Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1505 - 1529 of 9883
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College commencement speaker Rylee Nicoletti, a member of the Class of 2021, talked about how she learned the value of a community college education as she spoke at the college’s 87th annual commencement ceremony held virtually Friday night. “When I was about to graduate high school I wanted a nose piercing, but I wasn’t 18; so of course, I needed my parents’ permission. It was a hard and definite ‘no,’” said the high honors graduate in applied science from Port Wing, Wisco...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Volunteers with the Friends of the Miners Memorial Heritage Park in Ironwood got the jump on spring weather Thursday with a tree and shrub planting event. The group approved a $100 purchase of trees and shrubs from the Gogebic Conservation District, said Sharlene Shaffer, board member. The trees included yellow birch and white pine. The shrubs included thimbleberry, winterberry, sumak, lilac, ninebark along with roses. "Every year we kind...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Boutique Air, Inc. is reporting there were no injuries or damage to a plane after a door opened during takeoff on Wednesday in Minneapolis. Boutique Air flight 834 to Ironwood was departing Minneapolis on schedule at 2:40 p.m., with five passengers and a crew of two, according to Tom Warren, vice president of business development for Boutique Air. The single engine Pilatus PC-12 commercial passenger plane was reportedly taking off when the door opened. “The cargo door opened while the...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WINCHESTER, Wis. - A horse farm in Winchester caters riding lessons to children with special needs. The Scholl Community Impact Group's equine therapy program is geared toward helping kids on the spectrum learn to thrive. Program director Lenelle Scholl has mirrors all around the arena so the kids can see themselves on the horse and adjust their posture. The horse reigns are marked with different colors so that the kids know what area to pull from, and...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Economic Development Corporation reviewed development goals and projects at its Wednesday meeting. In the Redevelopment Ready Communities program update, Tom Bergman, director of city community development, said that a certification extension from Michigan Economic Development Corporation has allowed the city to complete its zoning ordinance certification first, which will also extend the downtown Tax Increment Financing district plan from 2022 to 2023, he said. A draft o...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Dwindling membership has resulted in the closure of First Presbyterian Church in Ironwood. The church has been in operation on East Aurora for 115 years this month. A once thriving church with more than 300 members, in the end, the congregation counted just seven members. Of the remaining seven, two are in nursing homes and two are seasonal - retreating to Florida in the winter, said Pastor Jack Fashbaugh. "Membership steadily declined. It...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — To restore the region’s freight rail system there needs to be a concerted effort to show sustainable economic viability, according to a presentation in Hurley on Thursday. The deterioration of east-west short line rail links in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula has resulted in the loss of vital links to major rail lines that connect to markets on the east and west coast — and that limits the potential growth of industry, said John Duncan Varda, a Wisconsin attorney repre...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Students of the Northwoods Manufacturing wood and metal programs at Hurley K-12 School will have an opportunity to showcase their work to the public. The open house is tentatively planned for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, May 20, and will be a chance to showcase the student work to the public. More details will be released closer to the event. The open house is a way to show the creative talents of students who are training to use industrial...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - A pedestrian's quick action helped to reduce the amount of what is believed to be discarded motor oil that made its way through the stormwater system into the Montreal River on Monday. Jeff Paddock, Northern Region Spills coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said the caller complained there was a "sheen present on the river" near the Hurley bridge. The city of Hurley and Iron County Emergency Management placed...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic County Fair Board continued working out logistics for this year’s fair in August at its regular meeting on Monday, with some items needing to wait a little longer to determine what the pandemic requirements will look like this summer. In the fair coordinator’s report, Terttu Anderson said the fair has four weddings and two graduations scheduled so far this year and three weddings on the calendar for 2022. In the board reports the marketing and sponsorships budget was repor...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] UPSON, Wis. - The Saturday Wisconsin fishing opener offered good weather and anglers at Weber Lake had a little extra special fun for families attending the "Kids Fishing Event." Around 150 participants found their spot along the wide shoreline of Weber Lake, adjacent to the White Pine Ski Resort in Upson. The 17th annual event was open to all children with the first 40 who registered getting a free rod and reel from the Superior Bass Club. The purp...
IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College will hold its commencement ceremony virtually again this year on Friday evening. “Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and to protect our students, their families, faculty and staff, we decided to host a virtual graduation ceremony to be aired on YouTube on Friday,” said GCC president Dr. George McNulty in a Monday press release. “This decision was not an easy one, and we are working diligently to provide students with a ceremony that they will remember.” Set to air on YouTube on Friday at 6 p.m., the colle...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — Fourth grade students at Washington Elementary School were treated to a presentation on the importance, and many uses of trees Friday morning. The presentation was given by Doug Foley, a retired fourth grade teacher from Ironwood and co-owner of 906 Tree Service LLC. “It gives us a really good idea that the trees that surround us are really here to give us more than just cutting them down and getting firewood from them,” said Jill Carver, fourth grade teacher at Washington. “I mean, it give...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — To say that the end of the school year last year was unusual would be an understatement. The coronavirus pandemic meant students finished the school year remotely and staff at the Ironwood Area Schools was left coordinating how to get the contents of lockers back to their owners rather than organize the traditional end-of-year events — many of which were canceled or drastically changed due to COVID. The district hopes this year features a return to more recognizable events, although off...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — An increase in development and real estate sales was credited in part for an increase in assessed value, according to the 2021 Equalization Report that was approved by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday. The compilation of agricultural, commercial, industrial, timber and residential valuations among nine county taxing units that are used to fund county services was assessed at $7,801,943 for 2021, which is a 3% increase over 2020, according to Kathy Jo Koval, c...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] ERWIN TOWNSHIP - After meeting Tuesday evening for the first time in six months, members of the Gogebic County Chapter of the Michigan Townships Association voted in four new officers, including a brand new position. Wakefield Township Supervisor Mandy Lake, who had volunteered to head the meeting until new officers were elected, is the new chairperson. "She looks like she's doing a fine job here," said Erwin Township Supervisor Larry Grimsby, while...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield City Council pledged on Monday to commit $2,500 toward the return of the town’s Fourth of July celebration. City officials and Fourth of July organizer Ann Marie Cooney said that members of the city’s Fourth of July Committee, as well as its Fireworks Committee, are deeply engaged in renewing the celebration. Last year’s events were canceled due to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down this area in March of 2020 and has had lingering effects ever si...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College President George McNulty shared with the college board Tuesday his concerns about the budget recommendation funding model proposed in the state House Appropriations Subcommittee last week regarding universities and community colleges during the 2021-2022 fiscal year. McNulty said he learned, that if enacted, GCC could face an 18.6% reduction in state funding. “If enacted as proposed, not only this fall, but phased in fully over the next three years, this recommendat...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ironwood residents who have not paid water or sewer bills during the COVID-19 pandemic will need to resume by June 1 or pay late fees. The Ironwood City Commission 4-0 approved the request of the city water department to resume charges for city water and sewer along with late payment fees, and water turn on and off fees. Mayor Annette Burchell was not present on an excused absence. The temporary waiving of the reconnection fees and penalties on monthly utility bills has so far r...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] PAULDING — The multi-day search for a missing teen in the Paulding area ended Monday after his body was found in the woods near his home. Officials with the Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Department and County Emergency Management made the announcement late Monday afternoon, following the notification of Cam Besonen’s family. “Our community mourns the loss of this young man,” Ontonagon County Sheriff Dale Rantala said in the announcement. “Rescuers had been committed to finding him and worked tire...
MERCER, Wis. — The town of Mercer held its annual meeting on Thursday, where John Sendra, town board chair, asked the nearly 20 residents present to contact their elected state officials to ask their support for the town’s Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) request. Mercer voters approved PRAT on April 6. A municipality with at least 40% of its equalized assessed property value in use by tourism-related retailers, would qualify for PRAT. A municipality at less than 40% tourist driven value must have a PRAT request authorized by the state leg...
MERCER, Wis. - Students of the Mercer School District are getting a first-hand experience with wildlife field research through a county program. Mercer School eighth- and ninth-graders are continuing the annual participation in the Iron County Loon and Lake Study, in support of the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department, according to Sarah Engler, the middle and high school science teacher at Mercer School. The project involves three field trips to the nearby Fox Lake and Deer Lake....
