Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1555 - 1579 of 9873
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield Public Library reopened its monthly patron exhibit this month. The exhibit, which features artwork and other collectibles belonging to library patrons, had been shut down for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "With the relaxing of some of the restrictions, we decided that we were able to safely reopen that. So we just restarted that," said Joel Laessig, library director. The library started the exhibit in August...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the area of the Gogebic Iron County Airport has prompted a second phase of sampling to determine the spread of the toxic chemicals into nearby land, wells and waterways. Abigail Hendershott, the executive director of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), led a team of experts in a virtual meeting Tuesday to discuss the process with residents. She said an executive order created MPART as a collaboration of s...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County will continue to use the Duluth-based Jamar Company for heating and cooling work at the county courthouse after the Iron County Board of Supervisors’ finance committee approved a 5-year contract extension Thursday. The agreement will have the county pay $59,800 in 2022, according to Iron County Clerk Mike Saari, with roughly half of the cost going to replacing aging equipment at the courthouse. Saari said most of the heat pumps at the courthouse have been there for 20 yea...
MERCER, Wis. - Mercer voters approved a half-cent consumer tax to help pay for roads and infrastructure costs in Tuesday's spring election. The voter approved the Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) with 278 votes (59.7%) for the proposal and 187 votes against. This contrasted the previous PRAT attempt in the 2019 spring election when the proposal lost 507-264. Mercer is eligible to utilize PRAT as a municipality with at least 40% of its equalized assessed property value in use by tourism-related...
BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council gave the organizers of local Fourth of July festivities its “blessing” Monday to go ahead with plans for this year’s events. “I’ll be happy with absolutely anything that we can have just to bring our hometown pride back. Bring the community back together and just celebrate the Fourth of July. So anything that we can possibly have, I am grateful for,” said Linda Nelson, president of the Fourth of July organizing committee. Nelson said normally at this time of year they would be finalizing plans, howeve...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HANCOCK — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has identified a variant of COVID-19 that is thought to have emerged in the United Kingdom in five Houghton County cases, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department announced Monday. “When a variant is identified or suspected, additional measures take place, such as a strict 14-day quarantine,” WUPHD Health Officer Kate Beer said in the announcement. “A new variant in our community is concerning since it can be related to higher...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — As the heavy work involved in building the new Pat O’Donnell Civic Center is completed the more detailed finishing work has its own complications with scheduling and shipping delays that are related to pandemic, according to reports at Monday’s board meeting. “There are a lot of things on back order,” said Jim Collins, board chair. “Everybody is waiting for somebody else to finish something. It’s a hard time and, in my opinion, no one is dragging their feet and they are working very...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] GREENLAND - The region's fickle weather can make spring a difficult time to plan construction projects in the Western Upper Peninsula, as evident by the delayed start of a bridge project in Ontonagon County. Work completing a multi-year project replacing two bridges over the Firesteel River near Greenland had been scheduled to start in mid-March, according to a Michigan Department of Transportation announcement. However, MDOT spokesman Dan...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - For the second year in a row, VFW Post 3687 in Bessemer sponsored on Saturday a "COVID-friendly" celebration that organizers described as "an Easter egg hunt in a bag." Billed officially as a community Easter event, the occasion went off without a hitch, with dozens of cars passing on each side of a table stocked for ongoing and efficient dispatch. The Easter Bunny stood front and center, waving with both hands, throwing kisses, clapping,...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County voters are heading to the polls today to cast their ballots in Wisconsin’s spring election. Although the local races will depend on where voters live, everyone in the county will have the chance to vote in the race for state superintendent of public instruction between Jill Underly and Deborah Kerr, as well as the judicial race for a seat on the District 3 Court of Appeals between Gregory Gill and Rick Cveykus. Many of the local races feature unopposed candidates running for ei...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] KIMBALL, Wis. — In a sign that the COVID-19 pandemic is fading — and/or that more and more people now have related vaccinations — an Iron County church offered an Easter morning breakfast at its Kimball location. Just prior to a mid-morning service led by Pastor Steve Estola, the Good Shepherd Community Church offered a hot meal to a small number of church members who ate in groups separated by several feet of “social distance.” Robin Estola, the pastor’s wife, said that all of them were “so thankfu...
BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council approved a resolution to allow flexibility in meeting platforms during its first in-person meeting in over a year on Friday. The special meeting was called in order to address the issue of whether or not to meet in person in the future. “That’s the state of Michigan for you. It kind of contradicts the COVID-19 rules. I talked to our attorney and we have to have this meeting in person in order to decide whether Monday, and future meetings, will be in person,” said City Manager Charly Loper. Loper said th...
BESSEMER - Students at Washington Elementary got to pour slime on Mark Switzer, the school's dean of instruction, on Thursday, as a reward for the kids' fundraising efforts in the Kids Heart Challenge for the American Heart Association. The annual challenge encourages students to get at least 60 minutes of exercise a day, drink water instead of drinks with sugar, and show acts of kindness. The students set up profiles on the Kids Heart Challenge website and raised money for the American Heart...
MERCER, Wisc. — Town of Mercer voters will decide whether or not to pass a half-cent consumer tax to pay for roads and infrastructure spending in an Election Day referendum on Tuesday. Voters may choose yes or no to the ballet question, “Should the Town of Mercer levy 0.5% (one half cent on the dollar) sales tax on tourist related retailers, as described in Wisconsin State Statute 66.1113(1)(d) to pay for transportation and public safety infrastructure?” The question posed is a proposed Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) that Mercer is eligible to...
BESSEMER - Students and staff at A.D. Johnson Junior-Senior High School spent Thursday learning about autism in preparation for Autism Awareness Day today. "The theme for world wide autism is to also work with kindness," said teacher Jamie Stiffarm. "So, the acceptance and kindness towards others." To help educate students, the school held an hourly contest Thursday where questions on autism spectrum disorder were read every period and students had the time in between classes to drop their...
HURLEY — They may never need it, but Iron County will be able to build a new route to its communication tower on Germania Hill in Hurley after the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted 13-2 to approve a land purchase Tuesday. Supervisors Larry Youngs and Karl Krall voted against the measure. The board approved purchasing a pair of lots, including 127 Germania St., from Kenneth Tilton for $10,500. The purchase is viewed as a preventative measure, according to several board members, if there are further issues with a different property owner w...
IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College was singled out for having one of the best medical coding and billing degree programs in 2021 by intelligent.com, an online magazine that rates post-secondary education programs. GCC president George McNulty told board members at their Tuesday meeting that the program was also praised for being “academically rigorous.” He said the magazine provides “unbiased” research that helps students make decisions on higher education. GCC was selected from an assessment of 1,280 accredited college and universities, acco...
MERCER, Wis. - While the Mercer Library is open, the staff continues to offer a variety of online events as they are not hosting any in-person gatherings due to social distancing concerns. "We are trying to focus mostly on things that people can take home from the library to work on or online events," said library director Teresa Schmidt. The library gives out craft kits twice a month. The kits are appropriate for kids, families, and even adults, Schmidt said. The latest craft project kit was...
HURLEY — It appears the criminal case against a former chief of the Hurley Volunteer Fire Department is nearing a conclusion after a deferred prosecution agreement was accepted in the case Monday. Darrell J. Petrusha, 56, was charged with one count of identity theft related to his alleged improper use of a fire department credit card for personal expenses. Monday’s agreement means special prosecutor Allen Brey will dismiss the case if Petrusha meets certain requirements, including avoiding any new criminal charges for the next six months. It...
WAKEFIELD — Last summer, an expansion of the Iron Belle Trail linked Bessemer to Ramsay, meaning that the trail in Gogebic County now stretches from Hurley to Ramsay, with a paved trail for silent sports such as hiking and biking. A new hurdle now exists in how to continue the trail expansion from Ramsay to Wakefield — action highly anticipated by trail lovers and by business owners who might stand to gain sales from the added activity. The city of Wakefield now finds itself squarely in the midst of the effort because it is one of five own...
IRONWOOD — The First Friday Committee is planning one more virtual event for the pandemic with a seeding demonstration from master gardeners to help residents with planting in their gardens. “Seeds of Change” will be a Facebook Live First Friday event from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 2, at facebook.com/events/ 239335811206992. Members of Range Master Gardeners will live stream a demonstration on seed starting from Northwind Natural Foods Co-op. In his report to the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority on March 25, Tim Erickson, city commu...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - The plan for this season's road work in Iron County, including the construction of the county's first roundabout, is beginning to take shape after the Wisconsin Department of Transportation released its first regional construction preview Thursday. Work replacing the existing interchange between U.S. 2 and U.S. 51 with a roundabout is scheduled to begin in May and run through November, with holiday work restrictions expected for the...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The goal of establishing a tax increment financing district (TIF) for the downtown looks to be delayed longer than anticipated, according to reports at Thursday’s meeting of the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority. Tom Bergman, director of community development for the city of Ironwood, said ongoing work with the zoning ordinance has created delays. This will require the city to adjust its TIF application to the revised Redevelopment Ready Communities “2.0” certification process...
