Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1957 - 1981 of 9883
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - On their second day of school, elementary students at Luther L. Wright School received instruction from Gogebic Community College nursing students, along with students in the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District CNA program on how to properly wash their hands. "As part of the safe back-to-school plan we felt that it was important to do some education in terms of hand-washing, social distancing, and proper mask wearing," said Amanda... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] LANSING — Locals are waiting to see whether any of the $500 million for water infrastructure upgrades Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced last week will make it to the region. Whitmer called the MI Clean Water Plan a “significant investment after decades of underinvestment in Michigan’s infrastructure,” in her Oct. 1 announcement of the half a billion dollars in funding. “Since the first day I took office, I have made an unwavering commitment to ensuring that Michiganders have access to...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] EWEN — Ewen-Trout Creek Superintendent Dave Radovich updated parents about continued protocols being taken by the school district to protect children and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Radovich said the district will continue to follow its preparedness and response plan. In an email to parents, Radovich said: “All E-TC students, staff and visitors, must continue to wear masks, wash masks, wash hands and social distance each day, except masks may be taken off during lunch time. Our school will con...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — Strategies to ensure that vehicle and equipment replacement schedules are followed without cramping the city’s budget were discussed at the Hurley Board of Public Works meeting on Wednesday. Scott Santini, the director of public works, said he would provide an updated vehicle and equipment replacement schedule within the month. The purpose is to inform the city council about the condition of items and the costs to replace them, used or new, to help guide decisions as funds are ava... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council voted to condemn the property at 304 E. Lead St. during a special meeting Thursday morning. The meeting was called after officials learned information that contradicted what the property owner had told the the council at its regular meeting on Monday. Clifford Chetnick, owner of the house, said he was not planning on selling the property when asked by council woman Linda Nelson during Monday’s meeting. However, Tuesday morning, councilman Lou Miskovich was inf...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday approved a resolution to support an organization's efforts to extend the western Upper Peninsula's state-funded motorized trail system to include a loop in Ironwood. The 6-0 approval serves as a recommendation to the Ironwood City Commission to designate off-road motorized trail routes for all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles within the city in support of the Gogebic Range Trail...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Growing interest in the Western Upper Peninsula might turn out to be the silver lining of the COVID-19 crisis, according to reports at Wednesday’s meeting of the Ironwood Economic Development Corporation. In his COVID-19 business update, Tom Bergman, director of community development for the city of Ironwood, said he is hearing at InvestUP meetings that the Upper Peninsula had better than average tourism and sales as compared to previous summers. The exceptions were bars and res... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — Students at Bessemer Area Schools will continue to attend classes in-person five days a week, after the school board passed an amendment on Monday, modifying its original plan for being in Phase 4 of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Safe Start Plan. The school had announced on Friday that it would be switching over to a blended learning plan due to the area dropping down a phase — from 5 to 4 — because of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Upper Peninsula. The district’s original COVID-19 preparedn...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP - Members of the Wakefield Township Board of Trustees received good news on an audit of the fiscal year that ended March 31. CPA Karl "Gus" Ahonen of Makela Pollack and Ahonen, an accounting firm in Ironwood, provided the report, which indicated no problems. "You guys do a great job with your financials, and it's a very pleasant audit to do," said Ahonen. He said the township had a fund balance of $540,539 at the end of the fiscal year,...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] LANSING — Local education officials can breathe a sigh of relief after the state budget Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed last week didn’t contain any of the funding reductions they feared. Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District Superintendent Alan Tulppo and the superintendents of the GOISD member districts had warned a budget that included steep reductions in per-pupil funding could cripple their efforts to provide an education to students in their districts. Instead, the budget for the fis... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — After hearing public opinion and much discussion, the Bessemer City Council approved detour routes for the upcoming U.S. 2 reconstruction project planned for 2021-22. The two routes — one east to west and the other west to east — will be used in 2022, and were originally discussed by the board with Michigan Department of Transportation officials at a September meeting. The routes were approved 4-1, with only councilman Bill McDonald dissenting during Monday’s regular meeting. McDonal...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - The Hurley K-12 School has come up with a way to provide public access to sports and other events through a live-feed video subscription service. With the COVID-19 shut down orders, the impact to sports and other school events is to limit or deny any fan participation. Cameras now installed in the high school gym and at Veterans Memorial Field will allow viewers to live-stream games or watch archived games at a more convenient time. "This...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] Although a Michigan Supreme Court ruling later in the day called into question her powers to impose restrictions designed to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the state; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer moved the Upper Peninsula back to Phase 4 of the MI Safe Start Plan Friday, due to the region’s rise in cases. “After seeing the increase in cases in the U.P. region over the past several weeks and consulting with medical experts, I have decided to take action to protect U.P. families and move the region bac... Full story
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - There was a damp chill in the air from the season's first snowfall but that didn't stop people from sporting plaid shirts, jackets, hats and even facemasks at the First Friday downtown and as part of the international celebration of plaid. "It's really good to see people downtown," said Zona Wick, president of the Historic Ironwood Theatre Board. "I wish we had a First Friday movie at the theatre, but we don't. At least people are...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The sky was gray during Saturday's game between the Gogebic Miners and the Manistique Emeralds, but rain never interfered with the considerable spirit present during the homecoming celebration at the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School. Although the Emeralds won the game 12-0, moods were upbeat despite the added masks worn by many in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-op members - who are led by head coach Nick Heikkila - are using the...
HURLEY — A fatal car accident temporarily closed a section of U.S. 51 in northern Iron County Thursday evening. The Iron County Sheriff’s Office received a call about the three-vehicle crash on U.S. 51 near Spruce Road just south of Hurley at approximately 5:01 p.m., Sheriff Paul Samardich told the Daily Globe. Samardich said Friday morning the crash resulted in one fatality. The person was initially transported by ambulance to Aspirus Ironwood Hospital, and later flown to Aspirus Hospital in Wausau, where she died as a result of her injuries.... Full story
BESSEMER - The Bessemer parks and recreation committee held its first meeting since March on Thursday afternoon at Bluff Valley Park. This was the first time that any of the city's sub-committees and groups have met in-person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting was held under the pavilion with committee members wearing masks and bundled up with coats and hats, maintaining their social distancing by sitting at separate tables. Terry Kryshak, mayor pro-tem and a member of the...
IRONWOOD — An expansion in the city’s industrial zone could create a new business category to buffer non-industrial areas, according to reports at the Ironwood Planning Commission meeting on Thursday. In his report to the commission, Tom Bergman, director of community development for the city of Ironwood, said zoning consultants are recommending that, if the city were to expand out of its current industrial zone, it include a business district area. The question for the planning commission and the city commission is to consider if Ironwood is...
IRONWOOD - The city of Ironwood is showing a 237% increase in absentee ballot applications from the last presidential election and the requests are still coming in, according to city clerk Karen Gullan. The absentee ballots were received at the city clerk's office late Thursday afternoon, Sept. 24, Gullan said. The mailing started last week on Friday with the third precinct, followed by the second precinct on Monday and the first precinct on Tuesday and Wednesday, she said. "I am already... Full story
GRAND RAPIDS — A plea agreement has been reached in the case of a White Pine man facing federal drug charges. Jesse James Monville, 46, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in federal court in Grand Rapids Sept. 22 as part of an agreement that will have five other charges dismissed at his sentencing. Monville was arrested during a traffic stop in Wakefield on Dec. 17, 2019, at the end of a Gogebic Iron Area Narcotics Team investigation that began in August of that year, which included s...
BRUCE CROSSING - VFW members in Bruce Crossing recently erected a new sign in front of the post on M-28. The sign, which cost more than $1,000, according to Roger Anttilla, commander of the Henry A. Holappa VFW Post 9345, was placed in front of the post last week. "One night at a meeting I said, I don't like that old sign and we should do something about it and everyone agreed. It was as simple as that," said fellow member Jimbo Jorgensen, who Anttilla credits with getting the ball rolling on...
HURLEY — For much of their tenure, the teen members of the Iron County Youth Leadership Council who sit on the Iron County Board of Supervisors have taken a smaller role in meetings — listening to discussions and voting at the appropriate times. On Tuesday, however, the county board passed a statement the youth leadership council played a key role in developing. The Iron County Board of Supervisors Statement of Community Integrity and Respect highlights that Iron County is a great place and a community that takes pride in “small town values” su... Full story
IRONWOOD - A new executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has theaters and bowling alleys preparing to open months before it was thought possible, along with more possibilities for outdoor events. Two executive orders signed on Sept. 25 will amend the MI Safe Start order to reopen theaters, cinemas and other performance venues starting Oct. 9. Other businesses in the statewide reopening orders include arcades, bingo halls, bowling centers, indoor climbing facilities and trampoline parks....
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission on Monday approved the date for the marijuana establishments ordinance to take effect. The commission 4-1 approved Nov. 10 as the date that applicants may file applications in a competitive licensure process for marijuana micro-businesses, retail, processors, various classes of growers, safety compliance facilities and secure transporters that operate within approved areas of the city. The action follows the commission’s 3-2 approval of the ordinance to reg... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Although the details aren’t available yet, it appears a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit between several local municipalities and their insurance companies over the lost tax money connected to former Ironwood Township Treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso’s embezzlement case. During his supervisor’s report at Monday’s board of trustees meeting, Ironwood Township Supervisor Jim Simmons said the sides have reached a settlement, but he couldn’t release the specifics yet. “Details a...
