Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 2163 - 2187 of 9883
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - High school graduates of Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School had to wait until Friday evening for their graduation ceremony, but they were rewarded for their patience with perfect weather in an outdoor setting overlooking Sunday Lake. The ceremony - which normally would have taken place in the school gym in late May - was delayed due to COVID-19. Because of related concerns about enclosed spaces, this year's event was held on the north side of the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has upheld the sentences of one of the men convicted of killing a Lac du Flambeau man in Iron County two-and-a-half years ago. Following a six-day trial in August 2018, a jury found Joseph Lussier guilty of being one of the two shooters in the December 2017 murder of Wayne Valliere Jr., in a remote part of Iron County north of Mercer, convicting him of being a party to the crimes of first-degree intentional homicide by use of a dangerous weapon and hid... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Wakefield postmaster Drew Tikkanen has been named the "2019 Engagement Leader of the Year," for the Greater Michigan District of the U.S. Postal Service. "I was very shocked when this happened," Tikkanen said. "I was not expecting it. Especially one out of our whole district. I didn't know they had this kind of thing until they presented me with it." Tikkanen said she was presented the award Thursday via a surprise Zoom presentation from...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — A legislative attempt to reimburse Gogebic County’s ballooning liability with a retirement fund is still a priority, according to reports at the Gogebic County Commission meeting Wednesday. “We’re doing lots of work in Lansing,” said Justin Kasieta, legislative staff of Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, was present to update the commission on the activity at the state legislature. He said Markkanen will again introduce legislation to reimburse de-funded grant dollars to Gogebic County to...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Michigan State Police Wakefield Post will be the site of a COVID-19 testing station on Thursday. The testing will be provided through a coordinated effort of the Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center and the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, and is available to all. Those who wish to be tested must pre-register in advance and schedule an appointment between 9:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. Registration and appointments are on a first-come first-served basis. The process of pre-registering... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] SAXON, Wis. - There's a light at the end of the tunnel for the rebuilding of Saxon Harbor, following its destruction in the July 2016 storm, as work on the campground nears completion. Iron County Forestry and Parks Administrator Eric Peterson said major construction on the campground project has been completed and work is continuing on the final items. "We are down to paving, seeding and mulching, they have some work to do in the bathroom ... and t...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees heard good news recently as the township’s auditor said there were zero deficiencies or findings in the township’s 2019 audit. This marks the third year in a row with zero deficiencies or findings in the audits. Supervisor Jim Simmons credited the township employees who worked with auditor, Karl “Gus” Ahonen, with the Ironwood-based Makela, Pollack and Ahonen, for the result. “That’s been the fine work between Mary Segalin and Maria Gra...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP — An aide for Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, visited the Tuesday evening meeting of the Wakefield Township Board of Trustees and quickly heard complaints regarding delayed processing of unemployment claims. “We’re just making our way around and wanted to know if you have any concerns,” said Justin Kasieta, one of Markkanen’s aides, after being introduced by supervisor John Cox, who also chairs the board. The criticism of the state unemployment office — which also has occurred in... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] SAXON, Wis. - Drivers traveling on U.S. 2 near Saxon may notice some increased construction activity as work began on several culverts Wednesday. The $879,203 project centers around three culverts between Curry and Clement roads west of Saxon, according to a Wisconsin Department of Transportation construction update, and is expected to run through mid-September. Although no culverts will actually be replaced, according to the WisDOT update, two...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Human Services Board is recommending the county board pass a resolution changing who will handle certain legal processes involving children in the county. The resolution — which the human services board passed at the end of June — would move children in need of protection and services, and termination of parental rights proceedings from the district attorney’s office to the responsibility of the county’s corporation counsel, Tim Dean. Human Services Director Cally Kil...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HANCOCK — As local health officials report new cases connected to the coronavirus pandemic in Gogebic County, the Bayfield County Health Department is warning people attending a hockey tournament in Ashland in late June they may have been exposed to the virus. The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department reported three new positive COVID-19 cases in Gogebic County Monday, bringing the county’s total up to 10. The number of recovered cases in Gogebic County is at four as of Monday, according to... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER TOWNSHIP — Work continues on building the next segment of the non-motorized Iron Belle Trail, which will extend the existing trail from Moore Street in Bessemer to Ramsay. Construction on the segment started June 1 and the trail’s subgrade has been constructed, most of the necessary culverts have been installed and gravel has been put down on most of the trail. “We are hoping for paving by around Aug. 1 or so,” said Paul Anderson, a proje...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — As of Tuesday, the Hurley City Hall building was again closed to general entry until further notice. The announcement Monday on the social media pages of the Hurley Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Jay Aijala, was to “ensure the safety of our employees.” If entry into the building is necessary, it will be on an appointment basis and a face mask is required. The city of Hurley buildings were in a similar status throughout the early part of the coronavirus pandemic and reopened in May with...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - With so many Fourth of July events canceled in the area, the Mercer community hosted a large crowd Saturday for its Fourth of July parade and activities. Melissa Biszak, executive director of the Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce, said there were likely more people than usual but people were pretty spread out and not clustered in one area. "Everything went well," Biszak said. The day started early with the annual Run for a Vet... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HANCOCK — Ontonagon County has its first case of COVID-19, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department announced over the weekend. Department officials said they were notified of the positive test late Friday night and are investigating whether others have had close contact with the individual. “We will be closely monitoring any individuals who may have had direct, personal contact with the identified case, such as household contacts,” the department’s health officer, Kate Beer, said in a relea...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood Planning Commission on Thursday directed community development staff to move forward with preparing a light industrial zone proposal to accommodate a local expansion. Burton Industries Inc. — a customized electronics manufacturer for original equipment manufacturers with its headquarters in Hazelhurst, Wisconsin, and the manufacturing division in the Ironwood Industrial Park — would like to expand into the former Lighthouse Church building at 777 E. Ayer Stree...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County needs more of its residents to complete the census. That seemed to be the consensus at the Iron County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. Iron County residents are filling out the census at a rate of 37%, which is just over half of the state’s rate of 68%, according to information provided to the board. According to the information, the cities of Montreal and Hurley have a response rate of 56%; the towns of Gurney, Saxon, Kimball, Anderson, Knight and Pence have res... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - Marty's Goldenaires Drum and Bugle Corps recorded its Fourth of July concert Wednesday evening at Massie Field in Bessemer. The concert will be posted on the Goldenaires' Facebook page at noon Saturday. Organizers said this may be their only concert of the season as the Coronavirus pandemic has led to the cancelation of all the events on the schedule. Only a few were allowed to sit in the bleachers Wednesday to take in the concert, including...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood’s office of Community Development is now shifting focus back to long-term projects after concentrating almost exclusively on COVID-19 relief efforts for small businesses. In terms of city operations the office of community development role transitioned almost exclusively to business support during the past few months of the COVID-19 situation, said Tom Bergman, director of Ironwood community development in his report to the Ironwood Economic Development Cor...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Iron County continues to climb as the Iron County Health Department reported another positive case Tuesday. The post on the department’s Facebook page brings the total number of positives in the county to seven, five of which have been announced since June 25. No information was released regarding the person who tested positive. Iron County Health Officer Katie Hampston told the Daily Globe there are several reasons the department isn’t relea... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - In the past, graduation in Ironwood has meant families filling the upper level of the John Krznarich Gymnasium and rows of graduates in robes waiting their turn to cross the stage and receive their diploma. This year was undeniably different. The coronavirus pandemic forced the district to move the event to Luther L. Wright's elementary gym, where a handful of mask-wearing graduates would have their moment in the spotlight in increments...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic Community College board voted to increase tuition by 2.4% for local students and 2.5% for out of district/state students on Tuesday, during its first in-person monthly board meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we look at our demographic base and our student base, any increase is going to be felt by our student base, so 2.4% I felt was acceptable at this point and time with everything that is going on,” said Erik Guenard, vice president of business services. Guen...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Now that the staff and volunteers had a couple weeks of experience with various food distribution events the district offers, the Ironwood Area Schools is making some changes to the schedule for the rest of the summer. The biggest change comes to the dairy distribution, with Monday's distribution being the first held at the Aurora Club rather than the Luther L. Wright K-12 School. As a nonprofit, the Aurora Club was able to host the... Full story
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Finances and budgets were heavily on the minds of the Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday as they conducted both a public hearing on the budget and the annual meeting. The board faced the difficult task of submitting a balanced budget to the state by Tuesday. The state will not have its own budget — which would tell the district how much money the state will distribute — until as late as this fall. Superintendent Jim Bobula said state officials have indicated it has a $1.2 billion short...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Area law enforcement and fire departments were awarded grants to assist with equipment purchases and training from Enbridge. This first round of the biannual grant has resulted in $7,500 awards to the Michigan State Police, the Wakefield Fire Department, the Iron County Sheriff’s Department and Iron County Emergency Management and 911, according to Brian Trekas, the pipeline supervisor for Enbridge at the Ironwood office. Ambulance services and law enforcement organizations are also welc...
