Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 455 - 479 of 911
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] The winter storm that swept through the Gogebic Range Monday evening and early Tuesday didn't produce excessive amounts of snow, but drifting conditions made driving hazardous. U.S. 2 near Ashland was closed Monday evening because of winds whipping heavy snow off Lake Superior across the highway. Winds gusted as high as 30 mph across the Upper Peninsula. Parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin received more than a foot of snow. Area snowfall totals varied...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] MARENISCO - Marenisco Township officials made it official Monday, opening the new pavilion in Donald McKenzie Memorial Park with a cut of a ceremonial ribbon and some coffee and goodies for those who came to celebrate. While the structure was built this past summer using a $400,000 Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant, Marenisco Police Chief Bruce Mahler said the township had been working on the project since 2005. Grant proposals were...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — The man found guilty of attempting to rob the Ironwood Holiday gas station was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Gogebic County Circuit Court. Chadd Mathias Andert, 36, was sentenced to between three and 15 years in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon. He received a jail credit of 383 days for time served prior to his sentence. A jury found Andert guilty of the charge Nov. 7. It was one of several options the jury had to pick from, but they could only find him guilty of a single char...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD — Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department deputy Adam Zak received word on Dec. 26 that area businesses were receiving bad checks from a business account that did not exist. The checks to Forslund’s and Steiger’s hardware stores in the hundreds of dollars each were primarily used for construction equipment. Most of the equipment has been returned to the stores after it was recovered at an area motel. The Ironwood Public Safety Department and sheriff’s department obtained a vehicle descripti...
OKEMOS, Mich. - Edna Eleanor Caramella, 82, of Bergland, Mich., passed away in Okemos, on Dec. 28, 2017, after a courageous battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was born on Nov. 16, 1935, in Laird Township, the second child of the late Kenneth and Lydia (Lungi) Grant. Edna graduated from Bergland High School and married Donald Maki in 1955 in Bergland, Mich., and they raised their four children while he was an officer with the Michigan State Police. He preceded her in death in 1987. She married...
Editor’s note: The Daily Globe is counting down the top five local stories of 2017. Ironwood Township’s financial irregularities and the criminal charges against former township treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso was selected as the biggest story of the year. IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP – News broke in May that former Ironwood Township Treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso was facing felony charges for allegedly embezzling money while in office. Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs initially charged Olson-DeRosso with nine felonies — five counts of forgery, one count o...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska - David Allan Ahonen, 72, of Ketchikan and Hurley, Wis., died Dec. 27, 2017, in Ketchikan, of complications from pneumonia. He was born Aug. 17, 1945, in Duluth, Minn., to Gustaf A. and Jennie F. Ahonen. He spent his childhood in Hurley, specifically in Kimball, Wis. David served in the U.S. Air Force as an M.P., worked as a prison guard in Wisconsin and was a cook on Great Lakes ore boats. He also tried his hand as a logger, police officer and as a scrap collector. He moved...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - Greg Klecker, who has been on the job for about three weeks as Ironwood Public Safety Department director, stresses the importance of analyzing statistics in his new leadership role. With that in mind, he proudly points out that in the past five years as senior commander with the Buena Vista Public Safety Department in Saginaw, a study showed violent crime decreased by 19 percent. Klecker was sworn in by city clerk Karen Gullan at Monday's...
By RALPH ANSAMI and RICHARD JENKINS [email protected], [email protected] HURLEY - A Stevens Point, Wis., man entered a no contest plea Wednesday in Iron County Court to a May burglary in the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles office at the Hurley tourism information center, a day after pleading guilty to a burglary-related charge in Gogebic County. Daniel Allan Erickson, 28, appeared in Iron County Court with his attorney, Douglas Muskett; who said a plea agreement had...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - An Ironwood man was sentenced to at least a decade in prison Tuesday in Gogebic County Circuit Court. Ryan Frank Reinhard, 30, was sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. He received a jail credit of 143 days for time previously served. "This was an active conspiracy involving numerous people in Gogebic County engaging in an enterprise of obtaining, distributing and using me...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — Copper Street has been reopened to traffic, the Hurley City Council learned Tuesday. The infrastructure work on the street had to be shut down early when winter arrived in October, delaying the completion of the project to next summer and leaving a muddy mess. Now the ground has frozen sufficiently for the barricades to be removed along the street. The vacant lot at the southwest corner of Third Avenue and Copper Street is available for parking. City crews will keep it free of snow. City s...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] KALAMAZOO — Despite awaiting trial on federal drug charges, a Bruce Crossing man attempted to restart his illegal marijuana business in Ontonagon County. With both the criminal and forfeiture proceedings now complete, this detail and other information on the size and scope of Spencer Troy Ward’s drug operation are coming into focus. The continued criminal activity while on bond was cited as one of several aggravating factors in Judge Paul Maloney’s decision to impose a nearly 13-year prison sente...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON – The Ontonagon Village Council Monday approved a new agreement with the AFSCME Union, which represents the village public works employees. Village Manager Joe Erickson explained the contract changes are effective Jan. 1, 2018. Erickson explained the details of the contract, which include: —Elimination of the safety bonus and the equivalent of $150 will be rolled into wages. —Group life insurance was increased to $10,000. —Boot and work clothes allowance of $125 each were combined into one reimbur...
POLICE REPORTS Ironwood Township Michigan State Patrol troopers arrested Joshua Edward Hotchkiss, 31, of Ironwood, on Thursday for domestic violence near Northstar Road in the township. COURT CASES 98th District Court, Bessemer Nov. 27: Anthony James Negri, 28, Bessemer, domestic violence, $905. Nov. 29: Leslie Ann Bradley, 49, Bessemer, domestic violence, $765. Iron County Circuit Court, Hurley Nov 14: Robert Leonard Carlson, 45, Ironwood, resisting or obstructing an officer, $443. Nov. 14: Matthew James Coons, 38, Ironwood, disorderly...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD - Colin Gauthier, a 13 year old Ironwood youth, spent the summer traversing at least 4,000 miles driving to and from different races throughout Wisconsin as part of the Wisconsin Off Road Series. Gauthier, even though he did not turn 13 until after his final race in the series, raced in the 13-14 Junior Series, making him younger than most of his competitors by as much as two years in any given race. The series' first race was on May 6 and...
ONTONAGON — A young girl was rescued from the frigid waters of the Ontonagon River on Friday. According to Michigan State Police from the Wakefield Post, the girl slipped off the boardwalk at Elmer Park in the village of Ontonagon and fell into the river. MSP Sgt. Glenn Gauthier said because of the ice build-up on the shore, the girl was unable to get out of the river without assistance. “It is suspected the victim was in the river for several minutes before assistance arrived. A citizen walking his dog found the female semi-conscious and was...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER — The new city council and mayor opened Monday’s city council meeting in Bessemer by adding three articles under “New Business” and could not get to them fast enough. New council member Allen Archie added to the agenda a review of the new police powers ordinance and zoning amendments passed by the prior council and returning council member Linda Nelson added an opt out procedure of the 2016 Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act passed by the last council, after a full year of content...
IRONWOOD — Videoconferencing capabilities at the Ironwood Memorial Building have greatly increased since Merit Network ran fiber-optic cable to the building, according to city manager Scott Erickson. Erickson said the faster internet speed should save money for the city in allowing the videoconferencing of events far away, cutting down on travel costs. City employees will be able to participate in some meetings and training by videoconferences, rather than making the long drives to the other end of the peninsula or to lower Michigan. In his Mon...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - If 25 years as a police officer in the downstate communities of Holland and Wyoming; and 14 more as an officer in nearby Wayland Schools taught Harry Werkema anything, it's how much the world has changed, and not always for the better. As part of a talk about preventing violence, Werkema told an assembly of Luther L. Wright middle and high school students they need to speak up - and further more, change the way they "think, talk and pay...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] WAKEFIELD - It's been another banner year for the Wakefield Michigan State Police Post's annual food drive. The post - with the help of volunteers from around Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota who contacted the post about a community service opportunity - distributed 21,760 pounds of food to food banks across the Gogebic Range Tuesday, including in Ironwood and Bessemer. The post also collected 2,000 pounds of food in Ontonagon for food banks in...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MARQUETTE — A former Bessemer resident has been sentenced to federal prison for methamphetamine trafficking and unlawful gun possession. Jeremy James Whitebird, 34, was sentenced to 17 years, eight months in prison for possession with intent to distribute meth. He was also sentenced to 10 years in prison for a firearms charge, but a Department of Justice press release announcing the sentences said they would be served concurrently. He was also sentenced to five years supervised release after he l...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - While the snow forced the celebration inside, it didn't appear to dampen the enthusiasm of the students as the Ironwood Area Schools celebrated Halloween Tuesday. The LLW Events Committee had originally planned to hold a "Trunk or Treat" event outside, according to committee member Michelle Trier, but the change in weather moved the events inside. The K-6 students had the opportunity to trick or treat through one of the first floor...
WAKEFIELD — Snow and ice mean maintenance crews will be on the road with snowplows, snow blowers and sanding trucks. Darren Pionk from the Gogebic County Road Commission, Sheriff Pete Matonich from the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department and Michigan State Police Community Service Trooper Jerry Mazurek, have a few safe-driving tips when traveling near winter maintenance equipment. A snow plow driver’s visibility may be limited due to blowing snow around the truck. While traveling 40 miles-per-hour in icy conditions, law enforcement cauti...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - The 8 inches of snow that fell when rain turned into snow on Friday set an Oct. 28 record for Ironwood, according to the National Weather Service office in Marquette. The snow was recorded at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Montreal River off Cloverland Drive for the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. on Saturday. Another 2 inches fell for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Sunday, making the weekend's snowfall 10 inches. About...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD - Don Horn, First Lieutenant and Post Commander of the state police post in Wakefield, said he bagged groceries as a 13-year-old. On Friday, he was in Super One bagging more groceries for the "Stuff a Goose" campaign. Horn said last year the Wakefield post received 22,000 pounds of donations and matches from the campaign that it donated to area food banks. This year, Horn is hoping the post can raise 30,000 pounds. Jerome Mazurek,...
