Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1077 - 1101 of 9733
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,...
HURLEY — The Iron County Comprehensive Planning, Land and Zoning Committee discussed the topic of broken covenants on Tuesday. The topic arose when the committee delayed approval of a conditional use permit for the construction of a 2,560 square foot accessory building in an residential-recreation (RR-1) zoned district at Camp Nokomis Estates on Sand Lake Road in the town of Mercer. The committee acted 4-0 to wait for the Mercer town board recommendation for or against the permit. Committee members John Sendra and Brandon Snyder were not p...
HURLEY, Wis. - Workers with the Iron County Public Health Department provided influenza vaccines to community members at a drive-thru clinic at the Iron County Highway Department in Hurley on Wednesday. Public information officer Zona Wick said that the health department provides influenza vaccines to the community annually in the fall. The health department starts reaching out to the community as soon as the influenza vaccine becomes available, she said. The health department works with the...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council is considering implementing a special assessment tax to cover police and fire services. If passed, the tax would allow the city to generate additional revenue by freeing up funding from the general fund. According to councilman Terry Kryshak, the city pays $100,000 to Gogebic County Sheriff’s Office and between $17,000 and $25,000 per year for the fire department. “This is something we didn’t know could be done, we haven’t done this in the past, but it got broug...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Township Board held a special meeting at the Ironwood Township Office on Monday for a workshop for the 2022 proposed budget. Supervisor Jay Kangas said that according to the renewal form that the office received half an hour before the meeting, there will be an 11.64% increase in the rates for health insurance in 2022. Kangas said this was “quite a bit higher than I anticipated it was going to be.” Kangas said that the health insurance rate was without the township’s Health Re...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] Voters in the cities of Bessemer, Ironwood and Wakefield will choose their city councils and commissions, along with city and countywide ballot proposals in the Nov. 2 general election. The county’s township voters selected their respective town councils in the 2020 general election. However, there is the county ambulance millage renewal proposal to consider in this election. All county voters will have the ballot proposal with the heading “Emergency Medical Service Renewal/Restoration.” The propo...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - Singer and songwriter Kelly Jackson performed alongside her band at the Historic Ironwood Theatre on Saturday evening, but before she took the stage she sat down with members of the community at a meet and greet. The event was small, but Jackson took full advantage to tell her story and speak about what inspired her music. She explained that her music was drawn from her experiences and the experiences of others in her community. A tribal member...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — The Western Upper Peninsula has seen its highest seven-day case count since the Western U.P. Health Department resumed its weekly updates on Aug. 26, according to a release from the health department on Thursday. There were 273 new COVID-19 cases across the five-county area between Oct. 6 and 13. This includes 38 new cases in Baraga, 86 new cases in Gogebic, 127 cases in Houghton, 10 new cases in Keweenaw and 12 in Ontonagon. The seven-day case count has been steadily increasing every w...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Commissioners will consider joining other rural Wisconsin counties in taking out an approximately $8 million bond that would allow a privately-owned company to provide communication towers and fiber optic lines for rural broadband. Following a public hearing on Wednesday, the board scheduled the matter for the Oct. 26 meeting, where three-fourths of the 15-member board must support to approve the bond. The board 14-0 supported a tentative approval at the p...
