Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 2971 - 2995 of 9883
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - A Saturday open house at Wakefield's VFW Post 9084 drew dozens of people who enjoyed burgers and hot dogs while sipping cool drinks on a brand new patio next to Sunday Lake. "It really turned out nice," said post quartermaster Brad Wakefield, who noted the level of attendance was great, given that the VFW was competing with other events during the long weekend to celebrate Labor Day. Wakefield credited the lion's share of event-organizing to...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — It was estimated the Ontonagon Labor Festival Parade Sunday broke all records with crowds three and four deep along River Street. Perfect weather and a reputation for “home-grown, special floats” added to the enthusiasm of the crowd. The three stage float of the Norwich Country Club won the float competition at the Ontonagon Labor Day Festival Parade. The country club float was titled the Summer of 1969. The first part was titled Peace and Love with its Woodstock theme. The second depicted the m...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - After two decades there will be a change of instructors in the construction technology program at Gogebic Community College. Ray Niemi, a contractor who ran the GCC program, has retired. He has elected to stay on for a month to transition the programs over to Dennis Beaudette, who was approved as the construction technology instructor in the GCC building trades department on Monday. Beaudette, of Wakefield, will teach the classroom...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The community got its first chance to see several of the designs the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is considering for the U.S. 2/U.S. 51 interchange in Hurley Wednesday — including the possibility of building a roundabout. The public had the opportunity to provide feedback on three basic designs — rebuilding a modified version of the current overpass design, converting the interchange to a T-intersection with a stop sign on U.S. 51, or a roundabout. Representatives from WisDO...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Range Suicide Prevention Council will host the sixth annual Break the Silence, Walk Through the Pain event on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 10 a.m., at Gogebic Community College. “We call it an awareness and support event,” said organizer Pat Gallinagh. “It’s certainly not a fundraising event. Everything is free, there is no cost to registration no cost for the social hour, the only thing is if they want a T-shirt it’s $10 and that’s pretty cheap by most standards.” The idea is to raise awa...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Little things can make a big difference. Students who were midway through the first week of classes lined up for free sno cones on Wednesday at Gogebic Community College. It was a welcome back activity, said Dayle Jackson, director of student outreach and engagement at GCC. "We've got a sno cone machine, so hey!" Jackson said. This is a lot different than high school, she said. Outreach and engagement staff address things like...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY, Wis. - Parents and students of the Hurley K-12 School had an open house Thursday to help take the anxiety out of the first day of fall semester classes on Tuesday. Amanda Jewell, Montreal, said she and her daughters going into kindergarten, third and sixth grade, were able to see their class schedules, meet their teachers and find their lockers. "I think it's a great idea," Jewell said. "This is the first time I came and I think it's been...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — When Ironwood teachers returned to their classrooms Tuesday they had some help from the district’s Parent Teacher Organization with the cost of classroom supplies. The PTO made $75 available for classroom supplies, PTO president Clancey Byrne said, for any interested teachers to use as they saw fit. “They say the average teacher spends about $200 of their own money for school supplies,” Byrne told the Daily Globe. “Seventy five dollars doesn’t cover it, but it makes a dent.” Byrn...
SAXON, Wis. — It’s been 3 years, 1 month and 19 days since flooding from the July 11, 2016 storm, destroyed Saxon Harbor. Today, for the first time since that storm, boats will be able to use the harbor’s marina again. The marina’s new docks and boat launches are open for public use, however, county officials are asking visitors to be patient over the next few weeks while some of the final cosmetic work is completed around the marina. “Go down and enjoy, but understand there’s still some work that’s being finished up,” Iron County Forestry...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — In what they called the first step in the process, several Xcel Energy officials provided the Iron County Board of Supervisors with a broad outline of a proposal to reroute transmission lines through northern Iron County Tuesday. The power lines in question run between Ironwood and Ashland, Wisconsin, crossing U.S. 2 near the Saxon Pump substation before crossing the highway again on the Bad River reservation. “(The lines) are nearing the end of their lifespans and they present some cha...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD- Members of the Wakefield Volunteer Fire Department welcomed local citizens to their main street Fire Hall for a Wednesday open house on a cool, pleasant day. The guys offered a light supper, along with an array of equipment on display. Among the items on view was a thermal imaging camera that chief Lou Boetto said could be used to track human beings thrown from a vehicle or lost in a smoky house. "We can also see if there's a fire behind a...
IRONWOOD - Gogebic Community College reported Monday that formal notification reaffirming its accreditation status has been received from the Institutional Actions Council of the Higher Learning Commission. GCC has been continually accredited since 1949. A Higher Learning Commission evaluation team visited GCC in April and met with faculty, staff, various committees, trustees and community members. The Institutional Actions Council concurred with the evaluation team's findings that GCC met all...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — The city of Bessemer has received a $28,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, according to a Tuesday announcement. Targeted for the Bessemer Industrial Park, the grant was awarded through MEDC’s Michigan Build Ready Sites Program, which is part of the corporation’s Site Readiness Improvement Program. “The city is very excited to have the opportunity to develop more robust packets for developers and entrepreneurs to help attract new businesses and jobs to our industrial p...
BESSEMER - The Gogebic Conservation District has a program to locate and control or eradicate Japanese knotweed and multiflora rose, among other invasive plant species, in Ontonagon County and Gogebic counties. The work is being conducted under a Joint Chiefs grant, so named because the funding is made available by the leaders of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service. Work so far has included development of a brochure titled "A Field Guide to Common Terrestrial...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — The 63rd anniversary of the Ontonagon Labor Day Festival, Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, will feature some changes. The biggest change will be the kiddie parade which will be Saturday, Aug. 31, instead of Labor Day itself. The change will put an emphasis on Maxwell Street Day, with the kids parade, music, sales on the street, lip-sync contest, food and an expanded bed race. Margo Anderson and Tanya Weisinger, festival co-chairs said with large crowds on Maxwell Day, the work that parents and kids put i...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - After a closed session at their Monday evening meeting, the Wakefield City Council reopened its chambers to the public and voted to advertise for a new non-union position titled Department of Public Works supervisor. That vote directly followed the council's prior vote to sign and implement a new contract for the city's union employees. Mayor pro tempore Amy Tarro abstained regarding the union agreement and voted no on the new supervisory job....
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - The pro's and con's of accepting marijuana as a micro-business in the village of Ontonagon drew a standing room only crowd at the Ontonagon Village Council meeting Monday. Former State Rep. Scott Dianda representing a firm, Tranquility Fields of Ann Arbor, said the firm would grant a franchise with a local owner, employ eight people and would be a "brand new business." He explained a "brand new building would be brought into the site with all...
MENOMINEE — Seven men were arrested Thursday during a joint operation in northern Menominee County aimed at reducing the demand for sex trafficking, according to a statement Monday from the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team. “Law enforcement agencies initiated the operation by placing online advertisements on websites used for prostitution,” said the press release. “During the investigation 32 individuals responded to the website advertisements.” Seven men followed through and met with an undercover detective, who posed as a prostitut...
IRONWOOD - A top gun event Saturday was a way to showcase new features at Superior Range Shooter's Club, said Gary Kusz, president. Mike Drier won the Top Gun event and received a trophy. Gary Lowe won second and Kusz won third - also receiving trophies. The organization started in 1978 and the new 34 acre pistol, rifle and trapshooting range opened on Black River Road near Copper Peak in 2004, he said. In 15 years the club has used grants and loans to build a $90,000 education center with...
GILE, Wis. - It was perfect softball weather but organizers were playing with pain with the loss of Deloris Baross on the eve of Saturday's ninth annual Danny B Jack and Jill softball tournament. Baross was the mother of Danny Baross, the 31-year-old Erwin Township man for whom the tournament was named by friends who wanted to remember him after his death by suicide in 2009. She died on Friday. "Danny and my mom are watching from up above," said Lori Baross, a sister of Danny. "The only reason...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - A team of fiberglass specialists said there were surprises but that work remains on schedule to complete the restoration work on the 50-foot Hiawatha statue this week. "We found a hole under the arm where pigeons were getting inside and we will seal that up," said Don Harmon, of FAST Corporation, who is conducting the repair work this week with two other workers from the Sparta, Wisconsin company. The power washing and loose paint...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY, Wis. - Author, historian and photographer Byron Babbish said his "Railroads of the Upper Peninsula, 1975-2000" presentation Wednesday was an engaging discussion with around 80 people at the Iron County Museum. "I've never had a crowd like this," said Babbish, a Detroit based railroad historian and author of 15 books on the topic. Many people present either worked for the railroads or were spouses and children and knew as much about the...
BY TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood’s business retention program led discussion at the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority meeting Thursday. In his report, Tom Bergman, city community development director, said the work this past month included strategies to continue the city’s business retention program that is part of the Downtown Blueprint Plan and the city-wide Comprehensive Plan. The work is to define the city’s role in helping to identify potential business owners to take over downtow...