Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Dwindling membership has resulted in the closure of First Presbyterian Church in Ironwood. The church has been in operation on East Aurora for 115 years this month. A once thriving church with more than 300 members, in the end, the congregation counted just seven members. Of the remaining seven, two are in nursing homes and two are seasonal - retreating to Florida in the winter, said Pastor Jack Fashbaugh. "Membership steadily declined. It...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Students of the Northwoods Manufacturing wood and metal programs at Hurley K-12 School will have an opportunity to showcase their work to the public. The open house is tentatively planned for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, May 20, and will be a chance to showcase the student work to the public. More details will be released closer to the event. The open house is a way to show the creative talents of students who are training to use industrial...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - A pedestrian's quick action helped to reduce the amount of what is believed to be discarded motor oil that made its way through the stormwater system into the Montreal River on Monday. Jeff Paddock, Northern Region Spills coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said the caller complained there was a "sheen present on the river" near the Hurley bridge. The city of Hurley and Iron County Emergency Management placed...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] UPSON, Wis. - The Saturday Wisconsin fishing opener offered good weather and anglers at Weber Lake had a little extra special fun for families attending the "Kids Fishing Event." Around 150 participants found their spot along the wide shoreline of Weber Lake, adjacent to the White Pine Ski Resort in Upson. The 17th annual event was open to all children with the first 40 who registered getting a free rod and reel from the Superior Bass Club. The purp...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — Fourth grade students at Washington Elementary School were treated to a presentation on the importance, and many uses of trees Friday morning. The presentation was given by Doug Foley, a retired fourth grade teacher from Ironwood and co-owner of 906 Tree Service LLC. “It gives us a really good idea that the trees that surround us are really here to give us more than just cutting them down and getting firewood from them,” said Jill Carver, fourth grade teacher at Washington. “I mean, it give...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — To say that the end of the school year last year was unusual would be an understatement. The coronavirus pandemic meant students finished the school year remotely and staff at the Ironwood Area Schools was left coordinating how to get the contents of lockers back to their owners rather than organize the traditional end-of-year events — many of which were canceled or drastically changed due to COVID. The district hopes this year features a return to more recognizable events, although off...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] ERWIN TOWNSHIP - After meeting Tuesday evening for the first time in six months, members of the Gogebic County Chapter of the Michigan Townships Association voted in four new officers, including a brand new position. Wakefield Township Supervisor Mandy Lake, who had volunteered to head the meeting until new officers were elected, is the new chairperson. "She looks like she's doing a fine job here," said Erwin Township Supervisor Larry Grimsby, while...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield City Council pledged on Monday to commit $2,500 toward the return of the town’s Fourth of July celebration. City officials and Fourth of July organizer Ann Marie Cooney said that members of the city’s Fourth of July Committee, as well as its Fireworks Committee, are deeply engaged in renewing the celebration. Last year’s events were canceled due to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down this area in March of 2020 and has had lingering effects ever si...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Discussion on the May First Friday focused on gardens and cleanup with a little forecast for live entertainment to return in June, according to the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority meeting on Thursday. Darrin Kimbler, a member of DIDA along with the Range Master Gardener program, said that plants were ordered for the pocket park downtown and other projects. The planting will occur later in May and the First Friday event would be...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area Schools has begun the preparation for this year’s graduation festivities, with the district’s board of education approving the list of graduates Monday. The list featured 36 seniors anticipated to graduate, assuming they continue to meet all the district’s graduation requirements. The board also approved four graduates in the alternative education program. “We’re looking forward to graduation this year. It’s always an exciting time, but this year will be extra special...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — At a special meeting on Friday evening, the Wakefield Planning Commission voted to send a revised version of the city’s fencing ordinance to the Wakefield City Council. “This is for all new construction,” said City Manager Robert Brown Jr. He added, however, that property owners wishing to replace any of their existing fencing will need to check the revised ordinance, which is only one and one-half pages. The proposed ordinance covers details relating to varying maximum heights for front y...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The first of several major summer sewer and water projects are underway in Ironwood. Contractors with Jake's Excavation started setting up heavy equipment along Lake Avenue on Saturday. At the same time, engineers with Coleman Engineering and technicians with Xcel Energy, Inc., were surveying and marking underground utilities to aid the workers in avoiding contact while digging. The city of Ironwood awarded Jake's Excavation the bid to...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — As those 16 years old and older are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, the Western Upper Peninsula Heath Department has reached out to all the school districts in the county, gauging interest among the students. While WUPHD officials have offered to set up a shot clinic in each school, Bessemer Superintendent Dan Niemi said they have decided to let the kids just walk over to the health department, located a block away. Parents of students age 16-18 can sign up their student to receive a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Live music performances are possible once again, thanks in a big way to special masks for the musicians and also their instruments. Members of the Hurley School Junior and Senior High Bands performed their spring concert on Tuesday in the school gym for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions last March 2020. The school district allowed the performances to start again in part because each performer was fitted wi...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Wakefield City officials conducted the first of four public tours of current and pending sites for the Department of Public Works on Wednesday afternoon. A second tour was expected on Thursday afternoon, and two additional tours are scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to attend should call the municipal building at 906-229-5131 to RSVP. Wednesday's tour started at the century-old garage attached to the former...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] HURLEY - A rescue effort that included the help of the Hurley Police and Public Works departments successfully retrieved a dog that had fallen into a manhole near Second Avenue near downtown Hurley Wednesday morning. Sadie, a 13-year-old German wire hair pointer belonging to Karen and Paul Hagemann, ventured off into a culvert during her morning walk shortly before 9 a.m. The culvert starts at the west side of Second Avenue and runs under the road...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - City Manager Robert Brown, Jr. announced on Monday evening that tours of Wakefield city garage sites will begin today at 5 p.m. While presenting a related slideshow at a regular meeting of the Wakefield City Council, Brown said the tours will allow the public to compare the three existing sites used by the Department of Public Works to the projected new site in the city's industrial park, southwest of Sunday Lake. In addition to today's tour, a...
by MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] PENCE, Wis. - The Penokee Rangers gathered Saturday morning for an important task, preparing trail markers for the summertime. The markers, which are fashioned out of ironwood, will mark the trail for summertime hikers, and are planned to last for a long while. Volunteers gathered at the Pence trailhead to work on stripping bark and smoothing down branches. "This is the first time they have met to do this as a group," according to chief of trails, C...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - The Iron County board of canvass met Friday to complete the canvass of local votes cast in Tuesday's election, formally certifying the results. The three-person board reviewed the tally sheets for every ward in the county to ensure the filled out tally sheets accurately reflect the number of paper and electronic ballots cast. The process largely confirmed the results initially reported Tuesday night, with the exception of Sharon Ofstad...
MERCER, Wis. - Mercer voters approved a half-cent consumer tax to help pay for roads and infrastructure costs in Tuesday's spring election. The voter approved the Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) with 278 votes (59.7%) for the proposal and 187 votes against. This contrasted the previous PRAT attempt in the 2019 spring election when the proposal lost 507-264. Mercer is eligible to utilize PRAT as a municipality with at least 40% of its equalized assessed property value in use by tourism-related...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] GREENLAND - The region's fickle weather can make spring a difficult time to plan construction projects in the Western Upper Peninsula, as evident by the delayed start of a bridge project in Ontonagon County. Work completing a multi-year project replacing two bridges over the Firesteel River near Greenland had been scheduled to start in mid-March, according to a Michigan Department of Transportation announcement. However, MDOT spokesman Dan...
