Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1858 - 1882 of 9679
MERCER, Wis. — Staff and faculty of the Mercer School District are working through in-service days to prepare for the start of fall semester on Tuesday, according to District Administrator Sheri Kopka in her report to the Board of Education on Monday. The school’s reopening plan was reviewed by the Iron County Department of Health and the day-to-day school operation details will be provided to families so they know what to expect, she said. Supply donations included a $469 cash donation to help kids with school supplies, along with a sep...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission will wait until September to consider a revised adult-use marijuana manufacturing ordinance proposal that failed a split vote in March. Mayor Annette Burchell was not present and Mayor Pro Tem Kim Corcoran urged the commissioners not to take action on the ordinance until the full commission was present. The 4-0 decision to postpone followed a public hearing and after commissioners made suggestions for changes. “We’ve been approaching this ordinance, I think...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - Students at Bessemer Area Schools returned to much different campus than they had left, with the school making multiple modifications and improvements to the buildings both structural and cosmetic, and new technology available at A.D. Johnston Junior-Senior High. Students at Washington Elementary walked into a school Tuesday that has far fewer windows, at least temporarily. All of the old windows have been taking down and replaced with...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — After failing to find any clarity regarding the state of donations to the township’s volunteer fire department, the Ironwood Township Board of Trustees voted to “outsource” the matter to an outside agency Monday night — meaning the matter is likely soon to be referred to law enforcement. “My recommendation is we outsource this to an outside agency to get the answers. Whatever the truth is, they’re going to let us know,” Supervisor Jim Simmons said. “We just want to get at the tr...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Luther L. Wright K-12 School was expected to be filled with students today for the first day of the 2020-21 school year, however, the district's board of education voted in an emergency meeting Friday to postpone the start of the school year until Sept. 8. "It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the delay in the start of this school year. ... The reason for this delay is that our elevator, which is being upgraded, will not be...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — It has only been one week since the Hurley Public School Board decided to start the school year in the classroom with a virtual learning option — but a special meeting tonight will revisit the decision in part for updated information regarding COVID-19 cases in Iron County. “The magnitude of this decision is great and with school only a week away, it’s imperative that the board reviews the plan a final time to determine if it’s the most appropriate given our current situation...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Public Library will conclude its survey at the end of the month with prize drawings to encourage more people to help shape the long-term planning of a community centerpiece. All input is welcome but there is an effort to reach working age adults and those who don’t use the library regularly in particular, said Teresa Schmidt, director of the Mercer Public Library. The survey (bit.ly/mercerlibrarysurvey) wants to reach these people for some feedback to see what could change...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] SAXON, Wis. — For the first time since 2016, Iron County can say Saxon Harbor is fully open for the season this week, as the harbor’s campground opened for the remainder of the 2020 camping season Thursday. “It will be nice to see a full facility again,” Iron County’s forestry and parks administrator, Eric Peterson, told the Daily Globe last week. With the exception of those who took advantage of the first-come, first-served camping last weekend, Saxon Harbor’s campground hasn’t been open since the...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - A new ramp is gradually taking shape at the front of A. D. Johnston Junior/Senior high school, as crews from Angelo Luppino, Inc have been working to replace the prior ramp, which was severely dilapidated. "It's more of an emergency exit ramp. It's not fully ADA compliant, but we felt that we needed a ramp at the east side door, just in case we have a fire and we have handicapped students on that side of the building that need to get out,"...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — This is the final week of a summer breakfast and lunch program offered through Hurley K-12 School. “This is our last week,” said Kevin Genisot, Hurley school district administrator. “We were averaging almost 3,000 meals a week all through summer. A lot of families really relied on that and they really enjoyed it.” The Summer Foods School Program stemmed from the free or reduced breakfast and lunch program that is made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency an...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County is approaching a total of 100 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the coronavirus was first detected in the county as the county health department announced new positives Thursday. As of Thursday, Iron County has had 98 residents test positive for COVID-19 since the health department announced the first case in the county in late March, with 77 of those cases now considered recovered. The county has had three of the cases require hospitalization, and the singl...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Gogebic-Iron County Airport reopened for a second time in a month to complete a summer-long runway project. The airport was set to reopen officially at 8 p.m. Thursday, according to Michael Harma, airport manager. The airport was closed from Aug. 13-20 so workers could cut drainage gaps across the new surface following a $5.19 million runway reconstruction project in June and July. The temporary runway lines were replaced this week with permanent lines after oils in the n...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - Officials with the Ottawa National Forest announced the reopening of Black River Harbor to swimmers on Tuesday after test results on the water by the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department came back as "clear and safe for body contact." The harbor and river had been closed to swimmers since Aug. 5, following a sewage discharge by the Bessemer Township waste water treatment plant's sewage lagoon. The lagoons had reached it's maximum...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD - The rituals of campus life are slowly beginning to resume at Gogebic Community College, as students began moving into the dorms Monday and the first orientation events were held Wednesday, with more planned for today. However, things are undoubtedly different as the college takes steps to protect students during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are excited to welcome students to GCC this fall, ... the safety of our GCC community continues to be our...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — All systems are go to welcome students at the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School, said Superintendent Jason Gustafson. Students will report on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to a school that Gustafson assures is “cleaned, polished” and “as safe as it possibly can be.” The superintendent reported the news to board of education members at their Monday evening meeting and also noted in a related, written agenda report that custodial staff was putting “finishing touches” on the school and that he also had plac...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley community still puts students above profits, even during a pandemic, as demonstrated by the annual Cash for Kids donation at the Hurley Public School Board meeting on Monday. Tammie Bartels, the store manager of the Hurley Cenex, a company of Midland Services, Inc., under the Midland Energy brand, presented this year’s Cash for Kids patronage refund check donation of $17,300 to the Hurley Education Foundation. The donation was slightly less than the $20,508 donation in 201...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HANCOCK — A pair of Michigan National Guard COVID-19 testing events in Gogebic County earlier this month resulted in a total of nine new positive cases, according to information from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department Monday. The Aug. 8 event at the Lac Vieux Desert Casino in Watersmeet had 341 people tested, with five new positive cases and three confirmations of existing positives. There were 319 negative tests at the event, along with one pending or inconclusive test. There were a t...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Students of the Hurley Public School District will start the fall semester in the classroom, with virtual attendance available as an option, following a unanimous decision of the school board on Monday. The school reopening committee plan is able to shift study from in-class to virtual as needed throughout the school year based on area COVID-19 cases and at the school in particular. The plan allows for in-classroom learning to start the...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The city of Bessemer adopted a policy on Monday night to specify the requirements for the restoration of grass and property damaged by snow plows during the winter months. “We are not obligated by any means to repair grass, this is something that we have just done; most communities do not do it,” said Charly Loper, city manager, of her talks with city attorney Ray O’Dea. “It was getting a little out of hand and we were repairing all these little things. People were calling to complain...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP - A Wisconsin man died Friday night after going over a waterfall on the Presque Isle River in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in northern Gogebic County. Michigan State Police troopers were dispatched at 8:30 p.m. to the Presque Isle Campground, off of County Road 519, after a 911 caller reported seeing someone go over the falls, according to a MSP news release. The man - later identified as Ryan Kohnhorst, 39, of...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Health Department has reported two new possible COVID-19 exposure sites. The health department confirmed there were positive cases identified at a sand volleyball tournament in Mercer from 6 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 11 and at the Liberty Way Tap House in Mercer on Aug. 8 from 4 to 6 p.m. “This is not intended to lay blame on any local businesses, anyone who tested positive … or other locations identified,” a department spokesperson said in the announcement Friday, adding that pe...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — A Bessemer man was sentenced to prison last week for an April shooting in the city. Timothy James Wigman, 26, was sentenced to between 3 and 10 years in prison for assault with intent to commit great bodily harm. Gogebic Circuit Judge Michael Pope warned Wigman in court Aug. 11 that he came close to facing a much longer prison sentence. “That was a very serious offense. As the doctor acknowledged, a little bit down and a little bit more in center and this would be a totally dif...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] RAMSAY — The Gogebic Range Water Authority board received some good news Thursday regarding highway construction that will require moving of water mains. The water authority engineer, Darren Pionk of C2AE, updated the board on the U.S. 2 reconstruction through Bessemer that will require the water authority to adjust the depth and placement of some water mains in the Marshalek Road area. A virtual meeting with Michigan Department of Transportation engineers addressed major concerns over the l...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] SAXON, Wis. - Saxon Harbor played host to a larger vessel than it usually sees over the past few days as a tall ship, Schooner Huron Jewel, docked in the harbor Thursday. "We're sailing around the Great Lakes this summer to put smiles on people's faces by bringing a tall ship to their backyard," said Julie Covert, who owns the ship with her husband, Hugh. The 60-foot schooner - which means the vessel has more than one mast and has its biggest sail...
IRONWOOD — The Historic Ironwood Theatre announced Wednesday it was awarded a COVID-19 Emergency Relief grant of $3,000 from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), according to a Thursday announcement from the theatre. The funding is available from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The act made a total of $502,400 in one-time grants from MCACA to eligible nonprofit arts and cultural organizations that are negatively impacted by the pandemic. ...
