Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1008 - 1032 of 9797
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HURLEY — Five high school students from Hurley School District were sworn into the Iron County Board of Supervisors as student representatives at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. The students were introduced to the board by Neil Klemme, 4-H youth development educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison – Extension Iron County. “The goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for the youth to have a voice in county decision making. Our county is trying to find ways to attract and retain...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD — In the Ironwood Area Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday, Superintendent Travis Powell said the latest update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department shows that the number of COVID-19 cases and the case rate per 100,000 population in Gogebic County are the highest they’ve ever been. Despite these numbers, the school will continue with in-person classes for now. “A year ago in November, when there were half as many cases per 100,000 as we have currently, we were shut...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield-Marenisco School Board discussed the continuation of COVID-19 masking policies at its monthly meeting on Monday evening. The topic of masking has been an ongoing conversation during past meetings, with concerns being raised by several of the board members about the effectiveness of the procedure. At the previous meeting, held in December 2021, the board had voted to continue the masking procedure until Jan. 20, with plans to revisit at Monday’s meeting. A vote to continue the...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HANCOCK — The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department reported Saturday that the omicron variant of COVID-19 was identified in its five-county coverage area. According to a release from the WUPHD, the variant was identified by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories in one case in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties. “It is important to know that not all COVID tests are sequenced. With the rapid rise in case counts over the last few day...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Joel Laessig, who recently resigned as director of the Wakefield Public Library, will receive his sick and vacation pay. The library board held a special meeting on Thursday to determine if it should pay Laessig, who resigned Jan. 3 citing issues with the city regarding budget restraints, for the sick time and vacation time he had accumulated. In total, Laessig had 157 hours of vacation time, which will be paid at a rate of $16 an hour, which equates to $2,512 before taxes and five hours o...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — Just two weeks into the new year, there have already been 1,456 new COVID-19 cases in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties in 2022, according to the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department. As of the health department’s most recent update on Wednesday, there have been 1,652 total COVID-19 cases in Baraga County, 2,572 cases in Gogebic, 6,132 cases in Houghton, 409 cases in Keweenaw and 832 cases in Ontonagon, for a total of 11,957 cases in the five counties. Sin...
WAKEFIELD — Wakefield is looking to shut down city hall starting next week, according to city manager Robert Brown. “We’re going to go back to a closure, probably until the peak is done,” Brown told the library board on Thursday. “The health department is saying the peak in the area is anticipated until late January, early February. So we will probably be shutting down until mid-February.” Loraine Mussatti, president of the library board, asked if that would include pickleball, which takes place in the municipal building gym. Brown said that th...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] BESSEMER — A request from the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Office prompted a discussion on the county’s employee benefits for other groups at the board of commissioner’s regular meeting on Wednesday. Gogebic County Sheriff Ross Solberg requested that his new undersheriff be allowed to continue the retirement benefits that he had as deputy sergeant. Jorge Cruz was promoted from deputy sergeant to undersheriff when the pervious undersheriff, Solberg, was named sheriff and left the other position vacant in...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Gogebic Community College is seeking to find someone to temporarily assist with upper level administrative projects while officials look to fill the open positions of vice president of business services and the vice president of student services. The college board of trustees held a workshop on Wednesday night to discuss the idea of a short-term employee - a special projects coordinator - who would handle some of the duties that the above...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — After months of back and forth conversation, the Wakefield Planning Commission voted to advance an ordinance putting stricter regulations on dogs and other pets in the city, but not limiting on the number of dogs and other pets that a resident can own. City manager Robert Brown presented the commission with four options during the commission’s regular meeting on Tuesday night. They could either leave the ordinance as is, implement stricter regulations regarding leashing and other iss...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] MONTREAL, Wis. — The public works department of the city of Montreal is working hard to clear its streets after heavy snowfall last week, Public Works Foreman Mark Haegar told the common council at its regular meeting Tuesday. Haegar said they had a three-day snowstorm last week and on day four, they were already getting phone calls about the large snowbanks. Council member Ken Saari said he couldn’t believe how many complaints he received from residents regarding the snowbanks. “People don’t...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] IRONWOOD - Gogebic-Iron County Airport manager Michael Harma said the airport was recently awarded $159,000 through the new bipartisan infrastructure bill. He said that there's not many details about the grant other than the news release, which talks about runways, taxiways and airport improvement projects. He thinks the money will be poured into one of their projects - either the midfield taxiway, building expansion or new general aviation facility....
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The city of Wakefield plans to replace the master water meter that supplies the Gogebic Range Water Authority after learning that it is failing to calibrate correctly. The city is the primary water source for the GRWA, which supplies at least 57 million gallons of water annually. The city uses a water meter that is similar to the ones residents have in their homes, according to mayor Dale White. White said that when it was inspected by city staff in October, it was discovered that it is n...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - Ironwood's Depot Park was transformed into a cross country ski trail on Friday for the annual Depot Dash. Held in conjunction with the Sisu Ski Fest, the event offers area children a free cross country skiing lesson from local experts. Around 30 children participated in this year's event, which is geared for kids 10 and under. Boots, skis and poles were provided as the kids learned on a special trail just for them at the park. "It just gives more kids some exposure to cross country skiing....
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - For the first time in the history of the Sisu Ski Fest, racers took off from ABR Trails in Erwin Township and headed for the finish line in Ironwood's Downtown City Square. In years past, the race had finished in the parking lot that was once there, and before on nearby Aurora Street. "It was great, there was a lot of room for spectators and people loved the backdrop behind the stage. It's a big improvement," said race director Jackie...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HOUGHTON — There is still no end in sight for the coronavirus pandemic in 2022 as COVID-19 case rates have more than doubled in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties since the last update in December, according to an update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Thursday. The update says that cases rates are 506 per 100,000 population in Baraga County, 392 in Gogebic, 390 in Houghton, 637 in Keweenaw and 254 in Ontonagon, for a total of 401 across the western Upper...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — The town of Mercer board of supervisors discussed the recent use of the town’s bike path by snowmobiles at its regular meeting on Thursday. Mercer Area Sno-goers snowmobile club president Hank Joustra explained that two landowners revoked their permissions to use their snowmobile trails, so they had to bypass those properties. He said the Sno-goers are doing this by using about 75 yards of a bike trail within a 40-foot right-of-way on U.S. 51. Joustra said that this use in vic...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The city of Wakefield is in the process of writing a grant to apply for funding for training and recruitment of first responders, according to city manager Robert Brown. “We are going to apply for funds to cross-train some of our firefighters as medical first responders,” said Brown. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the $5 million grant program for training and recruitment on Jan. 3. “First responders are on the front lines of our health and our safety, and are always there for us...
By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County Public Health will hold Strong Bodies exercise programs for midlife and older people at three locations in Iron and Gogebic counties starting on Tuesday. Program Assistant Sue Herlevi said Strong Bodies is an evidence-based exercise program for older people. The objective is to improve their health and well-being through a structured, safe and effective strength-training program. During classes, instructors will teach exercises using a combination of dumbbells, adjustable a...
