Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — As part of a continuing discussion of how to extend the Iron Belle Trail from Ramsay to Wakefield, the Wakefield City Council heard public input this week from a local landowner who concedes that his property is “the cheapest route” now under consideration. Harry Butler, who said he owns one-half mile of shoreline on Plymouth Lake, has met with city officials in prior, private sessions, but addressed the council as a whole during its regular bi-monthly meeting. Butler told the council that he...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Downtown Ironwood First Friday of August event was held in the city on Friday. Crowds gathered in the Downtown City Square to listen to live music by the Superior Horns and Blue Ice, a local band featuring more than 10 musicians. Tim Erickson, community development assistant for the city of Ironwood, said that this month's First Friday event was part of their concert music series. There will be more concerts at the First Friday events...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Gogebic-Iron County Airport on Monday approved long-term planning for a combination of facilities in the area of the main terminal for efficiency and to accommodate growth. The board 4-0 approved adding the project to the airport layout plan as prepared by the airport’s engineering firm, Mead & Hunt. Airport board member Dan Siirila was not present. The plan includes multiple versions of a general aviation joint use facility that would relocate buildings to consolidate com...
By Zachary Marano [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Delta variant of the coronavirus has been identified in Gogebic County, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Laboratories. A COVID-19 update from Thursday said there were two confirmed cases of the Delta variant in the county. “When a variant is identified or suspected, additional measures take place, such as a strict 14-day quarantine,” said Kate Beer, health officer for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department. “A new variant in our commu...
By TOM LAVENTURE IRONWOOD - A recently completed "connector trail" now links the Iron Belle Trail with the Miners Memorial Heritage Park trail system. The connector trail starts with a parking lot and kiosk on a segment of Iron Belle Trail just off of U.S. 2 at Rosella Street, and adjacent to the AmericInn Ironwood hotel. The paved walking and bicycle trail joins the Iron Belle for a short distance before heading southwest for about one-half mile until emerging at East Ayer Street across from...
IRONWOOD - A first look at the new Pat O'Donnell Civic Center was too good to pass up during a soft opening on Wednesday. "We had a very nice, steady stream of people all afternoon and were encouraged by the turnout," said Michelle Rigoni-Sivula, civic center manager. As a former hockey parent who is accustomed to cold arenas, Jim Pawlak, of Ironwood, said the heaters above the spectator area are a nice touch. "That is going to help us out tremendously," Pawlak said. The "newness" of the...
IRONWOOD - The Gogebic Range Concert Band will perform at 7 p.m. on Aug. 10 in Longyear Park in Ironwood. The concert will be dedicated to all those who the community has lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, band director Marie Eggleston said. "We'll be playing 'Amazing Grace' and 'Be Still My Soul' to call attention to the fact that just about everybody has lost someone or knows someone who has lost someone." Eggleston said. "There hasn't been any memorial because it's an ongoing pandemic. So, we...
IRONWOOD — Prospective students took a closer look at Gogebic Community College on Tuesday at an open house on the Ironwood campus. The event started in the courtyard outside the Lindquist Student Center and included visits with staff, campus tours, and refreshments. Kari Klemme, GCC marketing strategist, estimated they had more than 100 people in attendance. Campus tours were provided by students in the newly formed GCC Student Diversity Group, she said. Kathy and Peter Tofson drove three and a half hours from Portage, Wisconsin, to tour t...
BESSEMER - Participants of all ages came to Bluff Valley Park in Bessemer on Tuesday for an art and natural science class hosted by volunteers from the Downtown Art Place of Ironwood. The class was led by Ian Shackleford, a botanist from Ottawa National Forest, and Polly Barbacovi, an artist with the DAP. Shackleford guided participants on a nature walk and shared his knowledge about trees and plant life that can be found along the trail. He also said there were invasive plants at the park such...
MERCER, Wis. - The population of Mercer and surrounding communities gathered in town on Wednesday to celebrate the 41st annual Loon Day, a craft show featuring vendors from around the country. Melissa Biszak, executive director of the Mercer Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the event, said that Loon Day celebrates what the town is most well-known for: being the "Loon capital of the world." "We have some vendors that are from Nebraska, Iowa and Florida. They all have vacationed up here, love...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The community is invited to get a glimpse of the newly rebuilt Pat O'Donnell Civic Center from noon to 7 p.m. today. There are still some minor items to complete before the facility can be used for ice skating this fall, but it's ready for a tour, and people are invited to bring their roller blades or standard roller skates to try out the rink floor, according to Michelle Rigoni-Sivula, civic center manager. Skaters will need to bring...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The city of Bessemer was awarded a $459,000 grant to put together an asset management plan for its water system. “This is exciting,” said city manager Charly Loper during the council meeting on Monday. “If you remember, we got the funding to do it for the sewer side, so this is for the water side.” The grant monies are funded by the Drinking Water Asset Management grant program through the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy. The program invests in infrastru...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] HURLEY - Hurley pride flowed down Silver Street on Saturday afternoon as the Iron County Heritage Parade hit the street and hundreds of people lined the parade route. The parade as well as high school reunions and other events related to the school, brought people from all over the country for a look back at the past. "I love this area. It's like my favorite place on earth," said Gwen Kasper-Couty of Chicago. "When I think of someplace to go and chill...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — Several in the community joined the Hurley Education Foundation in honoring the accomplishments and contributions of six graduates of Hurley and Saxon schools over the decades on Saturday. The school auditorium was filled with community for the 18th annual Distinguished Alumni and Friends Awards Ceremony. The event was to honor Brian Tarro, Hurley class of 1960, who was present, along with posthumous recognition for the late Ken Clement, Saxon class of 1958; Henry DeRosso, class of 1...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - Library patrons heard a "whale of a tale" on Thursday morning. Sean Sullivan, an experimental archeologist with Colossal Fossils in Wausau, explained how the porpoises had evolved. Sullivan showed fossil replicas in his presentation and discussed prehistoric ancestors to whales he called an "apex predator," in that it fed on sharks and other fish. He said that scientists know that it ate live prey because it had armored eyebrows....
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP — In a special meeting this week, members of the Wakefield Township Board of Trustees voted to approve a formal conflict of interest policy that was a necessary precursor to receiving $30,982 from the American Rescue Plan. According to Township Supervisor Mandy Lake, the COVID-19 relief funds that were issued by the federal government in the spring are expected to be allotted in two segments over the next two years. In a Thursday email, Lake reported that the board also voted to a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - The Hurley Public Library summer kids program continued Wednesday at Riccelli Park with "Critters of the night," a presentation on the unique features of nocturnal animals. "Not everybody sleeps at night," said Licia Johnson, an education director and naturalist with the North Lakeland Discovery Center, who teaches the weekly summer science learning experience. "A lot of animals are active and they have a lot of cool adaptations to be able...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday scheduled a public hearing for a broadband access project. The 4 p.m. Aug. 31 hearing is to discuss the proposed Rural Open Access Design to Digital Equality agreement with Bugtussel Wireless. The meeting will be at the Iron County Courthouse conference room or the county Memorial Building. The current service provides approximately 25 megabytes-per-second download, according to Mitchell Olson, director of network real estate for the Green B...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] MARENISCO - Clean-up continues in Marenisco after Monday night weather events took the town literally by storm. Marenisco Township Supervisor Bruce Mahler said in a Wednesday morning phone call that the thunderstorm had not been classified as a tornado, but rather as "the beginnings" of one. That's the word from the National Weather Service in Marquette, whose representatives concluded that straight-line winds had moved through the "downtown" area of the...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — Sales tax revenues for July are the highest yet recorded, according to reports at the Iron County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. In the county clerk’s report, Michael Saari said the county has recorded $60,820 in sales tax for the month of July. This is the highest sales tax collected ever in one month for the county, he said. The July sales tax for 2020 was $49,000, and in 2019 it was $48,800, he said. That is a $12,000 increase from each of the previous years, he said. The coun...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The region is cleaning from a thunderstorm that rolled through Monday evening, leaving a string of fallen trees and power lines that left thousands without power, most temporarily and others for an entire day. There were 26,000 customers impacted in Gogebic County and Iron County, Wisconsin, according to Christine Ouellette, senior media relations representative for the Michigan and Wisconsin office of Xcel Energy Inc. Approximately...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — Giddy moods prevailed on Monday evening as Wakefield City Manager Robert Brown Jr. reported to the City Council that two substantial sources of federal funding had been confirmed. According to Brown, $440,000 to fund the new Department of Public Works site has now been granted officially from the Rural Development Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, Brown said that the city is expected to receive $174,507 via the American Rescue Plan that went into effect on March 11 a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - There were many lessons to learn by observing the process of basket weaving, from sourcing and processing of wood into materials and construction, but it was also a chance to witness the resurgence of a local art form that was nearly lost to history. April Stone of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, brought her talent for basket making and storytelling to Miners Memorial Heritage Park on Saturday as part of the Emberlight...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] Iron County residents will celebrate their heritage over the next two weeks with a variety of events, including the county fair. It all leads up to the annual Iron County Heritage Festival — a compilation of a dozen events across the county that will start this Friday and run through Aug. 15. The festival will kick off on Friday with the Hurley Quarterback Club Golf Tournament, on Friday at 11 a.m. The golf tournament is an annual fundraiser for the Hurley football team. The Iron County Historical M...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board will recommend a jet service carrier to become the next Essential Air Service (EAS) provider, following meetings with three applicant airlines on Thursday. The decision to choose Denver Air Connection over the two other applicants that provide propeller airplane service was partly to increase boardings and grow regional air service in the long term, according to member comments. The other was the...
