Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 3660 - 3684 of 9848
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — An Ontonagon County jury in Circuit Court Wednesday convicted an Iowa man of seven felonies in an incident which occurred in mid January 2018. Paul Smith, 26, was convicted of one count illegal entry, one count of home invasion, and counts of possession of a weapon (metallic knuckles), receiving and concealing property (a vehicle), lying to a police officer, use of methamphetamine, and leaving lawful custody. The incident began when a car was found stuck in a ditch in Stannard Township. Police d...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - Waupaca Foundry, Inc., a manufacturer of high-quality cast and machined iron components for the transportation and industrial markets, plans to expand into Ironwood. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation said Tuesday the project is expected to generate total private investment of $4.3 million and create 61 jobs. Michigan was chosen over competing sites in Arkansas and Wisconsin, MEDC said. Ironwood Community Development Director Tom...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield-Marenisco School Board heard an audit report of good and bad news from accountant Karl Ahonen of Ironwood at its Monday evening meeting. "The school is in very good shape compared to other school districts," said Ahonen after noting that, as of June 30, 2018, the district's combined liability for its retirement fund and retiree health care fund is more than $6.5 million. "Those are big numbers for this school district," he said,...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County is considering implementing a temporary moratorium on importation and raising of cervids in the county, with the Iron County Comprehensive Planning and Zoning Committee deciding Tuesday to schedule a public hearing on the issue. The temporary ban would allow the county to consider how it wants to handle any potential deer farms that may consider locating in the county. “Just to remind you, this doesn’t mean no deer farms ever. This is a one-year block on deer farms for us to...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — As the minutes ticked past the scheduled 5:30 p.m. start time for the regular board meeting, it became clear the Ironwood Township Board of Trustees was going to need more than a one-hour special meeting Monday to decide what next year’s budget should look like. While the board called another special meeting — scheduled for 9 a.m., Thursday Dec. 27 — to complete the budget process, progress did seem to have been made during the discussion prior to Monday’s regular meeting....
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY - The Hurley School Board Monday agreed to seek bids for expanding the K-12 school. The school board could act on accepting bids at its February meeting. District administrator Chris Patritto was instructed to get the ball rolling to solicit bids. "This could be a catalyst for people wanting to stay here," school board president Joe Simonich, of Kimball, said of the potential of the expansion area. "This gets my support 100 percent," he said. The...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - Dean Juntunen, president of the Ontonagon Area Board of Education, said goodbye to the board Monday after 22 ½ years, most of them as president. Juntunen did not seek re-election this fall. Juntunen commented that when he came on the board over 20 years ago it was all male members. "As I leave the board will be all women," he added. He continued, "We have a very good board and I am proud to serve with them." Juntunen will have plenty to do...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - With temperatures above freezing and the sun shining, it was a good day for racing Saturday as Gogebic Community College's Mt. Zion ski hill played host to the Fire on the Hill Snocross race. "It's going very well. It's been a great turnout, we've got a lot of good riders," race director Keith Johnson said. "People are very pleased with our track and very pleased with the venue." Around 120-130 racers competed in 17 classes, which were de...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - A Saturday Christmas party in Bessemer drew more than 150 people to the hall of VFW Post 3673, which sponsored the event. "We do it as a community event," said party organizer Donna Frello, who added this was the third year the VFW offered the party. Santa Claus was present for an hour and one-half, and Christmas tunes also were played as part of a "Kiddie Karaoke" event. "That turned out pretty cute," said Frello. In addition to a hot sloppy...
ONTONAGON — Ontonagon native JR Richardson has commented on his appointment from Governor Rick Snyder to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority. The panel will oversee the construction of an oil pipeline tunnel in the straits of Mackinac. Richardson said he is “looking forward to my recent appointment to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority. I will miss the (Natural Resource Commission) and all the devoted partners working together for the good of Michigan’s resources, but plan on bringing the same transparency and openness to work with par...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — As township officials continue to prepare next year’s budget, some residents have expressed concern regarding the outstanding debt owed to various government entities in the county. The debt is tax money former treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso collected but never passed on to the appropriate entities. Township Supervisor Steve Boyd said Friday the township’s attorney and forensic auditor encouraged the township to continue operating as normal while they work with the insurance and b...
LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder Friday appointed John Matonich, of Lake Gogebic, to chair the Michigan Trails Advisory Council. Matonich retired in 2016 as CEO of Rowe Professional Services Company. He served there as CEO from 1992 to 1999 and as president from 1997 to 2014. Matonich, a Bessemer native, lived in lower Michigan before returning to the Lake Gogebic area in Marenisco Township. He also serves on the Gogebic County Road Commission board. He earned his bachelor’s degree in land surveying from Michigan Technological University in Hou...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — Mercer Library Director Teresa Schmidt discussed the basics of building a website Thursday during a class on the basics of using WordPress. Schmidt gave an overview of the various stages of building a website during her WordPress 101 presentation and answered questions from those in attendance. After discussing choosing a domain name and hosting company, Schmidt opened up a WordPress Dashboard and showed the various key parts of a WordPress site. This included choosing a theme and p...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — It’s possible cellphone coverage in Iron County will improve after the Iron County Board of Supervisors’ finance committee approved an agreement with U.S. Cellular Thursday to allow the company to lease tower space from the county. The company will pay Iron County $1,300 a month to lease space on two of the county’s towers, one located in the Mercer area and the other in Upson. “I think it’s real fair,” said Darrell Petrusha, who has been working for the county on various communication...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] Ironwood and Gogebic County projects were approved for Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant awards by the state legislature. The Miners Memorial Heritage Park mountain bike trail system project was approved for a $280,000 grant and the Iron Belle Bessemer to Ramsay trail project will receive $299,900. In February, the Gogebic County Board passed a resolution supporting an application to the trust fund for development of three miles of the Iron Belle. The total project cost is $1,428,000. Board...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley School Board will consider the bid process for the planned technology education expansion project at Monday’s regular monthly meeting. The school board originally discussed a 4,300-square-foot addition to the technology (wood and metal shops) area at the K-12 school that would cost around $1.1 million and a wellness center costing around $1 million. When the planning process began, district administrator Chris Patritto said the school district had a $3.9 million fund balance, so...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — The present ambulance service for Gogebic County will continue into 2019, with Beacon Ambulance covering the west end of the county and Aspirus covering the east end. The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved a $370,000 subsidy for Beacon to provide the service. Aspirus has a current contract that runs through March and will likely be renewed then by the board for the eastern end with a $57,000 subsidy. Jim Lorenson, of Ironwood, who chairs a special ambulance c...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council voted Monday to adopt temporary rules regarding the use of its newly remodeled community room. In the past 10 months, a local initiative called 4 the Kids solicited donations and held fundraisers to collect about $20,000 to replace the community room floor with a sports-friendly surface, so that younger kids from the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School would have a place to practice when older kids were using the school...
WAKEFIELD — With winter set in on the Gogebic Range, local law enforcement officials are reminding drivers to fully clean off their windshields and windows before hitting the road. Not only is cleaning windshields safer, according to Michigan State Police Community Service Trooper Jerry Mazurek, but it’s also required by law. Mazurek said in a news release Michigan law requires drivers have unobstructed windows while driving. “A person shall not operate a motor vehicle with … an object that obstructs the vision of the driver of the vehicle...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - The Bessemer city hall auditorium featured several tables Monday evening during a combined meeting that joined members from five different governing bodies. Represented were the city council, planning commission, downtown development authority, parks and recreation commission, and an informal branding group. A representative of each entity provided an overview of objectives accomplished in 2018, after which members of each group discussed future...
