dismissed at sentencing. Cummins was c...
HURLEY — Despite having some of the highest concentration of sugar maple forests in the country, northern Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula lack a strong commercial maple syrup industry. A forum in Iron County planned for later this fall will look at whether there is interest in changing that. “The intent is to gauge interest in the community (for) developing commercial enterprises here based around maple syrup and its products,” said Darrin Kimbler, one of the University of Wisconsin-Extension educators organizing the forum. “This...
LANSING — Michigan’s Auditor General will review the process the Michigan Department of Corrections used when deciding to close the Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco. Auditor General Doug Ringler informed State Rep. Scott Dianda, D-Calumet, Thursday that Ringler’s office had granted Dianda’s request to review the process behind the decision to close the prison. While auditors will be reviewing the process leading up to the decision, Ringler’s letter makes clear it won’t be looking whether the decision to close Ojibway was the best op...
IRONWOOD - Students in the Ironwood Area Schools won't have to worry about forgetting their lunch money after the district announced it will provide free lunches to all students for the year. The lunches are available through the federal Community Eligibility Provision program, which started in 2011 in Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky, and has since launched nationally. The program uses a formula based on the number of free and reduced lunch students in a district. Ironwood became eligible for...
BESSEMER - Matthew James LaPlant, 37, of Bessemer, will learn his fate at his sentencing next month after a jury found him guilty of three felonies in his child abuse trial in Gogebic County Circuit Court. The jury deliberated for the better part of three hours Friday before finding LaPlant guilty of two counts of second- degree child abuse and one count of unlawful imprisonment. While LaPlant was also charged with first-degree child abuse, Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope told jurors t...
BESSEMER — The case against an Ironwood Township man accused of being involved in a standoff with police in May 2017 may be proceeding, after he was recently found to be competent again. While Leonard John Hellier, 48, was recently found competent to stand trial, Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs said it still needed to be determined whether he bore criminal responsibility for his actions. Competency and criminal responsibility are the two prongs of an insanity defense, according to Michigan law. Competency determines whether the defendant...
IRONWOOD – Local photographer Tom Bergman gave some insights into his process and advice on how to improve one's photos at Thursday's Tech on Tap event at Cold Iron Brewing. Bergman began with a brief discussion on the basics of photography; such as what ISO, shutter speed and aperture mean and the effect they have on a picture. Bergman then focused his talk on landscape and night photography. When taking pictures of the night sky, Bergman said it was important to make sure one had a lense that...
IRONWOOD - While the rain somewhat impacted turnout, Festival Ironwood continued largely as planned Friday. "Crowds are down a little bit, but again, we made some adjustments," Festival Ironwood co-chair Keith Johnson told the Daily Globe. "We put some stuff - kids activities - under the big top, moved that slide in ... and the obstacle course and it worked out well. Despite the weather, the vendors were very pleased with the people." Other than the bounce house, petting zoo and bike parade,...
KIMBALL, Wis. - Shade from the property's tall trees and a fairly steady breeze made Sunday's heat more pleasant at Little Finland, where a crowd gathered to dance and have a good time at the organization's annual Viola Turpeinen Day celebration. "We've got a pretty nice turnout for a warm day," Little Finland president Ken Hannula said, adding a number of people even were dancing in the shade of Little Finland's pavilion to polka tunes from the Merrill-based band Finn Power. Little Finland has...
By RICHARD JENKINS rjenkins@yourdailyglobe.com IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - Residents can once again cool off at Little Girl's Point and several other area beaches and parks, after the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department's latest round of testing showed E.coli levels had improved enough to reopen them. A total of 26 locations the health department is monitoring are reopen, according to the health department Saturday, with another seven locations under an advisory for users to swim at their own...
HURLEY — Iron County, along with other communities across northwestern Wisconsin, continues to prepare the necessary documentation needed in Madison to determine if the state will request a federal disaster declaration for the mid-June rain and flooding. Iron County was one of five counties in the state of emergency Gov. Scott Walker issued June 18, along with Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett and Douglas counties. The communities are verifying the estimated costs of the damage from the June 15-17 storms are as accurate as possible, according to I...
