Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1669 - 1693 of 9883
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — More than 1,000 people in Iron County have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as local health officials continue to work to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday, 1,090 people — or 19.2% of the the county — have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to information on the state of Wisconsin’s COVID-19 website, giving it one of the highest vaccination rates in the state. The number includes 43.7% of the the county’s residents age 65 and over. Thr...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Area ski hills are calling the recent extreme cold snap both a blessing and the third leg of a perfect storm of a crazy season. The business adjustments for COVID-19, the low amount of snow, and around 10 days of below zero temperatures are a challenge for any resort, said Bruce Noren, co-owner and general manager of Big Powderhorn Mountain Resort in Ironwood Township. Yet, the season is going better than expected, he said. The skiers...
A stretch of highway in Bayfield County, along with two other Wisconsin roads, have won Federal Highway Administration designations for their “national importance as tourism destinations,” the Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced Tuesday. Roads in Bayfield and Door counties have been named National Scenic Byways, while a previous scenic byway was elevated to the status of an All American Road. Approximately 70 miles of Wisconsin 13 along the Bayfield Peninsula’s Lake Superior shoreline is now designated as Wisconsin’s Lake Superio...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — Grant funding the city of Bessemer was hoping to get through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to cover the replacement of lead service lines might be more difficult to obtain than the city had originally thought. This is because the grant monies are highly sought after, and the city already has loan funding for the project, according to city manager Charly Loper. “This one’s kind of frustrating because at first it was looking really promising like we could get grant funded. Now we’re...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Seven Hurley K-12 students were recently honored for participating in the annual Jalonen Writing Contest. A selection committee chose seven essays for top honors from among 40 contestants who wrote stories that were based on an interview with a family member or someone in the community, said Shannon Peterson, high school English teacher at Hurley K-12 School. "The story had to teach a lesson or be based on values or morals," Peterson said....
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — With in-school learning policies continuing for another month at Hurley K-12 School the plans are already being put in place for graduation. The Hurley Board of Education on Monday approved the administrator’s request to continue in-school learning with no changes to the “Return to School” document regarding protocols for learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Monday, the school had one staff member and nine students who were in a quarantine status, according to board reports...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — There still could be another delay, but for now a trial date has been set in the case of a Gile, Wisconsin, man accused of sex crimes. Jury selection in the trial of Phillip R. Laguna Jr., 71, is scheduled to begin March 2, with the trial commencing following the selection of a jury. Laguna is charged with two counts of first-degree child sexual assault with a person under the age of 13 and one count of child abuse-intentionally causing harm to a child. Although Laguna’s trial is sch...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Students in the Gogebic Community College TRIO program will stay warm this winter after learning how to make tie-blankets last week. Students were able to pick out the material they wanted for their blanket in advance, according to Kris Michel, TRIO program coordinator. When they got together on Feb. 10 for their blanket bee, the students were given a quick lesson on blanket making and then got to work. Michel said it took them about two hour...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday, endorsed the decision of Superintendent Jim Bobula to permit only two people for each participant in a basketball game to attend the game and games against those schools who do the same. The decision, Bobula said, follows the guideline of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The school board stopped short, however, of requiring for those two spectators per participant to be from the same family. He said that decision is an attempt to e...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] GILE, Wis. - Snowmobilers gathered for the ninth annual Dan Tomlanovich Memorial Vintage Snowmobile Ride on Saturday. The ride started at Annie's Pub in Gile and included both locals and some out-of-town riders who brought out their old machines to ride the trails. There were a few stops at local taverns along the way with chances at winning door prizes. "Some people will just start at one of the bars, instead of at the beginning," said Kelli Stutz of the...
Iron County voters join with the rest of the state in casting their ballots in the spring primary for the state superintendent of public instruction today. Seven candidates appear on the ballot — Deborah Kerr, who worked 13 years as superintendent of Brown Deer Schools; Jill Underly, superintendent of the Pecatonica Area School District; Sheila Briggs, an assistant state superintendent; Shandowlyon Hendricks-Williams, who has 25 years’ experience in the education field; Steve Krull, a principal in the Milwaukee Public Schools; Troy Gun...
IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College is working to rebuild bridges on an old trail that runs from the base of Mount Zion north to Slade Road. The trail is a little more than a mile long and was created by college employees in 1981. The bridges were compromised by flooding in 2016 and are “crucial to the integrity of the trail,” according to a press release. “By restoring the two bridges which run over Welch Creek, we are promoting personal enrichment and wellness within our community,” said GCC President Dr. George McNulty in the release. The G...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] Iron County voters head to the polls Tuesday to vote in the state’s spring primary. The lone race on the ballot involves no local candidates. Instead, voters will decide who will face off in the general contest for state superintendent of public instruction in April. Seven candidates appear on the ballot — Deborah Kerr, who worked 13 years as superintendent of Brown Deer Schools; Jill Underly, superintendent of the Pecatonica Area School District; Sheila Briggs, an assistant state sup...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - An independent film crew was south of Hurley on Thursday to shoot a scene for their comedy feature. "We're filmmakers from Milwaukee," said Mike Cheslik, director of the film, "Hundreds of Beavers," a comedy feature that is two years in the making and now in production for the past nine weeks. The story is set during the fur trade, he said. It's not focusing on the fur trade in general, but is the story of one man who goes from being an app...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield City Council voted Monday evening to authorize the city to submit a waiver to the state regarding the city’s status in the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System. The action was at the recommendation of both City Treasurer Mandy Lake and City Manager Robert Brown, Jr. “Unless you apply for a waiver within 45 days and your application is granted, your local government will receive a determination of underfunded status,” stated a Jan. 28 letter to Lake signed by the Community...
BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners will voice its objection to what they described as a diversion of COVID-19 vaccinations from rural to more populated areas of the state. The board Wednesday unanimously approved sending a letter to the appropriate people within the offices of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Public Health and Human Services. The letter will state the county’s concern that a decision was made to divert vaccines to larger health systems in more densely populated areas of lower Michigan. The...
BESSEMER - Bessemer school officials were able to turn on the heat in the Washington Elementary School kitchen for the first time in months Wednesday as a repairs were made to the building's heating system. A crew of heating technicians spent four hours on Wednesday repairing the part of the system that controls the heat in the kitchen. According to head cook Brandy Babich, the kitchen has not been properly heated since the start of the school year. She said that the heat would come and go...
MONTREAL, Wis. — With $1 million in grant funding on the line, the Montreal City Council decided Tuesday to make a final effort to collect the remaining income surveys needed to qualify for Community Development Block Grant funding. “Right now, we’re very close to having three of the four streets we looked at being qualified. I think we only needed eight more surveys to be completed,” said Art Bahr, with the city’s engineering firm, who appeared at the meeting via telephone. The income surveys are needed to determine whether the project a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley City Council will hold a workshop to clarify an overtime rule in the employee handbook, according to business at the regular meeting on Tuesday. Mayor Jay Aijala said he wanted the matter added to the agenda because the misunderstanding doesn’t seem to have an obvious solution. Employees of the city Department of Public Works were called in to clear snow for five hours during late hours on Dec. 30. The department claims the hours are overtime while the city clerk said the wor...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - An official with Boutique Air Inc., said that recent lapses with on-time arrivals and departures are being addressed as a scheduling issue and that service should soon reflect the passenger airline's on-time ratings nationwide. Tom Warren, the vice president of business development from Boutique Air, Inc., a former Boutique pilot and instructor, flew in from Colorado to address concerns of the Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Chamber of Commerce is starting plans for the 2021 Festival Ironwood that is scheduled for July 14-17. The chamber board’s Festival Ironwood Organizing Committee agreed to start planning at its Feb. 8 meeting. The event may be modified or potentially canceled depending on COVID-19 restrictions guidelines or orders from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department and the state of Michigan in place at that time. “We are just being cautiously optimistic to get the whole...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city commission approved authorizing bids for fencing in Miners Memorial Heritage Park at its regular meeting on Monday. The fencing will also include the Jessieville elevated water storage tank — the one with the smiley face, said Scott Erickson, city manager. The project has been in the capital improvement plan for a few years, he said. Commissioner Rick Semo, who is also president of the Friends of the Miners Park, said the funding for the fencing was generated from previous easem...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Public Safety Department is meeting its goal to have all officers certified in emergency medical response within three years, according to the annual report of director Andrew DiGiorgio during the Ironwood City Commission meeting on Monday. Police officers often arrive to medical emergencies prior to the paramedics and their role is vital in sustaining life until other help arrives, he said. Department vehicles are equipped with medical response gear to include an a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Although the price isn’t set yet, visitors to Saxon Harbor will likely be able to buy firewood at the harbor this summer after the Iron County Forestry and Parks Committee approved a contract with a vendor Tuesday. The wood will be sold through a self-serve kiosk where a series of lockers, similar to bus lockers or newspaper stands, are filled with wood and each user pays to access a locker and use the wood inside. “The lockers are actually a little bit bigger than a bundle of wood. So wh...
