Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1183 - 1207 of 9848
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — Gogebic County voters approved the renewal of a three-year emergency medical service millage in the general election on Tuesday. The unofficial results posted by the Gogebic County clerk on Tuesday showed that 1,880 of 2,410 voters, or 78%, approved the millage. There were 530 votes against the millage. “I really appreciate the time and effort from everyone who voted, whether they voted for it or against it, because it’s good to see that people get out and vote,” said James Lorenson, cha...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Development Zone Council on Oct. 27 acted to prioritize the ongoing efforts to bring broadband wireless across the entire county as an essential goal. The action followed discussion of the Iron County Board of Supervisors’ recent rejection of a multi-county bond agreement for Bugtussle Wireless to install 108 miles of a fiberoptic cable corridor. The line would have provided gigabyte or faster downloads directly from Bugtussle or through leaser companies that would bra...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The reconstruction celebration of the Pat O'Donnell Civic Center will continue into the new year as the facility hosts the bantam level state hockey tournament. Discussion at the civic center board meeting on Monday including information from board member Matthew Sommer concerning the preparation for the U14 Bantam level hockey tournament to be held in Ironwood on March 11-13, 2022. The state tournaments rotate throughout the eight...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD – Today is Election Day across Gogebic County. Voters can cast ballots at their local polling stations from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. Contact the town or city office for information on polling locations or enter a name and address on the local election site location finder page of the Michigan Secretary of State website at michigan.gov/sos. Although the three cities are the only municipalities with offices on the ballot, the entire county c...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD – Theatre North will present their production of “All Together Now!” from Nov. 12 to 15. “All Together Now!” is an exclusive musical revue provided to schools and theaters by Music Theatre International. According to the MTI website, any theatre can license the musical revue and perform it free-of-charge from Nov. 12 to 15. Theatre North will perform “All Together Now!” on the same nights as hundreds of theaters around the world. “It’s to help community theaters and schools because o...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — The COVID-19 case rate for Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties has increased by more than 25% since Oct. 20, according to an update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Thursday. “The case rate in the Western U.P. jumped from 350.2 cases per 100,000 population to 439.2. That included increases in all five counties. Houghton, Keweenaw and Baraga counties are all over 500,” the update says. The COVID-19 positivity rate and case count in Houghton Count...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Five pumpkins underwent a "pumkinectomy" and came out smiling Jack-o'-lanterns early Friday morning at Gogebic Community College. The patients in question all went by the alias "Candy Corn," and entrusted their winter squash wellbeing to "Dr. Frankenstein." The medical procedure was conducted at the Lindquist Student Center and at the courtesy of CNA program students from the Gogebic Ontonagon Intermediate School District. "I think it's prett...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] MARENISCO - The Michigan state Christmas tree, a 63-foot blue-spruce, was harvested on Wednesday morning from a property on the outskirts of Marenisco, following a brief ceremony. "It's all about bringing people together that makes this so special," said Jeff Canfield of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget which orchestrates the tree selection process. "It's just a great time to celebrate." The ceremony began with the...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Work has started on downtown holiday decorations with more to come in the weeks ahead, according to reports at the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority on Thursday. Tim Erickson, city community development specialist, said that Walmart Inc. provided an $150 donation for the lighting. The wreathes are purchased and the next task is selecting the lighting for decorative light poles downtown from samples. The donations for holiday wreaths, lights and street pole decorations are coming i...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors on Monday rejected a resolution to join a multi-county bond issuance to support financing for a company to install broadband infrastructure in rural areas. The board voted 13 against the final resolution for an unconditional county guarantee of a pro rata share in a multi-county agreement for $8 million in taxable revenue bond financing for the Bugtussle 1 LLC project to install communication towers and fiber optic lines for rural broadband. Board membe...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — A slight policy change will allow Hurley students who test negative following a COVID-19 exposure to return to school sooner. The Hurley K-12 School Board of Education on Monday approved a change to the current close contact policy that requires a student with a close contact to wear a face covering for nine days instead of the previously required 14 days as long as they test negative after day five and do not have symptoms for COVID-19. The student could return to school on day eight b...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission offered praise for the leadership of Mayor Annette Burchell, who is not running for reelection in November and was attending her last meeting as a commissioner on Monday. Commissioner Kim Corcoran, as Mayor Pro Tem, presented Burchell with a plaque as her fellow commissioners applauded her toward the end of the meeting. Burchell, who served three terms on the commission and as mayor for all six years, stood speechless at the gesture of support. “I very muc...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield City Council met quorum for its regular meeting on Monday night thanks to technological advances, after two members came down with COVID-19. Kay Wiita was the only member to attend in person. It was her final meeting, as she is not running for re-election in the Nov. 2 election. Mayor Dale White and councilor James Anderson attended the meeting virtually after having recently been diagnosed with COVID. Councilor Scott Heikkila was absent due to an undisclosed illness and counc...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic Conservation District and Gogebic County Forest and Parks Commission teamed up to enhance deer habitats in the county, according to an Oct. 6 press release from the conservation district. The conservation district and forestry and parks commission focused on areas around Little Girl’s Point and Devils Creek, which the Michigan Department of Natural Resources considers to be deer wintering complexes. District forester Winona Grieshop said the enhancements were primarily to pro...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] ONTONOGAN — Students in Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District’s center-based programs spent Friday morning fishing at Camp Josh. Jay Pawlak, a teacher with the GOISD, said he has been bringing his students with intellectual impairments to the camp at least twice a year for the last seven years. “It’s a day just to have a U.P. learning experience on fishing, in this case,” said Dean Juntunen, a member of the Camp Josh board. “They sure seemed to enjoy it and the fish were pretty hungry.” Pa...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Members of the Gogebic County Ambulance Committee outlined the purpose and need for renewing a two-year emergency medical service millage this week at events in Watersmeet and Ironwood. Gogebic County Board Chair James Lorenson, who also chairs the county ambulance committee, said that county officials cannot encourage people to vote yes or no for any ballot item. The EMS millage presentations were to educate voters on the purpose and need to support rural EMS. “The ambulance services cu...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — The Town of Mercer Board of Supervisors discussed zoning ordinances at its regular meeting on Thursday. Board chairman John Sendra said that the Iron County Zoning Administration has gone against the town board of supervisors’ recommendations on zoning more than once and asked attorney Fritz Shellgell for counsel. Shellgell said that he has represented the town of Mercer for almost 25 years and until recently, the county followed the town’s recommendation on zoning applications. Howeve...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — With a projected $13,000 shortfall for 2022, the Iron County Transportation Coordinating Committee will seek additional funds from the county following a Wednesday meeting. The committee approved a $109,000 request from the County Elderly and Disabled Transportation Assistance Program (85.21 Grant). The items within the request include $55,000 for Highline Corporation, $4,000 for volunteer drivers and $50,000 for the county Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC). The $13,133 s...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — In the aftermath of a recent house fire that was attributed to prolonged use of a generator, the city of Bessemer is considering implementing an ordinance to regulate generator use. Councilor Bill McDonald suggested the city look into an ordinance to prevent temporary generators from being used as the primary electrical source for homes at the Oct. 4 city council meeting. “There’s other people who might use a generator for medical emergencies, but that doesn’t run constantly all the time,...
