Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 2805 - 2829 of 9747
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY, Wis. - The Hurley Education Foundation added $20,508 to its budget thanks to a community that puts students before profits. For the past nine years the Cash for Kids program of Midland Services, Inc., has allowed the customer-owners of the cooperative business organization to forego their annual percentage of cash and equity profits to several area school districts, said Trent Allen, general manager of Midland Services Inc., which brands...
By KIM E. STROM [email protected] BESSEMER - Promoting the downtown area and helping local businesses to succeed was the focus of discussion during the meeting of the Bessemer Downtown Development Authority Thursday evening. City Manager Charly Loper began the meeting with a presentation of what the organization has been doing throughout the year. The state requires two presentations a year. From providing facade funding to helping local business pop up shops to beautification projects a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — In the county administrator’s report to the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Juliane Giackino said she is working with legislators to finally resolve a six-year-old pension fund issue. As a member of the five county Western Upper Michigan Manpower Consortium with Houghton Keweena, Iron and Ontonagon counties, a $330,000 shortfall in 2013 has grown to $970,000 for the county owned pension program in 2019, Giackino said following the meeting. In June 2013, the state man...
By KIM E. STROM [email protected] RAMSAY - Now that Bessemer Township officials have decided to tear down the Ramsay post office building, customers are waiting to hear whether there will be a local post office again. The U.S. Postal Service closed the facility in March due to structural damage and safety concerns. Bessemer Township owns the building. Township officials and residents want service restored in another building in Ramsay, Township Supervisor Jeff Randall said in a phone...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY, Wis. — A Wisconsin senator is trying again to address the issue of border towns not being able to watch some Green Bay Packer games when local stations in neighboring states air other games instead. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., re-introduced S.2454, the “Go Pack Go Act” that requires cable, satellite and other video providers to offer Wisconsin subscribers access to programming from broadcast television stations in a Wisconsin media market. “Every Packers fan across our state should be able...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - While the Ontonagon Village Council has been considering the question of an ordinance to allow the licensing of marijuana facilities and businesses in the village or adopting an ordinance to prohibit them, the crowd at Monday's council meeting left no doubt about what they wanted. Speaker after speaker called on the council to opt-out of permission for such business in Ontonagon. Tim Guzek, a former Ontonagon police chief and officer, and county...
By KIM E. STROM [email protected] MONTREAL - The Montreal City Council discussed the progress of resolving water system issues within the city at its meeting Tuesday. The rehabilitation of pumps and reopening of well No. 5 are on the docket next for repair. According to Mayor Erik Guenard, the total well rehabilitation project will cost the city approximately $123,000. "That's a conservative estimate," said Guenard in a phone interview post meeting. "We're looking at replacing...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY, Wis. — The Hurley City Council on Tuesday added vaping to the juvenile tobacco use ban and revised three gaming ordinances. The council 5-0 approved amending the city ordinance prohibiting individuals under the age of 18 from purchasing or possessing tobacco and nicotine products to include vaping paraphernalia. Aldermen Jay Aijala was not present. There was no discussion on the ordinance but the language noted it had been possible for juveniles to legally purchase some alternative n...
By KIM E. STROM [email protected] RAMSAY - The Bessemer Township board heard a report Monday on the ongoing project to improve Memorial Park, including the addition of a swimming area along the Black River. The board also discussed progress regarding digging of the new swimming hole. Supervisor Jeff Randall said parts of the project were held off until fall so water levels would be lower. "It is close to being dug out," he said. The swimming hole is projected to be 60 feet by 260 feet...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission on Monday approved an Industrial Facilities Tax Exemption for Waupaca Foundry, Inc., which opened in July at the New Ironwood Industrial Park. The 3-0 approval with commissioners Joseph Cayer and Kim Corcoran not present, will remove 50 percent off the millage rate equal to about 11 mills as a tax break for the company. The commissioners said the company has a positive impact on the city’s economy with a $4.3 million investment for an existing facility at...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield City Council on Monday renewed a five-year state trunkline maintenance contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The approval was addressed via the passage of Resolution 265, which covers the maintenance period of Oct. 1, 2019 through Sept. 30, 2024. The state defines a trunkline highway as “a road, highway or freeway under the jurisdiction of the department, and usually designated with an M, US, or I preceding the route number.” State trunklines in this regio...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Three speakers from different backgrounds and circumstances regarding suicide all shared a similar message that depression is not a dead end and that help is there for anyone who reaches out. “We want to make sure that we are tearing down that shroud, and that it’s not shameful or a sign of weakness if you’re suffering from depression to reach out for help,” said Pat Gallinagh, president of the Gogebic Range Suicide Prevention Council, the event co-sponsor of the sixth annual Break the...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The cool weather proved perfect for around 135 mountain bike riders who participated in the Copper Peak Trails Fest on Saturday in Ironwood. With 7-mile sport race and 16-mile expert race courses navigating the Black River and ascending nearly 600 feet to the Copper Peak ski flying jump, the riders would have overheated in hot weather, said Paul Anderson, race director. The downhill ride was fast and winding with jumps and bridges, he...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — A fundraiser for the Ironwood dog park yields many benefits, according to organizers. H.O.P.E. Animal Shelter and Friends of Miner’s Memorial Heritage Park hosted the second Hound Dog Hike event with proceeds going to maintenance and improvements of Iron King Dog Park at the corner of East Ayer and Bonnie streets in Ironwood. For a donation, dogs and owners walked from the dog park to nearby Miner’s Memorial Heritage Park on Sunday morni...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - Tourists, as well as locals, will have an easier time finding key sites in Bessemer, thanks to new location maps and wayfaring signs now standing around the city. The signs, which were installed in recent weeks, were the result of a 2018 First Impressions Tourism Grant for $2,000 from the Western Upper Peninsula Development Region. The money, which was matched by an additional $2,000 from Bessemer's Downtown Development Authority, made it possib...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] HOUGHTON — Summertime camps are a popular way to keep students busy when off school. Eliza Stone, a senior at Bessemer High School, attended one of the camps offered by Michigan Technological University this past summer and remembers it fondly. Stone attended the Women in Automotive Engineering program at Michigan Tech, which focuses on introducing young women to the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering within the automotive industry. The program is competitive entry, and this year there w...
HURLEY — The Iron County University of Wisconsin-Extension is once again offering a master gardener class. Horticulture educator Darrin Kimbler is offering a Level 1 master gardener training in Hurley beginning Oct. 15. The classes will be held at the Iron County courthouse, according to the program announcement, and runs through Feb. 4. “A master gardener volunteer is an individual who serves (the) community as UW-Extension volunteer educator assisting people with horticultural projects and problems,” Kimbler said. “Potential master gardene...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] OMA, Wis. - For the first time in close to two months drivers are able to use County G in Oma after the road reopened Thursday. A section of the road had been closed since July 8 as a bridge was built where County G crosses the outlet of Long Lake, approximately 8 miles east of U.S. 51. Although the road has reopened to traffic, Iron County Highway Commissioner Mike Swartz said Wednesday some shoulder and striping work will still be completed over...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - A week of activities designed to welcome students and encourage social interaction included Pizza with the President on Thursday at Gogebic Community College. Students streamed through Aces Lounge during lunch hour to meet GCC President George McNulty, who handed out pizza and soft drinks together with Dayle Jackson, director of student outreach and engagement. It was a different way to connect with students by serving them in the...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER— The Bessemer Parks and Recreation Commission on Thursday approved seeking construction materials to build a gaga pit in Bluff Valley Park. “I’m going to suggest we get the brackets and the lumber and build it ourselves,” said commission member Terry Kryshak, who volunteered to supply his construction expertise. He estimates that the project can be completed for $700, compared to ready-to-assemble kits that can run thousands of dollars. According to gagacenter.com, “gaga is a fast-paced, high-ene...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The ride through downtown Ironwood should be a bit smoother now after two blocks got a new layer of asphalt Wednesday. The resurfacing of one block of East Aurora Street and one block of South Suffolk Street is part of the city's routine street maintenance, according to Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson. "They mill off the existing asphalt - about two inches - and then they put down a new asphalt surface," Erickson said. The block of...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Students of Gogebic Community College were treated to a barbecue picnic lunch and a carnival as a socializing event to get better acquainted after two weeks of classes. The Samson Fest started 12 years ago as the campus kickoff event in the fall, said Dayle Jackson, director of student outreach and engagement at GCC. Students can stroll through and enjoy a free lunch while playing some games and interacting with students, staff and...
