Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 2128 - 2152 of 9883
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER - The Gogebic County 4-H Club, a division of the Michigan State University-Extension program, will be hosting a virtual livestock showcase and auction on Aug. 6-8. "We decided to go on with it because we didn't have any other option, to have a way for the kids to sell them other than selling them personally," said Ashley Dennis, 4-H program coordinator. "We thought this way, they would still be able to take part in an auction and sell their ani...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer Area School District has announced that it is “anticipating” a return to in-person learning this fall, but officials are also preparing for an exclusively online method of learning, as well as a method that will combine both. “There are so many questions that all the superintendents have, we just want some sort of direction on what is going to happen, so we are making these three plans up for any direction the state says we have to follow,” said Dan Niemi, superintendent of Bess...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County District Attorney Matt Tingstad recently learned he won’t be facing criminal charges after a special prosecutor appointed to review his handling of a subpoena in a case found Tingstad didn’t violate Wisconsin law. At issue was a September 2019 subpoena Tingstad issued in former Hurley Fire Chief Darrell Petrusha’s case related to Petrusha’s alleged improper use of a department credit card for personal expenses. Tingstad was accused of attempting to leverage someone into sign... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - The Iron County Health Department released two additional locations in Iron County Thursday where someone who tested positive for COVID-19 was present while positive. "(The announcement) is not intended to lay blame on anyone who tests positive (people may not have symptoms during their period of communicability and may not know they are sick), any local businesses, or other locations identified," a health department spokesperson said in...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer Pumkinfest committee has canceled the 42nd annual fall festival. “It would just be too risky to try and schedule our events,” said committee chair Donna Frello. The longstanding festival usually involves an indoor craft fair, a carnival, a pet costume contest, a car show and many other events that would involve large groups in both indoor and outdoor settings. Frello said that cordoning off all the people would be “really just impossible unless a miracle happens.” Many of t...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY - Dozens of automobiles were already in line Thursday morning when an all-day COVID-19 testing event started at the Hurley K-12 school parking lots. The event was organized by Team 22, Detachment Delta of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's special COVID-19 testing support unit that went into effect under a federal order after Gov. Tony Evers declared a public health emergency on March 12, according to a spokesperson for the 24-member team... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County hunters will be able to continue disposing their deer carcasses in special dumpsters designed to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease after the Iron County Board of Supervisors’ Finance Committee recently approved funding three dumpsters for the upcoming hunting season. Last year, there were dumpsters located in the towns of Oma, Mercer and Saxon. “It sounded like Oma and the Mercer ones were pretty well used,” Iron County Clerk Mike Saari said. “It sounded like those two...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved several administrative actions for various departments. In the finance, budgeting and auditing committee meeting prior to the regular meeting, the members approved a sheriff’s office request to apply for a hazardous pay grant from Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money available through the state of Michigan. The grant would allow all sheriff’s office employees up to $1,000 in reimbursement for C...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — In a series of meetings with staff, the school board and the public, officials with the Ironwood Area Schools has begun laying out the district’s tentative plans for the return to school in fall as the state continues to grapple with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Our current effort is to provide as much choice as possible for our parents and our community members, while maintaining safety for our students and teachers,” Superintendent Travis Powell told the Ironwood board of educ... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — Visitors to Massie Field will soon have a full view of the bluff, as the Bessemer city council voted Monday to allow the Bessemer Area Schools to cut down a large portion of the trees behind the field. According to city manager Charly Loper, the request to remove the trees came from Bill Steiger, who noticed from old school photographs that the bluff used to be viewable from anywhere in the stands, but now that view is limited because of the trees. Loper said that there are some concerns wit...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — Many of those who live in, or visit, Iron County agree it’s a great place. That popularity seems to extend to the animal kingdom, as the county once again claimed the state’s top spot for moose sightings in 2019. Eight of the 36 probable or confirmed moose sightings in Wisconsin last year were in Iron County, according to data from the Department of Natural Resources. Three of those sightings were in Mercer, two were listed as in Hurley, two were from Springstead and one came from...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Health Department reported eight new positive COVID-19 cases in Iron County Tuesday as the number of local cases linked to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to increase. Tuesday’s eight new positives bring Iron County’s total to 37 — 20 more cases than the county had a little over one week ago when health officials reported seven new cases had brought Iron County’s total to 17 on July 13. At the beginning of July, the health department had reported a total of... Full story
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] MARENISCO - The Marenisco Volunteer Fire Department is looking to grow its ranks and is aiming at getting young people interested in firefighting by sponsoring a Junior Cadet program. The department is holding a series of firefighting training demonstrations for its cadets, ages 14 to 18. The next session is set for Aug. 5 at 5 p.m., and will feature a demonstration of firefighting techniques as well as a question and answer session. Cadets meet once a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley school board will decide the start of the school year and the fate of the fall sports season at its regular meeting in August. The unanimous decision on Monday came after school administrator Kevin Genisot recommended the regular meeting date of Aug. 17, as opposed to an Aug. 5 special meeting that was proposed in June. This would give the 12-member special committee that includes the Iron County health officer opportunity to assess all available information to determine if a...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The Gogebic-Iron County Airport officially opened again Saturday evening after more than a month of runway reconstruction. The runway rehabilitation and runway lighting reconstruction project required the airport closure on June 1. The $5.19 million project was to be completed on July 15, but weather and scheduling issues delayed the project until July 18. "We're going back to work," said Michael Harma, airport manager. There were engineers on the field who were overseeing... Full story
HURLEY — As the number of local COVID-19 cases continues to rise, the Iron County Health Department announced it is partnering with the Wisconsin National Guard to increase the availability of COVID-19 testing in Iron County later this week. There are a pair of testing events planned, with one scheduled in Hurley and a second in Mercer. The Hurley event will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hurley K-12 School and the Mercer event will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the Department of Natural Resources Ranger Station at 5...
MARENISCO - Renewal of a U.S. 2 bridge over the Presque Isle River continues directly east of the M-64 turn-off to the unincorporated area of Marenisco. The project funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation began on June 1, along with a concurrent road project on M-64, south of Marenisco's "downtown" region. Hebert Construction Company, of Iron River, is in charge of the bridge project. "The old one was all broken up," said John Donati, an Hebert employee, on Friday. "The water was... Full story
MERCER, Wis. — COVID-19 topics took up most of the Mercer Town Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday, including concerns about thousands of people attending the annual Loon Day event in August. In his COVID-19 update, Town Chairman John Sendra said the Iron County Health Department will conduct a drive-thru COVID-19 testing event from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, July 24 at the Wisconsin DNR Mercer Ranger Station on U.S. 51. There are 400 tests that will be first-come, first-served. Sendra said he attended a recent Iron County meeting that include... Full story
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees moved to restrict cash payments at the township hall Monday as part of the township’s ongoing efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Along with closing the office to walk-in traffic, township officials expressed concern that the need to handle cash increased the risk of catching the coronavirus. The number of cash payments had decreased at the beginning of the pandemic, according to township officials, but had been increasing in recent weeks. “Right now, people want to pay their...
IRONWOOD — The Gogebic Community College Foundation is creating retention scholarships for students enrolled in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, from grant monies received from the Xcel Energy Foundation. “The Xcel grant offers an occasion to foster both student and faculty growth, so I am excited to challenge and be challenged by some of the brightest students on campus,” said Serena Mershon-Lohkamp, GCC chemistry instructor. The college foundation received $4,000 and is one of only 63 nonprofits that were invited to apply...
WAKEFIELD - COVID-19 testing was conducted by the Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center in conjunction with the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department at the Wakefield Post of the Michigan State Police on Thursday. "One of our goals is to bring COVID-19 testing to areas where it wouldn't ordinarily be easy to access, or it allows more easy access to it, and we also want to identify cases in counties where testing has historically been low; so we know if there is COVID-19 in those... Full story
IRONWOOD — An Ironwood City Commission workshop fell short on time with a proposed adult-use marijuana manufacturing ordinance on Monday and will schedule another before considering the ordinance. The proposed ordinance failed three separate city commission votes at its March meeting and was directed back to the planning commission. The city commission had issues with buffer zones restricting marijuana establishments, micro-licenses regarding product testing and certification of edible marijuana products, and the number of retail growers and p...
IRONWOOD — The leaders of the Ironwood Area Schools are looking for members of the community interested in joining a foundation being created later this summer that will be affiliated with the district, with an informational meeting about the effort set for July 30. The foundation would be similar to the Hurley Education Foundation and provide a way for alumni and families to make donations to help the district purchase items that aren’t feasible to include in Ironwood’s annual budget. “This would supplement (the district’s annual budget),...
