Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 9883
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] GOGEBIC COUNTY — Primary election results from the county’s six townships resulted with a few upsets, even though many races were uncontested. In Watersmeet Township, Republican Yvonne Clark got 193 votes next to incumbent Democrat Mike Rogers,101. Republican Kirsten Boehm also bested incumbent Democratic clerk Julie Mathiesen, 186-98. Democratic treasurer Paul Kempainen was uncontested with 105 votes. In Watersmeet’s race for two trustee seats, John T. Oliver III and Simon Zelinski were the top v...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors received good and bad news in relation to budgetary progress, as reported during the July 30 meeting. Finance Committee chairman Kurt Wolff said that $1.75 million already has been saved from the county’s 2024 budget. He added that, as part of Phase 1 in a budget reduction process, those savings were realized by addressing budget oversights, reducing expenses and postponing the purchase of capital items. More good news is that, in his words, “Ph...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament returned last weekend for the third year in a row to Wakefield, and this year was bigger and better than ever. "We have the biggest crowds and the most vendors that we have ever had this year," said Michael Grayson, the team lead organizer. Gus Macker started down in Belding, Michigan, in 1971 by Bryce McNeil. Originally held in his own driveway, the tournament grew and grew, and now thousands of team...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] GOGEBIC COUNTY — Tuesday will be the day of the Michigan state primary in Gogebic County, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in designated sites for each city and township. Voters will face a number of choices in relation to local, state and national races, as well as several proposals. U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat first elected in 2000, is not running for re-election, resulting in that seat as an open race for the first time since 1994. Running to take her seat are Democrats Hill H...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] HURLEY — Members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday evening a plan for the county to open a separate bank account for funds received from various national opioid settlements. They also approved a resolution authorizing the county to enter into a settlement agreement with Kroger Company. The resolution includes an agreement to the stated terms and an addendum relating to a memo of understanding regarding the proceeds. Cally Bucknell, who leads the county’s Human Services Dep...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER — The Board of Education for Bessemer Area Schools has approved the district’s budget for the 2024-25 fiscal school year. Following is a summary of some of the numbers that were approved as presented in the board’s June meeting: The Bessemer Area Schools have projected a $6,376,353 budget with expenses of $5,176,149. This included a budget of $40,000 for school computer upgrades that are planned for the upcoming year. Also approved at the meeting were final numbers for the 2023-24 school budge...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] GOGEBIC COUNTY — Depending upon where voters live, they will have four to five proposals to consider in relation to the Aug. 6 primary election. Civic Center A millage renewal for both precincts of the city of Ironwood will apply only to those voters. The proposal is to renew, or continue, 1 mill “for the continued operation, support and maintenance of the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center for a period of four years from 2025-2028.” One mill refers to $1 per every $1,000 of state taxable property valuati...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted on July 24 to receive and file a letter from Mike Rogers, supervisor of Watersmeet Township, who continued to question the county’s handling of PILT monies. No other action was taken on Rogers’ July 15 letter in which he lobbied for the county to share PILT allotments with Watersmeet and Marenisco townships, each of which include substantial portions of the Ottawa National Forest. As defined by the state, “Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT)...
By DAMIIAN LANG [email protected] IRONWOOD - "There's no wrong way to spin a plastic circle around your body." That's the motto of the Ironwood Hoop Club, led by Amy Nosal of Ironwood and Anna Wakefield of Watersmeet. The Globe followed the suggestions of the Hoop Club Facebook site: "Join the Circle" and "Be there or be square." As I arrived at Longyear Park across the street from Ironwood's Riverside Cemetery, the hula hoopers were on the grass, spinning hoops in the early evening sunlig...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission voted Monday evening to approve the establishment of a social district that will encompass much of the downtown area. According to a written plan from the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority, a social district exists “wherein two or more contiguous licensed establishments can sell alcoholic beverages in special cups to be taken into a designated commons area for consumption.” “It’s really an economic development tool, trying to get more establishments to o...
By DAMIIAN LANG [email protected] IRONWOOD - As a major feature of Festival Ironwood, "the World's Largest Duck Pick" is a big event for young children from around the Ironwood area and surrounding communities. Imagine being five or six again, and there are hundreds of bright, yellow, tiny, friendly-looking ducks floating in a little pool where you can easily scoop them up with a net. Not only that, but imagine knowing you will win a prize with the ducks you've picked. This is no small...
By MEGAN HIUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer Area Board of Education met on Friday for its monthly meeting and discussed the updated mileage rate for employee vehicles and the potential of expanding the school breakfast program. The board heard a presentation from food service director Denise Tauer regarding the numbers of attendees for the breakfast program in both the elementary and high schools. According to Tauer, they have noticed that not as many students have been taking advantage of the program as they could at highe...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Area Schools opened its centennial celebration on July 19 with a ceremony held on the steps of the Luther L. Wright K-12 School. A crowd of more than 150 attended to honor the occasion. The ceremony included speeches from guest speaker Paul Mattson and superintendent Dan Martinson. Mattson spoke about his family ties to the school and about how the Luther L. Wright building had seen many graduations. He had done the math, counting...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] BESSEMER — In a closed session on Monday evening, Bessemer City Council members discussed applications for the open position of city manager. According to a Tuesday email from Deputy Clerk Samantha Dorr, the council voted after the session to set upinterviews with four of the candidates. Names are not being released at this time. Mandy Lake, the city’s clerk/treasurer, currently also is acting as interim city manager. In other news, council members voted on Monday evening to deny a request to rec...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — Dan Martinson, the new superintendent of Ironwood Area Schools, took the helm at his first Board of Education meeting on Monday evening. The meeting was kept short and sweet, with the board voting to approve the February 2024 updates to the Neola policies, including updates regarding evaluation of the superintendent, prohibition of referral or assistance, reproductive health and family planning, sex education, professional staff evaluation, purchasing, new school construction and renovation, p...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] HURLEY — It’s been said by many people that the hardest work in any facet of government is done at the committee level, and members of the Iron County Finance Committee seem game to prove it. The Finance Committee is an arm of the Iron County Board of Supervisors. Under the leadership of Chairman Kurt Wolff, its members have been working steadily in recent months to streamline the county’s current and pending budgets with an eye to the greatest possible fiscal responsibility. At the latest meeti...
By PAMELA JANSSON [email protected] MARENISCO TOWNSHIP — Marenisco and Watersmeet townships are continuing the push to get some share of the state PILT funds that now go to Gogebic County. PILT stands for “payment in lieu of taxes,” and such payments are made to governmental entities that include federal property within their boundaries. The payments are intended to compensate for any expenses incurred by local governments in relation to the federal land. Marenisco Township supervisor Bruce Mahler told The Globe on July 19 that he an...
