Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1212 - 1236 of 9848
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] Voters in the cities of Bessemer, Ironwood and Wakefield will choose their city councils and commissions, along with city and countywide ballot proposals in the Nov. 2 general election. The county’s township voters selected their respective town councils in the 2020 general election. However, there is the county ambulance millage renewal proposal to consider in this election. All county voters will have the ballot proposal with the heading “Emergency Medical Service Renewal/Restoration.” The propo...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - Singer and songwriter Kelly Jackson performed alongside her band at the Historic Ironwood Theatre on Saturday evening, but before she took the stage she sat down with members of the community at a meet and greet. The event was small, but Jackson took full advantage to tell her story and speak about what inspired her music. She explained that her music was drawn from her experiences and the experiences of others in her community. A tribal member...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — The Western Upper Peninsula has seen its highest seven-day case count since the Western U.P. Health Department resumed its weekly updates on Aug. 26, according to a release from the health department on Thursday. There were 273 new COVID-19 cases across the five-county area between Oct. 6 and 13. This includes 38 new cases in Baraga, 86 new cases in Gogebic, 127 cases in Houghton, 10 new cases in Keweenaw and 12 in Ontonagon. The seven-day case count has been steadily increasing every w...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Commissioners will consider joining other rural Wisconsin counties in taking out an approximately $8 million bond that would allow a privately-owned company to provide communication towers and fiber optic lines for rural broadband. Following a public hearing on Wednesday, the board scheduled the matter for the Oct. 26 meeting, where three-fourths of the 15-member board must support to approve the bond. The board 14-0 supported a tentative approval at the p...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Ambulance Committee of the Gogebic County Board is currently seeking a firm to conduct a long-term feasibility study regarding rural service operations. Ambulance committee chair James Lorenson said at the meeting Wednesday that a long-term feasibility study would be conducted by a consulting group or the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region office. The committee has also studied rural ambulance feasibility studies of other Michigan and Wisconsin communities. A G...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The city of Ironwood is providing reminders for visitors and residents to captures the moment with a selfie when visiting the historical sites and natural beauty of the area. The wooden stands with tips on the taking the best photo of yourself with the optimum background are now in place at the Iron Belle Trail segment in Depot Park with the historic depot as the recommended background subject. Another is in place at the downtown Art...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley City Council on Tuesday approved a water and sewer bond refinancing that is intended to save the city approximately $2.1 million from current bond rates through 2049. The city’s current four water and sewer bonds from 2008 and 2009 total $7.5 million with an interest rate of 4.25%. The new 2.42% interest rate was revealed at the meeting. Mark Deraney, a municipal bond advisor and vice president of AMKO Advisors in Fargo, North Dakota, was present with Harold Lance, an AMKO acc...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer Recreation Committee took a field trip across the street last week to the site of the city’s new Iron Belle trailhead, to be located behind city hall. City manager Charly Loper and council member Terry Kryshak spray painted outlines on the grass of where the pavilion and bike park would be located for the recreation committee to review. Loper said the plans had been shifted slightly to the right of city hall because of the steep incline of the hill behind the building. The siz...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission on Monday approved payments and bid requests regarding the city wells, building demolitions and new equipment for public works. The city commission approved the final $39,200 payment to Binz Bros. Well Drilling and Pumping Service of Hurley, for completion of the Well No. 203 Rehabilitation Project. The initial $37,000 bid was awarded in April to conduct the final of six well rehabilitation projects. The city commission approved an additional $2,200 change o...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — After going unnoticed for nearly 20 years, a transformer will soon be installed in pump No. 2, one of the city’s three variable-frequency drives, at the main lift station in the City of Wakefield. City officials were made aware the transformer was not installed in the pump during work to upgrade the main lift station this summer, said Mayor Dale White at Monday’s city council meeting. He said the transformer was supposed to have been installed during the original construction of the lift st...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — An outbreak of COVID-19 within the Bessemer Area School district has forced the cancellation of multiple events, according to district superintendent Dan Niemi. The district was forced to cancel three football games and a scrimmage that were scheduled between Oct. 4 and Oct. 15. The junior high football game against Lake Linden-Hubbell scheduled for Oct. 5 was cancelled, along with today’s junior varsity football scrimmage against Mellen, Wisconsin. The varsity football games that were sch...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD - Students from Luther L. Wright High School in Ironwood celebrated homecoming on Friday with a parade through downtown Ironwood, a football game and a homecoming dance for grades nine through 12. The parade was led by the school marching band and included floats for the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes, as well as one with the homecoming court. The parade started near the Ironwood Public Safety Department and went through...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Apportionment Committee on Thursday approved the new population-based voting district map to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. The committee membersall favored the same mapping plan from four different options. The Michigan Bureau of Elections provided two options and two more were drawn up by Ramona Collins, county clerk and register of deeds, which included option one. The work was to adjust to the current county population of 14,380, which is a 2,400 overall d...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Elementary students of Hurley K-12 School spent Thursday afternoon getting a first hand look at fire department equipment and learned about fire safety. "This is just something we do for the community and kids and the school," said Hurley Fire Chief Mike Sejbl, noting that the department comes to the school annually in October, which is Fire Prevention Month. Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 3-9 for 2021. "We come here every year and set our...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The city of Hurley Streets Department is working to get as many road and park projects completed as possible while the fall weather still allows. In his report to the Hurley Board of Public Works Committee, street commissioner Scott Santini said there are various projects that can still be completed as the city prepares for the transition to the winter schedule. Other ongoing projects include paving the new basketball court at Riccelli Park, although the basketball poles and hoops may n...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD - Michael F. Rice, Michigan's superintendent of public instruction, visited Luther L. Wright K-12 School Wednesday afternoon as part of his tour of schools in the western Upper Peninsula. Ironwood Area Schools Superintendent Travis Powell and K-12 Principal Melissa Nigh showed him around the building and visited some classes that were in session. Rice said that he works in the state capitol in Lansing, but he regularly visits schools to get...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Two companies that plan to open retail marijuana shops in Ironwood may soon start working on their facilities along Cloverland Drive. In the adult use marijuana establishments license application update to the Ironwood Economic Development Corporation on Wednesday, Tom Bergman, director of city community development, said the two applicants that were approved for retail marijuana establishment licenses are now moving forward with the construction phases of their respective projects. B...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HURLEY - The new roundabout at the intersection of U.S. 2 and U.S. 51 opened to traffic on Wednesday. Construction on the area around roundabout is scheduled to continue quietly until Oct. 28, according to project development engineer Kai Kilen from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Kilen said that the project has proceeded according to plan and that they are entering the last stage of construction on the roundabout. In the next three...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The lobby of the Gogebic-Iron County Airport terminal was more full than most people could remember on Monday. There were several passengers arriving from Chicago, along with 22 passengers ready for the return flight. There were just as many people present for the grand opening celebration for Denver Air Connection taking over the Essential Air Service and bringing jet service to Ironwood. Passenger numbers for the first few days equaled nearly a month of flights with the previous EAS a...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - Construction crews finished repairs on the upstream portions of Shay Dam in Mercer, town supervisor Vic Ouimette said on Tuesday. The workers installed new concrete facing and performed other repairs on the aging structure which controls the flow of water from Fisher to Spider Lake. The water levels on Fisher Lake were lowered by two to three feet to accommodate repairs to the dam. Town supervisor Vic Ouimette said the drawdown began on...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Pat O'Donnell Civic Center celebrated its grand reopening on Saturday after being closed for renovations during the 2020-2021 winter season. Ice skaters and hockey players had the chance to explore the new facility and test out the new indoor ice arena. The event started with a flag raising ceremony with JROTC cadets Brianna Rowe, Melissa Charles and Marissa Ritter from Luther L. Wright High School. Jim Mildren, a member of the civic...
