Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Members of the Gogebic Iron Area Narcotics Team and Michigan State Police arrested a Minneapolis, Minnesota man Tuesday they say was involved with distributing illegal narcotics in Michigan and Wisconsin. Jay Saarela, 33, was arrested during a traffic stop in Ironwood Township that was part of an investigation that began earlier this month, according to a GIANT spokesman. The spokesman said officers also allegedly seized methamphetamine, heroin, prescription narcotics, a revolver and other weapons, and over $2,000 in U.S. c...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — With the entirety of its membership either elected or re-elected in the April 7 election, the 15 supervisors on the Iron County Board of Supervisors were sworn in for their new terms Tuesday evening at the Iron County Memorial Building. Following the swearing-in, Joe Pinardi, of Hurley, was re-elected as board chairman and took over running the meeting — which was held at the Memorial Building as the extra space allowed for participants to practice social distancing during the ongoing cor...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] The Ironwood Public Safety Department teamed up with the Hurley Police Department Tuesday to pick up food donations from residents for area food banks, which have seen a heightened need as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. "We really wanted to encourage people to stay home and not travel to the food bank to make a donation," said Andrew DiGiorgio, director of Ironwood Public Safety, who organized the effort. Ironwood Public Safety picked up 14 boxes...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The city of Hurley held a special reorganizational meeting Tuesday to swear in the newly elected mayor and alderpersons to the city council. This was the first virtual meeting held by Hurley since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that has state executive orders for closures and stay at home to avoid exposure to COVID-19. There were 16 participants attending the virtual meeting which by law is accessible to the public with the links made available by the city staff. Mayor Paul M...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, April 23 Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action Agency food commodity distribution for seniors, Bergland Lake Gogebic Senior Center, 9:45-10 a.m. EDT; White Pine Township Hall, 10:20-10:35 a.m. EDT; Ontonagon Holy Family Catholic Church, 11-11:45 a.m. EDT; Mass City Resource Center, 1:15-1:45 p.m. EDT. Alcoholics Anonymous, noon, Salem Lutheran Church, Ironwood. area74.org. Alcoholics Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., First Presbyterian...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Planning for summer events is difficult in times of uncertainty. The Ironwood Chamber of Commerce has not officially canceled the citywide rummage sale scheduled for Saturday, June 6, but it’s highly unlikely it will be held, said Michael Meyer, chamber director. The chamber board will make the decision to cancel or to move it to the fall, he said. “It’s just coming up too soon,” Meyer said of the event in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. There are usually a lot of calls...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] MONTREAL, Wis. - The Iron County Food Pantry remains open, having developed a system to allow their older volunteers to continue to service residents of Iron County in need of food throughout the COVID-19 crisis. According to Mary Mattson, the office manager at Iron County Food Pantry, the health department was originally wanting to replace the volunteers at Iron County Food Panty with younger volunteers from the county's Health and Human Services...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council voted Monday night to change the terms of the Parks and Recreation Committee members from two years to three years, following a public hearing. “We have to rescind that motion on two years, it should be three years, like planning commission is three, DDA commission is three. They should all be uniform. They need to be uniform,” said councilman Bill McDonald during the hearing. “You can’t have two committees on three years and one committee on two years. That’s no...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - As lives and day-to-day routines continue to be disrupted while people practice physical distancing and follow the stay-at-home orders in a fight to end the coronavirus pandemic, the Ironwood Public Safety Department is doing what it can to help kids in the city. The department is one of several local agencies offering to use drive by local birthday parties with department vehicles. "Things aren't normal now and kids aren't able to have b...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The well-being of students is the most important thing as Hurley School District returns to a “new normal.” Students remember how they felt and how they were treated more than what they learned, said a message posted by School District Administrator Kevin Genisot. The ongoing monitoring of each student’s mental health status as well as ensuring the basic needs will help maintain a high level of confidence going forward. “Our students will be healthier and more resilient for the rest of the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BAYFIELD, Wis. — Bayfield County had its first death related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic last week. The Bayfield County Health Department announced Friday it confirmed the death of a county resident due to COVID-19 Friday. The person was a 78-year-old who had been hospitalized for over three weeks and had not recently traveled in the community, according to the department. It said the person had no known contact with a known positive COVID-19 case or traveled out of the area recently. T...
IRONWOOD — In light of the coronavirus pandemic and large group gatherings being prohibited, Gogebic Community College is preparing to take its 2020 commencement ceremony online. While the ceremony for the approximately 175 graduates will take place on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m., the originally scheduled date and time, there will be no actual gathering but instead a virtual gathering — one that will be live-streamed so that everyone who wishes to attend can do so. Graduates will not be able to walk across a physical stage, instead there name wil...
WAKEFIELD - Fishing is one of those curious pastimes that - funny enough - does not require a lot of success to enjoy. Kenny Kelch of Bessemer illustrated that while fishing at Sunday Lake last Saturday. While angling at the shoreline, where water was running freely over the Eddy Park dam, Kelch was full of enthusiasm about how he'd caught nothing of value. His brother, Kaine Kelch, of Wausau, Wis., was in just as good a mood. It was a beautiful day, full of sunshine, drawing happy hikers along...
With the remainder of the school year now canceled in both Michigan and Wisconsin due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, area seniors and their families await information on what the new plan for their graduation ceremonies will be. Although many of the area’s school districts are still developing graduation plans, the local superintendents expressed a desire to honor their graduating seniors in some way -- even if the final form is still unclear. “We’re trying to figure out ways to help honor and recognize our seniors for their hard work...
IRONWOOD — With all the information going around about how to boost the immune system during the coronavirus pandemic, it is the balanced diet that still works best, according to a local nutrition specialist. There are misconceptions about fitness, nutrition and prevention priorities during this pandemic, according to Anna Mooi, manager of nutrition and education at Aspirus Ironwood Hospital. “A lot of people are worried about gaining weight while staying at home,” Mooi said. The stay at home order is really not the time for restrictive diets...
IRONWOOD - The stay-at-home order may have forced a prolonged intermission of events at the Historic Ironwood Theatre, but that does not mean activities have ceased there. Instead of producing shows and events, the volunteer staff is taking on many of the cleaning and remolding projects that could not have been done with the theater open. "Now that our theater is dark, we are doing a lot of cleaning and refurbishing projects in the building," said Zona Wick, president of the theatre's board of...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — With its members all dialing in remotely to a conference call to prevent the need for an in-person gathering, the Ironwood Township Board of Trustees approved a resolution in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Monday. The measure temporarily allows township officials to take steps to comply with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order, such as limiting access to the township office building and providing necessary township services through...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - The Hurley City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to ratify an earlier COVID-19 emergency proclamation that was issued by Mayor Paul Mullard. The resolution acknowledges the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted, or is anticipated to impact the city. The emergency conditions create a situation where the governing body is unable to "meet with promptness," after which Mullard declared that a state of emergency existed from March...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MADISON, Wis. — Iron County’s 12 cities and towns will be receiving over $380,000 in general transportation aid to help with road work, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced last week. The money — which is one of several payments the communities receive from the state each year — help communities fund the construction, maintenance, and operation of roads and streets under their jurisdiction. “The importance of a sound transportation system is especially evident as we face the chall...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — Former alderman Jay Aijala is Hurley’s new mayor, according to unofficial results of the April 7 election that were posted Monday evening by Iron County. With all precincts reporting, Aijala received 294 votes, which was enough to defeat the challenge for the two-year term from Thomas Conhartoski, who received 242 votes. Conhartoski, however, did win a seat on the city council. The votes were not counted until Monday as one of Wisconsin’s COVID-19 emergency order directives. The unoff...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — Newcomers Kathy Levra and Kathy Saari were elected to the Hurley School Board, according to the April 7 spring election results posted by Iron County on Monday evening. The votes were not counted until Monday as one of Wisconsin’s COVID-19 emergency order directives. The unofficial results will be canvassed later this week. There were four candidates running for two open seats, each with a three-year term. Saari received the most votes among the four candidates with 842. Levra rec...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY -- Challenger Tanner Hiller defeated incumbent Jim Kichak to represent Mercer in the lone contested Iron County Board of Supervisors race in the April 7 election. The results of the election, which were released Monday night due to a court ruling regarding the statewide election and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, show Hiller received 76 votes to Kichak’s 63 in the District 14 race. Hiller won’t be the only new face on the board, however, as Kathleen Byrns received 138 votes in her uno...
