Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 3293 - 3317 of 9797
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Historic Ironwood Theatre evidently made the right choice Friday when it decided to show "The Princess Bride" in conjunction with this month's First Friday festivities, as over 200 people attended the screening of the cult classic. Around 230 people turned out to watch the movie, the latest film the theatre has shown during the city of Ironwood's monthly First Friday activities. "It's one of our biggest First Friday movies so far,"...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] NEW YORK — Shortly before winning the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in New York City Sunday, the rising opera star fought to remain calm and control his breathing. Miles Mykkanen, the 27-year-old tenor and Bessemer native, gathered his composure and walked through the darkness from his dressing room to the stage. On the way he felt something under his foot and said he heard a soft metallic sound. He reached down and found a bent nail, a sign of good luck for a performer. “I...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Work has once again begun at the M-28 bridge over Jackson Creek - only this time drivers should be able to continue using the highway during the construction. The delays in replacing the bridge east of Wakefield that kept M-28 closed for longer than expected last year continue to cause problems as the highway was reduced to one lane Thursday to allow for additional work on a bridge approach. Michigan Department of Transportation...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield Public Library recently received a useful tool for this year's space themed summer reading program. Joel Laessig, director at Wakefield Public Library said the summer program normally has a craft, project or activity element to it so he used social media to ask for help finding some equipment. Steve and Fresia Stalker, of Hurley, responded to the library's call by donating a telescope. Laessig said the "incredible gift" will be used by the library to hold stargazing...
HURLEY — The canvass for Iron County’s spring election is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. The canvass will confirm the results for several of the races on Tuesday’s ballot, according to Iron County Clerk Michael Saari, including the two state judicial races voters cast ballots in and the Hurley School Board election. Saari said the canvass involves going through the election tally sheets for the various communities and confirming the paper and electronic ballot totals match what was reported on election night. —Richard Jenkins...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood received a Michigan Rural Community Demolition Grant for $50,000 to address the issue of blight in the city. Scott Erickson, city manager for Ironwood, said the money will be used to clean up the collapsed building on Ayer Street. “We’re moving forward with getting things prepared to go out for bids to get contractors involved to do the demolition work,” he said. There is a lot of paperwork required by the state which needs to be done before that can happen, he adde...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — An Ironwood Township man who used the postal service to receive drugs was sentenced to eight years in prison in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday. Scott David Salmi, 45, was sentenced to between eight and 30 years for delivery of methamphetamine and between three and 10 years for possession of meth. The two sentences will be served concurrently, as stipulated in Salmi’s plea agreement in the case. “We’re not just talking about small a...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] MARENISCO - It's that time of year when road workers are out shoveling asphalt into potholes and hoping rain doesn't ruin the short-term fix. "It never ends," said Jim Manchester, who was working Tuesday with Bill Chiapuzio on a stretch of U.S. 2 between Wakefield and Marenisco. As members of the Gogebic County Road Commission, the guys said they worked with the Michigan Department of Transportation to fill highway holes. Chiapuzio said they can go...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — If conventional political wisdom is write-in candidates have a harder time winning elections, the two write-in candidates running for seats on the Hurley School Board overcame the odds Tuesday as they were successful in this year’s spring election. Leslie Kolesar received 712 votes and Andrew “Andy” Laurin received 662 votes, respectively, toppling the two incumbents running for re-election. Michael Fontecchio and Rick Swartz both appeare...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Carnegie Library and the Ironwood Historical Society invite people to take part in recoding their personal "Oral Histories" today at the library from 10 a.m. to noon. Lynne Wiercinski, director of the library, said preserving history is necessary for future researchers. "We have lots of people who come through our doors every day looking at our local history section," she said. The oral history project will allow residents a...
LANSING — The Michigan Land Bank Authority announced Tuesday that nine communities, including the village of Ontonagon, Ontonagon Township, Bessemer and Ironwood and Houghton County will receive a total of $350,000 to help eliminate blight in their communities. The Rural Community Demolition Grant was made available to county Land Banks and local units of government to help communities remove vacant and abandoned structures from their neighborhoods, allowing them to prepare for future developments that spark business investment and provide job...
Voters in Iron County and elsewhere in Wisconsin are casting their ballots in state and local elections today in the state’s spring election. Although many of the races are uncontested, there are a number of contested elections for Iron County voters to participate in. The lone contested state-level race facing Iron County voters is the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between liberal-backed Lisa Neubauer and conservative-backed Brian Hagedorn. There are also several contested local races, including town and school board elections. Polls are o...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - When third grade teacher Kristi Pestka tells students "class take your seats," some will be standing, peddling or sitting on bean chairs. It is called "flexible seating," a part of a three-pronged grant written by Pestka and 4-5 grade teacher Hillary Sunblad at the Ontonagon Area Elementary School. Students might be doing their work on a desk cycle, stand-up desk, bean bag floor seating, spinning chair or covered log. The teachers wrote and...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer city council voted Monday evening to accept responsibility for a pending $9,222 state grant that would provide surveying funds for the continuation of the Western Gateway Trail. The council also voted to approve a related contract with Coleman Engineering Company of Ironwood, since it is engineering the trail project. If received, the grant will fund final surveying of a planned trail route through land that Pat Steiger of Bessemer has agreed to sell to the state. “This is the eas...
IRONWOOD - The Historic Ironwood Theatre hosted a strategic planning session on Thursday to define the theater's place in the community and shape its future. Amy Quinn, president and CEO of Grow and Lead, said she understands the HIT has undergone a transition in the last few years. "The theater has a new board that is really moving forward and they want a plan so they can all be in alignment," said Quinn, a consultant for non-profits across the U.P. One goal of the work session was to find out...
Tuesday is election day in Wisconsin with many candidates across the state running for local offices. In Iron County, the elections are for town offices and school boards, as well as a pair of seats on the Montreal city council. There’s also a referendum on the Mercer ballot concerning the approval of an application for a half percent tax Premiere Resort Area Tax. Approval of the referendum is just one step in the process of creating the new tax, according to Iron County Clerk Mike Saari. The only other items on the ballots here are a pair o...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - The smell of sugar and the sounds of kazoos filled the halls of A.D. Johnston Junior and Senior High School during a Thursday morning breakfast that was held to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder. Blue is the signature color of autism, so blueberry pancakes were in abundance as nearly 200 kids from all grades gathered in the school's multipurpose room to enjoy the treat, along with each other's company. The kazoos just added to the...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] HURLEY — The common’s of Hurley school was packed with people as sixth graders set up their projects for the annual science fair held on Friday. Mike Swartz, math and science teacher at Hurley, said the kids put a lot of effort” into their projects. To give his students ideas for projects, he talked with his class about science fair projects he did when he was in school and laughed about still having his board at his parent’s house. “At first they really did not want to do the science fair, but...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — There will soon be an additional medical resource for Gogebic Range residents, with the Iron County Board of Supervisors getting information Tuesday on NorthLakes Community Clinic’s plans to expand into Hurley. The non-profit organization leased Paul Hagemann’s former dental office on 5th Avenue in Hurley earlier this month, with plans to open later this summer. Clinic CEO Reba Rice told the board she was excited at the possibilities, and that the community would ultimately shape what...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - Members of the Bessemer school board of education voted Monday evening to approve the final debt payment in relation to refunding bonds in the amount of $132,436.56. The board now hopes that voters will support a resolution to facilitate what superintendent Dave Wineburner has called "a continuation of our current levy" or a "no-tax increase bond proposal." The board voted on Jan. 15 to accept that resolution and since then has been discussing...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Roughly 50 members of the community attended the Gogebic Community College Board of Trustees meeting Thursday to hear about partnership opportunities with the Young Men's Christian Association, including the possibility of bringing back GCC's pool. Ryan Zietlow, CEO of the Northwoods YMCA, said community support is vital to the sustainability of his organization. "We currently have 4,000 members (in Rhinelander, Wis.) which consists of abou...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] EWEN — The Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District continues to seek an earlier start date for its six locals districts, scheduling a public hearing on the issue in April. The GOISD submitted its application for an earlier start date to the state March 11. The hearing, set for a 4 p.m. EST April 23 at the GOISD’s Bergland office, means the application has made it through the initial part of the approval process. “We’re in the second step of the process,” said GOISD superintendent Bruce May...
