Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1215 - 1239 of 9839
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...
ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Village Manager William DuPont updated the village council last week on the village’s debt to the Michigan Employees Retirement Service. While the village made a payment to MERS of $60,802 on Sept. 20, DuPont said the the General Fund will not have enough money to continue making full payments. DuPont is continuing to reach out to legislators for assistance with the problem. He said he has received a call from a representative of U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, and plans to meet with Peters sometime in October. He...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — The COVID-19 case rates in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties have increased since last week, according to an update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Thursday. The five counties’ case rates have been more than 100 per 100,000 population since Aug. 26, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers a high risk of transmission. These high rates continued in Thursday’s update. There is a 333.7 case rate per 100,000 population in Ba...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board on Tuesday reconsidered a decision to refuse paying for a tractor purchased without board approval. The board 7-6 approved a $34,000 payment for a Kobata tractor with snow removal, grass cutting and bucket attachments. The board denied the same tractor purchase at the August board meeting when members expressed concern that the finance committee approved the major purchase without the consent of the full board, along with some members saying the purchase was not n...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The list of candidates for Ironwood City Commission includes four names and one current member is not running. Mayor Annette Burchell is not running for reelection, according to the candidates list provided by city clerk Karen Gullan. The filing deadline was July 20. Burchell was elected to the city commission in 2015 and will have served three full terms of two-years each as a city commissioner when she steps down in November. She served all six years as mayor. “I’ve been honored and h...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HURLEY - Fifth graders at Hurley School District completed a project they started before summer vacation on Wednesday. The students harvested vegetables that they planted in the school garden last spring as fourth graders. The classes harvested the potatoes, onions and carrots that they planted in the garden at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Before they started digging, they circled up for a lesson on how to harvest the vegetables and a show-an...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - Students at Washington Elementary school will remain masked, according to the decision of the Bessemer Area School Board on Tuesday. The members decided to keep its elementary school mandate in place until further notice. The school board will re-evaluate the elementary mask mandate at each monthly board meeting. "I think we got a good plan right now," said Superintendent Dan Niemi. "People are really compliant and we are being really...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Get into the spirit with Plaidurday and First Friday with music and a traditional photo event downtown. For the past few years Ironwood has won a friendly competition among cities to gather the most people for a downtown Plaidurday photo, said Gina Jacquart Thorsen, president of Stormy Kromer, a division of Jacquart Fabric Products in Ironwood. Plaidurday is always the first Friday in October, so when downtown Ironwood started celebrating First Fridays, it made sense to link the two even...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission on Monday 5-0 approved the Norrie Park License Agreement extension with ABR Inc. to allow continued winter use of the park in ABR’s cross-country ski trail system. The approval was contingent upon ABR’s agreement to keep the trail clear of fallen trees and brush and conduct mowing as appropriate in the area known as “The A Loop” that exists within the park. The approval continues a 20-year agreement with ABR and will now require some summer maintenance of the...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] ERWIN TOWNSHIP - Many people flocked to the township hall in Erwin Township on Saturday for the fourth annual Cranberry Fest and rummage sale. This was the first time the two events have been held simultaneously, according to Amber Hurkmans, president of the Erwin Township Community Club. Hurkmans said the two events were held at the same time because everything is still "kinda getting back to normal." She said that one of their members works on the cra...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area Chamber of Commerce has started planning for the 2021-2022 Jack Frost Festival, according to a report to the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority on Thursday. The Jack Frost Festival page on the chamber website has the seasonal calendar of events from Nov. 18 through Jan. 29, 2022, said Michael Meyer, chamber director. The events listed are verified as being planned with the organizers and more will be added as they are confirmed, he said. “There will be more eve...
