Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1510 - 1534 of 9679
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer School District Board of Education is taking a look at a shortfall in property tax revenue, according to discussion at the regular board meeting on Monday. School board president Robert Davis said he had just learned Monday that the school district’s January 2021 tax payment was $614,289. That is a $196,482 shortfall from the January 2020 tax payment of $810,771. “That is a significant amount relative to our budget,” Davis said. “I don’t know what the source of this shortf...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] Libraries in Wakefield, Bessemer and Ironwood will resume in person services this week. These libraries have only been offering curbside services since October. “It’s been a tough couple of months, so we are excited to open,” said Joel Laessig, director of the Wakefield Library. Laessig said the closure has been particularly hard on library patrons who don’t have internet access at home. He said that people use the library for internet access to file for unemployment and do their taxes, and make ap...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - The Iron County Health Department held its first COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the Iron County Memorial Building Wednesday, as it continues to work to combat the coronavirus pandemic's spread in the county. "We requested vaccine for this week and then got a large allocation, so we were able to say on Monday, 'OK, we can do this mass vaccination' and move people through," Health Officer Katie Hampston said. Wednesday was the first of two...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic and Ontonagon resource advisory committees to the U.S. Forest Service will soon become a single committee, according to a forestry official report at the Gogebic County Board of Commission meeting on Wednesday. Darla Lenz, who was named the forest supervisor for the Ottawa National Forest on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service in July, attended the meeting virtually to introduce herself officially to the county commission and to discuss changes that will affect the Gogebic C...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — MECCA Trails has extended its annual Winterfest. The event was originally scheduled to end Feb. 21, but will now run through March 28. “We extended the date because it is a virtual event. We said, we might as well run this all winter long. We got kind of a late start because the snow wasn’t cooperating with us,” said Mike Shouldice, president of the MECCA Trails Association. The festival consists of four events: the Turtle River Pursuit — an 11K classic and 11K skate race, the 5K Claire...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has completed the purchase of a pair of permanent motorized easements in the Western Upper Peninsula, the DNR announced Tuesday, securing a total of 67 miles of trail access for a combined price of $985,969. One will secure roughly 56 miles of 30-foot trail access in parts of Gogebic, Ontonagon, Dickinson, Houghton and Iron counties, according to the DNR’s announcement. The DNR paid $832,968 to the Keweenaw Land Association for the eas...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors voiced its support for the restoration of the Wisconsin Fund Tuesday. The board passed a resolution urging state politicians to push for the Wisconsin Fund’s funding to be reinserted into the state budget. The fund provides grants to residents as a way to incentivize the replacement of failing septic systems, the county’s assistant zoning administrator, Gerry Nasi, previously told the Daily Globe. “It helps the people of Iron County tremend...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD — Aaron Froelich was officially hired as the Gogebic Community College assistant esports coach during the regular meeting of the college board of trustees on Tuesday. Froelich, who also serves as the manager of Campus Suites, has been a volunteer assistant coach for the esports program since August. He said he’s been involved with esports since spring of 2020, and volunteered because of his interest in the sports and its history. “I have some graphic design in my past and I feel I can reall...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — When it can be safely held, the city of Ironwood plans to hold a memorial for residents who were lost to COVID-19. The planning directive came following the COVID-19 response updates during the Ironwood City Commission meeting on Monday. With all of the discussion on the impacts to local businesses and when the restrictions would be lifted, the commissioners began talking about the devastating human toll that is less discussed due in part to the privacy laws of the Health Insurance P...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Health Department has been receiving small amounts of COVID-19 vaccinations and has begun scheduling appointments for county residents over the age of 65. “Last week, the Iron County Health Department asked individuals 65 and older to call the health department and sign up for COVID-19 vaccines to be placed on an eligibility list. Over 500 residents called and signed up,” a department spokesperson said in an update Monday. “The health department is receiving a vaccine...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Ironwood Township Volunteer Fire Department will continue to help, and receive help from several area departments, as needed after the township board of trustees renewed mutual aid agreements with a number of neighboring communities Monday. The agreements are with five other municipalities in Gogebic County — the cities of Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield, as well as Bessemer and Marenisco townships — and Hurley, Montreal, Kimball, Oma and Pence in Wisconsin. An additional a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County may develop another source of income from its county forest as the Iron County Forestry Committee approved exploring the use of the county’s timberlands to sell carbon offset credits last week. There will be counties in Wisconsin that pursue using their land for carbon credits, Iron County Forester Eric Peterson said, adding that if Iron County waits too long it may miss a valuable opportunity. “There’s some uniqueness to it, so I guess I feel now is the time to look at it,...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - Bessemer school officials are declaring that the district is not a "virtual school." Niemi told the Daily Globe this week the move is part of a statewide push to get kids back in schools for face-to-face interaction by March 1. "I understand it is frustrating for the parents, as well as the students at times, but we are not a virtual school. We are a normal brick-and-mortar-type school, so we want to get our best way of instructing and...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Landing safely after losing a tire is a testament to the airplane and its crew, according to an official from Boutique Air. The remarks were in response to the news that Boutique Air Flight 835 from Ironwood to Chicago O’Hare International Airport had landed safely after losing a tire over a Chicago neighborhood on Thursday evening. Following a lengthy wait on the runway the five passengers and two pilots aboard the single engine Pilatus PC-12 turboprop were shuttled to the ter...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — A local pastor said humor helped to ease the nerves of air passengers after an unusual landing left them waiting in the middle of a Chicago runway. Various media outlets in the Chicago area were reporting that the Boutique Air 835 flight on Thursday evening from Ironwood had lost a wheel on approach to O’Hare International Airport. The 6:17 p.m. landing reportedly sent sparks flying but the five passengers and two pilots aboard the single engine Pilatus PC-12 turboprop were not inj...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - COVID restrictions did not prevent cross-country ski lovers from participating in the 2020 Sisu Ski Fest, as it was held virtually this year. In all, 386 people participated in the event which marked its 12th year. The number of participants was down by nearly 50%, but race director Jackie Powers said that was to be expected because of the pandemic and the change in format. She said because of the pandemic, those already registered for this y...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The season’s latest snowmobile crash has left a Minnesota man dead following the accident Thursday in the town of Pence. Iron County Emergency Dispatch received a 911 call at 11:02 p.m. Thursday reporting a snowmobile crash on Trail 15 off West Branch Road, between Spring Camp Road and Island Lake Road, in the town of Pence. The call reported that a single sled was involved in the accident and the injured man was unresponsive, according to Iron County Sheriff Paul Samardich. Samardich said...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Firefighters from Ironwood and Hurley responded to a structure fire on the 100 block of East Ayer Street in Ironwood Wednesday night across the street from the Ironwood Post Office. Ironwood Public Safety Department officers received a report of a commercial building structure fire at 135 E. Ayer St. at approximately 8 p.m., according to IPSD Director Andrew DiGiorgio, and additional members of the IPSD fire division were paged. "The...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The board of education for the Ironwood Area Schools kicked off 2021 with its annual organizational meeting Monday. The meeting allowed the board to approve a number of bylaws for everything from setting the procedure for filling board vacancies to setting January as the date for future organizational meetings. The board also elected its officers, including voting 4-2 to make Clancey Byrne the new board president. “When I joined the board, I said from the beginning I would serve in any...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council voted to move forward with applying for $990,000 state grant funds for the U.S. 2 project on Monday. The city will pay C2AE $13,000 to start the process of applying for the grant. If the grant is approved, the council will pay the firm an additional $6,000. C2AE had requested the city to pay the $19,000 up front, but the council felt that withholding part of the payment would give C2AE incentive to secure the grant. “This potentially could be a whole lot of mon...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - It was a "banquetless" 2020 Ironwood Chamber Banquet Awards on Tuesday but it was a very special day nonetheless for all who took part. The annual all-member awards banquet is typically a time for good food, fellowship and the opportunity to recognize innovative businesses, dedicated community volunteers, organizations that lead, and those who educate and mentor the next generations - the elements that make Ironwood an exceptional...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY -- Starting next week, seniors in Iron County and the rest of Wisconsin over the age of 65 will be able to register to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations as the state announced the expansion of the vaccine roll-out Tuesday. “Older adults have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and prioritizing this population will help save lives,” said DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm. “Wisconsin systems and operations are ready to vaccinate more people. The amount of vaccine we get from the f...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] DETROIT — The Michigan Gaming Control Board approved the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Wednesday and its partner, PointsBet, to launch online sports betting starting noon Friday. “The MGCB team worked closely with the Lac Vieux Desert tribe and PointsBet to wrap up regulatory requirements for online sports betting in time for the initial launch,” board executive director Richard S. Kalm said in the approval’s announcement. “Other operators will launch as they meet the requ...
