Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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MERCER, Wis. - The sun came out to shine on 14 Mercer High School graduates who were standing in their caps and gowns on Sunday as the town drove by in tribute to a class that cannot hold a graduation ceremony. The students became the spectators of a parade in their honor of Iron County Sheriff's Office and Mercer Fire Department vehicles, a school bus, a tracked John Deere tractor, all-terrain vehicles and many cars and trucks belonging to family, friends and townspeople who decorated them...
BESSEMER - Approximately 20 to 30 people, many of them veterans, helped place American flags on veterans' graves at Hillcrest Cemetery in Bessemer, early Friday morning. "It's an honor to be able to do this for them. I'm 92 and still walking,"said Walt Maki, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II in Tokyo. "It's in memory for all those that served." The annual event is a collaborative effort between the American Legion and the VFW in Bessemer, and was organized by VFW commander Donna...
MARENISCO — A prospective buyer from Chicago has shown interest in purchasing the former Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco for use as a farm to grow, process and test marijuana. Marenisco Supervisor Richard Bouvette reported the news to his Board of Trustees at their Wednesday evening meeting and shared further detail with the Daily Globe in a Thursday phone call. “I don’t know that this is going to fly,” said Bouvette, but he claimed, “This guy seems to know what he’s talking about.” The supervisor said that the man, who is from C...
MERCER, Wis. — The town of Mercer Board of Supervisors will revisit the fireworks ordinance in June, following action at its regular meeting Thursday. The board 5-0 approved a request to create a town fireworks permit and moved discussion of the permitting criteria for sales, possession and use to the June board meeting. The permit would also exempt the local fire department or designated organization for the purpose of a public display fireworks. Local municipalities may pass ordinances that enhance the state statute governing fireworks u...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Local business owners say it's been a struggle under the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, but have mixed feelings about reopening under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recent order allowing some Upper Peninsula businesses to reopen with limitations today. Many business owners said they plan a cautious return or plan to wait out the rest of the COVID-19 shutdown. For some it's the type of business and the ability to operate with restrictions, while...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] MARENISCO — In the wake of continuing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the Marenisco Township Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday evening to allow the Fourth of July Committee to use township property for a scaled-down celebration of this year’s holiday. “We figure this is the United States of America, and people have the right to gather,” said Supervisor Richard Bouvette. He added that the celebration could include a parade as long as units wish to participate and are willing to meet the require...
TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - An expanded parking lot at Hurley K-12 School will nearly double the number of parking spaces to help deal with overflow at events and add a needed second exit from the campus. The school board discussed the need for the extended lot earlier this year. Community officials and first responders had informed board members that special events and sports events at the school throughout the year results in overflow parking along the narrow entrance...
HURLEY — The Iron County Forestry and Parks Committee decided improvements to Schomberg Park were the best way to honor the memory of Thomas E. Popko, voting Monday to send a bid to pave the park’s gravel areas to the full county board. A former member of the Iron County Board of Supervisors and Forestry and Parks Committee member, Popko died Jan. 7. According to information presented at Monday’s meeting, he left the county a total of $56,150 when he died. “His request, when he came in and made these changes to his policies last summer was he...
ERWIN TOWNSHIP — A child who had been reported missing from a campsite near McDonald Dam Tuesday was located later that same day. The Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a missing 4-year-old at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Sheriff Pete Matonich. Matonich said the child’s mother had reported her son was playing with other children near the campsite and had possibly wandered off. GCSD deputies, along with troopers from the Michigan State Police’s Wakefield Post and members of Gogebic County Search and Rescue,...
IRONWOOD - The third annual Gogebic Community College service learning trip to Guatemala, originally scheduled for this week, has been tentatively rescheduled to leave on Dec. 12, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The trip, in conjunction with Pura Vida Ministries, is an opportunity for students and members of the community to experience Mayan culture, while helping to build a cinder-block house for a Guatemalan family in need, according to Janie Williams, GCC's service learning trip...
LANSING — The Upper Peninsula is being allowed to partially reopen from the COVID-19 shutdown order on Friday. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed Executive Order 2020-92, allowing for the reopening of retail businesses, office work that cannot be done remotely, and restaurants and bars with limited seating in two northern regions of the state. “This is a big step, but we must all remember to continue doing our part to protect ourselves and our families from the spread of COVID-19,” Whitmer said. “It’s crucial that all businesses do everyt...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - For nearly a week the 46 graduating Hurley High School seniors and their families have been going through personal graduations at the school as part of the 126th commencement program that will be virtual and presented online Saturday. By the end of Monday, the school administration had 25 of the 46 graduates completed with the ceremony, photos and videos in half-hour appointments that started late last week, said Melissa Oja, the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — Although the expected agreement won’t be finalized until later this week, the Ironwood Area Schools’ Board of Education approved transferring the district’s Great Start Readiness Program to the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District Monday. Although the GOISD would be operating the program next year, Ironwood Superintendent Travis Powell said the experience for the four-year-old students in the program should remain the same. “They will come to the school, they will have the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - Users of the local segment of the popular Iron Belle Trail are going to be able to travel further east later this season as construction is expected to start next month on extending the trail to Ramsay. "It's taken over a decade worth of planning and work to get to this point, but we're excited to be getting to build it this summer," said Paul Anderson, a project manager with Coleman Engineering who is overseeing the project. Anderson...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — The celebration of 14 Mercer Public School graduates will be moving, literally, with spectators congratulating the students from passing cars and trucks. The school announced this week that the tribute to the graduates will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 24. Vehicles with families, friends, and community members will drive slowly along Margaret Street where the seniors will be on the sidewalk to receive the public tribute, said Natalie Allen, office secretary. The state’s shu...
LANSING (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that retail businesses in much of northern Michigan, including restaurants and bars, can reopen starting Friday. The bars and restaurants will have to limit their capacity to 50%. Groups will be required to stay 6 feet apart and servers will have to wear face coverings. Office work also will be able to resume if work cannot be done remotely. The move will affect two of the eight regions identified in the governor’s gradual reopening plan amid the coronavirus pandemic: one covers the Upp...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - With the school year's abrupt end due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of the area's seniors have been denied the traditions and experiences that usually accompany graduating high school. In Ironwood, a group of parents and volunteers organized an effort to recognize and reward the district's Class of 2020. The efforts include banners with the first name and picture of each of the 47 Ironwood School graduates. The banners were set up in...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Fourth of July organizers in Wakefield confirmed Friday that the city’s hometown picnic, 50/50 fundraising and highly celebrated “Lightning on the Lake” fireworks have been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. “It was a very tough decision — something that I don’t think anyone was happy to do,” said Mayor Dale White while speaking for the Fireworks Committee, which sponsors those events. According to Ann Marie Cooney, who heads the town’s separate Fourth of July Committee, the fate of Wakef...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY, Wis. - For hair salons that have been closed since March the sudden end to the coronavirus shutdown order was met with excitement and a strong sense of responsibility. Kim Paris, owner of Headlines Styling Studio in Hurley, said she will be in her shop preparing to reopen under a new normal but won't bring in her two employee stylists until the initial coronavirus shutdown order expiration date of May 26. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners may establish a budget committee of elected and appointed officials, according to discussion at Wednesday’s regular meeting that was broadcast live on the county’s Facebook page. The discussion followed a report on the fiscal year 2020 and 2021 budget impacts of COVID-19. There will be more solid information regarding the 2021 fiscal budget following the state of Michigan Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference today. “We do still feel that we...
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A court ruling tossing Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order threw communities into chaos Thursday as some bars opened immediately and were packed with customers while other local leaders moved quickly to keep strict restrictions in place amid the coronavirus pandemic. The conservative majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court late Wednesday afternoon ruled that the “safer at home” order from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was invalid and threw it out effective immediately. The order forces Evers to work with the GOP-controlled Legisla...
HURLEY - As of 7 a.m. this morning, Iron County's ATV/UTV trails were expected to open to riders. Local officials warned that early season riding conditions still exist in some places and trail maintenance is continuing, and urged riders to use caution while enjoying the local trail system. As always, riders should respect private property by staying on marked trails. Although the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers' Safer at Home Order Wednesday, officials also encouraged riders...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - It took just an instant but the impact was clear on the faces of staff and the public who came to watch the U.S. Air Force flyover of Aspirus Ironwood hospital and clinic late Wednesday morning. Two Block 50 generation F-16 Falcon jets with the 148th Fighter Wing based in Duluth, Minnesota, flew over the health campus at 11:33 a.m. The flyover was part of the Operation American Resolve program in appreciation of the COVID-19 response of...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer school board voted to tentatively set July 10 as graduation day for the class of 2020, during a special meeting Tuesday. The ceremony will be at 7:30 p.m. “This is all speculative. We got to plan ahead to see what’s going to happen,” said principal and acting superintendent Dan Niemi. Niemi said that he thinks it’s going to have to be an outdoor venue, with people separated by six feet for social distancing, and if there is a weather issue they can move it to another day. “It...
