Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 3542 - 3566 of 9848
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield-Marenisco board of education voted Monday evening to consider moving the school year's start date before Labor Day for the 2019-2020 school year. "The main advantage is it's going to line us up with the college," said superintendent Jason Gustafson regarding Gogebic Community College. If the new timing is enacted, Gustafson said the first day of school at the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School will be Aug. 27, which is a Tuesday. He...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood City Commission at its Monday meeting approved a new ordinance outlining rules about the consumption of alcohol in various city parks. The ordinance was re-written to specify which parks allow the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages and which ones will require a permit. Even the parks where consumption is allowed - Curry, Randa Field and Norrie parks - still require a permit for groups of 10 or more. City...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council voted Monday to offer a contract to Robert Brown, Jr. of Belding, Mich., who interviewed for the position of city manager. The council met with Brown, 36, on Jan. 14. Three other candidates were interviewed on Jan. 17, after which the council met on Jan. 23 to determine their first choice to fill the role from which Richard Brackney will retire on May 24. Brackney said mayor John Granato drew up the contract, which...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The township board heard from its ad hoc salary committee Monday. However, with competing motions both failing, it’s unclear what the board will do with the information. Trustee Marlene Saari-Mieloszyk led the committee — that also included Trustee Kevin Lyons and resident Sharon Hallberg — tasked with examining how the three township officials that work in the office should get raises this year. She said they discovered the clerk and treasurer haven’t been compensat...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — Even with temperatures around zero and bouts of snow, people came out to the Norrie Amateur Sports Club Saturday night for the club’s 10th annual tree burn. Over 300 Christmas trees were tossed into the bonfire, along with a number of pallets, creating a blaze that radiated heat and helped attendees brave the bitter cold. The fire took a while to get started, organizers said, as the recent snow not only added moisture to trees but com...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] MONTREAL, Wis. - In spite of the cold temperatures of the weekend, a full support crew and a few strong souls ventured out on a sunny but cold Saturday afternoon to snowshoe the trails around Montreal for the first Hygge (pronounced HOO-ga) hike. The word "Hygge" is a Danish word that describes "a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being," the New Yorker reports. This is the idea behind the...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Even with below-zero temperatures, the atmosphere in the Wakefield VFW was jumping Saturday morning as the Gogebic Range Trail Authority held its inaugural pancake breakfast for hungry residents and snowmobilers. Cooks Chris Umland and Scott Segel flipped pancakes in the kitchen, along with eggs and sausage as other volunteers took orders and brought plates to customers. Chris and Melissa Umland and vice-president Jerry Nezworski “spearheaded” the event, according to GRTA president Steve...
MERCER, Wis. — For the second time in roughly a week, the Iron County Sheriff’s Department received reports of a vehicle going through the ice in southern Iron County. The department’s dispatch center received a report of a vehicle that went through the ice on Trude Lake in the town of Mercer at 8:57 p.m. Thursday, ICSD Lt. Matt Foryan said in a release. The two people in the vehicle were able to get out and walked to a nearby business for help, Foryan said, and no injuries were reported. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which...
MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Library will host several classes in January and February on topics ranging from small business marketing to technology to personal organization. Local residents can learn more about the services offered by area public libraries in a free workshop, “Becoming a Library Superuser,” on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 11 a.m. Attendees will learn how to access the library’s catalog online, request books from all over Wisconsin, access databases of newspapers and magazines, download free eBooks and audiobooks and take online classes...
HURLEY — The Hurley School board approved the 2019-20 school year calendar at its meeting Monday evening. The first day of school will be Tuesday, Sept. 3. The last day of school is set for Friday, June 5. Administrator Chris Patritto said the calendar calls for 177 days of school, adding the state doesn’t count days as much as it does hours. The state prohibits starting school before Sept. 1. Patritto said they have applied for a waiver in the past but were denied with a hundred or more other schools. He told the Daily Globe later that the...
A strong arctic cold front swept across the region Thursday that included a winter storm warning, frigid temperatures, blowing snow and wind chill advisories. Ironwood, Bessemer, Wakefield-Marenisco and Watersmeet schools all canceled school early Thursday and at the same time called off school for today. Hurley also called off school for today. The Michigan State Police Wakefield Post was cautioning against any travel on area roads Thursday. Late Thursday, MSP announced M-28 was closed between...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — Two suspects in a Marenisco home invasion were recently arraigned in Gogebic County District Court, while two more arrests have been made in Wisconsin in connection to the case. Todd Matthew Norton, 47, and Amber Jo Dorschner, 41, of New London, Wis., were extradited on multiple felony charges after being arrested in east central Wisconsin earlier this month. Norton was arraigned Jan. 18 and is charged with armed robbery, first-degree home invasion, assault with intent to do great bodily...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Members of the Wakefield city council and planning commission met in a Wednesday workshop to learn how an updated master plan could help them to counteract the dwindling population that many U.P. towns experience. Presenting the evidence were Scott MacInnes, northern field consultant for the Michigan Municipal League, and Bessemer city manager Charly Loper. According to Wakefield city manager Richard Brackney, Wakefield's master plan has not...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - Jason Elliot Irvine will spend the next 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor after he was sentenced in Gogebic County Circuit Court Wednesday. "What you did, sir, is heinous. It's despicable and you are a monster - and you should be punished for that. You will be punished for that," Judge Michael Pope said as he imposed his sentence. Irvine, 47, of Ironwood Township, received sentences of between 25 to 100 years on each of t...
The National Weather Service is forecasting a deep freeze for the region in the coming days with high winds creating double-digit sub-zero windchills and blowing snow. The forecast calls for periods of snow showers here today, with accumulations of 1 to 2 inches possible, but Ryan Connelly of the NWS office in Marquette said it’s not so much the amount of snow as the wind that could cause some problems. Blustery winds out of the northwest from 15 to 20 mph will blow the dry snow around and r...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — In a special meeting Wednesday morning, the Wakefield city council voted to offer its city manager position to Robert Brown, Jr. of Belding, Mich. Brown, 36, was the first candidate to be interviewed by the council on Jan. 14. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in political science with a concentration in campaign leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. He works with the three-county Fred Meijer River Valley Trail in Belding while also engaging in political campaign organizing. B...
HURLEY — On Monday evening, the Hurley School District School Board unanimously voted to discontinue the use of the high school’s Midget mascot at the end of the 2018-19 school year. School board president Joe Simonich said there had been a lot of opinions shared about the possibility of changing the mascot. Some had shared the use of the term “midget” was derogatory, while others felt the school’s mascot was a focus of pride in their school. The board had previously voted to place a question on the ballot pertaining to whether the use of th...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — At Monday’s regular meeting of the Bessemer city council, city manager Charly Loper said the city is eligible to apply for a one-time state grant of $50,000 to be used for the demolition of worthless city-owned buildings. Loper estimated the funds would cover the cost of razing two buildings, and she provided a list of the following four addresses from which to choose, along with the approximate cost to level them: —107 W. Sellar (“brownstone”), $35,000 —508 S. Moore (“the Johnson build...
IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College is working on creating a new five-year plan, what officials are calling a “Strategic Agenda,” which they hope will help guide the internal and external operations of the college. They’re also looking for feedback from the community. “This is an exciting time for GCC, and we are seeking input from community members as we plan the future of the institution,” said Dean of Instruction Ryon List. The survey will ask respondents to first identify their connection to the college through one of four categories...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] HURLEY — Midgets no more. The Hurley School Board voted Monday evening to remove the Midgets as the school mascot and directed the administration to rebrand the school by the beginning of next school year. The board had decided a few months ago to place a binding referendum on the April ballot, but that won’t happen now. School board president Joe Simonich began the discussion saying Tuesday (today) was the last day to remove something from the ballot and wondered if the board shouldn’t discu...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - An all women Ontonagon Area School Board of Education, the first of its kind in the history of the district, officiated at the reorganizational meeting of the board on Monday. At the onset of the meeting the four women who were newly or re-elected in November were sworn in by board member Nancy Mattson. Tammy Strasser and Julie Kolpack were re-elected, and Rebecca Bramlett and Rebecca Pantti were newly elected. Other board members are Tanya...
