Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1262 - 1286 of 9873
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...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Garland City Consort played at the Historic Ironwood Theatre for the first time in three years on Sunday. The chamber orchestra performed lesser-known classical music from the baroque period on stage at the theater. “This is actually the first time we’ve been on a normal performing stage since 2018, but we’ve been performing pretty much constantly since then,” said Alexander McInnes, the concert master and violin player. The program included “Concerto for Violin & Flute” by Giuseppe B...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Students of the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School enjoyed a field day on Thursday. The site was parked conveniently right behind the school. It was in the form of a large, roving educational van known as the Food, Agriculture & Resources in Motion Science Lab. Known more simply as the FARM Science Lab, the colorfully painted vehicle came courtesy of the Michigan Farm Bureau. At the time the Globe visited, fourth grade students of Kathy Makela wer...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — An update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Thursday shows that Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties remain at high risk of COVID-19 transmission. “Case rates are down in Gogebic, Houghton and Ontonagon counties, while Baraga and Keweenaw counties saw dramatic jumps. Overall the region’s case rate remained steady,” the update says. Since the health department’s last update on Sept. 15, the case rate per 100,000 population increased from 264.7 to...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Gogebic Community College held its annual College Day on Tuesday afternoon. The event provided an opportunity for high school students to learn about college and military opportunities available after they complete high school. Kim Zeckovich, GCC director of admissions, marketing and community relations, said representatives from nearly three dozen colleges and the military were available to answer student questions about programs, costs,...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners adopted the 2021-22 county general fund budget as presented on Wednesday, but not until a room full of supporters spoke in protest of the county 4-H coordinator position being reduced from a full-time to a half-time position. In separate actions, the county board 4-0 adopted the Fiscal Year 2022 General Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2022 General Fund Budget and Fiscal Year 2022 Special Revenue Fund. Members Joe Bonovetz and George Peterson w...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The Gogebic-Iron County Airport terminal apron was full of fire trucks on Saturday as area departments gathered to train for an airport response. Trucks and firefighters of volunteer fire departments from Bessemer, Wakefield and Ironwood townships in Michigan, along with the town volunteer units of Kimball, Anderson and Oma, in Wisconsin, took part in the training. "We reviewed initial response times and times to local water...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley Public School Board on Monday unanimously added golf as a school sponsored team sport for both boys and girls. Steve Lombardo, school district athletic director, estimated the seasonal golf team cost at $5,980. This includes a $3,080 varsity coach salary, which is comparable with other spring sports, he said. The estimated golf course green fees would total $100 per golf meet or $1,000 for all 10 meets per season. Team transportation would cost $15 per hour for a bus driver a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — A third-party health company will provide daily COVID-19 testing for students at no charge for parents who want the testing, according to reports at the Hurley Public School Board on Monday. Covid Clinic, a company contracted through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, will offer parents the opportunity to have their child tested for COVID-19 at the school entrance from 7:30 to 11 a.m., inside of the school building, and from 11 a.m. to noon with drive through service by the n...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] WATERSMEET - The Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region honored two individuals, including longtime Daily Globe reporter Jan Tucker, Monday evening for their contributions to Western U.P. communities. The Oreste Chiantello Public Service Award, named for Oreste "Chip" Chiantello, of Ironwood, was created after his passing in 1991. Officials explained in a press release that Chiantello had dedicated 25 years of service to his community,...
IRONWOOD — An adult use marijuana establishment business seeking to operate a retail outlet in Ironwood was denied an appeal regarding its place in the scoring in the ranking process at the city commission meeting on Monday. The city commission 4-0 affirmed the city manager’s review finding that stated there were no reasons to change the scoring result in June for Cultivatd LLC, which was used among the recommendations to the city commission for tentative approval of licenses to the top two scoring companies in each of eight license cat...
MERCER - It may have been planned out of concern for public health, but patrons and supporters of the Mercer Public Library said moving the annual fundraiser banquet outdoors was a refreshing change. "It's really, really been perfect," said Beth Wetzler, president of the Friends of the Mercer Public Library. "I think it's so nice because it's a lot more available to more people." The library typically has an annual dinner and silent auction. This year, the event was free to include food and...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood Planning Commission received its first overview of a revised zoning ordinance that will update standards and improve accessibility with changes to terminology and language that conform to evolving standards. Various city committees, including the planning commission, will review and recommend changes or approval of the zoning ordinance for the city commission to consider adopting by the end of the year, according to Tom Bergman, director of community development f...
